Posted on 05/05/2015 8:55:26 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The All-Star Panel on Fox News’ “Special Report” Tuesday was extremely skeptical of former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s chances of winning the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
One panelist compared him to a segregationist and another said “he has no chance” in the current political environment.
“The problem is, he won Iowa once before, he has to win it again, really,” syndicated columnist George Will said. “The only person who’s done that twice in contested caucuses was Bob Dole in ’88 and ’96, and he did it by having the evangelicals, but only the evangelicals. This time around, before he can expand on that, he has to compete with among others two pastors’ sons: Ted Cruz and Scott Walker.”
“And he has a record of saying things that make it hard to see him campaigning in Michigan and Pennsylvania and elsewhere,” Will said. “…He said that if the Supreme Court comes down with a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, it should be treated as just an opinion and not the law of the land.”
“Now, we’ve had some experience before with an Arkansas governor with that attitude towards the federal courts. His name was Orval Faubus, and it took the United States Army because of him to integrate Central High in Little Rock. I’m not sure we want to do that again,” Will concluded.
The Associated Press’ Julie Pace said Huckabee might have an advantaged as a well-known candidate. “But I think that George is right. The bucket that he needs to at least preserve and hold onto is going to be split among multiple candidates this time around. And he has to look to expand that bucket. I think that is even a bigger challenge for him.”
“He has two problems,” columnist Charles Krauthammer agreed. “Number one is the splitting of the bucket. Number two is… candidates’ movements and ideas have their time, and his could have been ’08. Remember in ’08– when he did so well and he ran his evangelical appeal to that constituency– Barack Obama said that he disapproved of gay marriage because of his religion.”
“Think of where the country is now on that issue,” he noted. “Huckabee is where he was in ’08, the country has moved radically. I’m not judging whether he ought to have moved or not; I respect him for not. But it isn’t going to help him…”
“If he hopes that having the evangelical vote alone is going to carry him in, he has no chance,” Krauthammer concluded.
“Most polls have him in the top tier right now,” host Bret Baier did say on the candidate’s behalf. “So we’ll see where he goes.”
I agree, Huck doesn’t have a chance. However, I might think this is in response to his bad mouthing the staff at FOX about their tendency to be a little potty mouth.
I now call FOX the ‘Rove Channel’. I wish he would shove that whiteboard where the sun doesn’t shine.
Given a world subject to an Almighty Creator, the words “no chance” hold little sway with me. “Long shot,” or “Slim to none,” would be a better way to state things.
” Does George Will really think that black civil rights and so-called gay marriage are comparable issues?”
I see it as an even bigger issue. Most people did not oppose black civil rights.
However I agree that Huckleberry doesn’t have a chance...
RINOs attacking RINOs is fine by me. Both of these losers will have a lot to answer for come November 2016.
Er, “all”, not “both”.
Huckabee has a chance, that is a chance to steal votes away giving Jeb a chance.
Go away Huckster.
OK, I will take the bait. Exactly what do these losers have to answer for and who is going to make them answer?
Huckabee just wants to play the part of spoiler, like he did in 2008, and divide the conservative. I don’t know if the establishment is putting him up to it, or his ego is driving it. Probably a little of both.
They’re right — he has no chance.
If he hopes that having the evangelical vote alone is going to carry him in, he has no chance,” Krauthammer concluded
One can’t win if Evangelicals stay home.
Mostly from Cruz.
How did that work out for you in 2012?
Not only does Huckster have NO chance in the primaries; he has now burned his bridge back to FNC. He’ll be looking for a new gig soon.
Baier’s panel has not deviated from Jeb Bush for weeks. He is their front-runner. They haven’t mentioned his failure to get traction, excitement, numbers. Maybe they’re not allowed to be on air if they don’t have Jeb as number 1 or 2.
Not once have they gone at length into the dynasty issue with Bush and the distaste for the Bush name at this time.
I’m not a Huckabee fan in the slightest, but Bush, Walker and Rubio are the only candidates that FOX favors to win the primary. Contenders like Cruz are roundly ignored in hopes that they will go away and not catch on with primary voters.
Whether you like the panel or not, or even the channel, he’s right. Huckabee is a non starter, just like Carly is a non started, and most of the names in the pack right now are non starters.
George Will and Krauthammer have a history of attacking conservative views; in this circumstance, they are attacking Huckabee for being “too evangelical” (a very RINO/GOP-e -like statement). Apart from his stances on marriage/abortion, Huckabee is a RINO/GOP-e (taxes, releasing criminals from prison, nanny state programs, etc.).
It is possible that they may not have to answer to the voting base, given that liberalism seems to be so popular among the ignorant masses at the moment. I know for certain, however, that they will have to answer to God, and He will not be pleased.
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