I voted for Mike Huckabee in the Florida primaries yesterday and I hope his lead in four or five states can hold up until Super Tuesday. I was almost persuaded not to vote for Huckabee over a month ago when ABC-TV ran a story on Mike Huckabee featuring an onscreen graphic that claimed the then-Arkansas governor pardoned a rapist who went on to murder two women in Missouri.

But Huckabee didn’t pardon Wayne Dumond, the rapist who was released by an Arkansas parole board. The ABC graphic read, “Huckabee’s Pardon: Rapist Struck Again After Release.” This blatant distortion appeared beneath the December 5 Good Morning America segment for two minutes and 50 seconds of a three minute plus segment. I suppose I should not be so naive to think that the media won’t engage in lies and distortions to spin the candidates’ records and positions. But shouldn’t there be more of an outcry over this?

The real issue is whether Huckabee “pressured” the parole board to make the decision to release Dumond. I’ve heard Huckabee’s version of the story and some of the parole board’s version. What people have to remember is that if it wasn’t Huckabee’s fault that this parole went forward, then it was the fault of the parole policies established under the prior governors, Bill Clinton and then Jim Guy Tucker who first commuted Wayne Dumond’s sentence.

Hmm … Who to believe? Who to believe?

But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I’m going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations … err, I mean … I did not pressure the parole board to release Wayne Dumond. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time – never. These allegations are false.

Since Tucker is dead and Bill Clinton is not likely to be blamed, ABC and “Good Morning America” should at least apologize for lying to viewers with a bold claim that Huckabee pardoned a rapist.