The Whinning Continues

Romney Advisor Barbara Comstock Attacked Gov. Huckabee For Using The “A” Word – “Arrogant” – And Compared Huckabee To Leading Democrats.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: “Do you hold him to this apology demand, Barbara Comstock?” … COMSTOCK: “Yes. I do. … Governor Romney did call -- and I do, too -- that [Huckabee] should apologize to the president, because he sounded more like Hillary Clinton or Obama. And Republicans are not going to win by sounding like Hillary Clinton.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 12/18/07)

Leading Supporters Of Mitt Romney Agree With Huckabee:

Former Hastert Spokesman And MSNBC Commentator John Feehery Said The Former Speaker “Sees This White House As Pretty Arrogant.”

“A Bush loyalist, [Hastert] nevertheless ‘sees this White House as pretty arrogant,’ said a former spokesman, John Feehery. An example is the recent firing of former CIA chief Porter Goss without giving Hastert prior notice. And last week delivered another test of the relationship - and of what happens when the White House forgets Hastert is the third-most-powerful Republican in the nation.” (Chicago Sun Times, 5/28/06)

And Accused President Bush Of Breaching Separation Of Powers. “The speaker accused the Justice Department of trying to intimidate him by leaking information to ABC News that he was linked to the probe of convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ‘A brushback pitch,’ said his deputy chief of staff, Mike Stokke, fingering the leak - denied by Justice - as retaliation for Hastert’s strong objections to an FBI raid last weekend of the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is under investigation for public corruption. Hastert said the search was a breach of the Constitution’s separation-of-power provisions and told Bush that while in Chicago.” (Chicago Sun Times, 5/28/06)

Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI) And Tom Petri (R-WI) Expressed Concern: “When the argument over invading Iraq was publicly joined in the summer of 2002, mainstream Republicans were queasy. That September, Republican Dave Camp for Michigan, told me his constituents were ‘concerned about a go-it-alone strategy,’ and Republican Thomas Petri for Wisconsin said voters in his district expressed ‘concern about whether we know what we’re doing or how we’re going to do it.’” (E. J. Dionne Jr., Op-Ed, “Morning In America,” The Washington Post, 5/20/07)

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) Called The U.S. Intelligence Community “Arrogant” And “Incompetent.” “The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee defied the Bush administration Sunday and pledged to investigate the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. The Justice Department has urged Congress not to investigate and advised intelligence officials not to cooperate with a legislative inquiry. ‘You’ve got a community that’s incompetent. They are arrogant. And they are political,’ Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said. ‘And I think that we’re going to hold [CIA Director] Mike Hayden accountable.’” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/18/07)

Comstock Touted Romney’s National Review Endorsement.
COMSTOCK: “[T]he reason [Romney]’s gotten endorsed by people like ‘National Review,’ a preeminent conservative magazine, is because people understand he is a full spectrum conservative, as I said.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 12/18/07)

National Review Noted Capitol Hill Republicans Complain About the Bush Administration Being “Arrogant” And “Out Of Touch” And, According To The Magazine, “There Is Truth In Each Complaint.” Republicans on Capitol Hill seem more interested in complaining about the Bush administration than in winning, or at least limiting their losses in, the midterm elections. The White House is arrogant; it is out of touch; it does not face the same electoral pressures we do: We have heard it all before, and there is truth in each complaint. But perhaps the recriminations can wait until after the elections?” (National Review, 5/8/06)

Comstock Touted Romney’s Endorsement By The American Conservative Union’s David Keane. COMSTOCK: “We have David Keene.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 12/18/07)

David Keane Attacked Neoconservatives Who Populate The Bush Administration And Molded The Nation’s Iraq Policy For Their “Overbearing Arrogance.” “‘The principal sin of the neoconservatives,’ David Keane, chairman of the American Conservative Union, contends ‘is overbearing arrogance.’ … ‘It is not so much that they have been wrong. It is that nobody has ever convinced them that they have ever been wrong.’” (The [Newark, NJ] Star-Ledger, 10/23/06)

Comstock Touted Romney’s Endorsement By Conservative Activist Paul Weyrich.
COMSTOCK: “We have Paul Weyrich.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 12/18/07)

According To The Conservative Magazine The Weekly Standard, Weyrich Discussed Bush Himself “With Obvious Venom.” “Paul Weyrich described Bush, with obvious venom, as a ‘moderate politician.’” (The Weekly Standard, 10/9/06)


On Another Note….

Romney Advisor Barbara Comstock Tried To Attack Gov. Huckabee On Cuba.
COMSTOCK: “And you know, [Huckabee] didn’t know ... about Cuba ... and policy like that.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 12/18/07)

Romney Angered Cuban Americans In Florida, When He Used Fidel Castro’s Traditional Sign-Off Line: “Fatherland Or Death, We Shall Overcome.” “Romney angered Cuban-American officials and activists when he quoted dictator Fidel Castro’s traditional sign-off line ‘patria o muerte, venceremos’ - a Communist rallying cry which is loosely translated to mean ‘Fatherland or death, we shall overcome.’” (The Weekly Standard, 10/9/06)

Romney Claimed The Phrase Does Not Belong To Castro, But Cuban Politicians Said The Term Has Always Been A “Communist Catchphrase.” “Romney said the phrase ‘does not belong’ to Castro and should be returned to ‘a free Cuba.’ … Despite Romney’s explanation, Cuban politicians fumed that the term was coined by Castro’s regime and has always been a Communist catchphrase.” (The Weekly Standard, 10/9/06)