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Romney denies he’s critical of Huckabee

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By Bret Hayworth
Sioux City Journal | Friday, December 21, 2007 |

ORANGE CITY, Iowa — The back-and-forth between Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee continued Thursday afternoon, courtesy of a question posed at Romney’s stop in prime GOP territory in Sioux County.

For much of 2007 Romney held the polling lead in Iowa, but Huckabee surpassed him in late November. Recent Romney ads have pointedly taken on Huckabee.

Following a 10-minute Romney speech, Ruth Kosicko of Sioux Center asked the former Massachusetts governor, “Why have you been making a lot of negative comments about Mike Huckabee? Don’t you think he’d make a great vice president?”

Romney said, “I don’t make critical comments about Governor Huckabee.” He said he has merely pointed out

differences in positions and actions taken when they were governors. Romney said Huckabee gave 1,033 pardons and commutations to prisoners, while “I gave none.”

On Wednesday in West Des Moines, Huckabee — who will campaign in Sioux City, Orange City and Sheldon on Saturday — told reporters Romney’s attacks were “desperate.”

Romney’s stop came with another news angle, when Congressman Tom Tancredo a few hours earlier dropped from the race and endorsed Romney in Des Moines.

Romney told the 60 people, mostly employees of the Quatro Composites business where he appeared, that he would focus on three things as president — strengthening the military, the economy and the family. He said he would raise the military budget from 3.8 percent to 4 percent of the gross domestic product, or by $40 billion annually. That, Romney said, would enable him to reach the goal of adding 100,000 more people to the

military ranks.

Romney said he would “strengthen the economy by keeping our taxes down,” and on the family discussion, stressed that there should be no gay marriage, it should only be between a man and a woman.

Paul Giambaiana of Hawarden is an independent who said he liked Romney.

“He’s very impressive, and he’s got a real good agenda, I think,” Giambaiana said.

He said Romney would do well “in getting the country to pull together, rather than the two parties going their separate ways.”

His wife, Dixie Giambaiana, added, “He seemed to be able to do that in Massachusetts.”

However, neither Giambaiana has decided to back Romne