Posted on 02/11/2008 7:02:40 AM PST by pissant
LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Huckabee suggested the Republican Party could meet the same fate as 1976 if it elected a moderate candidate who does not inspire voters.
Speaking at a press conference after addressing Thomas Road Baptist Church, Huckabee continued to compare himself to Ronald Reagan, who ran in 1976 against the party establishment, which led to a floor fight at the national convention. When reminded that the Republicans lost the 1976, Huckabee said it wasnt because the party was divided, but because Gerald Ford did not energize the party.
He never championed himself as a conservative, not a pro-life person for whom that was important, Huckabee said. He was a really nice moderate Republican, a true gentleman. But a member of Congress and more a part of the Washington Republican establishment than representing the grassroots of conservatism.
And in a thinly veiled reference to McCain, Huckabee went on to say Republicans could lose again with a similar candidate.
I would argue that if we do not have a candidate who can excite the base of this country, and particularly the base of our party and make them energetic and going out and getting the folks to put the yard signs in and making phone calls and traveling all over the country asking people to vote, we can lose again, he said.
Standing with Jerry Falwell Jr., the chancellor and president of Liberty University, Huckabee acknowledged that he was surprised by his success on Saturday.
Quite frankly we were very surprised, Huckabee said. And we weren't confident of anything like that kind of victory in Kansas. We felt we were doing well in Kansas and I thought we would win Kansas. I thought it would be close.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstread.msnbc.msn.com ...
Yeah, but he's OUR root canal, so you'd better vote for him and LIKE it, see? And if you don't vote for him you're a FOOL! A FOOL! Aaaaargh! HILLARY! PRESIDENT HILLARY! < / McCainiac rant off >
I guess the love affair is finally over.
Business classes right now...my employer reimburses. I don't know how much longer I can take it, I barely made it through Accounting I and Statistics. Just the thought of Accounting II makes me shudder. I may switch majors next year so I can take more religion courses, I've really enjoyed the ones I've finished so far.
When I was first looking into taking DLP classes, I saw that McCain had spoken there. I thought that was pretty weird since I thought I remembered him making disparaging comments about Dr. Falwell Sr. in 2000. I guess he was trying to make nice?
Take ANY religion classes by Dr. Caner (you know the Dean of the Seminary) he’s great, I also recommend Hartman for Bible I, if he offers it online. McCain was trying, and even though we may fogive him for his disparaging comments that is a long way from supporting his Presidential run!!
That’s why I said general election. I was thinking if McCain is like Ford, Huckabee is like Jimmy Carter.
That has a presumption of McCain being preferable.
Some people compare McCain to the Manchurian Candidate, rightly or wrongly. A few days ago when I put "McCain" and "Manchurian Candidate" into google, I got 39,100 hits. Today I got 51,700 hits.
This is precisely what I've been saying for weeks and weeks now. Huckabee was the only candidate in the race that was capable of producing the kind of energetic support needed to defeat the dems. in November. McCain can't and won't do it, as eveidenced by his extraordinarily dismal results on Saturday.
We absolutely have to keep supporting Huckabee from here on to affect some kind of alternative selection at the convention that will give us a chance in November.
Not so sure Huck can do it either, but I know for a fact McCain cannot. Huck can do us a favor if he can force a brokered convention though.
Could it be that McCain got Clintonized by the Huck? I would love to listen in on the McCain staff meeting when they talk about how the Huck promised he would bow out after his work was done in exchange for the VP spot. The Huck has no chance of winning, but wouldn’t it be sweet if sent this mess to the convention? I would love it.
How many delegates does he have to win to do so?
Yes, and the beauty of it, is there is nothing McCain can do about it. To go after Huckabee in a demonstratively critical way is to lose his supporters irrevocably. I thoroughly enjoy McCain's delemma.
“Ill take Huck any day before Mc NUTS.”
Huckabee appears to be picking up momentum. At least enough to scare McCain. It would be nice to snag a win in Texas and embarrass the establishment RINOs.
Huckabee is a fairly solid conservative. While I agree there are a few issues and questions about his record in Arkansas, remember he was there 10.5 years. It’s easy to dig up some problems with that many years of service.
I guess Huckabee has figured out McCain is not taking his calls.
Huckabee has demonstrated that he is an incredibly astute politician. His being reelected over and over against the Clinton democratic machine should have given people a hint that he knows how to win under unfavorable conditions.
The funny thing is how he has been marginalized by a bigotry that I think was even greater than anything that Romney had to endure. The MSM only features him playing bass, or quoting one of his one-liners; he is generally perceived as a red-neck, squirrel-eating, theocrat by many. But he is much, much more than that. His CPAC speech demonstrates the depth of his intellect, and his superior ability to articulate the principles of conservatism that conservatives should be buoyed by and the country would benefit from.
Huckabee's remaining in the race is in part a reflection of his conservative principles. His decision making is not based on polls, the establishment, or pundits. It is affected by his intrinsic hope and optimism that only a convicted conservative could possess. Oh, and a real respect for the will of the people. His supporters do not want him to quit....because they too, are the real optimists and real conservatives.
The short answer is, yeah, the best politician knocked all the other candidates out of the race, and remains standing in an attempt to deny the wrong guy the nomination. A real blessing, and real opportunity, IMHO
Yeah, I guess it is time people stop thinking there was some kind of conspiratorial tag-team going on. They are going to have to come up with an alternative narrative to explain everything.....but still deny Huckabee's political skills, resilience, and natural appeal.
Oh, I still think Huck was playing tag team for McCain, he just did so unbidden. Now that it's becoming apparent to him that McCain is not going to pick him for Veep, Huck has to attack him. If Huck had a different plan, he would have attacked McCain after New Hampshire (or even during, or even during Michigan). Not after Super Tuesday and after Romney dropped out. Now that McCain hasn't approached Huck to pay him back for splitting the conservative vote, Huck is swinging for the fence. A lot too little. A lot too late.
Huckabee=Jimmy Carter
I hope you like pardoned criminals, rapists and murderers especially. That’s what Huck will give you, but he’ll blame the pardons on everyone else. He wants to close Gitmo, will he just pardon all the terrorists there too? Huckabee also thinks that we haven’t spent enough time talking to Iran apparently. “We have not had diplomatic relations with Iran in almost 30 years....When one stops talking....differences cannot be resolved and relationships cannot move foreward.” (Huckabee 1/08). Real supportive of Israel there, apparently we need to be pandering to Iran more. Freedom of religion, I believe we have that already. Huckabee has done nothing but divide the religious base. Balancing the budget? He’ll raises taxes and tell you he didn’t raise taxes he raised hope. Spare me.
“Huckabee has demonstrated that he is an incredibly astute politician. His being reelected over and over against the Clinton democratic machine should have given people a hint that he knows how to win under unfavorable conditions” Huckabee has never run in an election against the Clintons. If it should turn out to be Huckabee vs. Clinton look for all the dirt to come out on Huckabee. I bet Hillary has a file on him 2 feet thick. The MSM have been good to both Huck and Mc Cain so far, the gloves will be off soon.
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