Mike Huckabee and Jay Leno (Video)

Mike Huckabee was Jay Leno's guest on Thursday's Tonight Show.

I'm glad he's not running for president.

Watch the complete interview.

Here's video:

Part 1



Part 2

No Miracles for Huckabee

In a shocking turn of events, Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race.

He's no longer running to be the Republican nominee for president.

IRVING, Texas -- Mike Huckabee bowed to reality Tuesday and out of the Republican presidential race. "We kept the faith," he told his end-of-the-road rally Tuesday after John McCain clinched the nomination. "I'd rather lose an election than lose the principles that got me into politics in the first place."

The genial conservative went out as he had campaigned all along, with a quip: "It's time for us to hit the reset button."

Huckabee won the leadoff Iowa caucuses, making him a sudden but short-lived sensation, and then seven other states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana and Kansas. Meantime, McCain piled up big victories on his way to winning the prize on Tuesday night.

The writing was on the wall for weeks, but the former Arkansas governor hung on until McCain secured the necessary delegates.

"We started this effort with very little recognition and virtually no resources," Huckabee told supporters. "We ended with slightly more recognition and very few resources."

The crowd laughed. "But what a journey," he said. "What a journey. A journey of a lifetime."

Huckabee rarely raised a negative word during the campaign about McCain, a man he clearly likes, and he called him Tuesday night to congratulate him.

Huckabee said he extended "my commitment to him and to the party to do everything possible to unite our party, but more importantly to unite our country."

Huckabee vowed: "We aren't going away completely. We want to be a part of helping to keep the issues alive that have kept us in this race."

I don't know what makes Huckabee tick. He obviously loves to perform.

Although he vows not to leave, I wish he would go away completely. Monday was the first time he sent out an e-mail that wasn't a solicitation for a campaign contribution.

Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:36:42
From: "Governor Mike Huckabee"
Subject: Voices Of Our Party Today And Tomorrow

I am campaigning across Texas today. While I am on the road, I ask that you read and then share with your friends, family and neighbors something very special: 1,800+ individual endorsements of my campaign from voters just like you.

They are from the people that I meet everyday on the campaign trail. They are the voices of our Republican Party today and tomorrow.

To leave your own endorsement you need to sign up as a Ranger today. You can do so here.

Please share these endorsements with friends and family. Help us finish strong.

Huckabeee finally stopped fund-raising, though he still is signing up "Rangers."

I don't know why people continued to send their money to fund Huckabee's Excellent Adventure after it was clear that nothing short of a miracle would make it possible for him to defeat John McCain.

I suspect that McCain, if elected, will reward Huckabee for his role in helping him secure the nomination.

Yes, Huckabee is finally out of the race; but unfortunately, he isn't going away.

John McCain at Serb Hall

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain plans to attend the Milwaukee County Reagan Day Dinner at Serb Hall on Friday.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain plans to visit Milwaukee Friday night, attending the Reagan Day Dinner sponsored by the Milwaukee County Republican Party.

The McCain campaign has not formally announced the visit, but it is listed on McCain's website as an upcoming event. The dinner, at Serb Hall on the city's south side, begins at 7 p.m.

Here's information on the dinner:

HOST COMMITTEE

Rick Baas, Terry Dittrich, Douglas D. Haag, Jay Hintz, Rep. Mark Honadel, David Karst, Marilyn Kruchell, Jim McFarland, Vicky Ostry, Rep. Jim Ott, Robert Spindell, Rep. Jeff Stone, Nancy Thompson, Rep. Leah Vukmir, Cnty Exec Scott Walker

5:30 p.m. Private reception

6:00 p.m. Social Hour

7:00 p.m. Dinner & Program–“Milwaukee’s Best Fish Fry”

Silent Auction 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Meet, greet and show your support for the candidates for the Presidential Republican Nominees Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney

Also, meet, greet and show support for candidates for statewide and county offices

Any questions or to RSVP, please call 414-727-1220.

Of course, Giuliani and Romney are history. Notice Ron Paul wasn't mentioned. He gets no respect, no respect at all.

It's a good thing that McCain will be attending the dinner, especially since Mike Huckabee will be spending three days in Wisconsin.

I suspect McCain is increasing his time in Wisconsin to do his best to avoid any more embarrassing defeats in primaries and caucuses.

Huckabee's momentum in spite of McCain's virtual lock on the nomination is an issue.

Wisconsin has been a battleground state in the past two presidential elections. It is wise for McCain to at least show some interest in Wisconsin during the primary season.

Most importantly, Milwaukeeans do not have to worry about politics getting in the way of their Serb Hall Friday Fish Fry plans.

The Reagan Day Dinner will be held in a separate area of the facility.

Serb Hall's Friday Fish Fry will be available to the public as usual. Good news.

Huckabee Committed to Marching On

Huckabee hoping for a "miracle"

“I didn’t major in math,” Huckabee told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting Saturday. “I majored in miracles.”

________________

Mike Huckabee is still campaigning.

He's still talking about his "smooth stones."

He's still asking for money.

The latest fund-raising e-mail from Mike Huckabee--

Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:55:51
From: "Governor Mike Huckabee"
Subject: Committed To Marching On

Yesterday, Mitt Romney announced that he will no longer seek the Republican nomination for President. I wish Mitt and his family all the best.

Over the past year, Mitt and his entire family have sacrificed a lot during the course of his campaign and for that, we should all be appreciative of their service and dedication.

Right. Now he respects Romney. That's a dramatic about-face.

It wasn't long ago that minister Huckabee was trashing Romney's faith and misleading voters about Romney's words and his record.

How gracious of Huckabee to send his good wishes to Mitt and his family!

Translation: Dear Romney supporters, now embrace me! I'm your guy!

This is a two-man race for the nomination, and I am committed to marching on. I believe in the importance of a strong national defense -- which includes winning the war against Islamic extremists and the protection of American sovereignty.

I am redoubled in my resolve to carry on my campaign in a civil, dignified manner. The issues that got me into this campaign—protecting life and traditional marriage, defending the 2nd amendment, enacting the FairTax and real border security are going to keep me in this campaign.

Our first real test together will be to raise the money we need to fund our campaign plan for the primaries and caucuses tomorrow in Washington, Louisiana, Kansas and next Tuesday District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Since Gov. Romney dropped out late yesterday afternoon we have raised over $195,000 online including first time donations from over 1,300 people. We need to keep up this pace. Our goal is to raise an additional $1,000,000 by Tuesday and we are still $600,000 away from our goal.

Will you make an immediate contribution of $25 or more to our campaign?

If you have already contributed today please find someone else to match your gift. We are working to recruit 4,000 - 5,000 new first time contributors before next Tuesday. Will you encourage your friends and family to match your contribution? Their support is as important to our campaign as your own.

Our second greatest challenge is to contact as many voters as possible. We added a Kansas call list late yesterday afternoon to our online phone bank (they vote tomorrow!) and thanks to the commitment of 574 supporters we’ve been able to generate over 7,000 voter identification calls. Today we need to generate three and four times that amount.

To help motivate everyone, I will personally call and thank the volunteer that makes the most calls to voters using our online phone bank tool. Will you help? Will you make calls? To learn more about this click here.

I really wonder what Huckabee is doing.

Now that Romney is out, does he think he stands a chance of getting the nomination?

What is this? Is there method in his madness?

Is he flat-out mad?

As a true authentic, consistent, conservative, I have a vision that will bring hope, opportunity and prosperity to all Americans. We can win. We will win.

So Huckabee is a "true authentic, consistent, conservative" with a vision.

He seems to be distinguishing himself from the presumptive nominee, John McCain -- the untrue, inauthentic, inconsistent conservative.

When Huckabee says, "We can win. We will win," I wonder what his meaning of "win" is.

Win what? He can't mean the Republican nomination.

I am counting on you as I always have, because you are the five smooth stones in my pocket.

Yes, Huckabee's got stones.

Huckabee and Colbert

American presidential politics can be surreal.

John McCain: Super Tuesday's Big Loser

In spite of John McCain's long list of high profile endorsements, he wasn't able to secure the Republican nomination on Tuesday.

All the king's horses and all the king's men...

From the Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain surged closer toward the Republican nomination yesterday by capturing the biggest Super Tuesday states, including California, but failed to knock out his rivals, who deprived him of victories across GOP strongholds in the South and West.

As millions of Republicans went to the polls in 21 states, the senator from Arizona racked up hundreds of delegates on the strength of winner-take-all primaries in the Northeast and elsewhere. But his inability to win in more than half of the states voting yesterday complicated his hopes of rallying the party behind his candidacy.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee scored a surprising sweep of his native South, while former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney picked up a number of states in the West but fell short in critical battlegrounds that would have established him as McCain's primary challenger. Huckabee and Romney vowed last night to stay in the race as it moves to Virginia, Maryland and the District on Tuesday.

The multiple-front clash represented a virtual national primary as Republicans voted to choose a standard-bearer, with more states voting at once than in any other GOP nomination battle.

...McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who has carved out a career as a blunt-talking maverick on Capitol Hill, moved closer to the presidential prize he has been seeking for more than a decade by earning support across the country. But the voting made clear that serious challenges remain for McCain: to clear the field of rivals who question his commitment to conservative ideology, and to consolidate a fractured party.

During their coverage of the primaries and caucuses, the media dwelled on what a bad night Romney had.

In my opinion, McCain was the big loser.

He was supposed to seal the deal on Tuesday. He didn't. He failed. He lost.

Yes, he's the front-runner, but he's not the definitive choice. Republicans did not choose their nominee yesterday.

Do I think he'll be the nominee eventually? Yes.

Do I think he can count on the unwavering support of his party? Not at all.

Of course, McCain does have reason to celebrate capturing the big states. He had his victories, no doubt about it.

But McCain didn't accomplish the two things he set out to do -- get rid of Romney and convince voters that he's a conservative.

McCain failed to eliminate his competition and he failed to win over conservatives.

Romney and Huckabee together kept at least 11 states out of McCain's column, and each claimed to be the alternative to the front-runner, who struggled throughout the day to appeal to conservatives. "Over the past few days, a lot of people have been saying this is a two-man race," Huckabee told supporters last night in Little Rock. "And you know what? It is. And we're in it."

Huckabee did well in the South. He managed to regain some relevance.

As far as his claim that it's now a race between him and McCain, someone should tell him that he's in third place right now.

And let's drop the pretense that McCain and Huckabee have no alliance. Huckabee is preparing to fill the VP spot on the ticket.

...Speaking before the results in California had come in, Romney told supporters in Boston that "the one thing that is clear is that this campaign is going on." He said that "there are some people who thought it was all going to be done tonight," but he pledged to "go all the way to the convention, and we're going to win this thing."

The pundits and the media huffed and they puffed but they didn't blow Mitt down.

...Among self-described conservatives voting yesterday, exit polling showed that McCain lost to Romney or Huckabee in many states, a sign that the anger and mistrust vented on talk shows in recent days is shared by many of the party faithful. In California, Romney held a double-digit lead over McCain among conservative voters. Romney even won conservative voters in McCain's home state of Arizona.

Talk radio is not the source of voters' anger and mistrust for McCain.

McCain's record is the source. McCain's stance on the issues is the source. McCain's betrayal of conservative principles is the source.

I don't like that telling these truths is described as "venting."

Bottom line: John McCain doesn't have a chance of winning if he doesn't unite the party. I don't see that happening because I don't think that John McCain is going to reach out to conservatives. His idea of reaching out to them is by claiming to be one of them. At least on a number of issues, that, of course, is absurd.

The short-term future may look bright for McCain. Looking toward November, things get awfully dark.

From that perspective, it's hard to see McCain as Super Tuesday's big winner.

Huckabee and the New York Giants

Mike Huckabee thinks he's Eli Manning.

From: Governor Mike Huckabee
Subject: America Will See a Second Upset This Week

Heart. Commitment. Gutsy. The New York Giants exemplified these qualities this evening in what is being widely hailed as one of the greatest Super Bowl games in history and a titanic upset of the heavily favored New England Patriots.

For many long months against overwhelming odds, we have been working our way towards the White House in a similar fashion.

Our run has been long and difficult at times. Improbable. Yet here we are, still running strong together, heads held high, eyes forward into Super Tuesday. The media and our rivals want to make Tuesday the finish line for our campaign.

But if the media really understood our campaign and the issues we are fighting for: the Human Life Amendment, real border security, the FairTax and so much more, they would understand that we are here to stay.

America will see a second upset this week.

For us to have a chance though, I need your help now. Please, take a moment to do these three things:

1. Below is a list of the Super Tuesday states. Please scan them and make a list of family, friends and co-workers you may know in each of these states. Then, email and call the people on your list and ask them to visit our website www.mikehuckabee.com to learn more about our campaign and to vote for me on Tuesday.

2. Make 5 calls to voters in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia tomorrow using our online phone bank tool. I know these calls aren't fun to make, but they are necessary. So far, the calls we have made in Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama have helped identify thousands of supporters that we will be able to reach out to and remind them to vote on Tuesday. Imagine, if we are able to contact 50,000 more voters in these key states tomorrow. The people we reach and then follow-up with may make the difference on Tuesday. The polls in many of the states are that close.

3. Make a contribution of $25 or more to help us reach our goal of $1,000,000 by tomorrow at midnight. We are less than $280,000 away from our goal. Your financial support will be invested on Tuesday into our final Get Out The Vote calls to voters in Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Every dollar you contribute will go towards contacting supporters and reminding them to vote.

Let me close by saying, "heart, commitment and gutsy" could just as easily describe our campaign. Working together, lets show America a second upset this week. Lets make certain Super Tuesday isn't a finish line for our campaign but a starting line for the second half of our run.

With deepest gratitude,




Super Tuesday States:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia.

Governor Huckabee, I've watched the Giants. I know the Giants. Eli Manning just played at Lambeau. Governor, you're no Eli Manning.

Huckabee: "My 5 Smooth Stones"

The latest e-mail from Mike Huckabee, "My 5 Smooth Stones" (Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:19:11):

We are in this race to win despite the desperate efforts by the Romney campaign to try and say that "a vote for me is a vote for McCain". Actually, a vote for me is a vote for me!

We have outlasted Rudy, Fred, and others who were supposed to be the winners. Only 8% of the Republican delegates have been selected, and we have about the same number of delegates as McCain or Romney. We are in it to win.

The Romney campaign knows this and they are running scared.

So far the media has with a few exceptions, been content to sell this sham of a story to their viewers and listeners. You would think that under this coordinated assault, we would be sinking in the polls nationally.

Not so. FOX News has us tied with Gov. Romney in 2nd place nationally in a new poll of registered voters.

What's more, in Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma, recent polls have us in first or tied for first.

We can win. We will win.

To close this gap and shock the pundits, and more importantly our rivals, I need your immediate financial support. I am counting on you as I always have, because you are the five smooth stones in my pocket.

Make an immediate contribution of $25 or more today and watch us soar.

I am counting on you for victory.

With deepest gratitude,

I'm sorry but Huckabee sounds like a sleazy televangelist.

He equates himself with David from the Old Testament, having the five smooth stones ready to slay Goliath.

Obviously, his e-mail doesn't explain the significance of his stones.

He assumes that his religious base knows what he means. Talk about using faith to score political points!


Huckabee cannot be serious about winning. He just can't be.

His smooth stones rub me the wrong way.

Mike Huckabee and Enemy Sean Hannity

Mike Huckabee's campaign has decided to make conservative talk radio the enemy, specifically Sean Hannity.

A fund-raising e-mail was sent out today with the subject line: "Sean Hannity...Now It Makes Sense."

Sean Hannity: "I'll tell you right now, and I've not announced this, but I will be voting for Mitt Romney in this campaign. It's the first time I've stated it publicly. I'll state it now." ("Sean Hannity Radio Show," 1/31/08.


Well I have to admit I am very disappointed by this statement even though I am not surprised. That said, statements like this personally motivate me even more. If you feel as I do I encourage you to commit to doing these three things by Super Tuesday:

1. Make a contribution of $25 or more in support of Mike Huckabee between now and Super Tuesday.

2. Make at least 5 voter contact calls for Mike everyday until Super Tuesday. Click here to signup as a Ranger and start making calls tomorrow.

3. Call your friends and family in Super Tuesday states and ask them to vote for Mike.


If you are willing to do all three for Mike before Super Tuesday, please leave a comment on our campaign blog and encourage others to do the same. I will email you again soon about our new television advertising buy.

Chip Saltsman
National Campaign Manager

Hannity has the right to support a candidate.

What's the big deal?

No e-mail like this was sent when The New York Times endorsed John McCain. Saltsman didn't express his disappointment and lack of surprise over that.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger and Charlie Crist and Rudy Giuliani endorsed McCain there was no disappointment, no "now it makes sense" statements.

All the praise that they've showered on McCain didn't "personally motivate [Saltsman] even more."

What's the deal?

Literally.

GET OUT, HUCKABEE

Read this ridiculous e-mail from Mike Huckabee, "Full Throttle" (Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:46:10):

When I look at Super Tuesday, I see a number of key Southern states, and other strong conservative states, that are likely to add to our delegate count and put us on the right track towards winning the Republican nomination.

I am optimistic about our chances and the path forward seems clear.

That's positively nuts.

I am also looking forward to a healthy and constructive debate at the Reagan Library tonight as we discuss the issues that will define our Party and America's future.

I received this message after the debate.

I said this yesterday, and I meant it, if the Republican nominee cannot relate to Republican voters on important issues such as border security, anxiety over the economy and is not an unwavering advocate for the family, the sanctity of life than we will not defeat the Democrats in the fall.

If the Republican nominee appears out of touch with regular voters or has cast votes that were an anathema to his Party, that candidate will fail to unite the Republican Party against the Democrat nominee, no matter who that Democrat nominee is.

We have a long way to go in this nominating process. When you look at what we have done, with what we have, it's a remarkable story that is not even close to being over. In fact, we like to believe we're just really getting started. I'm convinced that my optimistic message of hope and change will continue to resonate with voters as we head into Super Tuesday.

That said, we need to pick up the speed. Slow and steady wins the race more often than not, but sometimes you need to open things up and go full throttle.

To help us do that though, I am going to need your immediate financial support today. A gift of $25 or more will help us move closer to our goal of raising $1,000,000 by midnight on Monday from our direct mail and online. Raising this $1,000,000 is critical to our Super Tuesday efforts.

After you contribute please find one other person to match your level of support. Our goal is simple: $1,000,000 raised by Monday at midnight. This money will be invested in our voter contact efforts, new television advertising and our field operations in the Super Tuesday states.

Lets get this done, working together, as we always have.

With the deepest gratitude,

Mike Huckabee

He has got to be kidding!

How can he possibly be sincere about asking for money to help him win the Republican nomination?

IT'S OVER FOR HUCKABEE.

At this stage, I think his fund-raising e-mails can be categorized as Internet scams.

Reporting Internet Fraud

A Vote for Huckabee

The Democrats will be having a two-person race on Super Tuesday.

The Republicans should be in that same position, but Mike Huckabee isn't cooperating.

Klaus Marre writes:

Romney: ‘In a two-person race, I like my chances’

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he looks forward to a head-to-head battle for the Republican presidential nomination with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

...“We’re finally getting where we wanted to be, and that is to have a two-person race,” Romney said on Fox News, adding, “In a two-person race, I like my chances.”

Romney acknowledged that the continued presence of Mike Huckabee in the race is a problem for him and made the point that the former Arkansas governor is no longer a contender.

“I don’t know what kind of support Mike Huckabee will get going forward,” Romney said. “I think conservatives recognize that a vote for Mike Huckabee right now really means a vote for John McCain. So that may have them re-think that.”

Romney is right.

Now that Rudy Giuliani is calling it quits, his supporters will likely go to McCain or to one of the Dems.

If Huckabee would bow out, he certainly would free up votes for Romney.

That won't happen. Huckabee is determined to play the spoiler.

Here's an e-mail from Huckabee (Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:22:46):

Our focus turns now to Super Tuesday. Recent polling shows us in first or tied for first place in Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Voters in these states will have a chance to reclaim the nominating process for conservatives by casting their votes in support of our campaign. And in the states where poll after poll has shown us in second or third, please spread the word that we are still standing and we have what it takes to win.

Because if I am a Republican voter in a state casting votes next week on Super Tuesday, I am asking two fundamental questions:

Which candidate best reflects my views on the issues?

And does that candidate have what it takes to defeat the Democrat nominee in the fall?

If I am a voter in Tennessee and I care about education, I want a President that has executive experience reforming a state's education system and has a substantive plan to reform education at the national level.

If I am a voter in Georgia and I care deeply about the issues of abortion and marriage, I want a President that will fight tirelessly for life and the family at the federal level, someone with a real record of achievement on these issues not just a politician paying election year lip service on those issues.

If I am a voter in Missouri and I am worried about the economy, I want a President that understands what its like to walk in my shoes and has a plan to stimulate the economy and real world, governing experience to strengthen and help grow our economy.

If I am a voter in California and I am concerned about national security, especially border security, I want a President that has a plan to secure our borders, end amnesty and end the practice of sanctuary cities.

If I am a voter in Alabama and I care passionately about the second amendment, I want a President that understands the 2nd amendment is primarily about tyranny and the right to self-defense not hunting.

If the Republican nominee cannot relate to Republican voters on these important and fundamental issues, we will not defeat the Democrats in the fall.

If the Republican nominee appears out of touch with regular voters or has cast votes that were an anathema to his Party, that candidate will fail to unite the Republican Party against the Democrat nominee, no matter who that nominee is.

I have what it takes, our campaign is still standing and drawing new support everyday and I am prepared to lead America forward. Spread the word. I am fighting for you and will continue to do so every step of the way.

With deep gratitude,

There are two possible explanations for Huckabee's decision to press on to Super Tuesday:

1. Huckabee is clinically delusional.

2. Huckabee is staying in the race solely to secure the nomination for McCain.

There are signs that the first is valid. The second is definitely the case.

McCain Wins South Carolina

Eight years after his first try, John McCain has won the Republican primary in South Carolina.

From the Associated Press:

Sen. John McCain won a hard-fought South Carolina primary Saturday night, avenging a bitter personal defeat in a bastion of conservatism and gaining ground in an unpredictable race for the Republican presidential nomination.

...McCain defeated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a close race in the state that snuffed out his presidential hopes eight years ago. The Arizonan was gaining 33 percent of the vote to just under 30 percent for his closest rival.

"It just took us a while. That's all. Eight years is not a long time," McCain told the AP.

Appearing before supporters, Huckabee was a gracious loser, congratulating McCain for "running a civil and a good and a decent campaign."

Far from conceding defeat in the race, he added, "The process is far, far from over."

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was in a struggle for third place with about 16 percent, after saying he needed a strong showing to sustain his candidacy. Another Republican, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, dropped out even before the votes were tallied.

A few thoughts on the Republicans and the South Carolina primary--

Although the primary is over, the most newsworthy thing about it may not be the results, that McCain won.


The questions that South Carolina's results raise are of more interest to me.

Is Huckabee now beginning to position himself for the VP position on a ticket with McCain?

I think after his Iowa win, he still dreams of himself at the top of the ticket, but it seems that he'd be willing to fill the VP spot.

The fact that South Carolina voters didn't enthusiastically embrace the Southern, squirrel-eating, Bible-thumping Huckabee and give him an overwhelming victory has to make him wonder about his chances to win the nomination.

But as Huckabee says, the process is far from over.

I, for one, don't accept the inevitability of McCain. Not yet.

It's Super Tuesday, stupid.

The big question is Fred Thompson's future.

Will Thompson push forward or will he follow Duncan Hunter's lead and drop out?

At this point, Thompson is still in the race.

Former Tennessee senator Fred Dalton Thompson, who was locked in a battle for a disappointing third place in South Carolina's primary, gave an impassioned and reflective speech to supporters in Columbia, even before the votes were tallied, but did not quite say that he was ready to drop out of the race.

Thompson had said repeatedly to supporters and reporters that he needed a strong finish in South Carolina to stay in the White House race -- a finish that he appeared to be denied Saturday, ending up far behind Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

In a speech that seemed to be leading up to an announcement that he would quit, a normally laid-back Thompson thundered for 10 minutes about the less obvious accomplishments of his run for the presidency.

"It's never been about me. It's never even been about you. It's been about our country," Thompson said after thanking his supporters.

He said that because of his campaign, the national Republican party "is being required to look at itself in the mirror."

That kind of language normally leads to an announcement that a candidate is giving up the chase. Aides said they did not know for sure what the former star of NBC's "Law & Order" and several Hollywood blockbusters was going to say when he went out onto the stage in Columbia.

But Thompson ended the speech with "God bless you!" and walked off the stage, leaving the crowd in the hall and the national television audience wondering about his plans.

Thompson sounded like both a candidate determined to stay on the trail and one ready to throw in the towel. It was a mixed message, confusing.

But if he does choose to get out of the race, I hope his exit isn't as drawn out as his entry into the presidential race was.

Mike Huckabee and Fried Squirrel

YUCK!

Kristol Reconsiders Huckabee

Bill Kristol's column in the New York Times today surprises me.

Mike Huckabee has been maligned by the conservative establishment, but Kristol calls for conservatives to take another look at the former governor, the other man from Hope, Arkansas.

He writes:

Thank you, Senator Obama. You’ve defeated Senator Clinton in Iowa. It looks as if you’re about to beat her in New Hampshire. There will be no Clinton Restoration. A nation turns its grateful eyes to you.

But gratitude for sparing us a third Clinton term only goes so far. Who, inquiring minds want to know, is going to spare us a first Obama term? After all, for all his ability and charm, Barack Obama is still a liberal Democrat. Some of us would much prefer a non-liberal and non-Democratic administration. We don’t want to increase the scope of the nanny state, we don’t want to undo the good done by the appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, and we really don’t want to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in Iraq.

Kristol speaks as if it's a done deal and Hillary is toast. It's hard for me to write off Hillary already. I think that's a bit premature. Hillary won't go down without a fight.

For me, therefore, the most interesting moment in Saturday night’s Republican debate at St. Anselm College was when the candidates were asked what arguments they would make if they found themselves running against Obama in the general election.

The best answer came, not surprisingly, from the best Republican campaigner so far — Mike Huckabee. He began by calmly mentioning his and Obama’s contrasting views on issues from guns to life to same-sex marriage. This served to remind Republicans that these contrasts have been central to G.O.P. success over the last quarter-century, and to suggest that Huckabee could credibly and comfortably make the socially conservative case in an electorally advantageous way.

The question: Could Huckabee be the strongest Republican nominee?

Kristol believes he could be.

...His campaigning in New Hampshire has been impressive. At a Friday night event at New England College in Henniker, he played bass with a local rock band, Mama Kicks. One secular New Hampshire Republican’s reaction: “Gee, he’s not some kind of crazy Christian. He’s an ordinary American.”

In general, here in New Hampshire he’s emphasized social issues far less than in Iowa (though he doesn’t waffle when asked about them). Instead he’s stressed conservative economic themes, seamlessly (if somewhat inconsistently) weaving together a pitch for limited government with a message that government needs to do more to address the concerns of the struggling middle class. This latter point seems to be resonating, as headlines in local papers announce an increase in the national unemployment rate amid speculation about a coming recession.

Some Democrats are licking their chops at the prospect of a Huckabee nomination. They shouldn’t be. For one thing, Michael Bloomberg would be tempted to run in the event of an Obama-Huckabee race — and he would most likely take votes primarily from Obama. But whatever Bloomberg does, the fact is that the Republican establishment spent 2007 underestimating Mike Huckabee. If Huckabee does win the nomination, it would be amusing if Democrats made the same mistake in 2008.

Huckabee as the strongest nominee?

I don't think so; but I suppose it depends on how you define "strongest."

You have to be impressed with Huckabee's performance, a lower tier candidate blasting to the top.

Kristol appears to be inviting conservatives to warm up to Huckabee, or at least tone down the attacks on his questionable conservative credentials. It's pragmatic I guess.

The strongest Republican is the one capable of defeating the Dem nominee.

Apparently, Kristol believes Huckabee may have the power to do that.

If not that, Kristol seems to be putting conservatives on notice: Huckabee is here.

Get used to it.

Huckabee: Onward, Christian Soldiers

Mike Huckabee managed to pull a come from behind victory in Iowa because he convinced evangelical Christians that he's their man.

From the Washington Post:

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee rode a wave of evangelical fervor to victory over Mitt Romney in Iowa's Republican caucuses Thursday, an outcome that hardly seemed possible two months ago.

"Tonight what we have seen is a new day in American politics," Huckabee told supporters at the Embassy Suites here. "And tonight it starts here in Iowa, but it doesn't end here. It goes all the way through the other states and ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

...In Iowa, social conservatives rallied around Huckabee after not finding another Republican candidate to champion their positions on abortion, same-sex marriage, guns and immigration. Romney and McCain had sought their support, but Romney was seen as coming too late to their thinking, and McCain was suspect because of his maverick streak. Giuliani, who did not compete in Iowa, was anathema because of his pro-choice position on abortion.

What about Fred Thompson?

He's a social conservative.

Huckabee found success in Iowa because he sold himself as the Christian among the candidates.

That worked for Huckabee this time, but I don't think his win in Iowa is his coronation.

A bookcase that morphs into the image of a cross isn't enough to secure the Republican nomination.

Huckabee runs into some problems when it comes to his fiscal conservative credentials.

He should enjoy his win in Iowa.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time....
____________________

I received this e-mail just a few hours after Huckabee was declared the winner in Iowa:

Thank you Iowa! Thank you to the people that turned out to caucus for our campaign. We succeeded tonight because of your confidence in our campaign, your support of our ideas and because of the support of tens of thousands of Americans not just in Iowa but across the country that went the extra distance and believed.

We are off to New Hampshire tonight where we will campaign until the primary next week. You can be confident we will be working through the night as we prepare for the next steps forward.

Tonight I ask you to do three things to help us build on our momentum:

1. Make an immediate contribution of $10, $25, $50, $100, or $500 tonight. We have proven tonight that we can win, and that we know how to effectively invest your contribution. Will you make a contribution tonight and show the world, the pundits and voters across this country that we have the momentum and it is sweeping us onward.

2. Share the Iowa results with friends and family. If there are friends or neighbors that doubted our campaign or are undecided please encourage them to visit our website tonight, tomorrow and over the next few days and learn more.

3. Consider becoming more involved in our campaign: Volunteer, Join a Meetup or start a Grassroots Meetup Team, Join our Myspace group, our Facebook group and our LinkedIn group.

Three ways to help us keep the momentum going: contribute, share the news and become more involved.

Again, I cannot adequately express my profound thanks to you. When people ask you tonight and tomorrow why you think we won, please tell them because we believed in some things and we stand by those things, and we do so together.

Reasons to Doubt Huckabee

I wonder how well Mike Huckabee's supporters know him.

VAN METER, Iowa -- Cradling a cup of coffee on his knee, the Rev. Paul Porter welcomes five neighbors to his home, leads them in a brief prayer and gets down to business. "We're here to help elect Mike Huckabee the next president of the United States," he says. "He's a decent, moral man." His neighbors nod their heads.

"When you go to the caucuses," Porter continues, "are there any questions about Mike Huckabee that you're nervous about answering?"

Again, the heads nod.

"Is it the attacks?" he says. "Are you worried that he can't withstand the attacks?"

Nan Cooley, a rail-thin woman who belongs to the Baptist church run by Porter, says yes — she's worried. "There are a lot of questions, you know."

If Huckabee wins the Iowa caucuses Thursday, it will be because of people like Porter and his neighbors. With no encouragement or even help from the bare-bones Huckabee campaign, they came together on a snowy night last week to get up the courage to caucus for the former Arkansas governor.

If he loses, it will because Huckabee's intemperate performance in the campaign's final days raised concerns in supporters like Porter who desperately wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Didn't he raise a bunch of taxes in Arkansas?" Cooley asks Porter, leaning forward in her wooden dining room chair.

Yes, replies Porter, but he thinks taxes were mostly raised on tobacco and to improve Arkansas' crummy road system. He read somewhere that Huckabee left the state with an $850 million surplus and the overall tax burden "barely inched up."

A tall, bearded man sitting on the sofa clears his throat and says he heard Huckabee wanted to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for college scholarships. "What's that all about?" Chris Power says, wrinkling his nose as if he'd just swallowed a bitter drink.

"Governor Huckabee said in the debate that he didn't want to punish children for the sins of their parents," Cooley replies. "I like that line."

Porter notes that Huckabee recently proposed a tough immigration plan that would seal the nation's borders. "There's a difference, you know, between being governor and president," he says.

Again, the heads all nod.

Something remarkable is happening here. Without realizing it, Porter and his pals are creating what political operatives call "talking points" for Huckabee. Theirs is an organically grown political defense, appropriately rooted in misinformation and misunderstanding.

...A former Baptist minister, Huckabee is the only candidate in the field who might be able to win Iowa without a traditional political operation that organizes meetings like Porter's. He is by no means the only preacher talking about Huckabee at their churches and in their homes. Huckabee also is the darling of the tightly knit group of parents who home school their children.

But is that enough? There certainly isn't much room for error, and Huckabee committed a big one this week when he cut a negative ad against rival Mitt Romney and decided at the last minute not to air it.

Almost a week after the gathering of his neighbors, Porter got an e-mail from Huckabee's campaign announcing the decision to pull the ad.

"I said, 'OK, that's great. Don't run the ad,'" Porter said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"Then I heard that he did a news conference to show it to the press. I was disappointed with that," he said. "I agree with what Mitt Romney said: It's like saying you're not going to call your opponent names but here's the names I'd call him."

Porter is still likely to back Huckabee, but the ad debacle stirred old questions.

"It kind of goes to what I thought of Huckabee in the past. There are some things I disagree with him about, but at the same time when I look at the big picture, I see him as somebody who would be a good, moral president," he said.

"I'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt," he said. "But, you know, there are doubts."

Doubts sowed by the candidate himself.

Ron Fournier's analysis is right on the money.

The reality of Huckabee is at odds with the facade.

Huckabee doesn't walk it like he talks it. Look at his record.

Late Night Returns

It's been two months without the late night shows.

Since most of my TV viewing is post-prime time, you'd think I would be thrilled with the return of the shows. I wasn't.

If the writers' strike teaches me anything, it's that I can take or leave TV.

Still, I was interested in the return of late night TV on Wednesday.

A quick summary:

Hillary Clinton's appearance on David Letterman's show was just a cameo measured in seconds. She wasn't a guest, as had been rumored.

Letterman was sporting a really gross beard. What was the point? To show the audience what happens to him after a two month absence from his hair and makeup people?


Host David Letterman appears on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' on the CBS Television Network in New York January 2, 2008. The January 2 episode is the first original show taping since the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. (John Paul Filo/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved/Reuters)

Conan O'Brien also had a beard. It wasn't as bad as Letterman's, but it wasn't good.

In this photo provided by 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', a bearded Conan O'Brien returns to the late night show on Wednesday Jan. 2, 2008, after a two month hiatus due to the Writers Guild strike.(AP Photo/ Dana Edelson/NBC)

Although he was back at work, O'Brien made it very clear that he supports the striking writers. Without his writers, he looked for ways to burn some seconds off the clock. At least twice he resorted to spinning his wedding ring on his desk, timing it, and trying to beat his record.

It seemed like what TV would be like if a natural or manmade disaster wiped out half of humanity.

Jay Leno seemed less awkward without his writers. Like O'Brien, he stressed that he supports the striking writers.

Leno had the advantage of hosting a big guest, Mike Huckabee.


Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (L) is interviewed by talk show host Jay Leno during a taping of the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Burbank, California January 2, 2008. REUTERS/Paul Drinkwater/NBC/Handout (UNITED STATES).



In this photo released by NBC, presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee plays his bass guitar with Kevin Eubanks, music director of the 'The Tonight Show' band during a taping of the 'The Tonight Show' on Wednesday Jan. 2, 2008 in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)


His appearance was rather boring.

The most interesting/entertaining part was when Leno showed a clip of a brief segment Huckabee did with him years ago when he was significantly heavier.

Read more here.

Huckabee's stint on The Tonight Show was complicated by the picketing.

Striking writers attempted to capitalize on the fact that presidential candidate Huckabee crossed the picket line.



Striking Writers Guild of America members carry picket signs, including one protesting U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, in front of NBC studios in Burbank, California, January 2, 2008. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is scheduled to resume taping at the studio today without its writers and with a scheduled appearance by Huckabee.(Phil McCarten/Reuters)


Pickets including TV movie writer Anna Sandor, lower left, march outside a scheduled appearance by Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee on the 'Tonight Show With Jay Leno,' which was to tape its first show without making a deal with striking Writers Guild of America writers, at NBC studios in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008.(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)


People march outside a scheduled appearance by Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee on the 'Tonight Show With Jay Leno,' which was to tape its first show without making a deal with striking Writers Guild of America writers, at NBC studios in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008.(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Normally, an appearance on network TV show would be a plus for a candidate, especially, until recently, a second tier candidate like Huckabee.

The scab thing might be a problem for him.

The Nation -- Mike Huckabee's foray onto secular television -- via an Iowa-caucus eve appearance with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" -- seemed like a smart political move. Iowa Republicans who are leaning toward backing the former governor of Arkansas Thursday want to know that they are not going too far out onto a limb, so an appearance on a top national talk show on the night it returns to the air provides some necessary reassurance for folks who like Huckabee but want to be sure they are backing a winner.

Unfortunately for Huckabee, who has worked hard to position himself as a Republican who actually respects unions and their members, he had to cross a picket line to make the appearance.

Huckabee, the one Republican contender who has regularly appeared at national union conventions and forums and who actually won an endorsement from the Machinists union, says he's 100 percent behind the Writers Guild of America members who have gone on strike in an effort to secure a fair share of the money reaped by the producers of the programs they create.

"I support the writers, by the way, unequivocally, absolutely," chirped Huckabee. "They're dead right on this one. And they ought to get royalties off the residuals and the long-term contracts."

But right does not trump political opportunity for the man who claims to embrace higher moral standards than his foes.

The bottom line:

I don't like this much drama mixed with my comedy.

Huckabee's "Authenticity"

Mike Huckabee is intoxicated.

He's strutting around with a sleazy confidence reminiscent of fellow Arkansas governor and boy from Hope Bill Clinton. Huckabee is Clinton without the saxophone. Instead, his instrument of choice is a guitar.


Enough is enough, Huckabee.

I can picture him in an Elvis-style jumpsuit.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- As former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee entered the Elks Lodge in this city in Eastern Iowa, loudspeakers were playing the song "Holy is the Lord."

But after Huckabee took to the stage, to the strains of "How Great is Our God," the music took a shift. He grabbed a guitar and joined a local band that had come for the event -- and together they played "Blue Suede Shoes" to the applause of a crowd of more than 200.

For the guitar-playing Baptist minister, it was all part of a campaign that was unconventional even before the headline-making press conference where he announced he would not air a negative ad against his top rival Mitt Romney -- while showing it to more several dozen reporters, virtually guaranteeing it would be played for free. Two days before the caucuses, as the cash-strapped candidate began flying around the state, he not only took the stage with his guitar, but waited for more than 40 minutes on his campaign bus between his events to watch the bowlgame of the University of Arkansas, inviting groups of reporters on board to film him watching the game with his wife and three dogs.

Huckabee has decided to stick with his decision to stop bashing Romney, not using his opponent's name or calling him "dishonest" on the stump. The candidate admitted he was "pleasantly surprised" by a Des Moines Register poll released last night that showed him still leading the race here, as his campaign had openly worried ads Romney was running against Huckabee were working. That concerned inspired the production of the new negative ad in the first place.

"I'll tell you what, I just decided that, if that's what it takes to get elected, that's a lousy way to run the country...If a man gains the whole world and loses his own soul, what does it profit him," he told a crowd in Sergeant Bluffs this morning, showing his preaching roots, "And I decided even the presidency, as important as it is, if I can't do it with self-respect and can't do it with decency, it isn't worth doing if it's not worth doing right."

This is BS, staged crap.

Posturing as the principled man, rejecting the negative ad he made about Mitt Romney, is so sleazy.

From a Mike Huckabee e-mail to supporters, dated January 1:

I am very grateful for the avalanche of comments we received on our blog about the negative attack ad we decided not to run. I can tell you here in Sergeant Bluff almost every person I meet wants to thank me for making that decision. Iowa wants to hear about our ideas. They want to see conviction. They are tired of the negative attacks.

What a guy!

He makes an attack ad, then he wants a medal for pulling it.

From an e-mail he sent out on December 31:

Yesterday, I flew to Little Rock to cut three new television ads with our campaign team. The first "Our Values" will air in Iowa and discusses my unwavering commitment towards a Human Life Amendment. The second ad which will air exclusively in New Hampshire called "Tax Cuts Matter" discusses the first broad based tax cut that I passed in Arkansas' history. You can view both ads here.

The third ad was a negative attack against Governor Romney. We prepared it, sent the ad to the television stations here in Iowa, and it was supposed to start running at noon today. This morning, I ordered my staff to pull the ad; I told them I do not want it to be run. If it was run at all, it would be until the stations pulled it off their schedules. And we are now committed, from now through the rest of the caucuses, that we will run only the ads that talk about why I should be president, and not why Mitt Romney should not.

In other words, Huckabee was for airing the ad before he was against it.

It was a slimy stunt.

It should cost him, but it doesn't seem to be slowing Huckabee's momentum.

From the New York Times:

About three weeks ago, Mike Huckabee received an unexpected e-mail message from the veteran political consultant and television commentator Ed Rollins offering help with his unexpectedly surging dark-horse Republican primary campaign. Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Huckabee had signed him up, Mr. Rollins recently recalled.

They were an unlikely match from the start: Mr. Huckabee was a Southern Baptist pastor before he became governor of Arkansas, Mr. Rollins is a cheerfully profane operative who once said he had bribed African-American ministers to surpress black voting. (He later said he misspoke.)

Now, just days before the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Huckabee’s reliance on — and then rejection of — Mr. Rollins’s advice to go after his opponent has threatened to throw his campaign into a tailspin, potentially jeopardizing the image of unvarnished “authenticity” that Mr. Huckabee is now making the centerpiece of his closing appeal to Iowa voters.

Mr. Huckabee had pledged for months not to stoop to negative politics or attack advertisements. He drew an obvious contrast with his better-financed rival Mitt Romney, who battered Mr. Huckabee with critical commercials and mail.

Mr. Rollins, however, was impatient with Mr. Huckabee’s nice-guy approach, telling a reporter just the day after Christmas that if Mr. Romney’s attacks continued the Huckabee campaign would soon throw some punches of its own. “I’m an old boxer,” he said.

Finally, over the weekend, Mr. Huckabee acceded to his new adviser’s counsel, using a stump speech to begin an escalating series of attacks on Mr. Romney’s credibility and calling his tactics “dishonest.” On Sunday, Mr. Huckabee flew to Little Rock and spent some of his scarce campaign dollars filming a new commercial driving home his attacks on Mr. Romney.

The next day, Mr. Huckabee overruled Mr. Rollins by renouncing his four-day-old attack strategy. He pledged at a news conference that he would stop going after Mr. Romney, but — to the incredulous guffaws of a roomful of reporters, convinced Mr. Huckabee wanted it both ways — he nonetheless screened the attack commercial before live television cameras to prove that it existed. “If you gain the whole world but lose your own soul, what does it profit you?” he said, quoting the Bible to explain his last-minute decision to reverse himself again.

He took full responsibility for the commercial and its cancellation. But he also tossed a gentle jab at Mr. Rollins. Asked if he had fired anyone for advocating the attacks, Mr. Huckabee said no. “Ed is awfully happy about that,” he added, glancing toward his new adviser in the corner of the room.

...“The pundits think I am crazy, and they may be right,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, urging them “to prove the pundits wrong” and send a message about “the influence of money and the spirit and the tone of presidential politics.”

Later, in Cedar Rapids, he decried the “Wall Street to Washington axis of power” and likened his shoestring campaign to hard-pressed working Iowans. “Well, I know I have been outspent in this state 20 to 1,” he said, adding, “Just like some of you understand that your whole life you feel like you have been outspent 20 to 1 in about everything you have ever tried to do.”

While Mr. Romney has a small army of operatives to help turn his supporters out to caucus, Mr. Huckabee has just about 20 paid staff in Iowa, with organized phone banks of about 75 volunteers in Des Moines and about 75 more around the state making calls on his behalf. He is counting on the pre-existing networks of home-schooling parents, gun club members, and conservative Christian churchgoers to help turn out his vote.

In closing, he urged voters to pick a candidate with “authenticity,” whose values and honesty they could trust in office. He appeared to be alluding to Mr. Romney, who has changed his position on abortion rights and his tone on other social issues over the years. But Mr. Huckabee asked a rhetorical question that may have been at odds with his recent changes in strategy as well. “If I am saying and doing something today different than I was doing or saying before, how do you have any confidence about what I will do in the future?”

Still, when reporters pressed him about the attack commercial he screened while renouncing it, Mr. Huckabee said Iowa voters applauded his decision to pull back from such attacks.

Mr. Rollins, for his part, shrugged. “Sometimes the candidate makes the decision,” he added. “And that is a good thing.”

Huckabee isn't exactly Mr. Clean.

He doesn't strike me as the underdog suddenly taking over the role of front-runner, trying to find his footing. He seems to be very sure of himself. His moves are calculated, not haphazard. He chose Ed Rollins and his negative knockdown political choreography.

Huckabee guy is shrewd, but not quite shrewd enough; like Bill Clinton.

It's not good when a day before the caucus he reveals how inauthentic his supposed authenticity is.

Huckabee is as authentic as an Elvis impersonator.
___________________

When Jay Leno returns with a new show tonight after a two month absence due to the Writers' strike, Mike Huckabee will be his guest.

That's sort of a sticky situation. Huckabee will be crossing a picket line.

Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- David Letterman's ``Late Show'' returns to CBS television tonight with fresh material and his team of comedy writers, as rival Jay Leno likely faces picketers outside the NBC studio for his unscripted performance.

...Letterman, a guild member for more than 30 years, will be able to use scripted monologues and his customary ``Top Ten'' lists. His first guest will be actor Robin Williams.

The writers will target NBC Studios and the ``Tonight Show'' taping for their first picketing of the new year today.

``It's time for NBC Universal to step up to the plate and negotiate a companywide deal that will put Jay Leno, who has supported our cause from the beginning, back on the air with his writers,'' the Writers Guild said in a statement.

Leno, whose show airs at the same time as Letterman's, won't be able to write or perform any work that would normally be done by writers, leaving the guild member to improvise and interview guests willing to cross picket lines.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is scheduled to appear on Leno's ``Tonight Show,'' according to his campaign Web site.

Watch Huckabee comment on crossing the picket line here.

He's a bit confused.

I Want an Apology from Huckabee

I thought Mike Huckabee was supposed to be the Republican version of Slick Willie.

I thought he was supposed to be so smooth and able to BS his way through anything.

That was not the case today when he reacted to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

From CBS News via NRO:

With about 150 supporters crowded around a podium set up on the tarmac of Orlando Executive airport (and about 20 Ron Paul supporters waving signs outside) Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of “Right Now” by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

"Sincere concern"--- Yes.

"Apologies"--- NO! HELL NO!

Apologies?

Why should we "apologize" for al Qaeda?

I'd like Huckabee to elaborate on why he believes the U.S. should apologize for Bhutto's assassination.

People complain about Rudy Giuliani being a liberal.

At least when it comes to this act of terror, Huckabee reveals himself to be a dyed-in-the-wool lib.

The more I get to know about Huckabee, the more I dislike him.

A-Hunting We Will Go

Look at this.


Mike Huckabee on a pheasant hunt in Iowa. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)

I think that hunting photo-op looks worse than the mysterious, even miraculous, bookcase that appears as a cross in Huckabee's Christmas message.

It's such a dumb, posed, pandering sort of thing to do.

Huckabee reminds me of the desperate John Kerry back in 2004.

I don't think Huckabee needs to do that.



I wonder how many voters are swayed by these lame images.

With just days to go until the Iowa caucuses, it seems positively goofy to be running around with a gun on a pheasant farm.

I think Huckabee looks like a fool, but it's part of what the New York Times calls the "final sprint" before the caucuses and the primaries begin. It's say and do anything time.

With a brief holiday break behind them, the presidential campaign resumed in earnest on Wednesday as several of the Democratic and Republican candidates fanned out across this state to begin making their final pitches to voters eight days before the Iowa caucuses open the nominating fight for the White House.

“How was Christmas, good?” said Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, speaking to hundreds of voters gathered in a school gymnasium here. “You know what I got for Christmas? Eight hours sleep. It was outstanding.”

After gently tip-toeing through the Christmas season, Republican and Democratic candidates shelved their uplifting holiday television commercials and returned to the aggressive business of campaigning for the most wide-open presidential nomination in more than a half-century. On Jan. 3, Iowa opens a chaotic, monthlong series of caucuses and primaries, narrowing the field before voters in 21 states cast ballots on Feb. 5.

The fight for the Republican nomination remains so competitive and uncertain that Senator John McCain of Arizona, who had all but sworn off Iowa, returned to the state on Wednesday for a three-day campaign swing. With his poll standings rising in New Hampshire, aides believe a stronger-than-expected finish here could bolster his chances in the Jan. 8 primary in New Hampshire.

As former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas went pheasant hunting in southern Iowa and former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee kicked off the second-leg of a bus tour nearby, another leading Republican rival, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, spent the day campaigning in New Hampshire, working to bolster his support there before returning to Iowa later this week.

Meanwhile, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York City campaigned Wednesday in Florida, which holds its primary on Jan. 29, as he continued to concentrate on winning in that big state to jump-start his presidential drive. Mr. Huckabee is expected to head to Florida on Wednesday evening.

But for most candidates, a presidential campaign that began nearly a year ago is grinding down to a frenetic push in Iowa, particularly on the Democratic side, where Mr. Obama, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina appear to be locked in a three-way contest.

So Huckabee is hunting, or at least pretending; and the Dems are locked in a three-way.

What fun!

Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton plan to return to Iowa later on Wednesday, embarking on a tour entitled, “It’s time to pick a president.” The Clintons’ arrival was delayed Wednesday afternoon because of air traffic congestion in New York, according to a statement released by the campaign.

"It's time to pick a president" tour?

That sounds like the title of a children's book.

Flying in from Chicago, Mr. Obama arrived here on Wednesday morning, where about 500 people were waiting in the gymnasium of the Newman Catholic High School in Mason City. His remarks conveyed a fresh moment of urgency in the race, making his most overt appeal to voters who are supporting other candidates.

“By the way, some of you may have decided, you know, ‘I really love Joe Biden or Chris Dodd or somebody else,’ ” Mr. Obama said. “We’re getting close enough that if you’re firm in that decision, we still want to be your second choice.”

For Democrats, the rules of the Iowa caucuses require candidates to receive at least 15 percent support in each of the 1,781 precincts across the state on Jan. 3. If a candidate does not reach that level of viability, they must select a second-choice among the six major Democratic candidates in the race, including Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, or Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut.

Democratic strategists believe an unusually high number of voters remain either undecided or are willing to change their minds in the final days of the race. While positions on particular issues drive the decision for many voters, the themes of change versus experience appear to linger as the most perplexing.

“Everybody now is talking about change,” Mr. Obama said. “If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we’re doing pretty good, because at the beginning of this campaign we said we’re going to bring about change and do things differently, and now everybody’s talking about change.

“That’s fine,” Mr. Obama said. “But when you make a decision to caucus, you’ve got to ask yourself, who’s been about change their whole lives?”

In a closing television commercial being shown here on Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton looks directly into the camera, saying: “We’ve never needed change more, nor the strength and experience to make it happen.”

The process of running for president is so demeaning.

Obama's upset that Hillary has decided to be the candidate of change. She's infringing on his territory.

Hillary is a liar. She's not experienced and she's not strong. She's not about change. She's about the past. She is the '90s.

I'm waiting for chameleon Hillary to don the blaze orange and go hunting. She'd put on a helmet and take a ride in a tank if she thought it would help her win.

I do admire Fred Thompson for refusing to play those games. The strategy isn't landing him a lot of support, but he's maintaining his dignity.

I mean no disrespect to the people of Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina. I just don't think a handful of voters in those states should be treated as if they have the power to choose the nominees. There has to be a better way to pick a president.