By Tim Devaney The Washington Times - January 8, 2012, 01:15PM

Fox News commentator Mike Huckabee says the Republican presidential candidates seem scared to take shots at front-runner Mitt Romney and are letting him run away with the GOP nomination too easily.

“If last night was a NASCAR race, Mitt Romney had a couple of laps on everybody, and all he had to do was keep from hitting the wall,” Mr. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in the last election, told ABC’s “This Week,” after watching Saturday night’s debate.

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“It was just critical that the other candidates do what they can to dent up his car a little bit and stay close to his bumper,” Mr. Huckabee said.

Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, won the GOP caucuses in Iowa last week. He is leading the polls in New Hampshire, where the next primary vote will take place Tuesday.