Posted on 12/18/2007 1:01:15 PM PST by mylife
Huckabee on Christ Ad Brouhaha: 'Paul is Dead'
December 18, 2007 3:07 PM
ABC News' Kevin Chupka Reports: Former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., had some fun Tuesday answering a question about a brewing controversy over his latest TV ad called "What Really Matters."
Huckabee is running a Christmas ad in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina where the former Baptist minister invokes Jesus Christ -- the first 2008 Republican candidate to do so in a campaign ad.
In the ad Huckabee says that that at this time of year, "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends."
Some have suggested there is an image of a cross behind Huckabee's shoulder as he talks to the camera in the ad, but Huckabee dismissed that Tuesday.
"That was a book shelf behind me, a book shelf," Huckabee told reporters while campaigning in Houston, Texas.
Huckabee was asked if his language crossed the line between faith and politics: "Absolutely not," he said.
Huckabee went on to joke, to the delight of the reporters in the room, "I will confess this; if you play the spot backwards it says 'Paul is dead, Paul is dead, Paul is dead.'"
The Republican candidate likened the dissection of his Christmas campaign ad to rumors that Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash at the height of the Beatles popularity and replaced by a doppelganger, and that subtle clues were placed inside the group's music for years to come.
Could be.
But ya gotta admit, todays quip was funny.
The point is to keep the issue alive....admitting it would put an end to the discussion.
Funny, if you don’t mind phony preachers who like like Slick Willie, even about a cross.
I’ll admit, as Elmer Gantry, he’s good.
Typo: “phony preachers who LIE like Slick Willie”
I just watched the ad and it is soooo in your face Christianity. I love it!
Not admitting it is disingenuous and dishonest.
Seems kinda hypocritical to tout your Christian beliefs
and then use disingenuous tactics...at least to me,
and really...do you honestly think that Huck is going to
put an end to the religious aspect discussion?
I think not.
It was funny regardless.
Wrong.
I object to him (or anyone else) using religion as a primary cause for political support.
Does anyone else find it really stupid that people are accusing him of putting subliminal Christian messages in a tv spot where he speaks about Christ explicitly?
Me
"That was a book shelf behind me, a book shelf," Huckabee told reporters while campaigning in Houston, Texas."I didn't inhale."
I’m a Catholic, and I’m offended. Well, not actually offended, but I am not impressed.
Here’s the essential thing for self-government: A candidate tells you what he intends to do, and the principles he holds. Whether he arrives at those principles by human reason, or from Scripture, or from Papal Encyclicals—is irrelevant. The essential is that what he does AFTER the election is consistent with what he says BEFORE the election. If it is, then the people are self-governing. If it isn’t, or if the campaign is vague, deceptive, or vapid, then the people are being deprived of a meaningful vote.
Saying “Vote for me because I am a Christian/Catholic/Evangelical/Jew” is tribalism. It is a degenerate, unAmerican form of appeal.
I don’t mind if a candidate says “I get my positions from the Pope/Bible/Friedrich Hayek”—as long as they are STABLE and KNOWABLE. That’s why the routine promise “No official of my church will have any influence on me” is inadequate. I don’t mind if church officials DO have an influence, just so I know what that influence is BEFORE I vote, and know that the influence is STABLE and KNOWABLE. I DO mind if I suspect that a candidate will be taking instruction from church officials on an ad hoc basis AFTER the election, in a manner that is unknowable BEFORE the election.
Example: I expect a Catholic candidate to take instruction from what the Pope teaches, and has taught for 1900 years, such as that abortion is murder. If he doesn’t, he’s not a Catholic at all. I don’t expect a Catholic candidate to be taking phone calls from the Pope about transitory policy questions. (The Pope would laugh at the suggestion, btw.)
This non-story is going to fade away, as it should.
And? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say by reposting something. I agree with Donahue. Obviously, he agrees with the message - just not with Huckabee using it for political gain.
Bill Donahue is very conservative and as such, would not vote for Huckabee.
Exactly, and the FR Pavlov dogs are falling for it. Again.
The only justification for running a political ad promoting or defending Christmas would be if some other candidate(s) were promising to abolish Christmas.
Why is a Catholic disturbed by the image of a cross in an ad about Christ?
Seems to me that Donahue is calling the kettle black.
Can somebody post a picture of this ‘bookshelf’ ad?
This is the point. Great post.
Just because he can tell a joke does not make up for the horrible LIE he is telling about his ad. There is NOTHING WRONG with his ad. And I am not even Christian. What is DEAD WRONG is the Huckster LYING about the bookshelf cross effect.
If he plots out a lie over a special effect that was actually clever and could be used to his advantage, WHAT ELSE WILL HE PLOT OUT LIES FOR?
I heard yesterday that he may have lied about how he lost all that weight. I mean, if he had a gastric bypass, why lie about it? He still changed his life. Why write a book pretending it was all diet and exercise?
I am thinking this guy may be as pathological as Clinton.
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