As I mentioned yesterday, I am currently in the process of reading Mike Huckabee’s latest book and, having made it through 150 pages of his 216 page epic, I take issue with Huck’s own assessment of the reviews saying that it seems bizarrely focused on former rival Mitt Romney:
The book, released yesterday, has stirred some controversy in the media over its apparent swipes at his former rival for the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney. In several instances in the book, Huckabee charged Romney for being out of touch with voters and for flip-flopping on certain issues. In an example from a debate where Romney was asked about how to help the economy, Huckabee writes that Romney was more focused on reciting lines about his business expertise than on helping the average American.
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Huckabee reassured attendees of the book signing that there’s more to the book than the rehashing of an old beef with Romney. “It’s a very, very small part of the book,” he said. “It’s really not about the past or about the other people in the party. It’s about the future of the party, [which] starts with being true, authentic conservatives with clarity in our convictions.”
Let me just say this: as I was reading his book, I started to become distracted by just how frequently Romney’s name appeared in the text, so I counted them all up – in the first 101 pages, the word “Romney” appears at least 60 times. In fact, in the first 21 pages, “Romney” appears 25 times.
And, for the record, in not one of those instances is Huckabee saying anything positive about him.
With the exception of Tommy Thompson, Huckabee doesn’t really have anything positive to say about any of his other rivals; not even John McCain. But it is his visceral hatred of Romney and all that he represents that is the one unifying theme of his book.
