Posted on 12/18/2007 6:53:25 PM PST by Mighty_Quinn
Everyone is missing this... Why is Huckabee gaining ground?
Answer--Harriet Miers.
The nomination of Miers confirmed a sneaking suspicion held by many Christians and social conservatives that many Republican politicians aren't really concerned about pro-life issues or about opposing the homosexual "rights" lobby. This wing of the party suspects that many GOP candidates only pay lip-service to these concerns to get social-conservative votes. The fear is this: when push comes to shove, politicians will distance themselves from these views and throw those who voted for them under the bus.
In this regard, the Harriet Miers fiasco was a HUGE blunder. Rightly or wrongly, the nomination sent a message that Bush (or the Bush administration) was out of touch with the concerns of those who had worked the phones and hit the pavement during the previous election.
Why are many rallying for Huckabee, a candidate who has numerous problems? It's because he's a known quantity. He may not be perfect on all the issues, e.g., immigration, the economy, etc. It's true that most social conservatives are also fiscal-conservatives--but at the end of the day fiscal issues are not what motivates this segment of the party! They volunteer to man the phones and hit the streets at local GOP headquarters because of their concern for the moral issues at stake, not because of the estate tax-- even though most of them would be against that too.
The Harriet Miers episode scared that segment of the party. Rightly or wrongly, it sent a message: the Bush administration isn't as concerned about social-conservatism as those who put in hours and hours during his campaign.
And recall that the concerns about Miers were later shown to be justified. But when Christians and social conservatives saw many people in the GOP defending the President's choice it simply confirmed the suspicion that others in the party were out of touch with them.
And who were the most vocal supporters of Miers?--check the record: Hugh Hewitt, Fred Barnes, even Jay Sekelow, Pat Robertson's partner! Now these men are hardly seen as reliable to this group. Robertson is having a very tough time rallying support among Christians for Guilliani!
And so when a Baptist minister is in the mix, he's going to end up surging--despite any other concerns about him, he's trustworthy.
In the past social conservatives could feel comfortable with people like Reagan or Bush despite their past records... I don't think that's the attitude in the aftermath of the Miers nomination.
That many in the party are expressing "concerns" about the electability of Huckabee due to his Christianity is only drawing more people to him! These people are confirming the concerns of this segment of the party--social-conservatism is for primaries, but after that, it goes to the back burner.
I don't think that's going to fly.
That no one has connected Miers with Huckabee's "surge" shows one thing: GOP pundits are out of touch with a major block of their constituents.
And it's getting worse. Let it not be that we see a third party candidate down the road. That would be a huge mistake for the party... but I think that's where this is going to go if things continue this way.
It was just a matter of time before the Socialist Conservatives decided that the whole freedom thing wasn’t going to work, and that they needed higher taxes and a bigger government to tell the little people what to do.
The SCOTUS nomination was a coincidence—not much of a turning point, as the push to expand government was already there and helped by President Bush. It didn’t need to be a “realization,” since Pres. Bush was already acting Huckabeesque in many ways.
There is more to the GOP platform than homsexuality and abortion. This is a race for president, not pastor.
Even so, Huckabee isn’t consistent on abortion anyway.
They were? Her nomination was pulled, so we never got to see any votes from her on anything.
Like the previous poster said, a stretch.
Huckabee is simply the smoothest talker of the bunch and is able to come across as conservative even though he has liberal views on many issues. Huckabee knows how to sound conservative and knows how to connect with Christian voters. Huckabee is not my first, second, third or fourth choice, but he is better than Rudy.
It worked like a charm. The democrats in the Senate were made to look like fools supporting Miers. When her replacement (Justice Alito) was then nominated, the democrats couldn't resist.
President Bush has always been able to see several moves ahead of the democrats and that's why he always gets what he wants.
I’ve been saying the same thing for months, but folks here don’t get it. You sir, have said it more clearly and succinctly.
Yesterday I actually donated money to Mike Huckabee’s campaign. I have never donated to any presidential campaingn before. Was it a deep love and trust of Mike that caused this. No, it was the unrelenting critisism and distortion and caluminies Huckabee (and by association myself) has been subjected to.
The moral conservative is tired of being to the GOP, what Black voters are to the Dems. Taken for granted.
It was the media that put out the story that the Miers nomination was an attempt to finesse the concerns of the Christian conservative elements in the party. It amazed me that the Bush administration just let the story lie there and did nothing to answer it. Scott McClellan was not an asset to this administration.
You need to reread his post. Your response has nothing to do with what he said.
More proof that folks here just don’t get it.
Short answer, he isn't.
“They were? Her nomination was pulled, so we never got to see any votes from her on anything.”
There was nothing on her to see.
No history of written opinions, only W wanting to reward a dopey starstruck loyalist.
It was really the beginning of his damaging his credibility with the Republican base.
Hopefully in a year we will have a decent President, though the field is thin and it isn’t looking too good.
That's like saying Moe is the 'smart' Stooge.
The country-clubber Republicans tried to foist Rudy off on us, so the bible thumpers are getting even with the Huckster. I guess holding the White House for twenty of the last twenty-eight years makes people forget that they have to compromise just a little to keep on doing that.
Well, either Hillary or Obama will teach us to get it together, hopefully in four years, and not eight...
Why the Huckabee “Surge”?
the press wants a horse race, everyone gets to be in the front. Clinton was leading, the Obama and now, guess what Edward is leading in Iowa.
The two year elections are just silly.
Harriet Miers???? LOL.
“It was not a “mistake” for President Bush to nominate Harriet Miers. Her nomination was never intended to result in her confirmation.”
Enough with this “Bush secret plan” stuff already.
It’s revisionist claptrap.
Look at old headlines - he defended her to the HILT and there was nearly a party revolt. He has screwed his base a number of times - same thing happened with his support of shamnesty.
How sad for him to waste all his political capital!
Like I said - look at the old news stories. He excoriated the base and called us sexists for heck’s sake!
It’s par for the course - just like he called the minutemen vigilantes, and the Palestinian terrorists partners for peace, Islam a religion of peace, and described Pooty-poot as having a good soul.
I am a GOP activist in AZ. I worked for both of his campaigns. And I have had enough.
“The moral conservative is tired of being to the GOP, what Black voters are to the Dems. Taken for granted.”
Suckered by the Huckster.
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