Dealing with attack ads

I was watching clips of Mike Huckabee responding to his critics this afternoon. He basically said you can listen to the lying attack ads against him but you should remember that if the candidate
who will lie to get into office will lie after being elected to office too.

It wa a good soundbite. Unfortunately, Huckabee gave no answers to what were some very significant objections to his campaign.

I know nothing about campaigning, but rather than calling one's opponent a liar or saying--as another candidate did--that his opponent's position would likely change tomorrow and that his opponent was in a tailspin, wouldn't it be better to use a kind of verbal "judo" against attack ads?

In other words, why not use attack ads to your benefit by explaining how your opponent has deliberately misrepresented you or twisted your message, and then use the opportunity to better explain what your position really is? Then let your audience draw their own conclusions about the honesty--or lack thereof--on the part of your opponent?

On the other hand, maybe that's just the nature of TV news. If you give more than a soundbite, you won't get air time.