Huck fears dumpster divers, says he's not ready for prime time. Thompson plows through Iowa. Rudy promises more than he delivers in New Hampshire.
The following piece was produced through the Huffington Post's OffTheBus. Edited by Richard Riehl and Denise Wheeler. Reported by Kirsten Anderson, Ken Bank, River Curtis-Stanley, Jodi Lampert, Julie Pierce, Debbi Plummer, and Theresa Weathers.
Huck stiffs Russert: Mike Huckabee would rather dine with Satan than be grilled by Tim Russert. "There is no way he'll do it without at least two weeks of prep time and we can't do that now," says a new arrival to Team Huckabee in Iowa. "He's focused on winning Iowa, not playing 'gotcha' and being embarrassed on 'Meet the Press.'"
Santa's sleigh in need of GPS: In a speech in Iowa Friday, Chris Dodd said his young daughters were afraid Santa might not be able to find them, since they're living temporarily in the Hawkeye state. "I went outside right then and there and planted a sign on the family lawn in Connecticut so Santa could find the kids in Iowa," he said. Judging from his poll numbers, Iowa voters are having the same trouble finding Dodd.
Will dumpster divers turn the Huckaboom into a Huckabust?: The Huckster joked to reporters recently about his opponents searching through his records for campaign trash. "We've got a lot of people doing dumpster diving in Little Rock right now," he said. The faith-based governor apparently didn't believe in shredders either.
Romney doesn't expect perfection when waging wars: In a weekend speech in Iowa, Mitt castigated Huckabee for dissing Bush in his recent statement on foreign policy, capturing our prize for the understatement of the week. "We were under-prepared and under-planned and understaffed," he said of the war following the fall of Saddam Hussein. "There is no question we weren't perfectly managed." Close enough for guv'ment work, Mitt?
What do Christie Whitman and Mike Huckabee have in common? Huckabee announced the appointment of Ed Rollins to be his National Campaign Chairman stating, "Ed's experience and track record of building winning coalitions . . . and reaching across party lines, makes him a good fit for our campaign." This is the same guy who about reaching across party lines in 1993 bragged to build coalitions with African-American ministers by paying them street money to suppress voter turnout in the New Jersey governor's race.
Giuliani's last round? Aides have confessed that Guiliani is cutting back on advertising in NH. But he attempted to warm up a crowd of printing press workers in Durham yesterday with rousing tunes like "The Rocky Theme" and "Eye of the Tiger." as he thundered, "We'll be working hard to get your vote. This is a very important primary. It always has been. It always will be, and we want to do everything we can to win the vote here now." Really? He has no other events scheduled this week, other than three stops in Missouri Wednesday. With a strategy like that, he'll soon be watching reruns of both Rocky and his campaign.
Dashing through the snow with Freddie: In a last ditch effort to snag potential caucus-goers, Thompson has embarked on an Iowa bus tour, even though the bus is more likely to get struck by an iceberg than carry him higher in the polls. But Freddie's not too concerned. "I'm not willing to mold myself to the circumstances and I understand I'm not everybody's cup of tea but what you see is what you get," he said in an interview with Radio Iowa. With temperatures near freezing, the only people he may get acquainted with are the ones stuck on the side of the roads.
Holy Halo! Another ad from Huck: Donning a fuzzy sweater and oozing with the Christmas spirit, Huck is all merry and bright. In his latest political ad, he empathizes with voters who are sick of political ads. "At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that," he says. "What really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends." And to his base, of course. Far better to don a fuzzy sweater and make nice than to launch an airwaves attack with 'Silent Night' playing in the background.
....................................................................................................
If you've got tips for OffTheBus's Roadkill team, please send an email to campaigntrail@huffingtonpost.com with "Roadkill" in the subject line. If you're interested in joining our team and helping put together this feature, send an email to campaigntrail@huffingtonpost.com with "Roadkill volunteer" in the subject line.