Fred Thompson had a great article over at Townhall today. It’s basically a suck it up and get it together piece.
He’s right. It’s time to drop these battles from the primaries and focus on the big picture, which should be recovering from the humiliating defeat the GOP just recieved at the hand of the democrats and get it’s act together.
To do so, the party has to seperate the leaders from the loudmouths.
Haley Barbour recently echoed the same sentiments in this speech-(HT to Kleinheider):
“I have looked down at the grave of the Republican Party and this ain’t it,” assured Mississippi Gov. and 90s-era RNC chairman Haley Barbour, “I’ve seen it a lot worse.”
Mitt Romney is doing his part, as highlighted by Kavon in this post.
Barbour also said it best here:
“Anybody here tonight who’s talking about the 2012 presidential election needs to get their eye on the ball”
What these leaders shouldn’t be having to do, whether it be Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin, Fred Thompson, or whomever, is have to defend themselves from primary battles that some people still can’t get over.
Which brings me back to a certain person who qualifies as a loudmouth.
I have tried to lay off this person since the end of the primary season. I admitted that I was a little bit harsh on the guy, and that even though I stood by everything I said about him, I was willing to back off and give him some time to heal his wounds. But sadly, no…
Jaz over at I Politico sums up my thoughts perfectly:
Just when I start to think that Mike Huckabee might be worthwhile, he begins to unravel and undermine any notion that he has something positive to contribute to the conservative movement.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but like a recurring bad dream, Governor Mike Huckabee won’t let me forget The Huckster. So, once again, it is time for Tommy Oliver to don his R412 cape, and stand up to the mouth of the south.
The gloves have come off again…
Huckabee just can’t take a hint. Sorry Hucksoldiers, I’m not a Romney or Palin supporter, so you can’t blame their crowds. In fact, I’m not supporting anyone yet, but neither of the afore mentioned candidates is one that I am leaning towards at this time. If I were to pick one, at this time, I would probably say Jindal, but it’s a long time before I’m willing to throw my support behind him, or anyone else. To make things a little more clear for you, I’m also not anti-socon, although I’m not a purist on that matter.
However, while Governor Romney is doing exactly what I would expect any good Republican to do, which is trying to help Saxby Chambliss get elected, the Huckster strikes again. Of course, Huck is not in Georgia, as he is currently tied up with his book tour.
So, Mitt Romney has to take time out from campaigning for a fellow republican to respond to the Huck’s temper tantrum in a timely, and mature fashion:
Romney, Huckabee, writes, was “anything but conservative until he changed the light bulbs in his chandelier in time to run for president.”
At another point, Huckabee portrays a Romney proposal to encourage more investment in the market as, “Let them eat stocks!”
The former Arkansas governor also takes a shot at Fred Thompson – who ensured his defeat in the pivotal South Carolina primary – as well as those evangelical leaders who didn’t get behind his bid.
But none of these people may emerge again in four years as political rivals of Huckabee.
Asked to respond, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Huckabee was acting small.
“This type of pettiness is beneath Mike Huckabee,” Fehrnstrom. “If we’re going to move the party forward, we need to offer more than personal recriminations. Unfortunately, in this book, Mike Huckabee is consumed with presumed slights, and he seems more interested in settling scores than in bringing people together.”
Clubforgrowth are not as forgiving as the Romney camp, though.
But what really pisses me off, although I do find somewhat amusing, is that Huck apparently can’t accept that he doesn’t have a monopoly on Jesus.
Doug Mataconis found this gem from the upcoming issue of Time Magazine:
Many conservative Christian leaders — who never backed Huckabee, despite their holding similar stances on social issues — are spared neither the rod nor the lash. Huckabee writes of Gary Bauer, the conservative Christian leader and former presidential candidate, as having an “ever-changing reason to deny me his support.” Of one private meeting with Bauer, Huckabee says, “It was like playing Whac-a-Mole at the arcade — whatever issue I addressed, another one surfaced as a ‘problem’ that made my candidacy unacceptable.” He also accuses Bauer of putting national security before bedrock social issues like the sanctity of life and traditional marriage.
Huckabee describes other elders of the social-conservative movement, many of whom meet in private as part of an organization called the Arlington Group, as “more enamored with the process, the political strategies, and the party hierarchy than with the simple principles that had originally motivated the Founders.” Later, Huckabee writes, “I lamented that so many people of faith had moved from being prophetic voices — like Naaman, confronting King David in his sin and saying, ‘Though art the man!’ — to being voices of patronage, and saying to those in power, ‘You da’ man!’ ”
He calls out Pat Robertson, the Virginia-based televangelist, and Dr. Bob Jones III, chancellor of Bob Jones University in South Carolina, for endorsing Rudy Giuliani and Romney, respectively. He also has words for the Texas-based Rev. John Hagee, who endorsed the more moderate John McCain in the primaries, as someone who was drawn to the eventual Republican nominee because of the lure of power. Huckabee says he spoke to Hagee by phone before the McCain endorsement while preparing for a spot on Saturday Night Live. “I asked if he had prayed about this and believed this was what the Lord wanted him to do,” Huckabee writes of the conversation. “I didn’t get a straight answer.” Months later, McCain rejected Hagee’s endorsement because of controversial remarks the pastor had made about biblical interpretations.
So, apparently, Christians must bow down to the alter of Huck. This coming from the same man who famously claimed that a lawmaker from his own state:
Huckabee opposed a Republican lawmaker’s efforts in 2005 to require proof of legal status when applying for state services that aren’t federally mandated and proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Huckabee derided the bill as un-American and un-Christian and said the bill’s sponsor drank a different “Jesus juice.”
Well, I guess there are a lot of Christians who ain’t drinking the same “Jesus Juice” as the political pastor. Maybe in his own little world he is like Jesus, refusing to bow down and kiss the rings of the Temple Rabbis Christian leaders.
What Huckabee can’t accept are the reasons why folks like Gary Bauer, whom I have had the priviledge of speaking with and who has my undying respect, or Pat Robertson don’t drink from the same carpenter’s cup that he does, prefering the golden chalice instead. It couldn’t be because of his past record, now could it?
Huck’s staunchest supporters like to bring up the fact that he had to govern from the left because Arkansas is a traditionally liberal state.
What they conveniently forget is that Bill Clinton was even more of a fiscal conservative than Huckabee, when he was governor of Arkansas:
- Imposed an income tax surcharge of 3 percent on tax liabilities of individuals and domestic and foreign corporations (Act 38, 1st special session of 2003). (It was temporary until revenues improved. The legislature repealed it in 2005.)
- Increased the sales tax by 1/8 of one percent by initiated act (but it was a personal campaign by Huckabee, who campaigned across the state for it and took a celebrated bass boat trip for 4 days down the Arkansas River holding press conferences in each river city to urge passage of the act)
- Increased the sales tax by one-half of 1 percent (Act 1492 of 1999)
- Increased the sales tax by 7/8ths of 1 percent and expand the sales tax to many services previously exempt from the tax (Act 107, 2nd special session of 2003)
- Collected a 2 percent tax on chewing tobacco, cigars, package tobacco, cigarette papers and snuff (Act 434 of 1997)
- Levied an additional excise tax of 7 percent on tobacco (Act 38 of 1st special session of 2003)
- Increased the tax on cigarette and tobacco permits (Act 1337 of 1997)
- Increased the tax on cigarette and tobacco – cigarettes by $1.25 per thousand cigarettes and 2 percent of the manufacturers’ selling price on tobacco products (Act 434 of 1997)
- Increased the tax on cigarettes by 25 cents a pack (Act 38, 1st special session of 2003)
- Levied a 3 percent excise tax on all retail sales of beer (Act 1841 of 2001 and extended by Act 272 of 2003 and Act 2188 of 2005)
- Revived the 4 percent mixed drink tax of 1989 and added a 4 percent tax on private clubs (Act 1274 of 2005)
- Increased the tax on gasoline by 3 cents a gallon (Act 1028 of 1999)
- Increased the tax on diesel by 4 cents a gallon (Act 1028 of 1999) Note: Contrary to what Huckabee has said repeatedly in debates, speeches and TV shows, the 1999 gasoline and diesel taxes were not submitted to the voters and approved by 80 per cent of them. It was never submitted to a vote. It was the governor’s bill and it became law without a vote of the people. What the voters did approve in 1999 was a bond issue for interstate highway reconstruction but it did not involve a tax increase. Existing taxes and federal receipts were pledged to retire the bonds.
- Increased the driver’s license by $6 a person, from $14 to $20 (Act 1500 of 2001)
As I pointed out last January in this post:
Huckabee’s problems with fiscal conservatives have been well documented. By now, everyone knows about his career grade of a “D” from the CATO Institute (the same grade another former Arkansas Governor received… Bill Clinton), and most know about his problems with the Club for Growth. So, has Huckabee just been given the short end of the stick? 21 tax increases went into effect, increasing tax revenue by almost $890 million under Governor Huckabee. These increases include the income tax, the sales tax, a cigarette tax, and a gas tax. Not only did he raise taxes, spending “more than doubled under Huckabee. “During Huckabee’s 10 years as governor, state spending more than doubled, from $6.6 billion to $16.1 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006.”
That’s not the only reason some Christians may not lean in the direction of the coming and the glory of the Huck.
There are plenty of other reasons that I spent months highlighting, like his mindboggling support for big government programs that he had to flip flop on like this one:
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has reversed his position on a federal ban aimed at workplace smoking and now believes the issue should be addressed by state and local governments.
The about-face is apparent in a Huckabee campaign statement, sent to The Hill Tuesday evening in response to questions about the smoking ban proposal. It clashes with the stance Huckabee has taken during his race for the White House and with his record as governor of Arkansas, when he signed into law a measure prohibiting smoking in most indoor public places.
Or his flip flop on immigration for political expediency:
Huckabee said his faith leads him to take positions on issues — like immigration — that “tend to be a little unconventional.” On immigration, Huckabee aligns himself with President Bush rather than more conservative elements of the Republican Party, favoring a “pathway to citizenship” for those who at one time entered the United States illegally.
In 2005, Huckabee was quite vocal in his opposition to strengthen citizen verification procedures for employers and voting and cut off public assistance to illegal immigrants. He even went as far as describing the plan as “race baiting.” Huckabee said “Companies controlled by overseas corporations could feel they are unwanted in Arkansas if the Legislature approves an immigration measure now before it.” He described it as “inflammatory, race-baiting… demagoguery.” The bill forbade public assistance and voting rights to illegal immigrants. The Governor also went as far as to say, “(The Bill) inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there’s a real problem… But there’s not.”
What about his flip flop on the Cuba embargo?
MIAMI — As governor of Arkansas five years ago, Mike Huckabee joined a bipartisan chorus of politicians who concluded that the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was bad for businesses. Now that he’s a top-tier candidate for president, Huckabee has decided he favors the embargo — so much so that he vowed Monday to outdo even President Bush in strangling the regime of Cuban President Fidel Castro and punishing those who do business there.
It was a change of heart sure to please hard-liners among the Cuban exiles who could make up 10% or more of the electorate in Florida’s crucial Jan. 29 Republican primary. But it also reflected the latest move by a once-obscure candidate now grappling with how to transform a burst of momentum into a sustainable bid for the White House.
Huckabee’s Cuba flip-flop comes just days after he released a new, hard-line plan on illegal immigration described as “radical” by some of the same immigrant-rights advocates who once lauded him for more liberal views. As governor, Huckabee supported in-state college tuition for children of illegal immigrants and stood up for illegal workers caught in a raid of a meatpacking plant. Now he wants all illegal immigrants to return to their native countries within 120 days.
Huckabee all but acknowledged the political expediency of his shifting views as he stood Monday in a Cuban restaurant in Miami and explained why he wrote a letter to Bush in 2002 describing how the Cuba trade embargo was hurting Arkansas rice growers.
I’m not even going to go into his foreign policy goofiness again, as I did that here, where I coined the term Operation Uncle Remus, and equally damning observations came from Pejman Yousefzadeh here.
Gee, I wonder why some on the Christian Right never endorsed Huckabee? Some folks can’t seem to figure it out. Maybe, like Gary Bauer, they had “never ending reasons” to deny Huckabee his rightful endorsement… or maybe they got drunk on that “different kind of Jesus Juice.”
Either way, Huckabee needs to take a page from Governor Romney, in this instance, and get the Huck over it.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Wonderful. Thank you, you are doing the Lord’s work.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Tommy, despite your sometimes cringe-worthy spelling and grammar, your posts are lovely stuff.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:19 am
#2. What our you talking about I don’t see any grammar errors up their
Huck wants to make a lot of money so he’s stirring the pot to sell more books. Nothing wrong with that, but he shouldn’t be taken as a serious politician anymore.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Bill,
Thanks. I have to admit that I usually post before going back to change errors I missed the first time around. So, Alex may have caught some before I cleaned it up.
Martha and Alex,
Thanks.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:23 am
#2. What our you talking about I don’t see any grammar errors up their
Good God, I hope that was tongue-in-cheek.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Nice write up Tommy. Keep ‘em coming..
November 19th, 2008 at 12:34 am
how about you read the book before you comment on it. most of the people writing about it are only
commenting on a very small piece of it and haven’t read it. They read the piece in time. Most of the book is about the future but he talks about the campaign and the movement within it. also huckabee was in GA last week for chambliss and was there before the general too.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Well done. Huckabee is well known (by those who don’t worship him at his altar) as being petty, mean-spirited and vindicitve. There are many people who believe The huckster is the one who engaged in deplorable tactics during the primary and yet it is the Huckster that can’t let any slight — real or perceived– pass without trying to get back an anyone who had the nerve not to support him.
Read the reply from the Romney camp and others and see who is acting as a mature adult.
Huckabee is despised by about half of evangelicals and the economic and security wings of the party. And in a general election, would be successfully taged as a right wing wacko who is the very embodiment of what many fear of the religious right. His anti-intellectual populism would also cause many republicans to vote for the other side.
Never have so many good people taken up such a bad cause.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:52 am
I will add that the huckster is simply dumb as a brick. Anyone in their right mind would realyze that 2012 is 4 years away. The party needs time to regroup and focus on what we can do now. Unfortuantely, the huckster is simply too petty to let it go.
You would think that Huck would actually try and take advantage of the present: use your TV shows to show you are not a nut-job; let the tensions of the primary season wane (Romeny may very well surpise people by not even running); focus on building bridges to the other GOP factions; etc. But no, the huck and his minions want o start up again with all the old arguments and feelings hardly even cold. He is simply too stupid to trust as POTUS.
But hey, I’ve got all the same arguments and smack downs as a few months ago — so lets go and remind everyone of what happened in the primary. I’m game!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:55 am
On a purely issues and record based analysis, Huck is not presidential material. Putting all that aside, he also lacks a presidential demeanor. As much as his quick tongue and quips are celebrated, it gets him into trouble just as often as it helps him.
One can’t forget the offhand remark made at the NRA convention about pointing a gun at Obama. There is also the subtle and debatably intentional relgion-baiting reference to Romney’s Mormon beliefs with his seemingly innocent doctrinal query. There’s also the ‘Holiday Express’ remark about his foreign policy cred. There’s many more and too many for me to track.
In each of those instances he claims he was trying to make a point, but the unintended (or intended) consequences turned out to be far greater in effect and different than what he meant.
You can’t have a comedian running his mouth off in an important position of power. It’s great for the radio and tv, but not for governance and international relations.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:12 am
To be honest, i don’t think Huckabee is going to run. I supported the man this time around, though it was for a lack of a better candidate. I am a purest on abortion, and I didn’t trust anyone else that was within spitting distance of the top tier. Romney, McCain and Guliani are all politicians that put the abortion issue on the back burner. I wanted a strong pro-life candidate. My hope was that I could get that along with someone who was fiscally conservative, but we lacked that in 2008. If Jindal gets in the race, I’ll be for him. Otherwise, I really hope someone better than Huckabee comes around. I won’t be supporting Romney in the primary, though I admit that if he is on the ticket in some form it might make the ticket stronger. I don’t see Huckabee as a politician anymore, I see him as the second coming of Rush Limbaugh.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Blah blah blah blah….. Huck is retarded…. blah blah blah ….. Huck is a bigot…. blah blah blah blah….. Huck is a schyster…..
Like it or not Huck has a big following and getting larger. Currently his show is getting 2.2 million viewers on average. For its time slot, there is no comparison. Fox is floored at the interest in Huckabee. Every week he is spreading a strong fiscal conservative message, and tying it together with a down-home easy to reach personality.
Oh yea, who went to campaign for Saxby BEFORE Romney? Oh yea, Huckabee! doh. And who is championing REAL tax reform?
I do not know if I will support him next time around, but you guys crucifying him will only lead to others liking him more.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Brett, I’ll own to the, “I do not know if I will support him next time around, but you guys crucifying him will only lead to others liking him more.”
When I was against Huckabee in December, 2007, I really found the attacks off-puttingand it actually made him more sympathetic.
However, let me comment on the irony of a post making the argument that now is the time for Republicans to come together and to move beyond the past and is filled with rehashes of Huckabee’s record.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:16 am
having read the book or not, its obvious that huck just can’t let go of the romney thing. is that what we want in our leader? my #1 complaint about huck though, was that he can’t talk about the economy. remember, he never answered any questions about it, except to say that he favored a fair tax. (which he read about in a book, and thought was neat.) That’s unacceptable, and not going to win any elections. we need someone with a coherent economic vision. not some fair tax nonsense. (not saying i don’t like the fair tax, just saying it’s not realistic. and flat tax is better ) .
November 19th, 2008 at 3:25 am
Huck is a bit like Kerry.
They actually received a lot more votes than people realise, but no-one can see them as President as they tend to annoy you over time.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:29 am
I think the main reason that Thompson and Romney supporters hate Huck so badly is that he came from nowhere (and no money) to capture a segment of the party that their guy went after, and failed to close the deal on. Had either of those two guys captured the SoCon wing they sought, they probably would have won the nomination. But Romney’s insincerity, his about face on abortion and pandering can be sniffed out a mile away by many SoCons who have gotten a little more skeptical after decades of being used by politicians just like Romney. Thompson was simply weak on abortion and gay marriage (not to mention the legal work he did on behalf of NARAL or Planned Parenthood- but hey, it was just for money!), and weak on the drive to capture the White House for conservatism.
And so it came to pass that this hayseed from the backwaters of Arkansas- Clinton’s old stomping grounds no less- comes along and catapults from 2% to 30% over the fall of ‘07, thus highlighting the obvious shortcomings of Romney and Thompson. Huckabee crashed the party he was never really invited to. He isn’t a neocon whose first impulse is to bomb first and ask questions later. Perhaps his greatest sin is that he sees problems that tax cuts can’t fix, and to the Club for Growth types, that’s just heresy, if not outright paganism.
Anyway, Tommy and Co. can continue to snipe on a few pages of a yet-to-be-released book whose main sin is being overly candid. Yes, Thompson was lazy. No, not a single major candidate liked Romney. Yes, a lot of SoCons who have gone to Washington have “gone native,” grown in their love of the trappings of power, and were ready to sell the movement down the river to get on board with some “inevitable” candidate.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Maybe the Huckabust is coming
.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Well, for this newly minted Romney supporter it’s not that Huck came from nowhere and captured the hearts of the so-cons. No no – it’s rather that he perpetuates this recent elevation of so-con concerns above all else. That’s what got us here in the first place. This Christian Socialism within the Republican Party is not helpful. Yesterday I said that in order to be again be competitive in places where we are not currently we should keep the pro-life platform but we should change the image. We can’t do that by nominating someone whose strategy for winning is to “out-Christian” everyone else in the field. Huckabee’s shenanigans make me sick.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:36 am
It is difficult to say if Mr. Huckabee will run for sure, but one thing is for sure, the party has to come to grips with Huckabee voters. If the Huckabee camp were to abandon the party, it would be mo better than if the Romney Wing abandoned the party. We need both wings to win and both wings need to compromise in the end.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Both wings absolutely should compromise. That means that the so-con wing isn’t the end all and the be all. How many so-cons went apeshit over McCain? Even though he voted pro-life? Everyone has to bend. Nominating Huckabee means that so-cons get everything and no one else matters. Reagan had broad appeal. Bush 43 (at least while he was running) had broad appeal and was acceptable to all wings of the party. Huckabee is not and never will be.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Adam,
“No no – it’s rather that he perpetuates this recent elevation of so-con concerns above all else. That’s what got us here in the first place. ”
Are you SERIOUS????
Bush and the Cakewalk-that-will-pay-for-itself-and-be-over-in-months-if-not-weeks crowd mismanages two wars- one of which is illegitimate and based on cherry picked intelligence. The economy collapses and the only response the public sees is Paulson and Bernanke handing out trillions in taxpayers’ money to their golfing buddies. Our infrastructure is crumbling. The Bush administration beamed while manufactures sent millions of jobs overseas. Our current accounts deficit ran around a trillion a year BEFORE said bailouts.
But forget all that. I’m sure voters punished the GOP because they just figured out that Bush is pro-life.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:17 am
……if the party needs to purge anyone, it can start with the neocons who started our stupidest and most unpopular war ever.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:23 am
With respect MWS, I disagree with you on the war. I know that war in not nice at all, but sometimes the lack of war is worse. We are now a safer country and a safer world. I believe that Mr. Bush deserves this credit.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:29 am
MWS,
Who said that? Not me. It’s not that Bush is pro-life. If anything that is probably more of a net positive because for those voters that pick their candidates solely on the life issue, there are more of them that are pro-life. But you’re glossing over a lot of other stuff. Bush didn’t bother to veto a single bill for years. When he finally got the cajones to pull out the veto pen what did he use it for? That’s right. Stem-cell research. He waited for years and then decided to go into battle against majority opinion. And let’s be real here, Bush’s approval took a big hit with Schiavo. His approval rating was well down into the 30’s long before the economic collapse. Part of it was ineptitude in dealing with fuel prices – but they didn’t spike above 3 dollars until Katrina – and again Bush’s numbers were in the high 30’s before that disaster too.
No question the war didn’t help Bush – but it didn’t doom McCain either. Notice how little the Democrats talked about it in the closing weeks of the campaign. If anything the issue would have helped McCain because of his forward thinking on the issue.
There’s lots of blame to go around.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:34 am
……if the party needs to purge anyone, it can start with the neocons who started our stupidest and most unpopular war ever.
No one needs to be purged.
Can we stop talking about purging people?
November 19th, 2008 at 5:37 am
And let’s go back even before Bush. When was the last presidential election where the party had a snowball’s chance in hell anywhere in the Northeast? We have to go back decades. The party now has the image of making a fetish out of social issues. It’s one thing to be pro-life. It’s another thing to make your entire reason for being to impeach a president for getting his male appendage wet. Even if the GOP was in the right about perjury and obstruction of justice, was it really worth wasting the political capital? Most of the country became convinced that Republicans only accepted Puritans within their ranks. Much of the country still thinks that way. It came back to bite us in the ass.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:07 am
One thing in the article that is especially funny. You say Bill Clinton was more of a fiscal conservative than Mike Huckabee? Give me a break. Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker left Arkansas in a shambles, broken and running down. The infrastructure was falling apart, as were the schools. If that is being fiscally conservative, then I want no part of it.
Mike Huckabee was able to bring the state back from the place it was in, improved the roads, with the approval of 80% of his constituents, rebuilt the infrastructure, improved the schools, streamlined the state government, the list goes on and on. Again, if that is not fiscally conservative, then so be it. At least he took his job seriously enough to govern his state and get things done, instead of letting it fall further into ruin.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:12 am
The irony is that Huckabee was whining up and down the coast about Romney’s negative campaign (when he ran an above-board series of issue oriented attacks). Now he’s running the most destructive post-campaign in modern history.
This is a guy who can’t let go a grudge.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:13 am
The irony is that Huckabee was whining up and down the coast about Romney’s negative campaign (when he ran an above-board series of issue oriented attacks). Now he’s running the most destructive post-campaign in modern history.
I don’t want to run this negative ad, but if I did run it, here’s what it would have been.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Great stuff.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:36 am
This man will do more to damage the party over the next four years than everyone else put together. If the preachers in Iowa had not went outside the IRS guidelines and specifically preached to vote for Huckabee to keep the Mormon guy out, we would have had a Mitt Romney candidate. He could have put someone like Fred Thompson on the ticket as VP, and I still believe we would have won this election against a candidate who had never accomplished anything in his life, aligned himself with terrorists, Islamic extremists, and communists. They were his heroes. His socialistic beliefs and record would have doomed him if we had a candidate that could have beaten the holy heck out of him on the economy. Someone like Fred could have helped a great deal too. But, instead we put up McCain that couldn’t articulate a conservative economic position in front of a first grade class without getting snickers. We could have won this thing, but we, as a primary electorate were downright stupid.
Some segments of the party are remaining so. It’s really sad to see. If this guy runs again, he will be the one who provides the division to get us beat again. What a total jerk. I’ll have to wait for the exerpts from the book, cause I’ll never do anything to put a dime in this guy’s pocket.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Btw Tommy, I know I constantly leave typos in my posts to, but I’m not a front pager.
Yours still shows the following, maybe more I didn’t bother to notice:
recieve = receive
seperate = separate
though = thou
November 19th, 2008 at 7:40 am
My to = too
November 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am
If the preachers in Iowa had not went outside the IRS guidelines and specifically preached to vote for Huckabee to keep the Mormon guy out, we would have had a Mitt Romney candidate.
Do you have proof that 9% win was produced solely by pastors telling them not to elect the Mormon guy? Why not going to the IRS or CNN with the evidence?
November 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am
They are already well aware of it; they just don’t enforce it! Please don’t attempt to deny it; many people on this site last year admitted they sat and listened to it.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:48 am
The New York Times Op-Ed by Romney today is very interesting on the proposed automobile bailout. It would be a good front page post. Mitt is against it, and details his reasoning.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
It takes a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong post to list about 1/3 of what is wrong about Huckabee.
I see some of the regular suspects have cut and pasted Huckabee’s lies in response to the truth of the post.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Larry (27), a very simple review of the tax and spending statistics shows that what you say is not the truth. Huckabee broke all of Clinton’s tax and spend records.
Huckabee didn’t streamline state government during his time in office any more than Bush streamlined governement during his time in Washington.
Quit lying. Quit repeating the lies of Huck the deciever.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
All these false accusations of have been refuted over and over again. I guess Huckabee’s success is making you’ll on here upset.
Huckabee supports the FairTax, which is the definition of fiscally conservatism (better idea than any other candidates, Republican or Democrat). Also, are you aware that Ronald Reagan raised taxes in California before running for president (and yes, they said he wasn’t a conservative either)? I see you forgot to mention that most of Huckabee’s tax increases were mandated by the Arkansas courts and that Huckabee cut taxes over 90 times……..
You seem to be more afraid of Huckabee’s religion then Dick Morris (a huge fan of Huckabee), who is a devote fiscal conservative but not a social conservative at the least. Huckabee is not going to make a church-state, and it seems that the only ones that believe that are “some bloggers in cyberspace.
I can see why Huckabee was upset that Jones and Robertson endorsed two candidates that are not pro-life.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Thompson was the fake Southern conservative.
Huckabee was the real deal.
It showed, as droves of voters switched from moderate Fred to the Huck.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Alex,
“No one needs to be purged.
Can we stop talking about purging people?”
The neocons’ foreign policy is disastrous as a matter of principle. Politically, they have been poisonous to the GOP. Sounds like reason enough to purge their policies to me.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Adam,
I think you’d have a tough case to make that SoCon issues where at the forefront of the Bush Presidency. His pen wasn’t exactly melting as Bush was signing laws about abortion, same sex marriage, no fault divorce, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, etc…
No, the pillars of Bush’s presidency have been tax cuts, anti-terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and trillions of taxpayer dollars for Wall Street.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am
A simple question:
If I cut taxes by one penny one hundred different times, and then I raise taxes one time by 10 bucks, am I a tax cutter, or a tax increaser?
If the only answer you can manage is that “yes he increased taxes, but the government really needed the money” you should be aware that Ted Kennedy makes that argument every time he proposes to increase spending and taxes.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:13 am
42, the only thing positive thing achieved by Bush in the second Bush term was the appointment of 2 youngish conservatives to the Supreme Court.
Ask any socon what they really want, and its conservatives appointed to the Supreme Court.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Thanks for the post!
November 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Exactly, now is the time for unity, not whining “he didn’t endorse me… so I’ll write a nasty book and call him out for obviously not praying”
November 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
#38,
I am not repeating any lies of Huckabee, I have seen this first hand, as I live in Oklahoma and work every day in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He did streamline government, making it easier and cheaper to do all sorts of business with the state. Things like vehicle licenses and registrations.
As for taxes and spending, you obviously haven’t seen the shape Bill Clinton left Arkansas. It was terrible, the roads were crumbling and the schools were in bad, bad shape. Huckabee was able to help get that straightened out and yes, he did raise some taxes. I contend however, that not all tax increases are bad and it does not mean Mike Huckabee is a fiscal liberal.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
[...] I’d like to keep the attacks on all the candidates to a minimum, except for certain circumstances where I feel one crossed the line and has royally pissed me off, but since we really don’t have a front page poster who is dedicated to Jindal, then [...]
November 19th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
[...] It appears that there are two kinds of people when it comes to Mike Huckabee. You either hate him or love him. I have tried to be objective about the man, even though I did support him in his campaign and fully expect to support him in 2012, if he decides to run. I do believe he needs to cut back on some of the jokes and be a little more serious, especially when it comes to discussing important issues. The easy talk and one liners is part of his charm, but he can articulate his points very intelligently, if given the chance. However, the amount of hate and derision I have seen for the man, as his book comes out, still amazes me. Consider this image that I came across at Race 4 2012. [...]
November 19th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Nov 8-Huckabee posted on Huckpac for supporters to donate directly to Chambliss and to learn more about Chambliss. He also encouraged them to sign up for phone banks and volunteer in Chambliss campaign office.
Nov 12- Huckabee posted on Huckpac his upcoming rally for Chambliss. Huckabee was down in GA at a Rally for Chambliss on Sunday Nov 16th-4,000 people showed up.
Nov 19- Huckabee updates Huckpac with runoff news stating he is going to link up the Chambliss campaign to his Huckpac phonebank. Which means he will use all of the Georgia data from his primary phonebank to make GOTV calls for Chambliss.
Huckabee has been supporting republicans through his PAC, not just doing his tv show and promoting his new book. But since y’all don’t like Huckabee you would not be aware of the supportive things he is doing for Chambliss.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
They have their own version of Bush Derangement Syndrome and his name is Mike Huckabee. He is the great evil of the Republican Party, if you listen to what they say.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
[...] It appears that there are two kinds of people when it comes to Mike Huckabee. You either really like him or you really don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground when it comes to his political aspirations. I have tried to be objective about the man, even though I did support him in his campaign and fully expect to support him in 2012, if he decides to run. I do believe he needs to cut back on some of the jokes and be a little more serious, especially when it comes to discussing important issues. The easy talk and one liners is part of his charm, but he can articulate his points very intelligently, if given the chance. However, the amount of scorn I have seen for the man, as his book comes out, still amazes me. Consider this image that I came across at Race 4 2012. [...]
November 20th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
[...] doing a google search about the latest libertarian vs. so-con knockdown/dragout, and I came across this post on a blog called mytake, which linked to my rather enrage-fueled tirade from the other night about [...]
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 am
[...] Bashing Romney and bashing Huckabee [...]
November 25th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
[...] It appears that there are two kinds of people when it comes to Mike Huckabee. You either really like him or you really don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground when it comes to his political aspirations. I have tried to be objective about the man, even though I did support him in his campaign and fully expect to support him in 2012, if he decides to run. I do believe he needs to cut back on some of the jokes and be a little more serious, especially when it comes to discussing important issues. The easy talk and one liners is part of his charm, but he can articulate his points very intelligently, if given the chance. However, the amount of scorn I have seen for the man, as his book comes out, still amazes me. Consider this image that I came across at Race 4 2012. [...]
November 28th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
[...] It appears that there are two kinds of people when it comes to Mike Huckabee. You either really like him or you really don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground when it comes to his political aspirations. I have tried to be objective about the man, even though I did support him in his campaign and fully expect to support him in 2012, if he decides to run. I do believe he needs to cut back on some of the jokes and be a little more serious, especially when it comes to discussing important issues. The easy talk and one liners is part of his charm, but he can articulate his points very intelligently, if given the chance. However, the amount of scorn I have seen for the man, as his book comes out, still amazes me. Consider this image that I came across at Race 4 2012. [...]