Foes: Mitt a dishonest pig

  The Republican scramble the past 24 hours finds Mike Huckabee calling Mitt Romney "dishonest" regarding his record and John McCain referring to Romney as a pig. The Globe's Michael Kranish, on McCain's bus yesterday, asked how McCain would respond to Romney's increasing attacks Globe report. McCain replied, "Never get into a wrestling match with a pig. You both get dirty -- and the pig likes it." McCain has response ads, of course, which cite his many New Hampshire newspaper endorsements, the most recent being the Concord Monitor and the Nashua Telegraph. The Monitor and the Union Leader endorsements of McCain counter the newspapers' stinging critiques of Romney as a phony, say-anything candidate. The McCain ad, Romney said yesterday, was "nasty." The primary mud season is here. The candidates may wallow with glee.