Oh yes: Huckabee’s in

Hotair ^ | 05/01/2015 | AllahPundit

[SeekAndFind]

The word “president” isn’t uttered here but the subject line of the e-mail from his website containing the link to this clip was “Announcement video” and there’s a countdown clock on the homepage marking the hours until Tuesday’s “event” in Arkansas. He’s in. And as announcement videos go, this one’s interesting — as much for what it doesn’t contain as what it does. It starts by playing up Huckabee’s record in remaking “Bill Clinton’s Arkansas,” signaling that he’s going to run in the primaries not only as a man who can beat the Clintons in the general but a man who has, effectively, already done it once before. That’s his answer to Scott Walker’s claim that he knows how to beat the left after having done it repeatedly in Wisconsin. That’s great, Huckabee will say. Here’s my trump card.

What’s missing from this vid, though? It’s got plenty to offer the blue-collar Republicans whom Huckabee’s targeting — promises of wage growth, a solemn vow to protect America’s unsustainable entitlements, and a little saber-rattling at ISIS and other jihadi menaces. But … not a word about gay marriage, abortion, or religious liberty. The furthest he goes is noting that he’ll “lead with moral clarity” and that comes as a lead in to foreign policy. You can see the Huckabee master strategy this time in that: His problem in 2008 was ending up pigeonholed as a one-trick evangelical pony, a guy whose southern socially conservative appeal was so narrow that he couldn’t carry it over to similar demographics who might logically be receptive to him, like Catholics.

He’s got to make his tent bigger this time to have a shot at winning, just as Romney did in 2012 after running as a social conservative champion himself in 2008. The answer is to aim for working-class righties on kitchen-table issues, knowing that he’ll have lots of chances during the campaign to show off his evangelical cred. At the very least, a Huckabee who can mobilize lower-class conservative whites into turning out is a much more attractive VP candidate than a Huckabee who can mobilize the sort of core Republican evangelical voters who’ll turn out for the eventual nominee anyway. Frankly, not to scare you, but I’d say there’s nonzero chance of a Bush/Huckabee ticket. It’s less likely than a Bush/Walker or Bush/Jindal or Bush/Martinez ticket, admittedly, but that all depends on how well Huck does. Sleep tight, conservatives!

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

[Yaelle]

Dear Candidate Huckabee (and family), No one wants you in the White House. You let a man out of jail because he pretended to be a Christian, and he killed a bunch of policemen. You lie about everything from your weight loss surgery to the cross in your Christmas ad. You adore the sound of your own voice. And when your son Slim, there, committed a heinous crime*, you pardoned him so he would never receive deserved punishment.

*And considering that Junior's crime was to torture a puppy in front of a Boy Scout troop and then hang the pooch to death after, it's kind of not too cool the way you are forcing your own dog into this photo.

[ealgeone]

A. COMPLETE. WASTE. OF. TIME. AND. MONEY.

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

So that’s what they did with all the old mattresses.............

[RitaOK]

LOL!!! That is so true. Never once have I met a Huck fan.

[TBP]

Until he returns to TV? :)

[mrsixpack36]

Sorry Huck. No sale. Fine on social issues but you are a big govt liberal. I think BJ was more fiscally conservative than you in Arkansas. Plus you can’t win.

[hoagy62]

Two words: Maurice Clemmons.

Now shut up and go away, Huck.

[upchuck]

The list of declared Republican candidates is beginning to go Wacky. We already have several losers. Which eventual loser is next? Santorum, Pence, etc?

[Unmarked Package]

I pity the good evangelical Christians that will be deceived by has-been Huckabee, an attention-seeking politician with more ego than ethics. What a waste it will be to throw away your vote on a sleazy mixture of Elmer Gantry and a stand-up comic when you could have voted for Ted Cruz, a solid conservative, faithful Christian, and fearless defender of our religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

[conservativejoy]

Boy Howdy! Does this ever belong under the “Who gives a Hoot Headline of the Day”!

[PhilCollins]

Gov. Huckabee isn’t my first choice, but, sometimes, losing a presidential nomination helps someone win the nomination (at least), later. That happened to Mitt Romney, John McCain, Bob Dole, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.

[x]

That's true. It's usually the candidate who came in second, though. Huckabee came in third back in 2008.

Also, those other guys were really working hard for the nomination between campaigns and were ahead coming out of the starting gate. That's not the case with Huck. He's closer to the middle of the field.

[hinckley buzzard]

The mass media love eccentric nobodies like Huck. They reinforce the image of the GOP as a collection of nuts and crackpots.

Another round of seven or eight idiots on parade and the next election could go sideways like the last one did.

[joe fonebone]

huckabee is at best a communist and at worst a terrorist..

his only goal is to suck away votes to give to bush..

follow the money...

from this point forward, any recommendations for fuckabee or hairbybush will be met with my rath..

period, end of discussion

[PhilCollins]

According to this article, Huckabee had the second-highest number of delegates, with seven more than Romney: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#val=R

[x]

According to this article, Huckabee had the second-highest number of delegates, with seven more than Romney:

Thanks for the link.

Romney got more popular votes in the primaries and won more state primaries. He was in second place when he withdrew.

Huckabee stayed in a month longer and picked up more delegates in that time.

The surprising thing is how quickly it was over. After Huckabee left, only Paul and Keyes stayed in.

Not much of a fight. Of course, they may have been campaigning for over a year by the time of the first primaries.

[jjotto]

Here’s the real story: So-called conservatives dropped out of the 2008 race and mostly endorsed McCain instead of another conservative.

Early candidates Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback and Jim Gilmore endorsed McCain before the primaries started. Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson were out before January was over and endorsed McCain.

Duncan Hunter was the only early conservative who endorsed a (somewhat) conservative, Huckabee.

[x]

How come? Did they expect jobs from McCain? Or did they hate Romney that much?

[jjotto]

Mitt’s another one: He endorsed McCain when Huckabee was the alternative.

Perhaps we’re just dealing with egos. “If I can’t be the nominee, then I’m going to suck up to the RNC and screw those conservatives for not supporting me.” Or perhaps there are plenty of fake conservatives who gladly accept money for channeling support to the Anointed Ones.