Huckabee & Dolly Parton's 32AA Bra

Yes, you read this post's title correctly. There is a link. Or at least an alleged link. Apparently, according to The New Republic Mike Huckabee has a colorful habit of feuding with journalists. For example, once when a reporter filed a Freedom-of-Information-Request (FOIA) to obtain a copy of then-Lieutenant Governor Mike Huckabee's vacation schedule, Huckabee himself responded on official stationary, retorting:

"If you have singled out the only Republican among constitutional officers for this special 'honor,' then you've really disguised your intentions about as effectively as trying to hide Dolly Parton in a 32AA bra.

"Now for the record," Huckabee had written in a letter mailed two days earlier, "let me tell you where I have been this week." Huckabee explained that he was off to enroll his three kids in school and to spend a couple of days "reflecting and relaxing with friends" while celebrating his fortieth birthday. "For the first time in my adult life, I left instructions with my staff not to disturb me unless it was an emergency. I was in touch . . . but asked not to be disturbed."

Feisty. Colorful. A family man defending his family. Yup, all that. Also ironic.Consider this passage, notes TNR, form Huckabee's autobiography Character Makes a Difference:

"Several points are helpful in dealing with the media. One is not to be afraid," he writes. "If a newspaper reporter doesn't like you, there may be nothing you can do to change that. You have to be ready to counter it with other information outlets."

That's good advice. Possibly borne more from experience than practice. As the adage goes..."Don't pick a fight with he who buys ink by the barrel."

And about that FOIA request response, Huckabee cut his vacation a day short to issue his pithy response to the reporter, adding:

"I'm sure you're delighted to discover that you effectively ruined what had otherwise been a really nice week in my life," he wrote. "Given the tone of your writing, you're just the kind of person who would truly take pleasure in such a thing.

[...]

"If you are so juvenile as to FOIA my schedule as a result of your not getting my staff to call me away from my family on my birthday so you can get information you could use against me in a column, then do it. I frankly don't give a rat's rear as to your regard for me as a public official, because you apparently will never overcome your boorish behavior toward those whose opinions you cannot challenge on a responsible or intellectual basis.

[...]

"You appear to fantasize yourself a champion of ethics in government officials, and especially imagine yourself as somewhat of a bulldog when it comes to questioning the integrity of those whose opinion differ from the Democrat party. You fail to consider that there is also something to be said for ethics in journalism, and from my own journalism training dating back to junior high (you forgot that I have actually worked in broadcast news), I was reminded that the power to report must be balanced with the responsibility to report fairly, objectively, and accurately." "Yes, I'm being harsh. You've earned it.

As a statewide elected official, taking the time to personally respond to FOIA requests could be seen has simply really good customer service. Or...simply petty and thin-skinned.

Huckabee, who went to Ouachita Baptist University studying Speech & Communications clearly knows his way around public relations and message framing. He's a talented communicator. What's not so clear is where the line between policy-driven fighter and short-tempered tantrums is drawn.