None of Mitt's money has made it my way, and most of the anti-Hucksters I know are Fred Thompson supporters. You might be surprised that many Conservative, Evangelical, Pro-Life Conservatives like me oppose Huckabee's candidacy because of his big-government beliefs. I'm glad he's a believer and I'm sure he's a very good man, but I can't support a candidate for President who believes that government coercion is the solution to everyday problems. I side with Freedom every time.
I am also repulsed by Huckabee's populist embrace of the politics of envy against Romney -- who earned his own money as a very successful businessman. Such tactics appeal to the lowest of human emotions and are unseemly, as is your reference to "ol’ Mitt’$ minion$ through his million$". Democrats are the ones best known for their envy of successful people. Republicans champion hard work and success.
All well and good—Thompson is the only true Conservative in the race. However, so far, he’s barely in the race, and his heart clearly doesn’t seem in it—and frankly, he appears lethargic, old and tired—not good traits for any campaign—let alone for the toughest of all.
McCain gave us a direct contradiction to the 1st Amendment in McCain-Feingold. He also seems to love to stick-it to his own party whenever its to his advantage. No one can argue with his courage of 35+ years ago, it’s the record since I have trouble with. McCain is right though, calling Romney “the candidate of change...”
All I can say though, as soon as Huck began to rise in the polls, shazamm, suddenly, drip-drip-drip, little story after little story questioning his integrity and level of conservatism began to surface—a classic indication of opposition campaign dirty tricks. The only guy with the money and inclination to go negative like that is the pretty boy from Mass.
I’ve worked in politics, and actually taken courses in effective political campaigning. One of the classic techniques of negative campaigning is to slowly, secretively, through a variety of sources, release little negatives about your opponent. None of them taken separately can do much damage. But, after weeks of drip-drip-drip-dripping, the effect on public perception can be the same as a huge negative story....
This is exactly what is being attempted on Huckabee, and no-one seems to have the discernment to notice.
Is he a Reagan-conservative? No. And no viable candidate is. Geo. W. Bush certainly is not. We don’t have that choice. I just don’t like a wealthy candidate’s money, and the GOP political establishment (no real conservatives there either), to manipulate real conservatives’ opinions.