Posted on 01/21/2008 12:12:57 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Mike Huckabee tried his best to expand beyond his evangelical base in South Carolina and appeal to what his campaign called "Joe Six Pack" voters. Mr. Huckabee was the only candidate to pander to devotees of the Confederate flag, telling crowds that outsiders should leave the banner flag, now displayed in a corner of the grounds of the state capitol, alone: "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do." Contrast that with the comments of Mr. Huckabee's fellow Southerner Fred Thompson: "For a great many Americans, [the flag] is a symbol of racism. I'm glad people have made a decision not to display it . . . in a state capitol."
Mr. Huckabee also tried pandering to immigration foes. As governor he had opposed measures targeting illegal aliens. Just before the primary, he signed a pledge that he would use law enforcement to send all 12 million illegal aliens home. He vehemently denied any inconsistency in his views. It didn't work. Among the one-fourth of voters for whom illegal immigration was a top issue, Mr. Huckabee defeated John McCain by only 33% to 24%--a sign that many voters recognize the issue's complexities and view it in context once they get inside the voting booth.
Once again, Mr. Huckabee failed to achieve significant support outside his evangelical base. Only 1 in 7 non-evangelicals voted for him, placing him behind not just Mr. McCain but Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Hopefully the Huckster is on his downhill slide, but like I’ve said from the start, the snake oil salesman is positioning himself for a VP slot. I don’t even want him for that. I want him sent home packing.
Huckabee as VP candidate would be subtraction by addition.
Huckabee will never appeal to real conservatives.
Huckabee will never appeal to Christians who have observed him closely and undertand that he is a congenital liar and a corrupt taker of bribes and illegal contributions.
Huckabee will never appeal to secular conservatives or libertarians, because they mistrust anyone who spouts religion 24/7, whether they mean it sincerely or not.
Huckabee will never appeal to liberals, even though he is liberal himself, because most American liberals mistrust Christians.
In other words, his only supporters are southern populists and megachurch Evangelicals who have been led astray by their pastors. It’s as if Jimmy Carter came back and ran for president on the Republican line. He couldn’t even win a second time on the Democrat line.
I think there are some perfectly nice people who voted for Huckabee because they heard a little of what he said and they believed him. He’s a spellbinding speaker. But there will be less and less of those as the campaign proceeds.
If Huck’s appeal is so limited and it is clear he cannot win, maybe he should withdraw from the race and let his voters go to his closest rival, Fred Thompson. That’d shake up the race a bit.
Seriously, if Fred stays in for a while (at least until Texas), he could possibly force Huck to withdraw.
There ain’t no doubt in my mind of that.
FRED THOMPSON is the best person to lead this country. He is a true conservative and has been his entire life. All one has to do is check his record to see this.
During my time in the Army as an Intelligence Analyst, I personally served under both Presidents Carter and Reagan. Without argument, President Reagan was the best commander-in-chief a military person could ever have served under. Fred Thompson possesses the same qualities and vision as President Reagan in that he is strong on national defense and sees a dire need to secure our borders and control immigration.
I can think of no better person to lead this country and fix the problems we have. He is the only candidate from either party who has specific and detailed plans on border security and immigration reform; revitalization of America’s armed forces; saving and protecting Social Security; and tax relief and economic growth. These are detailed on his Web site at www.fred08.com . I challenge you to find any other candidate who has laid out specific plans to fix anything.
Fred Thompson has published his first principles, some of which are mentioned above. In addition to those, he strongly believes in individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, federalism, traditional American values, the rule of law and is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment — all concepts established during the birth of our country and documented in our Constitution.
Again, try to find any candidate who has laid out their plans to “fix” this country. You will find they all speak in vague and abstract terms on their plans.
For those who have heard Fred Thompson speak, you will usually hear him say that the Fred Thompson you see today is the same Fred Thompson you saw yesterday and is the same Fred Thompson you will see tomorrow. He stands by his principles and values and doesn’t shift his positions based on polls or public opinion; in other words, he doesn’t say what the voters want to hear just to get elected, but remains steadfast on his views and convictions.
During his time in the Senate he focused on three areas: to lower taxes, strengthen national security and expose waste in the federal government. Fred Thompson has foreign policy experience, having served as member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Intelligence committees.
As chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he opened the investigation in 1997 on the Chinese government’s attempt to influence American policies and elections, and this investigation identified connections with the Clinton administration (documented in the committee’s report).
As a member of the Finance Committee, he worked tirelessly to enact three major tax-cut bills. Fred Thompson remains steadfast and even though a person may not agree with all his views and he understands some may disagree with him, you can count on him to be consistent and unwavering.
Don’t be fooled by his laid back approach and what critics call his “laziness.” As a former assistant U.S. attorney, he earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor and he possesses the toughness this country needs in order to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s issues.
I ask that you take a hard look at what this country needs, then take a hard look at all the other candidates’ views, policies, their records and their track record on consistency. Fred Thompson possesses integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy and decisiveness, all traits of an effective leader, and will emerge as the best person to take this country boldly forward. Fred is still in this race to win!
Please help Fred win in Florida:
https://www.fred08.com/contribute.aspx?RefererID=c637caaa-315c-4b4c-9967-08d864cd0791
Huck won’t get out until McInsane tells him to. Who do you think put him up to this? pssst... it was Miss Lindsey Grahm.
The non-evangelicals? Hustlerbee cannot even get the evangelicals to support him.
It would have been nice if he beat McCain in SC, but he didnt. Too bad, because he, himself, is going nowhere.
Because the non-evangelical Southern vote went to FDT
Huckabee has always been just a spoiler for conservatism in this race. The only votes he was ever going to get was a certain segment of evangelicals who felt compelled to place an identity vote. He’s a pro life liberal who is not a party uniter and will never win the nod from the GOP nor the country.
Absolutely brilliant analysis.
Fred just needs to hang in there.
So when is McCain’s stalking horse Huckabee going to get out. I hear he’s broke and can only get part of the evangelical block.
He’s obviously not in this to win it. I think it’s proven that he was just out there to split the evangelical vote off of Mitt and Fred. His one trick horse of a campaign he now grown tired, dull, and sleepy.
I am an Evangelical Christian and I will never for for Pastor Huckabee!!!!!
Nice summary. I agree.
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