And Then Rollins Wants To Kick Him In The Ribs

(a younger Rollins on the left with the late great Lee Atwater in the center in 1984)

The Drudge headline reads:
HUCKABEE CHAIRMAN: 'I WANT KNOCK OUT ROMNEY'S TEETH!'

washpost article: As Huckabee Pulls Ad, Rollins, For Once, Must Pull a Punch

"I admire the fact he's trying to change the environment," Rollins says. "What I have to do is make sure that my anger with a guy like Romney, whose teeth I want to knock out, doesn't get in the way of my thought process."

what you need to know:

"The negatives feel good," says Ed Rollins, the onetime wunderkind of the Reagan White House and now, at 64, the national campaign chairman for upstart Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. "It's like being a boxer when you're young. To me, hitting somebody, knocking somebody down, is a great feeling. Firing out a negative ad just feels amazing."

Ed Rollins is a bad ass campaign manager. His autobiography, Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics, is a masterpiece in describing campaigns and politicians. The description from Amazon.com says it best:

A consummate political operative, Ed Rollins has ridden high and ridden low. The political director of Ronald Reagan's White House in 1981, he enjoyed overwhelming success. But the weirdness of the Ross Perot campaign sent him reeling, and his stint running Christine Todd Whitman's gubernatorial campaign resulted in a grand jury investigation. Through it all, Rollins picked up a wealth of juicy and humorous material, which he is willing to share--holding nothing back. He calls Perot a "paranoid lunatic on an ego trip" and Arianna Huffington "ruthless and unscrupulous." An enjoyable and educational book from an outspoken insider who reveals the viciousness of modern politics.

I read the book several years ago and it has been a great resource and place to get laughs. His adventure with the Huffingtons almost got him out of politics because they were such schmucks.
As for the punching out remark. Rollins uses his pugilist background as a constant reference and motivation as a campaign manger. He goes for the knockout and win. Ed likes to use the on-two and follow with an uppercut that'll leave on the political mat. So do not take the words literally, take it politically. And read the book if ever get free time.