Scripps Howard News Service
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By M.E. SPRENGELMEYER
Scripps Howard News Service

DES MOINES, Iowa _ Be on the lookout.

There's a mystery man out there, and we think former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee might want to send him a thank-you note.

Why?

Because by picketing outside the grand opening of Huckabee's Des Moines headquarters on Wednesday, the scary-looking "convict" from "Felons for Huckabee" signaled that this once-obscure Southern governor has finally arrived in that high-value target zone where "Rudy McRomney" resides.

First of all, Huckabee should be happy that the Iowa penal system sent someone to welcome him to downtown Des Moines. After all, it's a nice distraction from Radio Iowa's exclusive report on Huckabee's recent jokes about miniskirts and thong underwear (http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2007/06/huckabee_on_min.html).

More importantly, it accomplishes what Huckabee had tried to do in one of the nationally televised debates, when he practically begged Republican rival Jim Gilmore to attach his name to that "Rudy McRomney" slur along with front-runners like former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Said Huckabee: "I wish my name would get in the moniker. I could use the bump."

Romney already has been targeted by a fuzzy-tailed "varmint" -- a tribute to Romney's hunting skills -- and a porpoise calling himself "Flipper."

McCain and Giuliani have been haunted by a chicken who's not happy that they're skipping the upcoming Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 11. (We know it's a real chicken because when we asked it to tell us its name, it said, "Bawk, bawk, bawk," and kept hiding behind the mask.)

And now, Huckabee is being followed by a "felon."

The masked man was passing out fliers that said something about Huckabee commuting criminals' sentences while he was governor.

All these fuzzy varmints must be doing wonders for Iowa's off-season Halloween-costume industry.

Paging "Dr. No"

Wednesday was a big, big night for all those people who keep bugging us to tell the world about Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

He made a triumphant return to that all-news cable-television network, Comedy Central, with an appearance on "The Colbert Report." (He was on the sister program "The Daily Show" earlier this month.)

Lots of folks first heard of Paul when he took a tough stand against U.S. military involvement overseas and had a run-in with Giuliani during one of the televised Republican debates. But Paul has been an enigmatic figure on Capitol Hill since his first stint in Congress in the late 1970s.

A one-time Libertarian, he's known for a consistent voting record that can be summed up in a single word: No.

OK, so sometimes it's two words: Heck, no.

Since he's a physician (specializing in obstetrics and gynecology), he's often called "Dr. No."

And here's part of the reason why, compiled from the claims in his official biography.

-- Ever voted to raise taxes? No.

-- Ever voted for an unbalanced budget? No.

-- Ever voted to restrict guns? No.

-- Ever voted to raise congressional pay? No.

-- Ever taken a government-paid junket? No.

-- Did he support passage of the Patriot Act? No.

-- Did he support the war in Iraq? No.

-- Have we been able to find Paul during these past two months in Iowa? No.

While Paul's harsh, anti-war rhetoric appears to have gained him fans from the left end of the spectrum, that befuddles those who've looked more closely at his record.

Here's part of an editorial from The Daily Texan about "Ron Paul's Many Faces":

"The same Ron Paul who opposes foreign interventionism also opposes all forms of foreign aid. The same Ron Paul who supports gay rights opposes the right of a woman to choose an abortion. The same Ron Paul who wants to abolish the Department of Homeland Security also wants to abolish the Department of Education. Paul wants to demilitarize Iraq while re-militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border."

Back Roads reader "Derek" posted a lengthy rebuttal, saying The Daily Texan editorial misrepresented Paul's positions. On the abortion issue, for example, Paul is personally opposed to abortion but wants states to be able to decide the question for themselves. This sparked a lively but civil debate among readers that was still unfolding at week's end.

Regardless of whether folks think Paul or Giuliani won that nationally televised smack-down, it's hard to argue that Paul's national profile hasn't risen.

So, do most political analysts think that he has a real chance of being elected president?

In a word: Who knows? OK, that's two words.

Richardson's roots

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has a novel way of trying to get elected president: by dodging an important question about his roots.

In his latest television ad, which started flooding the airwaves in strategic markets this week, Richardson is seen bragging about his record on the environment.

Yes, yes. He thinks global warming is "critical for the next president."

He talks about setting tough emission standards. Yeah, so ...

And he brags about how his home state of New Mexico is doing more than the federal government to save the planet.

Says Richardson: "President Bush doesn't follow the Kyoto Treaty, but my state does."

Fine, whatever.

But an interviewer is not satisfied, pointedly following up saying: "But what I asked you was, 'If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?' "

We have a sneaky suspicion that the governor might be taking a shot at the media here. These mock-job-interview ads do appear to be moving the governor's numbers in the polls.

But he's avoiding a serious question about a serious topic.

Answer the question, Governor, lest we be forced to compare you to New Mexico's nutty state tree, the pinon. Don't make us go all "bark beetle" on you.

"Dead man walking?"

We're going to go out on a limb here and say that it probably wasn't McCain's dream headline when ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" program titled his Sunday-morning interview segment "Dead Man Walking?"

We don't know what he thinks about the Rocky Mountain News headline on Monday, "Downer days during campaign test McCain's mettle," but at least we gave the senator credit for breathing.

The theme was similar in both cases. This is one of those pivotal moments in McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

He came off a busy week, one when he was given credit by many analysts for a strong debate performance, only to have a big setback when the immigration bill he so loudly championed was shot down by fierce opposition from a vocal segment of the Republican base.

Meanwhile, after Giuliani announced he would skip the Iowa GOP's precious Ames Straw Poll, McCain wasted no time to follow suit. Local media made little distinction over who bailed (hay) first, and it was interpreted locally as a surrender to Romney.

Toss in a one-example "trend" story about a supporter leaving McCain's camp to back former Sen. Fred Thompson, and Stephanopoulos felt comfortable uttering the phrase "dead man walking" to McCain's face.

Which brings up an old saying: If you can't say anything nice, do you really have to put it on national television?

Read daily dispatches from the "Back Roads to the White House" at:

http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/denver/sprengelmeyer/

(Contact M.E. Sprengelmeyer at sprengelmeyerm@shns.com)