Bloggers Prefer A Thompson Hunter Ticket

Presto Pundit ^ | Jan. 11, 2008

[jdm]

Right Wing News has done another Rightosphere temperature check on the Republican race for the Presidential nomination. Over half preferred Thompson as the Republican candidate — these folks must have been very happy with last nights debate, where Thompson finally woke up and realized politics ain’t bean bag and you can’t win if you don’t play. RWN’s does some helpful breakouts on relative preferences among the candidates, so do check out the temp check.

The two candidates the bloggers don’t like are McCain and Huckabee. I’d pick it strongly the other way, but bloggers actually prefer McCain over Huckabee. My view is that Huckabee would be a better President down the line, definitely more conservative, and more tolerable to have in the news and on your TV set for 4 years — a big consideration.

I don’t like McCain, I don’t trust McCain and I don’t believe McCain. I don’t believe his heart is in the right spot (John McCain loves John McCain), I don’t trust his judgment, and I don’t like the way he thinks about issues.

And I actually think Huckabee has a good case defending his record as governor of Arkansas — conservatives actually believe in solving problems at the state and local level, and Arkansas historically has had terrible schools and public infrastructure.

Huckabee didn’t do anything for the Republicans in Arkansas, and I don’t like his record on crime, but his record on illegals isn’t nearly the worst in the country. He did leave his state with a large budget surplus, which is much better than most Republican chief executives today.

I’m at the point of thinking we need to give Huckabee a break.

One reason Romney isn’t doing that well is because he’s nit-picking Huckabee’s record, and he’s not taking on his opponents at a principled level — Huckabee is right to respond “What would you do” when faced with court orders and a terrible school system.

UPDATE: This is news — Human Events endorses Fred Thompson. This race might have been a completely different one if Thompson had decided he really wanted to be President a few months ago, instead of only last night.

Patrick Ruffini suggests the Arkansas governor will have to make a similar decision, “[Huckabee] seems to be running for Mr. Congeniality at times. Huckabee’s path to the nomination lies in convincing conservatives why John McCain was so unacceptable to them to begin with. He has to make a decision about whether he’s running for President or Vice President.”

[Sun]

“It is pretty interesting that Hunter and Thompson haven’t attacked each other in the debates.”

At one of the debates, Hunter politely reminded Thompson that Thompson voted YES on Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. I was surprised that Thompson nodded “yes” as if he agreed that it was wrong, and maybe changed his mind about that decision.

Of course, Hunter voted NO on Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.