Monday, September 12, 2011

Huckabee criticizes Perry’s Social Security talk, says Romney is ‘most electable’

Mike Huckabee has made no secret of the fact he's not a big fan of his former GOP rival Mitt Romney, with whom he clashed repeatedly during his bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
But in what could be a plus for Romney, the former Arkansas governor apparently holds an even bigger political grudge against Rick Perry, who he says is not as "electable" as Romney in 2012.
In an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, Huckabee criticized Perry for his blunt talk on Social Security--suggesting that even if what Perry's saying is "technically true," it will eventually hurt him in the general election. Speaking about Tim Pawlenty's decision to endorse Romney earlier Monday, he called Romney "the most electable Republican" in the field—even as he noted there were other "great" candidates in the race.
"Perry hurt himself a lot with his Social Security talk. And what he said may be technically true, but you go to South Florida or even any part of Florida or even the part where I live in the panhandle where you have a lot of retired people and essentially say that Social Security is a criminal enterprise, that's problematic," Huckabee told Ingraham. "Rick likes to sort of come across as the straight-shootin,' blunt talking guy and that works very well in Texas, and it will work very well in what I call the hardcare center of the Republican primary. But when you have to branch out and get to those younger voters and general election voters, I'm not sure how it's going to play out."
Huckabee also suggested that Perry's similarities, both physically and politically, to former President George W. Bush gives Democrats "an opportunity" in 2012 and will be "front and center" to any Democratic strategy against Perry, whether the comparisons are "fair or not."More...

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