More Evidence Huckabee Is Bleeding In Iowa??

[Tossup]

Looks like Huckabee is digging a deep hole in Iowa. First a new ARG poll is showing Romney has regained a decent lead of 9 points over Huckabee over the past few days. (Romney 32, Huckabee 23)

http://americanresearchgroup.com/

ARG is a crappy polling firm, but the trendline is really not favorable to Huckabee. It appears Romney really has the momentum over the past one or two weeks. Huckabee's numberous gaffes have finally caught up with him. This thing takes time, and it will have a big impact.

More importantly, here's what Huckabee's campaign manager Ed Rollins told Washington Post yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802971

A top Huckabee adviser fretted openly about the possible impact of a weekend of unanswered negative ads... "We don't see an erosion yet," Ed Rollins, a veteran GOP strategist who recently joined Huckabee's campaign, said in a telephone interview. "But you hope over the course of the next few days they don't start eroding our base. ... but Rollins said the campaign had not anticipated that Romney would unleash a new attack on Friday. He added that Huckabee is determined to remain on a positive track but warned that the campaign will reevaluate that position on Monday.

I just heard on CNN that Huckabee campaign has decided THEY ARE GOING TO LAUNCH COUNTER-ATTACK ADS ON MONDAY. Huckabee is also starting to aggressively mention Romney's name in today's stops and press conferences in Iowa. So basically Huckabee campaign is telling us if they do not see any bleeding, there will be no counter-attack ads; now they're going to launch such ads, what conclusion can you draw? THEIR INTERNALS must tell them they're bleeding badly. The million dollar question is whether his base will erode to an extent that Romney can overtake him in the end.

[commish]

I think Huck will go down as 2008's Howard Dean... rocketed to the front only to flame out immediately.

I have said this on other threads and will repeat my Prediction -- Huck finished FOURTH in Iowa. It will be Romney, Thompson, McCain, Huck, Rudy.

Then McCain will take NH with Romney, Guiliani, Huck, Thompson.

This will set Romney and McCain neck & neck as the front runners. Huck will be considered an also ran after this, and is also basically out of money. Thompson will throw all his eggs in South Carolina, Guiliani will throw all of his eggs in Florida. Both will have to win those respective states to still be alive Super tuesday.

[jrooney]

Huckabee is getting his just dessert for calling GW’s foreign policy arrogant and bunker mentality. That does not fly with majority of republican voters. Republicans like GW’s foreign policy. Huckabee is eating his just dessert for taking a swipe a t Cheney when he went hunting the other day. Only problem for Huckabee is, he made the same mistake as Cheney and pointed and fired a loaded shotgun in the direction of others. Huckabee throws stones from a very fragile glass house. His gaffes on foreign policy several times recently shows he has zero understanding on foreign affairs. Huckabee’s fall from the race for the whitehouse will eclipse Howard Dean’s.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Huckabee is certainly likeable enough, but he's in way over his head. <<<

You missed his clueless assertion that the U.S. should apoligize to Pakistan for the Bhutto assination.

Huh..Wha?! That took him out of the likeable column for me. He's now in the "America Hater" column.

[eyedigress]

Thanks, that gets me off the hook. :^)

[GOP_Lady]

I apologize for not apologizing for you apologizing for watching Huckleberrys’s apology soooner in order to get you off the hook sooner. :-)

[Eva]

I’d be very happy to see Huckabee lose, but I don’t care much for Romney, either. I’m really beginning to dislike the Iowa Republicans. I don’t see why they get to speak for the whole country.

[wastedpotential]

Are you taking wagers on that? I’ll bet that Huckabee finishes no worse than 2nd in Iowa. After that, it’s anybody’s guess what South Carolina does.

[GOP_Lady]

Mr. Huckabee is not ready for “prime time,” as evidenced by his foreign policy statements. I hope the people in Iowa have come to realize this.

[tantiboh]

I suspect what will happen on Thursday will be psychological. Huckabee supporters may be more numerous, but given his repeated gaffes and the “bloom coming off the rose,” so to speak, his supporters will be weaker. Fewer of them will attend the caucuses. Romney’s supporters will be more determined, and will go, stay, and fight, and Romney’s organization, as you say, will find more of them to attend.

Could this be wishful thinking from me, as a Romney supporter? Sure. We’ll know soon enough!

[tantiboh]

~”His inability to really define himself beyond a Christian has allowed others to define him.”~

Good point. I hadn’t thought of that.

[okie01]

He has to convince voters that he is not the criminal and illegal immigrant lover, as well as foreign policy amateur he has been portrayed as the past few weeks. His inability to really define himself beyond a Christian has allowed others to define him.

That's pretty much what we're left with, isn't it?

Huckabee is soft on criminals and illegal aliens. He's a foreign policy amateur. But he's a Christian...

[tantiboh]

~”My opinion is that I hope Mitt and the Huckster chew each other up like Wrigley spearmint gum.”~

The chewing will end on Thursday, one way or the other. I think we’ll see the race break rapidly after that. And it won’t be in Thompson’s favor.

[jrooney]

But he is a mean spirited Christian. Calling GW’s foreign policy arrogant and bunker mentality then when asked if he would have invited Cheney to go on his hunting trip the other day he said something like, “No I want to come back alive”. Only problem for Huckabee though is, him and his hunting partners shot over the heads of some reporters. He made the same mistake as Cheney.

[jrooney]

But he is a mean spirited Christian. Calling GW’s foreign policy arrogant and bunker mentality then when asked if he would have invited Cheney to go on his hunting trip the other day he said something like, “No I want to come back alive”. Only problem for Huckabee though is, him and his hunting partners shot over the heads of some reporters. He made the same mistake as Cheney.

[TomGuy]

Mr. Huckabee is not ready for “prime time,” as evidenced by his foreign policy statements. I hope the people in Iowa have come to realize this.

One of his latest gaffes was placing Afghanistan on the eastern border of Pakistan, reminiscent of Miss Teen South Carolina's wailing that Americans don't have maps.

Huckabee Confused about Borders
	Posted by Maelstorm On 12/29/2007 2:30:51 AM CST · 19 replies NYTimes ^ | Dec 28, 2007 | By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK DES MOINES — Mike Huckabee used the volatile situation in Pakistan Friday to make an argument for building a fence on the American border with Mexico and found himself trying to explain a series of remarks about Pakistanis and their nation.

[GOP_Lady]

Heck, even I know it was the WESTERN border. How many times do they show a map of the area on the news? :-) But, what is even more telling/frightening, is that Mr. Huckabee’s foreign policy sounds likes the dems. Heck, Hillary’s views contain some common sense.

[wastedpotential]

I agree that if Huckabee is unable to redefine himself, he will continue to be defined negatively by his opponents and the media. He will not win if that is the case.

[Dante3]

Huckabee’s stance on giving perks to illegal aliens and his record on pardoning violent criminals should make Iowans have second thoughts. Then there are his statements about Pakistan. He is over his head.

[delacoert]

INTRADE just skyrocketed 30 points in favor of Mitt.

Your definition of skyrocketing must be different than mine. And your understanding of 30 points is probably different than mine also.

I'm probably wrong...

I'm probably bigoted...

I'm probably just a twisted soul...

...but could you show me the evidence of a 30-point skyrocket (on or near 12/29/2007 would be cool, but I'll be satisfied if you'll just point to a time frame for a 30-point skyrocket at INTRADE.)

[okie01]

The place is crawling with names I never saw before.

The formal name for them is agents provocateur.

Remember how it was around here in 2000 -- when the place was "crawling with names we never saw before" supporting Pat Buchanan and doing their best to pit the Bush and McCain supporters against one another -- plus the legitimate Buchanan supporters?