WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee ripped the Bush administration’s war against terrorism Friday, delivering a bold speech that could establish the former Arkansas governor as the maverick among top Republican candidates and test his party’s loyalty to President Bush.
“This administration’s bunker mentality has been counterproductive both at home and abroad,” Mr. Huckabee said in opening a broad indictment of Mr. Bush’s style and policy.
His strong stand could give him the kind of maverick image that John McCain courted in 2000, which appeals to independent voters in states such as New Hampshire, where they can vote in the Republican primary.
But it also could turn off the majority of Republicans who still like Mr. Bush.
