Posted on 12/18/2007 6:53:25 PM PST by Mighty_Quinn
Everyone is missing this... Why is Huckabee gaining ground?
Answer--Harriet Miers.
The nomination of Miers confirmed a sneaking suspicion held by many Christians and social conservatives that many Republican politicians aren't really concerned about pro-life issues or about opposing the homosexual "rights" lobby. This wing of the party suspects that many GOP candidates only pay lip-service to these concerns to get social-conservative votes. The fear is this: when push comes to shove, politicians will distance themselves from these views and throw those who voted for them under the bus.
In this regard, the Harriet Miers fiasco was a HUGE blunder. Rightly or wrongly, the nomination sent a message that Bush (or the Bush administration) was out of touch with the concerns of those who had worked the phones and hit the pavement during the previous election.
Why are many rallying for Huckabee, a candidate who has numerous problems? It's because he's a known quantity. He may not be perfect on all the issues, e.g., immigration, the economy, etc. It's true that most social conservatives are also fiscal-conservatives--but at the end of the day fiscal issues are not what motivates this segment of the party! They volunteer to man the phones and hit the streets at local GOP headquarters because of their concern for the moral issues at stake, not because of the estate tax-- even though most of them would be against that too.
The Harriet Miers episode scared that segment of the party. Rightly or wrongly, it sent a message: the Bush administration isn't as concerned about social-conservatism as those who put in hours and hours during his campaign.
And recall that the concerns about Miers were later shown to be justified. But when Christians and social conservatives saw many people in the GOP defending the President's choice it simply confirmed the suspicion that others in the party were out of touch with them.
And who were the most vocal supporters of Miers?--check the record: Hugh Hewitt, Fred Barnes, even Jay Sekelow, Pat Robertson's partner! Now these men are hardly seen as reliable to this group. Robertson is having a very tough time rallying support among Christians for Guilliani!
And so when a Baptist minister is in the mix, he's going to end up surging--despite any other concerns about him, he's trustworthy.
In the past social conservatives could feel comfortable with people like Reagan or Bush despite their past records... I don't think that's the attitude in the aftermath of the Miers nomination.
That many in the party are expressing "concerns" about the electability of Huckabee due to his Christianity is only drawing more people to him! These people are confirming the concerns of this segment of the party--social-conservatism is for primaries, but after that, it goes to the back burner.
I don't think that's going to fly.
That no one has connected Miers with Huckabee's "surge" shows one thing: GOP pundits are out of touch with a major block of their constituents.
And it's getting worse. Let it not be that we see a third party candidate down the road. That would be a huge mistake for the party... but I think that's where this is going to go if things continue this way.
Your comments aren’t against Huckabee only, but against Christians. That tells me that you’ve got a beef against Christians. You’re free to have your opinions against Christians, of course. It just seems out of place on FR.
Just say NO ! to RINOS .... The clear choice in 2008 is Fred Thompson.
Good argument for Huckabuck. If you are anti-Huckabee, you are anti-Christian.
That is a great theory and one of the big reasons my wife and I casted our votes for Huckabee thru absentee ballot (Michigan Primary) this past weekend. Good read! God Bless!
If people haven’t figured out Huck by now .. they have blinders on.
Yikes. He looks like the product of a fine upbringing!
The Chamber of Commerce - same group that's trying to defeat the 'employee must be a citzen ' verification law in Arizona ...
Having to defend this is so bogus, I hope Mike can keep his head above it all ...
Ark. inbreeding
Ditto.
At some point in history, George W Bush will be considered a great president.
And better than Romney and McCain. I'll give that, like Huckabee, McCain isn't flip-flopping and is standing on his record just as Huckabee is. But Mitt and Rudy will be called out as the lying flip-floppers they are.
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