Posted on 12/03/2007 10:04:42 AM PST by Eric Blair 2084
snip
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's candidacy rests on serial non sequiturs: I am a Christian, therefore I am a conservative, therefore whatever I have done or propose to do with "compassionate," meaning enlarged, government is conservatism. And by the way, anything I denote as a "moral" issue is beyond debate other than by the uncaring forces of greed.
His is a moralist's version of the intellectual vanity once ascribed to Oxford's Benjamin Jowett:
My name is Jowett
Of Balliol College;
If I don't know it,
It is not knowledge.
Many Iowans think it would be wise to nominate a candidate who, when the Republicans were asked during a debate to raise their hands if they do not believe in evolution, raised his. But, then, Huckabee believes America can be energy independent in 10 years, so he has peculiar views about more than paleontology.
Huckabee combines pure moralism with incoherent populism: He wants Washington to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in public, show more solicitude for Americans of modest means and impose more protectionism, thereby raising the cost of living for Americans of modest means.
Although Huckabee is considered affable, two subliminal but clear enough premises of his Iowa attack on Mitt Romney are unpleasant: The almost 6 million American Mormons who consider themselves Christians are mistaken about that. And - 55 million non-Christian Americans should take note - America must have a Christian president.
snip
If Huckabee succeeds in derailing Romney's campaign by raising a religious test for presidential eligibility, that will be clarifying: In one particular, America was more enlightened a century ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Slightly off subject, yet still on subject, if any of you TV watchers see the recent series of Campbell Soup AD’s, which feature a chef in a chef’s hat who discovers using sea salt to lower the sodium in their new soups, check out the chef’s face. He is an almost identical clone of the Huckster. Looks just like him, a Huckabee wannabee (hmmm, I like the sound of that). Check out the AD next time it pops up on the boob tube.
P.S., I forgot to credit my middle sister who brought the resemblence to my attention of the Chef with the Huckster.
I don’t agree with Rush if he was saying this in reference to Huckabee. Huckabee is very likeable, many people are liking him because of how he is performing at the debates. I never heard anything about him until I heard him at the one of debates. The strategy that Rush is talking about was already used with Bob Dole. And I don’t recall Rush appearing to notice back then. Right now the Democrats are using a different strategy, the strategy is to encourage too many to try to run as a conservative, thereby splitting the conservative vote and ensuring that either McCain or Rudy get nominated. What McCain did in the Senate with the campaign refinance was unforgiveable and also the immigration bill. Hillary would love it if either got nominated. McCain with his hot temper and Rudy with his cocky personality and all his extramartial affairs, not to mention supporting abortion and gay rights! Yes Rush has a lot of good ideas, but he is not perfect, as Bob Dole has now proven. I knew it back then that Bob Dole was being used by the left wing media cause they knew he was easy to beat. If you are honest with yourself, you will see that Dole has always been dull.
I thought the same thing the first time I saw an ad with that chef in it. My husband agrees.
First of all, Rush is never wrong :-) Also, he never disparages or promotes a Republican candidate during this election. He believes that it’s THEIR job to get noticed and carry their own water.
If he did it for them, it would be an unfair advantage.
Do you know Huck’s whole record and beliefs? If not than I think you will want to hear them. Just click on the “huckabee” tag at the top and read what other FReepers have posted on previous threads regarding his immigration, GW, nanny state, big Gubmint tilt.
You’re an adult. You can make up your own mind. You don’t need me or anyone else.
All I would say is consider substance over style. FRegards.
I’ll say it again, along with George Will and other people politically involved (especially in political campaigns). Mr. Huckabee is a POPULIST (i.e., Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, etc.).
A Rudy/Huckabee ticket would be the worst thing.
Applause for your great insight and post! :-)
I would rather be around a smoker than a boozer any day. You never know how alochol will affect a person.
Rush would never promote or dis-promote a GOP candidate (unless there’s something totally outrageous about a canidate). But, he did have a message about Mr. Huckabee and his fair tax. Rush said that, as of now, a fair or flat tax would not pass Congress, and he’s correct. So, in effect, Rush is saying that Mr. Huckabee knows it and is playing a game using it as a political issue to gain support. At least you knew Steve Forbes was totally sincere about the flat tax.
True, but I think Bush bears most of the blame for that.
After 9/11, this nation was united. We would have worked together to hunt the terrorists down and defeat them. We would have pulled our weight, sacrificed, done what was asked of us. We only needed a leader to ask.
Instead, W asked us... to go shopping.
He assured us that our individual personal lives would not be affected during this life-or-death struggle. Sure, there might be some sacrifice from the soldiers, their work would be hard and long, but that's over there. Back home, Mr and Mrs John Q Mainstreet wouldn't have to do anything inconvenient. No wonder that the public's support for the war has fallen as the going got tough. No wonder that we're mired in squbbling over little issues while the big ones go unanswered.
W had an historic chance. And he blew it, big time.
You know what, I know some people like that. They like his abortion stance and his calling himself a Christian, but then ignore a whole truck load of other non-conservative baggage that he has. Why is he different from the old, big government southern democrats?
Huckabee is going to open the border wider and make the welfare state bigger.
La Gran Sociedad.
Some Evangelical voters are so fixated on social issues that they ignore everything else. Hence Huckabee’s support.
Why are they not happy with a guy like Fred, who voted pro-life and supports a Roe V. Wade overturn? Yeah, he says the HLA isn’t a priority, and the reason being it won’t pass, he’s right. But he’s certainly in no way a THREAT to Christian values...
Now don’t get me wrong, lack of a conservative social issues stance is one major reason I DON’T support Rudy...but I think some take it TOO far.
Cue Huckabee - a straight up crusader on the life issue, and for that, I give him Kudos...but the guy is a miserable failure on most other issues. Don’t Evangelicals still have to pay taxes and get sick of government meddling? Do they not care about the INVASION of illegal immigrants with no desire to become American in culture or values?
To my Evangelical FRiends...this is NOT meant as a broad brush. I know that many, perhaps even most, Evangelical conservative voters do not do this, but enough of them do that I have to note that it exists and is disturbing. I use this as a call to educate your friends and neighbors and church friends that may think the way I described above as to why socialism and nanny-statism ultimately threatens our nation and way of life.
As I’ve said, whenever asking a conservative politician the power to enact a social policy, we must ask if we’d give Hillary or Obama that same power.
I got a good friend who just is pretty shallow intellectually when it comes to these things. He is in the politics business, but he’s not very good at it. Its not a wonder he is finding it hard to get a new job on a campaign.
I disagree.
The terrorist goal was to severely damage our economy and stop our way of life out of fear. President Bush cut taxes, and told Americans to go shopping after 9-11, as a way to keep a strong economy and defend the American Way of Life against terrorism.
The Democrats destroyed the unity we had after 9-11. They made a deliberate plan to divide this nation and render President Bush helpless and hated, for their hatred of him and to try everything possible to regain power. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, even encouraging the hatred of Bush that became so accepted on the Left that it began to show up on the Right as well.
The Blame Bush for everything syndrome is their legacy and you fell for it, yourself.
Was Bush a perfect President before or after 9-11, immune from any cricicism?? Absolutely not.
Neither does he deserve the vast majority of blame that is thrown his way. And it all started after 9-11 in order to bring him down, courtesy of Leftest Dems and picked up by Rightest Repubs.
I believe this is the most blessed nation in the world, for a reason. If we let it become a socialist hellhole, it will no longer be that. If God has indeed blessed this nation, He wants us to protect it, right?
(For the record, I am supporting the winner vs. Hildebeast.)
Mind you, he actually thinks Hillary in that sense is better than Romney. And he wonders why he gets turned down during interviews for campaign jobs.
I agree with you.
I see where they are succeeding in banning soft drinks and traditional snacks from schools. There’s a move afoot to do that by law, anyhow. Then also to regulate exactly what can and cannot be offered to students nationwide as food and drink during school meals. The give as reason that kids are obese, unhealthy, yada yada yada.
The problem is, next they will ban these items from stores or in other settings or else tax them to death. Health plans will be forced to impose restrictions on the very details of peoples lives. Whether gov’t or private plans.
The people will lose their freedoms and maybe never get them back again.
It’s very scary. And it starts with a foot in the door with people falling prey to a nanny stater like Huckabee. THe Dems are known for this, now we’ve got the fastest rising Repub candidate being known for it, too.
Unaccepable!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.