| I know that VERTICAL DAY will be great for HuckPAC as it is only minutes away, and I wish I could say I’m going “vertical” as well—as in flying out of Rwanda.Late last night, we were rolling down the runway for take-off from Kiglali when we lost the right engine and had to abort the take-off. Fortunately, our ground speed was only 60 mph and the pilots acted professionally and immediately shut down the take off and stopped the plane before we attempted to go wheels up. The reason I know that is because I was in the cockpit with the crew when it happened. Of all the times to be invited to sit up front for the take off in a 767, it would be last night! As we rolled, it first sounded like we had blown a tire, but passengers on the right side of the plane saw flames coming out of the engine. There was an apparent air pressure problem in the engine and we lost the engine within seconds of the critical “point of no return”. We were taken off the plane and brought back to the hotel, getting to sleep around 2am, looking for flights to get us home. The latest for me is a very long journey that will go from Rwanda to Nairobi to Paris to Atlanta and eventually to Little Rock IF—and I stress IF—all goes according to plan. I have to cancel some speeches and events, but in light of what might have been, it’s not that bad.If you saw the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” you know Don Cheadle’s character took care of the unexpected guests for over 100 days during the Genocide. Kigali is now a very safe and orderly city, but if Don Cheadle could get me a flight out of here straightway, I would be ever so grateful!The trip has been truly remarkable in being able to see a nation reborn and experiencing spiritual and economic revival. There’s still a long way to go, but yesterday we met with President Kagame for almost 4 hours and came away with real admiration for a determined leader who does not want his country to become dependent, but independent. He turns away relief efforts that do not create capacity for growth and empowerment of his own people. His refreshing view is that to simply dump money into the hands of needy people is wrong and counter-productive. He is about creating real jobs and insisting that people work and earn what they receive. I will offer updates when and if I can—often dependent on a VERY unstable internet capacity here.
Even though I am not able to participate the way I had planned, I hope you will still join me in promoting the candidates that will be posting on Huck PAC throughout the day. We have asked the candidates and supporters of Huck PAC to blog about their ideas and solutions to the problems we face. Many will also discuss their feelings and beliefs about marriage and life I hope you will visit us starting at noon today and check back in frequently throughout the day.
I also ask, and this is critical, that you promote what you read by sending posts about the candidates to friends and family. Their is a “send to a friend link” in the upper right corner of each blog post. We will track the number of friends these blogs are being sent to. We think it is a great way to show how committed we are to these candidates. Also share these blog posts with bloggers you know and encourage them to blog about what they read.
We have a chance to do something special for the candidates today, if and only if, we work together.
From Kigali (still),
Mike Huckabee
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July 23rd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Is this an elaborate ruse by team McCain? Have Huckabee seemingly stranded on the entire other side of the world and completely out of site, out of mind for the VP.
Then, Huckabee miraculously appears to accept the VP nod and McCain and Huckabee ride of happily into the sunset?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Its NOT Huckabee. I got word today. This time , no joking.
Man I was the boy who cried wolf too many times.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Brett - there is a very long list of wolf criers right now… It’s getting old IMO - I sure hope that team McCain isn’t sitting back smugly orchestrating all of this because it is way past the point of ticking off fragile base he has.
We need to get the VP pick over with so we can rally around the ticket - regardless who it is.
This is all way to reminiscent of the primaries and if team McCain really thinks that they are advantaging themselves by playing coy with the media and tossing red herrings around online, IMO they are blowing way too much political capital by tapping into the supporters of the various VP contenders.
It’s hard for me to remove my mental image of McCain laughing self-righteously when he thinks of toying with the media and the VP contendors as if they are mere pawns to be played at his whim.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Brett, I know you love Huckabee, but I would be very discouraged if it was Huckabee. Look, I saw him on Fox News as a commentator and he was very good, but he is NOT strong on fiscal matters. He is a populist/socialist-leaning Republican. I was not impressed with him in the primaries.
Thanks for reassuring me it’s not Huckabee.
I think that Huckabee has a definite place in the GOP, just not as President or V.P.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
#4 - Beth, I agree with you. (Amazing isn’t it?) just kidding!
He needs to keep on promoting Conservative leaders (Like through HuckPAC)
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Brett,
What did you hear? Did they tell you who the pick was or when it was going to be made?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Don Cheadle, he is one of the most evil characters of our day:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/international_scandal_don_cheadle
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Unfortunately, it won’t be Mr. Huckabee this time, but I will support HuckPAC candidates in the meantime.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Not Huckabee? How certain are you? If it’s not Huckabee then the next on the list for Darkhorses is Crist.
So spill the beans or feel free to speculate further please.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
#9:
It won’t be Crist. The Rasmussen poll had him at a 49% approval rating, down from 60% in early June. At this point, Crist would cost McCain Florida instead of help him.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I can’t say details on who it WILL be, but I do have it on a good source who it WON’T be. Read into that what you want.
This is not speculation.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Ok, who is crossed off the list that you know of? Just Huckabee, you have to know more than that, right?
I suspect Huckabee and Romney are crossed off the list.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
#12, I can only speak for those which I have access to. And that is 1 candidate.
But, you can say Huckabee, Jindal, Palin - any others?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Guiliani I think is unfortunately crossed off too.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Cross of Crist and Portman.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
So then it’s down to Pawlenty, Ridge, and Romney?
No wonder Newt complained about boring white guys. Atleast Huckabee wasn’t boring.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:14 pm
#16:
Don’t forget Palin. She is still on top of most lists. Plus Eric Cantor is getting some new press coverage. He is hosting a big fundraiser for McCain in NY.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I thought Palin is off the list? Is she still on it?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
So it’s Pawlenty, Ridge, Romney, Cantor, and Palin.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
The New NBC/WSJ poll has Obama +6 but has him still stuck at 47.
It also has 60% saying the most important thing for McCain’s VP is that he be strong on the economy, with another 25% saying experienced in business.
Romney does make sense for a number of reasons.
If it’s between him, Pawlenty and Ridge, there’s no question that Romney is the strongest choice.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Huckabee’s win in Iowa seems to have done more than change the Republican Presidential Primary. It seems the Iowa State Republican party is now pretty much controlled by Conservative Christians. You could certainly do a lot worse, IMHO.
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/414099.aspx
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
nowandlater,
Giuliani may well not be on the short list, as he said on the Today show, but his comments yesterday on Morning Joe do not suggest that Rudy has been ruled out.
Click here to watch the video.
Here’s the relevant Q&A…
Q. Are you being vetted?
Giuliani: I’m not being vetted.
Q. Will you take the job?
Giuliani: That’s a question you never answer unless John McCain asks you, but it’s not something I’m seeking.
Q. You’re not seeking anything. Are they seeking you?
Giuliani: I don’t believe so, but you know…
Q. Have you talked about it with John McCain in any fashion even?
Giuliani: Oh sure, but only in very general terms. And we were at the ballgame and we spent 90 percent of the time talking about the Yankees, the 2001 World Series, the game itself.
Q. When you say that you and John McCain have spoken about it in general terms. Give us a sense as to what ‘general terms’ means.
Giuliani: I’m not going to talk anymore about it. John McCain has to pick someone who will be accepted as a president, and so does Obama. I mean, the biggest fallacy in a vice presidential choice is that it wins the election for you. Actually, it’s the opposite. It loses the election for you if you don’t make the right choice. If you do make the right choice, then you give the candidate a chance to win.
Q. But under that threshold, you meet that threshold.
Giuliani: I can think of a number of people I’d recommend, other than me.
Q. What do you think he needs his running mate to bring to the table to not lose the election, but also to bring something to the table to add to it? What are the attributes?
Giuliani: Well, he’s going to pick — I’ve known John for a long time. He has really impeccable judgment and tremendous experience. He has to pick someone that, no matter what the political positions we all have, we all can accept as qualified to be president of the United States. Somebody who has the experience to step in in a moment’s notice and take over. And in a time when we’re dealing with terrorism, I think that even becomes a more heightened thing that we have. We can’t have a Roosevelt-Truman thing, where Truman didn’t know about the Manhattan Project…at least it’s reported that he didn’t.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:42 pm
OOOOooooooh that’s good news..Rudy is on the list still!!!! Yes! Our strongest electoral choice!
Rudy is not boring and he would be fantastic electorally.