Not paying the food bill for this bunch
Posted on 11/05/2009 7:56:42 PM PST by yongin
Before Sarah Palin became the embodiment of the conservative grassroots, another national candidate from a state beginning with "A" mastered 21st century Republican populism on his way to winning the 2008 Iowa caucuses. During the campaign, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the funniest Republican since the heyday of Bob Dole, would go off on little-guy riffs like this: "If you're a person for whom 'summer' is a verb, if you went to Harvard or Yale, you probably think the economy is doing just dandy."
After John McCain won the nomination, Huckabee did not fade away. Instead, he morphed into a guitar-playing Fox News weekend talk show host. But just to make sure that the Washington political press corps did not forget him, Huckabee appeared Wednesday at a reporters' breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. A former pastor, Huckabee was ostensibly plugging his gravely serious new public policy tome, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit."
"There's no ulterior motive," Huckabee insisted, "although I assume people will look for one."
There was nothing in the Huckabee interview to inspire any get-me-rewrite frenzy among the reporters. But his morning-after-the-election comments do convey the minefield that social conservative politicians (and putative 2012 candidates) have to negotiate in dealing with the GOP's angry, tempest-in-a-teabag right flank. Asked about the vicious Republican divisions in Tuesday's upstate New York House election (23rd Congressional District) won by the Democrats, Huckabee said, "Politics is not theology. In theology, things are pretty clear – left, right, up, down, black, white, heaven, hell. It's real simple stuff. Politics is not as pure. It never has been. It never will be." The problem, Huckabee concedes, is that Republican purists want a litmus test party as they say, in effect, "It has to be just like me – and nothing but."
Unlike Palin, who endorsed on Facebook the losing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd district, Huckabee stayed on the sidelines without even a single tweet. He was troubled by Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava's liberal views on social issues (pro-abortion rights and gay marriage), but he was not willing to join Hoffman's third party uprising that drove Scozzafava from the race. "I feel sorry for people like Newt Gingrich, who was just excoriated over his support for Dede," Huckabee said, casting his lot with the practical politicians. As for Palin, whose neon-lit celebrity appears to irk Huckabee, he sniffed, "She apparently did not have a big impact on the ultimate outcome."
Over the decades, Monitor breakfasts have been where presidential campaigns have been launched and even lost. But Huckabee seems in no rush to overtly join the 2012 jousting. "I'm loving what I'm doing," he said, referring to his books, his Fox News show, and a radio show on ABC. "I know that people think that I'm doing everything I'm doing to set up for 2012. It's really not the case. I'm not going to get focused on it at all until 2010 is over."
All this is boilerplate, the kind of mechanical denials that invariably invite skepticism. But a few minutes later, Huckabee, a politician who is apparently making serious money for the first time in his career, said something about running for president again that had the ring of (gasp!) truth. "This is a money game, not an idea game," he said, harking back to the lessons of running against the likes of Mitt Romney in 2008. "And it's one of the great frustrations. And it's one of the reasons why I'm not jumping up and down and saying I'm going to run again. It's not only campaign money. It's that you need a lot of personal money to run. Can you forgo an income for up to two years?"
Huckabee – who is still waiting for a scientific consensus about the reality of global warming – will never be confused with Al Gore, who grew a rebellious beard after his heartbreak-house 2000 election loss. But it was telling that Huckabee, unlike almost all the reporters, did not deign to wear a tie to the Monitor breakfast. Afterwards, when I asked him about his sartorial choice, the 2008 White House dreamer replied, "I'm just enjoying that I don't have to wear a tie. And I'm not. And I love the freedom."
For Huckabee, freedom may be another word for no future primaries left to lose.
No.
We need new blood.
Article aside - not just no, but hell no.
No.
Go away Nannybee and take Mitt and Newt with you.
I like him better as a game show host.
Behind the faulty primary process, the Huckster is reason #2 that we ended up with McCain. He stayed in long enough to get Romney out, then he stood down. (And no, I'm no fan of Romney, but I would have rather had him than McCain.)
No thanks.
...no Mike, that ship has sailed.
Spokesman for Little Debbie snack cakes.
“Mike Huckabee: Another White House Whirl in 2012?”
Negative, negative, negative.
Mike, you’re a pretty good TV host. Stick with that, please.
Let Sarah and others set the serious tone for the future, eh?
Huckabee never met a tax hike he didn’t like.
He thought it would be a great idea to ban certain kinds of fat and other nanny-state ideas
In short, he is a pro-life liberal.
After endorsing Hoffman when RINO Dede quit the NY-23 race, Huckabee now scolds conservatives who drove RINO Dede from the race. Huckabee learned well from Clinton on having it both ways.
Where DO these stinking RINO’s come from. Huckabee .. the seminarian that really wasn’t a seminarian. Kind of like what “is” is.
The only thing Huck “morphed into” was a spoiler for Romney. He did everything he could to support McCain - which I thought was because Huck wanted to be #2.
For Huck to claim being a Christian, and then to try to smear Romney’s religion .. it totally soured me on Huck.
Huck might do well at first, because of his TV show which gives him great name recognition.
My advice Huck, don't quit your day job.
Not paying the food bill for this bunch
Glimpse on how a President Huckabee will run the White House.
Hi Mike - How’s your babe doing in New York? Care to support any other ‘republicans’ who plan to campaign for their Democratic opponent?
Given Huckster’s judgment, I’d rather have Obama’s finger on the button than him. He is PATHETIC.
...you know I think these RINOs are wishy washy people...not firm on right and wrong...just trying to please everybody and not pleasing anybody.
He would do great pitching hearing aids for old folks or maybe some over priced life insurance from Colonial Penn. Stick to your “700 Club” gig Mike and let the serious candidates run.
I’m voting for a Conservative, whether he/she is a Republican or Independent. No more RINOS or moderates for me.
Serious question here: Who’s the bigger (or worse) RINO: Huck or Mitt?
Using MA Healthcare as a barometer, I vote for Mitt as the uber-RINO.
Thoughts?
TO The Huckster... Hell No!!!!!!!!!!
I admit I didn’t fully read this article before my first response. That said
“As for Palin, whose neon-lit celebrity appears to irk Huckabee, he sniffed, “She apparently did not have a big impact on the ultimate outcome.”
WTF???? Hoffman darned near won after coming from nowhere! Just stick with bad guitar playing from now on, Mr. Huckster!!!
IMO, you lack the intellectual credentials to be a Presidential candidate in 2012!
No, no, no ... NO
D*mned straight we want a litumus test: candidates should oppose the expansion of government power. Yes, for subtle reasons even the conservative position on moral issues opposes the expansion of the state: traditional morality strengthens the family, perhaps the most important non-state institution (in terms of worldly affairs, an argument from a broader point of view can be made for the Church being the most important institution, period, but I digress); opposing ‘gay’ marriage is opposition to the state arrogating to itself the power to redefine non-state institutions, and so forth.
If a candidate does not, at least on balance, oppose the expansion of the state (and, when it has expanded beyond its proper bounds seek to drive it back), he or she has no business seeking the Republican nomination for anything.
I have no use for Huckabee as a Presidential nominee: I see no point in America having two socialist parties, one secularist, the other protestant.
Is this writer stupid? Here’s what Huckabee said on Oct 30:
“We commend Dede Scozzafava for stepping aside and in light of her very unselfish announcement, we join the RNC and other Republicans in urging support for Doug Hoffman. ”
HuckPAC spokesman confirms that this is an official endorsement from Gov. Huckabee and HuckPAC.
Looks like Huckabee did in fact endorse Hoffman and get involved in the race. Maybe it was Huckabee that caused him to lose. Who knows?
But I love how he’s trying to pretend he steered clear and didn;t get involved at all. Washing his hands.
And on 10/23 he said:
Huckabee also said: “I’m never gonna support somebody who does not believe that every human life has value and meaning. I’m not gonna support people who would do things like say TARP is one of those great, wonderful things. I think I have a right and responsibility to only support people who hold to principles, above party and above just the politics of winning and losing.”
For some reason the media has made this out like Palin was the only one who endrosed Hoffman and personally engineered his candidacy.
He had already been running for some time. Many others endorsed him before she did. Many others endorsed him after she did. All she did was write a few paragraphs about him. She didn’t campaign for him. She didn’t cut ads for him. She didn’t even even really say anything positive about him personally other than that he was a solid conservative, bolierplate stuff.
But the media is just going around as if his candidacy was some personal project of hers.
“Not paying the food bill for this bunch “
His family food bill alone would increase the National Debt.
be gone!
One of his sons was tossed from the Boy scouts for killing a dog some yrs back.
socalpol,
You posted a picture of the Hucksters Kitchen/Pantry.
Do you have a picture of his house?
Nooooooo. Just stay with FNC, Mikey.
He lied about obvious stupid things like his weight loss surgery and the cross in his Christmas ad. He covered for his pathetic dog-torturing son instead of helping him face justice. I don’t care what religion he cloaks himself in. He is emotionally needy and desperate for attention. This is the kind of person to FEAR as a candidate for president.
I think I remember that story. I think the story mentioned that the Hukster was trying to cut his son back to just a sack full of Krystals a meal. Looks like the kid just rebeled.
Not enough pixels
NO
The victories in Jersey and VA showed that the “Blame Bush for everything” doesn’t work anymore.
Going into 2010, the new narrative will be the “Taliban Tea Baggers” led by Palin have declared a Jihad on independent thinking moderates.
Huckabee also was “proud to endorse” Harmer in CA and he went down by a much bigger margin than Hoffman did. Yet the media isn’t saying that he looks bad because of that or it’s a symbol of his weakness or anything.
In fact, Huckabee ended up DOING MORE for Hoffman than Palin ever did. He actually launced a phone bank for him and directly called voters to help him win.
From HuckPAC:
This Tuesday voters will head to the polls and cast votes for three very important candidates: Bob McDonnell (candidate for Virginia Governor) and David Harmer and Doug Hoffman candidates for Congress in California and New York. We need to help get each of these fine men elected.
We are past the point where a donation to their campaign will matter that much, what we need now is to reach as many voters as possible within the next 36 hours and let them know Americans are focused on helping elect elect Bob McDonnell, David Harmer and Doug Hoffman.
Tomorrow we will launch a phone bank for Doug Hoffman.
Hmm...Hoffman was up in all the polls over the weekend. Then Huckabee launched a phone bank and made calls for him the day before the election. Maybe it was Huckabee’s phone calls that caused him to lose?
More from HuckPAC:
November 02, 2009 - 01:38 PM
Hoffman for Congress Phone Bank Open
Now, I was just kidding about Huck’s phone calls being the spoiler. But how does he have the call to pretend he styed on the sidelines and stayed out of it when he was actually more directly involved in the election than Palin? And the media plays along with him.
At least after Hoffman lost Palin mentioned him and how he ran a good race and gave a good showing. Huckabee congratulated McDonnell and Christie but said nothing about Hoffman.
BTW, Huckabee did not endorse Christie and said nothing about him. Palin did endorse Christie and wrote just as many supportive facebook posts about him as she did about Hoffman. Same with McDonnell(and did make calls supporting him apparently). Both of them won. The media also doesn’t mention that.
It’s amazing how much the media despises this woman. I’ve really never seen anything like it. Yes, they disliked Bush, but that was after he’d been President for a while. When he was running against Gore and in the GOP primaries they were actually fairly positive about him. With Palin, they’ve loathed her from the beginning.
Huckster, you’re a lackey - get lost and take Mitt, McCain, Graham and Newt with you - what a worthless bunch of empty suits!
“He actually launced a phone bank for him and directly called voters to help him win.”
Is that the same phone bank that Drudge posted a picture of the day before the election?
That phone bank was empty.
this man has serious delusions and should not be be allowed near a microphone for any reason. the hoffman race was about rinos. we don't want any. at least a democrat believes some of his party's nonsense. a rino jumps on the party to gain power. to hell with that.
mr. huckabee, mr. romney, mr. mccain, mr. giuliani, and mr. steele: the democrats can have the seat. they would have had it anyway with that half-ass political hack the rnc tried to anoint. palin was absolutely right to campaign against scozzafava. her influence, as well as that of other conservatives, was profound. the message was crystal clear.
we want conservatives.
The three easiest way for a used car salesman to gain power
is to become a preacher, a politician or get a TV show.
no, that phone bank was the official RNC HQ phone nabk I believe.
Also, for those who think that Hoffman’s loss is some huge black mark on Palin going forward, take a look at this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15582056/
From 2006 in TN. Obama campaigning for Harold Ford while McCain campaigned for Corker. I guess the results of that one really showed that Obama was obviously bad news for the Democrats and that McCain was just a shoo-in to beat him.
Obama said:
“I know that all of you are going to work the next couple of days to make sure it happens, because I’m feeling lonely in Washington,” Obama said at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. “I need my dear friend to join me.”
Ford’s loss really hurt Obama’s future prospects.
she apparently had a big enough impact that only a few days after her endorsement Huckabee changed his mind and also endorsed him and went even further and launched a phone bank to make calls for him. I guess he just needed more time to do research like Gov Pawlenty. Had to go through the briefing books.
amazing how he just pretends he wasnt involved at all. I thought Huckabee had more integrity than that.
Huckster, Mitt, Crist, McCain, etc. why must these worthless politicians insist on inflicting their vanity on us? I feel abused, they’re like scary clowns who won’t stay out of your nightmares. We keep getting these trial balloons (Or Zeppelin in this case) about which RINO is going to represent us in 2012, please make it stop.
Ann Coulter had Huckster’s Number long ago....
He is a Razorbacked Rino...and Ill never vote for him.
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