ROMNEY CAMPAIGN'S DIRTY TRICKS ON HUCKABEE (not working)

Matt Lewis of Townhall has come out with a new article about the Romney campaign coalition of bloggers and columnists to spew out anti-Huckabee news.

These kind of tricks and Romney's fake optimism and conversion is what is causing the recent downturn of support. He has spent tens of millions on ads and related events, all in vain. Gov. Huckabee has spent 1/20th of what Romney has. I think that speaks for itself.

The Romney campaign is also behind the recent rumors that Huckabee is somehow trying to promote anti-Mormon bigotry. Foxnews and others like Hannity, Krauthammer, are coming in defense of Romney and strongly against Huckabee. Matt Drudge who has connections within the Romney campaign constantly post anti-Huckabee articles, which is truly sickening. HotAir.com has come up with constant anti-Huckabee pieces and has unfairly engaged in 'gotcha' politics. Remember, these are the same people who riled against the Liberal Media when they did the same kind of dirty tricks on Pres. Bush.

Fred Thompson's campaign is not overlooked either, it is well known that they are into similar things. If I have learned one thing, I have realized how shady most of these 'dependable' conservatives are.

Here is Matt Lewis' article:

As a senior aide to Sam Brownback, Rob Wasinger knows first-hand what it's like to challenge Mitt Romney from the Right.

Though Brownback's campaign never caught fire, his credentials as a social conservative leader from the Mid West meant he was an early Romney rival. Operatives on both sides have admitted to me that the two campaigns simply didn't get along, and that they often traded barbs on the trail. (In the past, I've written about the contentious rivalry between Brownback and Romney.)

In a phone interview with me today, Wasinger echoed what I've heard other operatives say to me off the record -- that he believes Romney's campaign is behind many of the recent attacks on Mike Huckabee:

"They've got a scorched-earth strategy, and it's not surprising they are now going after Huckabee," Wasinger told me.

According to Wasinger, the Romney campaign is a disciplined and efficient operation that effectively uses blogs and opinion leaders to disseminate negative information regarding Romney's opponents:

"They roll out these surrogates to attack other candidates ... They are particularly sensitive to anyone who questions Mitt's conversion," he tells me.

Unlike ever before, candidates on both sides are utilizing bloggers and surrogates to spread their message. During a typical GOP debate, my blackberry is deluged with press releases, attacks, and up-to-the-minute rebuttals from the candidates. But while campaigns use the new media to spread their positive message, the medium is perhaps even better at advancing a negative narrative.

I can personally attest to the fact that all the major Republican campaigns, from time to time, leak negative stories to bloggers. I suspect this is true of the other side, too. Why do bloggers often bite? Sometimes because they already like the candidate, but often it's because it's a win/win: The campaign gets an attack without their finger prints on it, and the blogger gets some juicy information that (hopefully) nobody else in the world has ...

And Romney's team has clearly been at the top of their game, cultivating some of the best bloggers in the nation to help advance their message. On a large scale, Romney communications strategist Matt Roades is famously close to Matt Drudge -- that's obviously the nuclear option. But Romney has other blog allies, including MyManMitt, and these bloggers have obviously ratcheted up attacks on Huckabee in recent days.

Romney Communications Director Kevin Madden says the Romney campaign has focused on a positive message, but acknowledges the Romney campaign isn't afraid to show a sharp distinction between the candidates: "We won't hesitate to draw contrasts with other campaigns. Where there are big differences on big issues, it is important to inform the voter on those differences," he tells me.