Posted on 11/13/2007 4:50:01 PM PST by dano1
Recent surveys, however, have shown Huckabee picking up steam, and he is well within striking distance in the CBS News/New York Times poll, where he trails Romney, 27 percent to 21 percent, with a 5 percent margin of error.
Rudy Giuliani was in third at 15 percent. All other candidates were in single digits, including Fred Thompson, who had 9 percent support among likely caucus-goers.
While Romney still leads in Iowa, his support base is far softer than that of Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor whose campaign has gained momentum in recent weeks. Half of Huckabee supporters said they had made up their mind, compared to two-thirds of Romney supporters who said they could change their mind before caucus night. Overall, 57 percent of GOP caucus-goers said they haven't settled on one candidate.
Huckabee could run into trouble if immigration is as important an issue as the poll indicates. When asked what issue candidates should discuss, illegal immigration topped the list at 20 percent, and 44 percent of caucus-goers said illegal immigrants should lose their jobs and leave the country. Huckabee has been criticized for supporting pre-natal care for immigrants and educational opportunities for the children of immigrants, and only 13 percent said Huckabee agreed with them on this issue, compared to 26 percent for Romney.
However, immigration may not be a deal-breaker: 75 percent said they could support a candidate who is less conservative than they are. This could offer hope to Huckabee, but not to Giuliani. While 38 percent said he was the most electable of the GOP candidates, likely caucus-goers were split nearly evenly on whether they could support a candidate who disagreed with them on social issues like abortion and gay marriage - Giuliani favors abortion rights and supports extending gay rights...
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
The Huckster is sure getting a lot of good press in MSM outlets usually tilting to Hillary. I wonder why...
If the man from Hope does squeeze by Romney in Iowa then Romney’s strategy has been blown.......
Another poll has Romney up by 11 points.
Boy, there's a thrilling choice.
</sarc>
Rasmussen has Huckabee at 11.
At one time, I would have considered Huckabee as a reasonable candidate. Now that I find he supports giving tuition aid to illegal immigrants, he will not get my vote. We are quickly eliminating candidates.
Huckabee said he backed a bill in Arkansas — and would do so again — that gave children of illegal immigrants Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants.
For people like me in San Diego sitting around 15 miles north of the Mexican Border and tens of thousands of illegals in San Diego costing us tens of millions of dollars a year, this is no joke.
The Huckester needs to grow up and realize there are other cities besides his podunk Hope and a vast population who are fed up supporting his beloved illegals and dealing with their crime.
Huckester is a syster.
“Rasmussen has Huckabee at 11.”
That number does not fit the NYTimes/Clinton agenda to create a sense of movement upward for the Huckster.
The Huckster is the last opponent who can’t attack Hillary on immigration since McCain went down.
Huckabee must be derailed. The MSM is trying to position him to be one of the top 2 coming out of Iowa. They will spin Iowa as a defeat for Giuliani and push Huck/Romney as the final two. They then hope his momentum and his “religious” voters will push the Huckster past Romney as the nominee. Huckabee would lose a landslide to Hillary and they know it.
You got the MSM's number. If Huckabee gets the GOP nomination that issue will barely come up.
Here are the Iowa Real Clear Politics GOP poll averages as of now:
Romney
30.2%
Huckabee
17.4%
Giuliani
13.4%
Thompson
9.8%
McCain
7.8%
Paul
3.5%
More information on this:
Huckabee Right About Children Left in Lurch
The Morning News | August 12, 2005
Gov. Mike Huckabee has a definite flair for infuriating people by refusing to adhere to a rigid party line.
That's one of the things we appreciate most about him, although we still have our disagreements.
This talent was most recently displayed when Huckabee weighed in on the recent immigration raid on an Arkadelphia poultry plant.
The raid netted 119 people who were working at the plant and had bought fake IDs from a former worker. Most, if not all, of those arrested in the raid have since been deported.
In a simplistic world of bumper-sticker politics the arrest and deportation of 119 illegal immigrants would be non-controversial. No one -- including the governor -- endorses law-breaking.
But in the real world there are all too often complications. There are added considerations that go beyond the simple formula of "They broke the law so they should be arrested and deported."
In this case there were some 30 complications. About 30 children were left in limbo when one or both of their parents were arrested without warning and removed from the country.
Huckabee thought those children, some of whom are U.S. citizens by birth, deserved more consideration. He went beyond just saying so and directed the state Health Department and the Department of Human Services to provide whatever assistance they can to these children. Huckabee also released $1,000 from his emergency fund to buy food, clothing and even school supplies for the children.
That brought the wrath of the righteous down on the governor. Jim Harris, a spokesman for Huckabee, said the office has been getting calls from as far away as California from people irate over the governor's supposed coddling of illegal residents.
But that's not what this is about. Huckabee has never suggested that those 119 people shouldn't have been arrested and dealt with according to the law. What he has said, and we agree with him here, is that the arrests and deportations could have been better coordinated between federal, state and local agencies and that the interests of the children could and should have been taken into account. There was no urgency, nothing to justify separating these families this way. That's what this is about and to his credit that's what Huckabee, and not his cranky callers, understands.
I agree with you. Huckster is also a big nanny stater. He is a social liberal and a tax raiser.
No to the Huckster. He may be an okay guy, but I would be more impressed with him if he would come clean on his illegal pandering and tax hiking.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t need a new daddy worrying about my health and all. I want the President to deal with the issues that he was intended to deal with.
"On immigration, Huckabee is a strong advocate of a fence across the entire U.S.–Mexico border. While Congress debates guest-worker programs, Huckabee tells me, the most important problem is being ignored. “Seal the border,” he says. “Until you do that, you don’t have any control over how many people are coming in, who they are, and where they’re going.” At the same time, Huckabee has taken criticism for his proposal, as governor, to offer Arkansas in-state tuition to illegal aliens and their children. “I have always said you don’t punish a child for the crime of a parent,” Huckabee tells me. “Frankly, it’s in our best interest to try to get that child on to a higher level of education.”
I agree, except they’re not going to push Romney. Just the Huckster.
Forget in state tuition issue — any candidate can blow Hillary away, even Rudy, by pointing out the sheer enormity of the greed in the parts of the immigration bill she voted for.
Are you still for Ron Paul?
Yeah, Bush supports the fence too.
I’ll give the Huckster this — he’s framed his open borders plans as helping children,
and avoided mention of his collaboration with Arkansas slaughterhouses to replace Americans with cheaper, more docile illegals.
They make Archie Bunker look like meathead.
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