I joined a Mike Huckabee conference call about his upcoming book, “Do the Right Thing.” Among the highlights:
- Huckabee said it’s too early to declare for 2012. Was anyone expecting different?
- Regarding the controversy over Huckabee’s statements on Mitt Romney, Huckabee stated the book is not a slam piece on 2008. He does discuss Romney, Thompson, and others to set the record straight as to what happened behind the scenes. However, Huckabee said the book is not focused on “lamenting the past” but ideas for the future as well as being an overall positive book focusing on the achievements of a remarkable group of people who with little money and resources achieved great results as well as a vision for conservatism’s future.
I don’t know how you’re really and truly shocked that Huckabee would have a discouraging word about Romney. It seems Inspector Reneauesque:
This was a book that discussed the campaign. There’s been a lot said about Huckabee and his effort. The Huckabee-Romney dynamic was a huge part of that. There have been many explanations for what happened in the campaign that have been offered up by De Facto Romney surrogates. I give Huckabee credit for putting his name to his criticisms. I think it’s particularly relevant that people understand some of the whys of this campaign as well as what’s happened with some Christian Conservative leaders who are off-track.
Huckabee stated his belief that adults could handle the truth, and I think they can. Huckabee noted Romney’s spokesman didn’t deny Huckabee’s claims, merely got ticked at Huckabee for making.
- Some interesting Huckabee chapter titles, “Politically Homeless”, “Welcome to Washington, DC: Roach Motel” and “Big Ideas Not Just Big Government,” “Elections by Ebay.” Good titles, I pre-ordered the book in July and look forward to reading it.
- Huckabee made the case for Chip Saltsman for RNC Chairman, and went beyond Saltsman being Huckabee’s campaign manager, but rather pointed to Saltsman’s ability at new media, along with his success running a shoestring effort.
- How hard did Huckabee campaign for McCain? He lost his voice on the last day of the campaign. Not even McCain did that.
- Huckabee when asked why the GOP lost was careful not to blame McCain personally, but he said the GOP lost not because of our principles but because we failed to articulate them and failed to govern. High federal spending and the bail out belied conservative talk of fiscal conservatism. He also thought that articulating a message woiuld have been more effective than the time spent on issues like Wright and Ayers that obviously didn’t connect with the American people.
- Regarding the last campaign, Huckabee stated he would have done his campaign differently in terms of where time was spent. He opted to go to Michigan after New Hampshire rather than camping out in South Carolina as Fred Thompson did. This allowed Thompson to surge to third and led to Huckabee’s narrow loss when combined with a snowstorm in a Huckabee stronhold in Greenville, SC.
- Huckabee’s main message of the book, “Do the right thing” is the centrality of cultural conservativism. “It’s impossible to seperate the morality of a country from the economics of a country. “Over 10 1/2 years as Governor, Huckabee learned, “The cost of government is tied directly to the breakdown of the family.” To those who would like to just talk economics, Huckabee says that as a practical matter, “You can’t reduce government, if people are irresponsible.” He challenges critics who believes the issues are seperate to answer his argument and to “Tell me how there is no connection” between the moral and economic states of the nation.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
“You can’t reduce government, if people are irresponsible.”
L
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November 17th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Huck 2012
November 17th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Alex,
If Huckabee is a liberal, I suppose no conservative will ever be elected president. In the statement you quoted, Huck is advocating both personal responsibility and a reduction in the size of government, although he makes the second dependent on the first. I’m not defending the man (I hope we’ve seen the last of him as a serious presidential candidate), but that’s a pretty tough ideological test you’re imposing.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Huck is on Hannity and repeating the same lies.
He says he cut taxes 94 times, whichi s technically true, but when you net it all out, it was a huge tax increase. He broke all of Clinton’s tax and spend records.
He shamelessly said that people supported him because of his candor and saying what he really believes, even though his record on immigration as governor was far to the left of even Hillary or Obama, and he flip flopped on the issue.
He just cannot help himself when it somes to making remarks about Romney. Huckabee is driven by personality differences, not by policy.
The same Huck lies just never go away, its as if he believes that he can lie and lie and over time he will be believed. Not if I can help it.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
3, look at the record in AR. NO attempt to reign in spending, broke all of Clinton’s spending records, took thousands of dollars as “gifts” from special interests, attacked members of the legislature in his own party for wanting to limit the growth of government and cut taxes. He talks conservative now, he talked conservative while running for Gov in AR. He did not govern that way.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
“You can’t reduce government, if people are irresponsible.” Huck the liberals.
There is no consequence for being irresponsible if you do not reduce the size of government. Any real conservative.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Breaking: Hillary accepts Sec State job.
Given the alternative of John Kerry, I think this is a good thing.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I’ll hand it to Huck, he is talented. How many people can actually shovel horse manuer through phone lines?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
If Huckabee is a liberal, I suppose no conservative will ever be elected president. In the statement you quoted, Huck is advocating both personal responsibility and a reduction in the size of government, although he makes the second dependent on the first. I’m not defending the man (I hope we’ve seen the last of him as a serious presidential candidate), but that’s a pretty tough ideological test you’re imposing.
Are you kidding me? You’re not considering the repercussions of what he’s saying. It’s consistent with his “libertarianism is worse than liberalism” message. Of course he’d think that: he thinks that government knows best. It’s antithetical to American conservatism. Huckabee is a classical conservative, an advocate of a strong state that does all it can to preserve order, tradition, and morality, rather than letting individuals decide what’s best for their life — an American tradition. He, like American liberals, thinks that Government Knows Best. At least liberals try to keep government out of the bedroom, though. Huckabee advocates big government in economics and in social affairs. Throw in his instinctual dovishness (shut down Guantanamo, Bush’s foreign policy mindset was an “arrogant bunker mentality,” and implying that exporting democracy can’t be done) and we’ve got an all-around loser. He’s horrifying, but at least he’ll never win. Give me Obama over Huckabee.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Adam, you said “Huckabee stated his belief that adults could handle the truth, and I think they can. Huckabee noted Romney’s spokesman didn’t deny Huckabee’s claims, merely got ticked at Huckabee for making.”
When someone calls you black when you’re obviously not, do you bother denying it? If someone calls you every name in the book, do you enumerate the many reasons as to WHY you are NOT worthy of those foul names?
Don’t make me come over there and beat you with a wet noodle, Adam.
With this sort of logic, anyone accused of anything is guilty as charged unless they categorically deny everything.
Revisiting the primary battles is “being a man?” I think it takes a man to swallow one’s pride and let bygones be exactly that. Isn’t that What Jesus Would Have Us Do?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Breaking: Hillary accepts Sec State job. Given the alternative of John Kerry, I think this is a good thing.
I’m rather pleased that Ms. Oliberate-Iran-If-It-Tries-Any-Funny-Stuff-and-Don’t-Grant-Legitimacy-to-Crackpot-Dictators is to be our next Secretary of State. Not a bad first pick, Obama. Given the alternatives of Kerry and Richardson, this is wonderful news. Also shows — so far — that Obama’s not considering endorsements when handing out cabinet posts.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
#8: Well said.
Huck is absolutely pathetic on defense and fiscal issues. The only segment of the party he ever connected with was die-hard socons, and the only way he did that was by exploiting the tax-exempt status of churches and their pastors in a barely (il)legal way.
He ran a race full of lies, distortions, half-truths, personal and religious attacks, and identity politics at their absolute worst – and then has the nerve to come out with a book claiming he did the right thing… all the while being slighted by every one of his opponents, who of course all lacked the integrity he possessed.
How many other ‘08 also-rans do you see turning their defeat into a book deal? Huck has shown what a small man he is today. Here’s hoping he decides not to run in 2012 and saves the GOP further embarrassment.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hard to believe I’d be pleased at Hillary Clinton being selected for a powerful post. Wow, the Obama Presidency has sure got my expectations low to be able to please me with that pick.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
The recriminations from Camp Romney have come through other sources including his own children, towards Governor Huckabee. I don’t think the Romneyite battle against Huckabee ever ended from a lot of folks with very close ties to Governor Romney.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Has anyone figured out what will happen in NY now that Sen. Clinton will be giving up her Senate seat?
Should Rudy run for Senate instead of Governor in 2010?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
He ran a race full of lies, distortions, half-truths, personal and religious attacks, and identity politics at their absolute worst – and then has the nerve to come out with a book claiming he did the right thing… all the while being slighted by every one of his opponents, who of course all lacked the integrity he possessed.
The best part was his OJ-style “If I Did It” with the negative ad press conference.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
15 – No. That seat isn’t open until 2012…unless a special election is called. Someone look up the rules for me. I’m too lazy. And I’m about to go get some food.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
huck can’t let go of the romney thing. i don’t want a vindictive person in office, there’s enough already.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Let Huck make some money peddling his book.. Other people financed his PAC and his presidential run, why not charge them more by selling them a book about the whole thing? Guess he has to pay the bills. I have more respect for a man who earns his money by creating jobs and rescuing businesses.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Huckabee had to write a book. Since he’s not preaching for profit anymore, he needs other gigs to bring in the cash. I hope he
makes lots and lots of money so he can finally go into retirement.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Alex, I forgot about that one. If I did it, indeed! Funny stuff.
He’s the best darn “what, who me?” guy I’ve ever seen.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Rudy should run for governor of NY in 2010…i believe the current gov of ny picks a replacement who is up for special election in 2009 to fill the seat till 2012. If i were the clintons, i would suggest bill get picked as her replacement but it probably doesn’t happen.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Hillary as SoS is a pretty shrewd move by Obama, I must grudgingly acknowledge. He will now consolidate his power by bringing the millions of PUMAs back into the fold. But, with the right candidate, we might be able to appeal to the PUMAs – they may be the key for electoral success in 2012.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Adam Graham, you are stinking kidding me. The Romneyite battles against Huckabee!?!
Ha, ha.
Have we been watching the same primary, and general?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Are you kidding me, Adam?
Is Huckabee really blaming “an act of God” for his 2nd place finish in South Carolina?????
“Regarding the last campaign, Huckabee stated he would have done his campaign differently in terms of where time was spent. He opted to go to Michigan after New Hampshire rather than camping out in South Carolina as Fred Thompson did. This allowed Thompson to surge to third and led to Huckabee’s narrow loss when combined with a snowstorm in a Huckabee stronhold in Greenville, SC.”
November 17th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
“The best part was his OJ-style “If I Did It” with the negative ad press conference.”
Right you are Alex. That press conference was the best spectacle of the Republican primaries. I thought to myself can this guy be for real? How can he get away with this?
Alas, he certainly did get away with it.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Don’t forget Huck’s support for cap and trade, tax dollars for illegals, faith-based criminal rehabilitation, and nanny state!
November 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hillary as SoS is a pretty shrewd move by Obama, I must grudgingly acknowledge. He will now consolidate his power by bringing the millions of PUMAs back into the fold. But, with the right candidate, we might be able to appeal to the PUMAs – they may be the key for electoral success in 2012.
THERE ARE NO PUMAS!
November 17th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Rudy’s best bet for a relaunch to the POTUS would be from the NY Governor’s seat, not the Senate.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
#15,
Regarding Hilary’s seat. She’ll quit to work full-time in Obama’s cabinet. The remainder of her term will be filled by appointment from the Liberal NY Governor. In 2012 or whenever the 6 yr term is up, the appointee will be an incumbent running against some Republican.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Rudy’s best bet for a relaunch to the POTUS would be from the NY Governor’s seat, not the Senate.
What’s he gonna do, get sworn in in January 2011 and then announce a presidential run three months later? If he runs for Governor, he’s not running for the presidency. If he doesn’t announce for Governor, then he may be running again.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Maybe Romney will take over GM for a couple of years. If he turns it around, he would be a shoe in if the economy is still lagging.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
#31
I was thinking more like 2016.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
BJWitts – interesting idea.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
#32
I was thinking that exact thing the other day. Would be a very gutsy move for Mitt and would do his dad’s legacy proud.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
How old is Rudy? I still can’t figure out why he ran such a lousy campaign. He simply gave up.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
The “lousy” campaign was really the only campaign Rudy could have run without caving in to religious conservative voters on abortion. He wasn’t willing to do that, and got pushed out of the spotlight when Iowa gave him a 6th or 7th place finish (I forget) in the caucuses.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I was thinking more like 2016.
Too old.
The “lousy” campaign was really the only campaign Rudy could have run without caving in to religious conservative voters on abortion. He wasn’t willing to do that, and got pushed out of the spotlight when Iowa gave him a 6th or 7th place finish (I forget) in the caucuses.
If Huck would have won SC, then McCain would have been done, Crist and Martinez would have endorsed Rudy, and Rudy may just have won Florida, propelling him to a Super Tuesday win — oh, coulda shoulda woulda, y’know?
November 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Martha,
Rudy is 64 and would be a little younger than McCain if he ran in 2016.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I blame Fred Thompson.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I do, too.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
“Maybe Romney will take over GM for a couple of years. If he turns it around, he would be a shoe in if the economy is still lagging.”
That would be great, I don’t think that even Romney could break the union stranglehold killing off our automotive industry. Unions won’t stop till they bankrupt that industry. Just like the airline industry, public schools, and now our entire manufacturing base, union monopolies put our industries at such a huge global competitive disadvantage.
Check out this article outlining how the unions are killing Detriot. Did you know with benefits the union worker makes North of $70/hr? Contrast that to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, BMW, Daimler, Hyundaiay and others who make their cars for the US market in the US for pay significantly less for the same or better benefits.
Romney would have to break the Unions to save the industry. The liberals want to prolong the inevitable with my tax dollars to kickback to their constituency. Liberals always pay their friends with my tax dollar. After all, that is what makes them a liberal.
Check both those links, the stats are quite striking..
November 17th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
(I’m re-posting my last post to w/out links to avoid moderation)
“Maybe Romney will take over GM for a couple of years. If he turns it around, he would be a shoe in if the economy is still lagging.”
That would be great, I don’t think that even Romney could break the union stranglehold killing off our automotive industry. Unions won’t stop till they bankrupt that industry. Just like the airline industry, public schools, and now our entire manufacturing base, union monopolies put our industries at such a huge global competitive disadvantage.
Check out this article outlining how the unions are killing Detriot. Did you know with benefits the union worker makes North of $70/hr? Contrast that to Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, BMW, Daimler, Hyundaiay and others who make their cars for the US market in the US for pay significantly less for the same or better benefits.
Romney would have to break the Unions to save the industry. The liberals want to prolong the inevitable with my tax dollars to kickback to their constituency. Liberals always pay their friends with my tax dollar. After all, that is what makes them a liberal.
Check both those links, the stats are quite striking..
(links omitted)
Anyone know how to embed links on this site w/o moderation?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
cwpete, change it to “h++p” and, if it still doesn’t work, get rid of the dot-html and any slashes.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
How hard did Huckabee campaign for McCain? He lost his voice on his TV show. Can you say ” NOT ” ?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Alex, that is “H plus plus P”
I’ll try here without the dot-html and here with the h++P. We’ll see if it works.
November 17th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Alex, that is “H plus plus P”
I’ll try here without the dot-html. We’ll see if that works.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
For all the Facebookers on here Huckabee for Senate group: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=8947&post=305490&uid=2208211036#/group.php?gid=44075586893
November 17th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Huckabee simple has no class.
If he did, he would have let it go! I have never heard any one call to congrat someone for a single primary win. Big deal.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I know that there are people here who don’t care for Huck or Romney, but even the Huck supporters surely must admit that there are only a few things you can go after Romney on, but a truckload of material on Huck. I mean, there is so much, I can’t remember it all! He has more disqualifiers than any candidate I’ve ever seen.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Huckabee is absolutely right when he says the morality and economics go together.
A moral country keeps the taxes low. A permissive society leads to malignant growth in big government. Society has higher taxes and welfare to fix all the broken people that come from boken families and everyone works harder to get back to zero. A decadent permissive society leads to big government in the form of needing all kinds of undertakers, nurses, technicians, psychologists, police, medical professionals for every disease, construction workers, glass repairers, etc.
Simply put, the ten commandments keep taxes low.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Huckabee came off very reasoned – let’s not skewer the guy and ignore his points. Nothing in that post was devoted to rehashing the old war with Romney, rather it was all forward-looking. Give the guy a little credit, where credit is due.
And he’s absolutely right when he states that if the people are better in their conduct society is better off as a whole and less government is necessary. The only people who can be truly free are those that are so bound to correct behavior, manners, and mutual respect that government structure is no longer needed as an incentive for good behavior, being replaced entirely by morality.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:09 am
47 – wrong that is the norm – especially the first one of the season (actually a caucas).
Mitt was obviously in extreme shock that all that money he had invested had gone down the drain and that some weird southern candidate with no national following had just beaten him easily.
THAT WAS NOT IN THE BUSINESS PLAN – thought Mitt.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Heath.#51
Assuming that it was a mistake for Romney to congratulate Huckabee on national TV and not by personal phone call, was it a mistake Romney made twice? He WAS the very first time he had ever lost a caucus or primary after all.
“Never ascribe to malice that which can be attributed to stupidity”
November 18th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Con Con
Condoleeza Rice Conservative
November 18th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I feel so bad for Adam Graham here, folks.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:43 am
It isn’t just here. I frequent a number of conservative and/or Republican sites. Yes, you see Palin bashers and Romney bashers and Giuliani bashers, etc. Everyone comes into criticism from non-supporters. But one thing I’ve noticed is that Huckabee gets it from all sides. Far fewer supporters of other candidates stick up for Huckabee than they do for other candidates..
November 18th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
marK – Huckabee deserves every bit of it, and more. He’s the slimiest guy to run on our side in recent memory.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
It’s funny that you guys would point on that Romney maybe could lead GM and bring them back to profitability. Unfortunately, I can see exactly how this would play out:
Sometimes companies need ‘hard medicine’, scaling back operations, changing focus, perhaps cutting employees. In business, it’s more important to save the business and get it profitable again than it is to keep some employees and stay in the red. I can see Romney taking over, concluding that lay-offs are necessary, ultimately saving the company and making it more profitable but if ever trying for a political future, his opponents would parrot the line over and over again about how he cut jobs. We already saw this happen: despite an enormous net gain of jobs during his entire business career, many Huck sites, and Huckabee himself talked about how Romney was responsible for people loosing their jobs.
Sadly, this is exactly what I want in a leader, one who is willing to take action that nobody likes but is necessary. One that is responsible in government and can make those hard, but unpopular decisions. That is what it will take to truly cut taxes and budgets in government. Unfortunately, I don’t think Huckabee understands this and he’s already criticized it. True leaders are ones that can make these kinds of decisions.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Why would anyone even buy a book about a primary campaign written by one of many losers? I don’t get it. Huckabee must have some warped sense of self-importance.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
#57… Yeah I agree with ya there. I’m a member of Free Republic and the same crap about Huckabee comes up there too, almost virtually unchallenged. Its just kinda sad cause there are lots of conservatives out there that I know who stand up for Huckabee.