GOP candidates argue over who is most authentic

Mike Huckabee says he is a real hunter, not a varmint-plinking phony like Mitt Romney.

In fact, Huckabee said, not only had he hunted varmints himself -- in addition to deer, ducks, antelopes and, now, pheasants -- but he also was an experienced varmint-eater, having downed his share of fried squirrel, biscuits and Coke as a college student.

"I figured out you could put grease in a popcorn popper and heat that thing up, and you could cook anything," he said in an interview. "So we fried squirrel."

And with that the contest for the world's most powerful job centered not on policy and substance in the run-up to next week's Iowa caucuses, but on the question of authenticity.

As if two-terms' worth of George W. Bush wasn't enough, the Republicans have turned back to the "Regular Guy" chapter of the presidential campaign playbook. They're trying to sell us another Chief Executive who might not know anything about anything, but is definitely somebody you'd want to have a beer with. Or munch on some squirrel with.

On Wednesday, Huckabee's message was not subtle. Wearing an orange-and-gray hunting jacket and an orange cap, he told reporters gathered on an ice-covered field that he brought a "level of authenticity and credibility to the campaign."

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But Romney ceded no ground on the point of authenticity Wednesday, instead arguing that he was the lone true conservative in the GOP field. His calls for tax cuts and a strict crackdown on illegal immigration, he said, set him apart.

While campaigning in New Hampshire, Romney noted that McCain's opposition in the Senate to President Bush's tax cuts proved that he didn't "learn the lesson of Reagan 101 that lowering taxes builds the economy."

I saw a dude with a license plate that read: "Playa."

I thought, if you have to say it, you ain't one.

I think the same principle applies to Republicans who go to such lengths to demonstrate they're just like the rest of us. Bush's marketing team succeeded wildly on that front, and look how that turned out.

Buyer beware.