-- Reverses Position on Cuba Embargo --
One thing has become abundantly clear after watching Gov. Mike Huckabee abandon his long-held opposition to the Cuba trade embargo after it became politically inconvenient: In all the close rhetorical combat of the campaign, a little bit of Mitt Romney must be rubbing off on Mike Huckabee.
Consider:
Los Angeles Times Headline: "Huckabee does a flip-flop on Cuba"
"Huckabee's Cuba flip-flop" (LAT, 12/11)
CNN Headline: "Huckabee backtracks on Cuba embargo"
"But that hard-line position on Cuba is an about-face for the former Arkansas governor." (CNN, 12/10)
"Although Huckabee previously opposed the Cuban embargo, he has since changed his opinion." (First Read, 12/10)
"But Huckabee's evolving views on certain issues" (LAT, 12/11)
"Huckabee's statement reflected one of the most dramatic reversals by a major presidential candidate on the issue that has defined U.S.-Cuba policy for nearly half a century." (Miami Herald, 12/11)
"Huckabee's conversion also surprised the Arkansas Rice Growers Association" (Miami Herald, 12/11)
"Huckabee now says he has changed his mind" (St. Pete Times, 12/11)
"That represents a marked change from a 2002 letter then-Gov. Huckabee wrote to President George W. Bush asking him to lift the embargo to help Arkansas' flailing rice industry and revive the state's sagging economy." (Palm Beach Post, 12/11)
Fred Thompson, Thompson Campaign Press Release - Huckabee Takes a Page From the Romney Playbook Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/295742