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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Huckabee Is Out. The Down and Dirty on Who It Helps and Hurts.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 14th, 2011 at 03:39 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

UPDATED: Title changed to reflect that Mike Huckabee is not running.

The down and dirty analysis of who it helps:

Tim Pawlenty. He becomes the evangelical governor in the race.

Herman Cain. He remains the Huckabee of 2012.

Sarah Palin. She and Huckabee would largely be fighting for the same crowd.

Who it hurts:

All of us. Some of you won’t agree, but I think Huckabee would force the other candidates to bring their A game on message and rhetoric. Just for that alone, I wanted him in the race.

What it means:

Mitt Romney is the front runner and the field is wide open to be the anti-Mitt. If Daniels gets in,and it is increasingly likely, he will be the odds on favorite to be the anti-Mitt. Otherwise it will probably be Pawlenty. And even with Daniels in, Pawlenty’s access to the evangelical community will make him a force to be reckoned with. Those two will fight it out to be the anti-Mitt.

Original post below the fold.

It looks like I and many others who have been following this are very wrong and that Mike Huckabee is getting into the race.

Maybe not, but he sent out an email to his inner circle that reads like he is getting in. This will come as a surprise to many people. Frankly, at this point, I think it is awesome that Huck has been able to leave us all guessing.

The Wall Street Journal noted yesterday that Ed Rollins had been laying the ground work for 2012 on Huckabee’s behalf, but then hadn’t heard anything. Rollins speculated that Huckabee was out.

Ed Stelzer, a Republican from Georgia who spearheaded Huck’s Army in Georgia, also said yesterday Huckabee wasn’t running and added that Huck’s Iowa team had all gone elsewhere.

Wesley Donahue reported a few weeks ago in South Carolina that several of Huck’s guys there had been told they were free to go. Wes was widely attacked for being a Romney guy, but I and several others had heard this independent of Huck.

If he does get in, this is really a masterful job at throwing everyone off.

Yesterday, I posted my views on the horse race for 2012. If Mike Huckabee does decide to tell the world tonight that he is running, here’s how I think it impacts the race.

Herman Cain gets impacted in buzz. A lot of buzz has been going to Herman because, as I and others have said repeated, he stands out as the Huckabee of 2012. With Huckabee in the race, evangelicals in Iowa who want an outsider gravitate back to Huck.

Pawlenty is hurt by Huckabee entering. He’d be the “experience” candidate who also connects to evangelicals. Huckabee fills that void and it will leave Pawlenty scrambling.

Sarah Palin will be able to hold her on, but the establishment GOP that fears her will make peace with Huckabee quickly — very quickly. I think if Huckabee gets in there is no way Palin, should she get in, gets the nomination. In fact, I think Palin and Huckabee both in the race neutralizes them both.

Should Mike Huckabee get in, he will be the front runner. And to be honest, I hope he gets in. I have said for a few months now that while I disagree with Huckabee on much of his economic/fiscal record, he speaks in a way that resonates with the hearts of Americans. He would force every other candidate to rise to the occasion and bring their A game.

For that, we can all be grateful. But I’m not sure i want him as the nominee.

In any event, we’ll find out tonight.

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COMMENTS

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  • aesthete

    IOW, while Huckabee would throw America down the stairs, he would whisper that he still loves her, baby and that he just gets that way sometimes because he loves her so d*mn much.

    And it’s not just his fiscal policy: it’s his foreign policy that deserves a firm rebuke, as well.

  • earlgrey

    with Huckabee as the frontrunner? Nominee?

  • Aaron Gardner

    I honestly don’t trust the man.

  • acat

    Unless by “resonate” you mean “cause loathing and revulsion”…

    Mew

  • acat

    Since, y’know, I don’t trust Huckabee either.

    Mew

  • luvnthebigsites

    The one that eats me the most is he’s too “nice”. Nice= Compromise= Reach across the aisle= The End.

    Stay home Huckabee. Please?

  • student14

    Why announce that he has made up his mind but ask for everyone to watch tonight’s show to know whether he’ll run or not. Thirst for attention much? goodness GOP boys…

    Also, is he even allowed to announce he’s running on his show? I am pretty sure he’s not allowed.

    Anyhow, the more the merrier.

    The man has no backbone and thus, I wouldn’t vote for him.

  • Michael Dugas

    I don’t think for a minute he has the guts to make the hard choices than are going to need to be made to even begin to “fix” our country.
    And if the Left brings rioting into the streets and starts an all out class war do you want Huckabee at the reigns? Not me…no way.

  • lineholder

    but this is coming from a Christian who is SoCon/FisCon (in that order with a broad spectrum emphasis on the SoCon), I’m not interested in voting for Huckabee.

    It goes back to something that was mentioned earlier about his support for “social engineering”…this is going to translate into big-government high-dollar social programs as sure as the sun rises in the east.

    We don’t genuinely NEED half the programs we have as it is. They have become a hindrance to the people of this nation more than they help. Neither can we afford another President with this kind of mindset.

  • beric

    In my opinion, in 2008 he was the one guy who had a chance of beating BHO.

    He’s extremely personable. He’s a Fairtax supporter. He’s a social conservative as well. And yet he knows how to work with Democrats.

    I honesty don’t understand why so many here at RS dislike him. In this TV and internet day and age, you need a candidate who is charismatic, in addition to being right on the issues. Both Huck and Cain fit the bill. I’m not so sure about anyone else.

  • garywalter

    Its time to get behind the best candidate to defeat BHO Come on conservatives Lets do it! Huckabee 2012!

  • tess_in_va

    “..he speaks in a way that resonates with the hearts of Americans.” Are you serious?!

    I will NEVER vote for this man, (or flip, flop Romney)!

  • Gandalf

    I find it highly unfeasable that Huckabee will announce his own candidacy ON his own show. I think there might even be legal problems with that…

    What I wouldn’t be surprised, though, is that he may very well be endorsing someone tonight. Or perhaps announcing the entrance of another candidate AND endorsing him.

    The most likely candidate seems to be Mitch Daniels.

    I think that would basically end the primary.

  • earlgrey
  • beric

    But he still gets the job done. You don’t have to be super-tough and aggressive to get the right things done, particularly if it’s not your personality. Huck got plenty of stuff done as governor, that was undeniably conservative.

    Most of the candidates out right now are good on the issues. Sure they all have some baggage. But what really matters at election day is appealing to the American voters. And Huck can do that better than everyone.

  • Doc Holliday
  • tess_in_va
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • artist4freedom

    I don’t even know where to start with this man. He’s a nice guy, and that’s the problem. We need a real leader to get us out of this mess, and he’s not it.

  • Tom Anderson
  • Goldwater_Conservative

    really like the way you think.

  • michael_j_lambert

    Prove it.

  • aesthete

    List 5.

  • acat

    On this, we are solidly in agreement.

    Huck’s religious status is irrelevant to me. As long as he’s a tax-and-spend big-government statist, I won’t support him.

    Someone needs to show him that there’s more than one road to Damascus.

    Mew

  • Carol Tarasewicz

    I agree with Aaron, I do not trust him. He and McCain were horrible to Romney becuase he’s rich & Mormon. I would not vote for him. He’s not conservative. Remember he married the same wife a second time to register and get gifts? The pardons, etc? Please.

  • acat

    but that’s because I’m not interested in a national sales tax or a “prebate” that’s going to get abused like every other program involving government checks.

    Flood insurance, medicare, social security, defense contracts .. every instance where the government writes checks, sooner or later the Dems find a way to increase the size of the checks… the prebate component of the fair tax will be no different.

    Mew

    * This should not be taken to mean that acat will support Huck in the primary if Huck repudiates the Fair Tax. It just means I would be willing to spit on him if he were on fire.

  • Darin_H

    AR Dems, not DC Dems. Either way, I’d rather not work with them…..

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    1. Never met a tax he didn’t like. YouTube vids were available in 08 of him speaking to the AR legislature pleading for new taxes and he ran down a list of all AR taxes while asking the legislature to send him tax increases.

    2. He’s a serial liar. When caught on his tax pleas by Club for Growth he denied it in the face of half-dozen different videos.

    3. “Supported” a human life amendment without bothering to define which version or how he planned to get something passed.

    4. Came out in favor of the FairTax ONLY because they had a national organization that he could co-opt and run his 08 campaign on the cheap.

    5. Raised taxes in Arkansas by about 50% during his term in office.

    6. Released over 1000 felons with pardons.

    7. Has never found a problem that couldn’t be fixed by government.

    8. Is an unabashed amnesty supporter, is now claiming he wants a secure border before the issue of illegals is addressed.

    9. Set up a “wedding gift” registry when he left the AR governor’s office.

    10. Was well on his way to taking the furniture out of the governor’s mansion when he left office.

    11. Was governor for ten years and left the Republican Party in worse – or at least no better – shape than when he took office.

    Huckabee is absolutely 100% wrong on EVERY issue. He’s a progressive on every important issue, is an absolute serial liar who makes Obama look like an honest man and you might want to recall that in 08 he said that GWB wasn’t all that compassionate and he looked forward to being President to he could show us what a REAL compassionate conservative is.

  • concap

    Great job differentiating. I wish more people on this site would use SoCon or FisCon (you can be both, but one has to take precedents over the other) when talking about a candidate or themselves when posting instead of just Conservative.

    The US depends on this now more than ever. I feel that people who don?t differentiate are hiding. They are people on the right, who are on the left side of the right, ie. Bush, Huck, Mitt and most of the rest running in 12.

    Huck is a Hider.

  • concap

    Great job differentiating. I wish more people on this site would use SoCon or FisCon (you can be both, but one has to take precedents over the other) when talking about a candidate or themselves when posting instead of just Conservative.

    The US depends on this now more than ever. I feel that people who don?t differentiate are hiding. They are people on the right, who are on the left side of the right, ie. Bush, Huck, Mitt and most of the rest running in 12.

    Huck is a Hider.

  • izoneguy

    Trump can start a new show…..

    Gather up all the would be Republican candidates and like the Apprentice they have to do “projects”….

    I say let Huck run one team which includes Newt, Herman & Ron,
    and let Mitt run another team which includes Mitch, Tim & Rick.

    Gary can sit in the audience smoking pot.

    Sarah can make a special guest appearence after the project called
    “What would Sarah do” is completed.

    Chris Christie can make a cameo appearence like Alfred Hitchcock use to do.

  • concap

    ?He?s a social conservative as well. And yet he knows how to work with Democrats?.

    That?s because, these days, they are all most one in same.
    That is why most of the replies on this post are against him.

    ?Both Huck and Cain fit the bill. I?m not so sure about anyone else?

    Cain is on the far right of right, and Huck is on the far left of right.
    Huck is saying what needs to be to get elected,
    and Cain is saying what needs to be tohelp save the Country.
    They are on way near one in the same.

  • concap

    I just switched over to Road Runner with TWC and now most of my replies double post.

  • rickbull

    NOT!

  • rowdydfw

    Huckabee is the frontrunner? You’re kidding?

    Why in the world is the RNC going to throw in all their old has been RINO candidates? Evidently they don’t want to win the White House at all. If we have to have one of those guys, why have an election at all? The same bunch of old ho hum white guys that couldn’t even raise an eyebrow last election and we got McCain who couldn’t even get within 10% until he picked Sarah Palin. Palin had Obamajad beat within three weeks until McCain ran back to DC and supported the TARP bill.

    If we can’t get some new blooded conservative candidates with at least a heart beat and breathing, forgetabout. Republicans will stay home! Especially after watching the RINO’s weak-kneed performance since last November. Mitch McConnell mewling like a chinless old grandmother and Boehner cutting and running every time a stance is needed.

    It’s time the Tea Party neuteres the RINO’s and throws down an ultimatum if they won’t back our candidate. I certainly like the sound of The Constitution Party! Those that think a Constitution Party couldn’t win it, are sorely mistaken!

  • rowdydfw

    Huckabee is the frontrunner? You’re kidding?

    Why in the world is the RNC going to throw in all their old has been RINO candidates? Evidently they don’t want to win the White House at all. If we have to have one of those guys, why have an election at all? The same bunch of old ho hum white guys that couldn’t even raise an eyebrow last election and we got McCain who couldn’t even get within 10% until he picked Sarah Palin. Palin had Obamajad beat within three weeks until McCain ran back to DC and supported the TARP bill.

    If we can’t get some new blooded conservative candidates with at least a heart beat and breathing, forgetabout. Republicans will stay home! Especially after watching the RINO’s weak-kneed performance since last November. Mitch McConnell mewling like a chinless old grandmother and Boehner cutting and running every time a stance is needed.

    It’s time the Tea Party neuteres the RINO’s and throws down an ultimatum if they won’t back our candidate. I certainly like the sound of The Constitution Party! Those that think a Constitution Party couldn’t win it, are sorely mistaken!

  • acat

    a knee on their chest, and a knife at their throat.

    Mew

  • rowdydfw

    …sorry.

  • rowdydfw

    …sorry.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    The pre-bate would be scammed horrendously and before you know it they Democrats would be trying to raise it for certain groups and use it just like a welfare program.

    On the other hand, I would be all for a National Sales tax, but only as part of a constitutional amendment that repealed the income tax.

  • concap

    Placed brackets on key words and they disappeared.
    Should of read:

    ?He?s a social conservative as well. And yet he knows how to work with Democrats?.
    That?s because, these days, they are all most one in same.
    That is why most of the post are against him.

    ?Both Huck and Cain fit the bill. I?m not so sure about anyone else?
    Cain is on the far right of right, and Huck is on the far left of right.
    Huck is saying what needs to be said to get elected,
    And Cain is saying what need to be done to save the country.

    They are on way near one in the same.

  • concap

    Placed brackets on key words and they disappeared.
    Should of read:

    ?He?s a social conservative as well. And yet he knows how to work with Democrats?.
    That?s because, these days, they are all most one in same.
    That is why most of the post are against him.

    ?Both Huck and Cain fit the bill. I?m not so sure about anyone else?
    Cain is on the far right of right, and Huck is on the far left of right.
    Huck is saying what needs to be said to get elected,
    And Cain is saying what need to be done to save the country.

    They are on way near one in the same.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    with a pair of channel locks on their cojones.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8
  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    I said a long time ago that this time it would be fresh faces and none of the tired old guys who ran last time.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • concap

    He is an actor (Reagan) want a be.

  • rickbull
  • Green_Lantern

    It’s so easy, for me at least, to spot a leader. I would either storm the beaches for a person, or I wouldn’t. It’s that simple.

    Huckabee – No
    Newt – No
    Cain – Yes
    Palin – Yes
    Romney – No
    Paul – No
    Johnson – No
    Pawlenty – Yes
    Trump – No
    Santorum – No
    Daniels – No
    Christie – This is a tough one. He equivocates on his gun stance.

    Leaders of a Presidential caliber are rare. Reagan was one. I happen to believe that despite his foibles, W was one as well. Once again, here we are coming up on 4 years later and we have this crowded house of pretenders. Aggravating. I want a leader who will never, never pander, not even to me.

  • Doc Holliday

    leak on Friday that you are out, then early Sat. that you are in, all to get ratings for your show. Trump, Huckabee, who is next, Olbermann?

  • ohiohistorian

    There is no accounting for taste or lack thereof. And what you said; while you dislike his fiscal and economic stuff (he is a LIBERAL there, BTW, increasing the Arkansas debt load even more than Slick Willie) you still support him? And then he won’t own up to his beliefs and his record? You are welcome to him.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8
  • earlgrey

    was one of the Hot Air commentators. May not have been the smartest move on Huck’s part.

  • Bill S

    using IE as a browser. Try Firefox or Safari instead.

  • Bill S

    Matches mine 100%.

  • powertothepeople

    what he actually states rather than nitpicking through the article and only grabbing certain words.

    Erick only states that he would support Huck should he win the primary and he states he would like him in because it will force and “A” game out of the rest of the candidates. He does not say he is in the Huck support category, so not sure where you get that from.

    And he has plenty of reason not to support Huntsman.

  • silentcal2012

    That is all Huckabe, the Christian purist and Christian populist, will win. GOP tickets from NH to NV will go down in flames with Huckabee carrying the torch.

    Hey, at least we made states like NJ, NH, ME, PA, MI, WI, NM… interesting for a little while.

  • beric

    Doesn’t mean compromising with them!

    But it does mean mutual respect. And if Huckabee can convince Democrats to vote conservative, I want him as president.

    Simply saying you’ll never work with Democrats isn’t going to get you elected, not will you be able to get anything done once you are. Stand for your principles. But recognize you will have to pull some people across the aisle, and it’ll be a lot easier to convince them to some than to go for a power play, which is exactly what Obama is doing.

  • beric

    Please read this article.

    http://patriotstatesman.com/2011/04/is-governor-huckabee-a-conservative-or-a-progressive/

    Read the list of accomplishments at the end of the article. He is undeniably a conservative. And remember, he had a LIBERAL legislature! Doesn’t that make those accomplishments even more significant?

    I can’t believe all of the conservatives on this site are ignoring the truth. It’s an entirely different thing, being a Republican governor in a liberal state. The fact that he was able to get pro-homeschool (I’m a homeschooled student currently in college), pro-gun, and tax reforms while increasing the overall tax burden by a miniscule amount was incredible!

  • Stan

    Huckabee getting in is exactly what we DON’T need.

  • beric

    Sounds exactly like the kind of man I want for president. Picture a “mean Reagan”… or not. And why can nice people not be “real leaders”? Reagan was a “nice guy”, and yet he got serious when things got serious. Would I really want to work for you?

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    expanded the role of government in AR did nothing to build the Republican Party.

    He caved in every way to AR Dems. He stood before the legislature and BEGGED them to send him a bill with tax increases.

    And, do actually think for a second that the likes of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, etal can be “worked with”?

  • Doc Holliday

    that just happens to like guns. He hates tobacco, gambling, salt, and hamburgers to list a few. He will gladly use the government force to do away with the things he does not like. I would say liberty is not real high on his list.

    Huckabee as front runner would be a boon to Ron Paul, as the electorate would be forced to choose between two evils.

  • beric

    Obama would never even consider the Fairtax. Huck was the first 2008 candidate to support it. Huck introduced pro-homeschooling legislation (I was homeschooled, so that’s important to me). Huck passed pro-gun legislation. Huck did amazing well on economic issues for a liberal state.

  • Leon H. Wolf

    -nt

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    favor of the FairTax. Just one.

    All he did was co-opt the FT organization so he didn’t have to build one himself.

  • Doc Holliday

    I think you should chill on that. Sure it is no Utah, but it is far from liberal. I think Mitt gets to use the “liberal state” meme this time around.

  • Bill S

    You put the emphasis on the “Christian” part? You have a problem with that?

  • bs61

    I guess I just don’t see that – and his show makes me uncomfortable!

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Huckabee is a marshmallow at best.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    blatant liar and has the ethics of Chuckie Rangle, no problem at all.

  • aesthete

    since he gave someone a drubbing for it pretty recently. Suffice it to say, on net his tax increases more than made up for the loopholes perversely called “tax cuts” which make up most of the 90 things that he claims as “tax cuts”.

    As for homeschooling, read this post by a homeschooler on Huck’s record. Huck is no friend to homeschoolers, given his 1999 education bill which made it *harder* to homeschool and to attend private school, and which handed out cash to public schools.

    As for increases in spending, heh. Considering that the state of AR is becoming younger, *not* older, and that this low growth rate was a function of this demographic change rather than Huck’s intention, he gets no credit. (Especially when we have at least two Govs in the race with lower spending/year even with populations that were getting older and thus more costly to the state.)

    “He helped grow the economy of his state by 4.4%, even beating the strong national average of 4.2%.” As we all know, that .2% had nothing to do with AR’s free market and businessmen, or with national trends, but rather with Huckabee’s divine leadership! Or not.

    Also, why does every Huck article have to compare him to Romney?

  • aesthete

    before I ever voted Huckabee, though neither is exactly high on my list.

  • beric

    And where are your facts on these issues?

    Tobacco and gambling have net bad effects on others outside of the user. Seriously harmful activities to the internal stability of our country, as they can develop into addictions. While I wouldn’t say they should be outlawed, I don’t have a problem with taxes and regulations, similar to drugs and the like.

    And hamburgers and salt?! Yes that would be a perfect example of the nanny state, but where’s the evidence?

  • beric

    And unelectable. He also seems like a harsh person, and will thus not be able to campaign as well.

  • Doc Holliday

    It is proper to capitalize the word “Christian”. He should have used the word Evangelical. But Evangelical Christianity is the not the driving force in politics other than the deep South and part of Virginia. The point is Huckabee would likely be only a regional candidate and we would lose our chance in the North East and upper Mid West. I want to take MI, Huck can’t pull that off.

  • aesthete

    which he later entirely undid by passing a new and improved ed bill in ’99 as an attempt to suck up to the teachers’ unions. (It worked, too: an NEA chapter endorsed his bid for the Presidency.)

  • acat

    Do think silentcal2012 is mistaken, though … Huck would probably do okay in traditionally Red areas in the general just because he’s not Obama.

    Mew

  • aesthete

    I have an extreme dislike for both candidates which is borne out by facts. I would vote for neither in the primaries or the general, in the highly improbable case that the GOP was sufficiently lobotomized to nominate either as their candidate.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    So did Tim Pawlenty and HE reduced overall state spending.

  • powertothepeople

    if used wrong, do we regulate all those as well?

    Get off the moron train before it is too late.

  • Doc Holliday

    And the Religious Right is just not the driving force in conservative politics today. Huckabee is a throwback to the Pat Robertson candidacy. It is like the entire blowback from our losses in 2006 and 2008 did not even happen. It is like the Tea Party movement did not happen. That is what will happen if Huckabee gets the nod.

    But all the things mentioned above DID happen, and Huckabee will not win. I am glad Huckabee is a Christian, I think all but one of our candidates is a Christian, one being Mormon. The point is Huckabee is not the kind of candidate for this place and this time.

  • beric

    Here’s mine:

    “According to figures from the non-partisan Tax Foundation (based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce), Huckabee?s term as governor (1996-2007) led to a modest increase in the overall State-Local tax burden for Arkansas: from 10.1% in the year he became governor to 11.1% the last year he served. In terms of overall tax burden (state-local-federal) Arkansas remained virtually unchanged— from 30.3% (39th among the 50 states) to 30.5% (32nd place).”

    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/michaelmedved/2007/12/04/whats_behind_the_huckabee_surge

  • Doc Holliday

    hmm. I don’t want to yank your chain too much but only dictators worry about stability.

  • acat

    They’re insidious. Did the price of a big mac go up because the price of wheat or soy went up, or because sales taxes went up? Hard to tell!

    This is how Cook County ended up with an 11% sales tax… it just kept going up until it made news when it became the highest in the country…

    Mew

  • rightwingmom52
  • Doc Holliday
  • powertothepeople

    but as you stated, this is one issue about Huck I am well aware off.

    His tax “cuts” amounted to around 90 cuts and saved the voters around 380 million but he kicked his constituents in the balls with a measly 21 tax increases that gave the state a net tax increase of over 505 million. So for those bad with math, he saved the state with 90 cuts 380 million but increased taxes overall with just 21 cuts 885 million with a net increase of 505 million. That means his tax “cuts” amounted to an average of 4,222,222 million per cut, but raised taxes 42,142,857 million per tax increase. Not very conservative at all.

  • beric

    Also posted above:

    ?According to figures from the non-partisan Tax Foundation (based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce), Huckabee?s term as governor (1996-2007) led to a modest increase in the overall State-Local tax burden for Arkansas: from 10.1% in the year he became governor to 11.1% the last year he served. In terms of overall tax burden (state-local-federal) Arkansas remained virtually unchanged? from 30.3% (39th among the 50 states) to 30.5% (32nd place).?

    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/michaelmedved/2007/12/04/whats_behind_the_huckabee_surge

  • powertothepeople

    So for those bad with math, he saved the state with 90 cuts 380 million but increased taxes overall with just 21 cuts 885 million with a net increase of 505 million.

    Should have said

    but increased taxes overall with just 21 increases

  • bs61

    Supports NJ’s Cap N Trade, doesn’t believe illegals are illegal, won’t join other Rep Governors against Obamacare, supported the ground zero mosque and as Attorney released a Muslim associated with Hamas.

    http://conservativenewjersey.com/the-myth-of-christie-conservatism-intro

    http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/governor-christies-islamist-problem/

  • powertothepeople

    A conservative, a true conservative, balances a budget not on the back of its constituents, but with real spending cuts. It is quite easy to “fix a budget issue with tax raising and that is how the democrats work.

    Huck lied to the public claiming to be a tax cut champion. He lied to everyone by constantly stating he had cut taxes almost 100 times saving his people their money. The fact about his BS is that not only did he not cut taxes 100 times, it was actually under 90 AND he raised taxes 885 million with just 21 tax increases. This gave the state a net increase of 505 million. I could care less if he raised taxes less than some of the states, what I do care about is the fact that he claims to be a conservative, claims to be a leader who will cut taxes, claims to be a leader who is honest, and yet his record shows otherwise. I could give a rats ass if you cut taxes a million times if at the end of the day your increases cause me to pay more more taxes and that is what Huck has done to his state.

  • rightwingmom52

    http://www.redstate.com/tooncesthecat/2011/05/11/daniels-i-can-beat-obama/#comment-217

    and end with my comments and the links on Thursday, May 12th at 1:01AM EDT

    Not much more I can add to what’s already been said and researched.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    Betcha the O-ministration has thought about it.

  • http://redmerrimack.blogspot.com/ charliebravoNH

    Evangelical Christians don’t poll well here in NH. Catholics are the majority Christian sect. A lot of people around here hate being “ministered to” . Huck has never polled well here in the Party and definitely wouldn’t win the state in the general election. That would hurt the NH GOP in down ballot races and that would mean for us that taxes will be going up following Democrat Victories.

  • powertothepeople

    national sales tax sounds good on the surface, but there are major problems with it. The most glaring issue is when has anyone ever heard of the government giving up a source of tax revenue. If they like the national tax idea, it will simply be added on to what we all pay now.

    Second as you put it, no way to keep it under control. With income tax, I know the bracket I am in and when it goes up, I know why. a NST will simply fluctuate and it will fluctuate because they raised it and then blame it on higher cost.

    Just will not work.

  • rightwingmom52

    which are linked in the other post I referred you to above, but directly from one of the links to Cato Institute. I apologize in advance for not knowing how to post a screenshot of the text and having to do a cut and paste, but first here’s a direct link.

    http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8838

    As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee dramatically increased state spending. During his two-term tenure, spending increased by more than 65 percent ? at three times the rate of inflation.

    The number of government workers increased by 20 percent, and the state’s debt services increased by nearly $1 billion. Huckabee financed his spending binge with higher taxes. Under his leadership, the average Arkansan’s tax burden increased 47 percent, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, including increases in the state’s gas, sales, income, and cigarette taxes. He raised taxes on everything from groceries to nursing home beds.

    Huckabee answers these complaints by pointing out that he “cut taxes 94 times” while governor. True. But most of those tax cuts were tiny, like exempting residential lawn care from the sales tax. Some cuts reduced overall state revenues by as little as $15,000. On net, Huckabee increased state taxes by more than $500 million. In fact, Huckabee increased taxes in the state by more than Bill Clinton did.

    He truly appears to believe that if something is a good idea it should be a federal government program.

    On its annual governor’s report card, Cato gave Huckabee an “F” for fiscal policy during his final term, and an overall two-term grade of “D.” Only four governors had worse scores, and 15 Democratic governors got higher grades, including well-known liberals like Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.

  • paramedichess

    I still like a Pawlenty/Rubio ticket, and like Eric, I have some strong disagreements with Huckabee. That being said, I would much prefer Huckabee on the ticket than Romney or Gingrich. Romney seems to lack any core convictions, and is a total failure on the biggest issue of 2012: healthcare. Newt Gingrich is a has-been who has so much baggage there aren’t enough days until the election for the NYT to run front page stories. Huckabee is not my first choice, but if having his as our candidate means that we don’t have to carry the water for Mitt or Newt, so be it.

  • cej

    love big government?

    like higher taxes?

    embrace nanny-statism?

    Vote for Mike Huckabee 2012. Because free people are the problem, and government is the solution.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908
  • SoFiMil

    As Erick said, if both Palin and Huckabee both run, their vote gets split/diluted. Huckabee may indeed pull off the impossible and unite us here at RedState!

  • earlgrey

    already been written off? I know some here don’t like the movement, but it has done a lot to change the debate.

  • Charlie

    … Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

  • Doc Holliday

    maybe next he will show us how to sew?

  • Goldwater_Conservative

    deal about all the weight he lost last time around, so therefore he is wide open for ridicule. Watching his stupid show reminds me of watching Oprah

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim
  • SoFiMil

    I don’t have access to cable at the moment.

    Thanks, TN Jim!

  • Doc Holliday
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    That’s one less incompetent progressive to deal with.

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    The Trump cameo was cute.

    Huck is building a beautiful house in Florida?

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    The Trump cameo was cute.

    Huck is building a beautiful house in Florida?

  • Doc Holliday
  • luvnthebigsites

    Why was the drummer behind a Lexan cage? :P

    60 mins I’ll never get back…

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    Where do his supporters go? See my diary from this morning:
    http://www.redstate.com/tooncesthecat/2011/05/14/huckabees-supporters/

  • septembergurl

    Huck is out.

    Well, I wanted him in to take Romney out in Iowa — now it’ s wide open – Cain? Bachmann? Santorum? who knows.

    Like Palin, Huck will be a kingmaker.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    and making relatively big bucks at Fox. And he’ll get his a$$ kicked all over the nation in a primary battle.

  • zornorph

    Happy dance up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

  • earlgrey

    prepared for a really crappy night.

    I didn’t realize until today, how much having a republican betray conservative causes is more offensive to me than the outright socialists.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    The polls you’re referencing are utter BS, they’re nothing more than measures of name recognition. Gingrich will not pick up Huckabee supporters.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    is a legend in his own mind.

  • aesthete

    Huckabee will never run for President again.

  • rbdwiggins

    As in, no clear direction from God to seek the Republican nomination…

    Maybe so, but I’m inclined to believe that he knowingly lacks the ability to raise sufficient campaign funds.

  • rbdwiggins

    As in, no clear direction from God to seek the Republican nomination…

    Maybe so, but I’m inclined to believe that he knowingly lacks the ability to raise sufficient campaign funds.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    In the end, Huckabee decided that he didn’t want to abandon the media empire that he has built since his failed presidential bid four years ago. In addition to his TV show, Huckabee hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, gives paid speeches around the country and has even launched a series of animated videos for children on American history.

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/14/huckabee-opts-2012-white-house-bid/#ixzz1MNZZn9xI

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    The nominee will be either:

    Romney
    Cain
    Newt
    Pawlenty

  • http://redmerrimack.blogspot.com/ charliebravoNH
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    There is no way Newt gets the nomination. Three wives with really nasty, messy divorces, TV commercials with Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton. A raft of positions that Algore would be comfortable with.

    Newt’s toast.

  • acat
  • Aaron Gardner
  • rbdwiggins

    outside the political realm. Where it can quickly change to probably should Obama’s political landscape become decidedly more hostile.

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    Daniels-Christie 2012. Go, ‘Cocks 2011.

  • Common_Cents
  • Doc Holliday

    I was going to say his real name is Mr. 20JanMoby Troll the 2013th, but I decided to be nice :)

  • acat
  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    He’s doing a fine job in NJ, let him finish a full term at least. Think how much stronger he’ll be if that happens.

  • Doc Holliday

    I am a gay atheist Huckbot. It seemed to come out of nowhere, when he was cornered. Ok, I guess it is possible to be a gay, atheist, annoying, Huckbot, but come on, really? really?

  • Aaron Gardner

    All part of the grieving process. ;)

  • rbdwiggins

    Romney, or Pawlenty…

    And, streiff’s prognostication edges closer to reality.

  • Doc Holliday

    if he is a legit Repub, he can dust himself off and find someone new to worship. I wish I had passion for any of these guys at this point.

  • Aaron Gardner

    I didn’t like that he called CT “establishment” and then tried to act as if he meant CT’s ideas, which also weren’t “establishment”.

    You know I will call that bovine excrement every time I see it.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    of Obama’s policies; was an unequivocal three-leg stool conservative; had impeccable conservative credentials while in elective office and only too the job with Obama for patriotic reasons.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    And you are right it would have some negative effects, but also a lot of positive effects. Of course, like I said it would only be viable with total repeal of the Income tax amendment.

    When you look at the difference between states that have high sales tax but no income tax and compare them with the income tax states you see much higher rates of job creation and less fluctuation in revenue. Also, far less possibility of using the taxes as instruments of social change.

    But like everything it as it’s downsides, not least of which is it would be nearly impossible politically to do it.

  • SoFiMil

    as they try to out-promise the most give-aways.

  • bs61

    I love watching his townhalls and speaches, but conservatives in NJ list that he supported their own Cap N Trade, doesn’t believe that illegals are really illegal, populated his cabinet with liberals and didn’t join the other Govs in their suit against Obamacare. He also as Attorney released a muslim with connections to Hamas.

    http://conservativenewjersey.com/the-myth-of-christie-conservatism-intro

    http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/governor-christies-islamist-problem/

  • bs61

    I forgot that one.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    But I would not rule out Bachmann, and someone else might still jump in at a later time.

    Right now though, Cain and Pawlenty are the only ones not carrying huge baggage.

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    If 20jan is as good as his word. And I hate to correct you, but he said he was an “athiest”, whatever that is.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8
  • acat

    Given that, as you say, it came out of left field, he may have been expecting some anti-gay rhetoric.

    I took a poll of all the atheistic gays I know and he pointed (okay, it was a very small sample size) that a communist baptist is possible, so why not a gay atheistic Huckabot?

    Mew

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8
  • rdelbov

    more hogwash on this site. Its hard to know where to began.

    1. Pardon thousands of felons?? What a lie. When a felon is released early due to good behavior, by a parole board, that is not a governor pardoning felons.

    2. Huckabee raised taxes by 50%–I consider that to be an outright untruth. What state tax did Huck increase by 50%? State income, sales tax or fishing license fee?

    3. State debt increased by 1 billion? I need the link on that. I don’t recall any debt that issued by the state during his time. Are they counting local debt on that number? Are they counting state housing and hospital debt which is really just flowthrough debt?

    Cato and Heritage don’t like Huck for whatever reason. AR has below average state spending for the 50 states. It would even be lower but the state court mandated school funding to be ciphered through the state as opposed to local taxes. Here in TN schools get more funding on a local basis as opposed to state funding as compared to AR. That’s book keeping.

    Huck was governor of a state with below average taxes, below average spending and is just about the most business friendly state in the nation.

  • exitsfunnel

    I agree that at the moment, the only viable candidates are Romney and Pawlenty but if Daniels gets in I think that he becomes the prohibitive favorite. In any event, the candidate will be one of those three almost for sure.

  • aesthete

    I’m well aware that there are no perfect choices, but… jeez. Has the GOP always been this bad? I imagine that it has, given that the system selects for kleptomaniacal egocentrics.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    by quoting Libyan Gadaffyites re civilian casualties as a way to discredit the effort there. There are many ways to oppose the Libyan action, but adopting a leftist metric on civilian casualties is not the way.

  • Change Jar Conservative

    Daniels in would be top.

    Mike is a great Christian but he is a big government Republican and that is the last thing in the world that Republican party needs.

    Erick — This does not hurt all of us.

    In fact, it removes the one person who might push for more government and keeps the rest of the candidates from having to slide in that direction.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • septembergurl

    Iowa and New Hampshire.

    If not (and I think it’s not) then it sets someone up to be the anti-romney.

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    with that speech justifying Romneycare. Anyone who favors an individual mandate can’t get the nomination. He’s the only Republican who still thinks it was the right solution for Massachusetts–unless you want to bankrupt the state.

  • RebelRoss0587

    Are Huckabee Supporters Joining Team Mitt? http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/05/14/mike-huckabee-decides-not-to-run-in-2012-and-his-supporters-should-read-this/

  • carolina

    I find it hard to believe that either Pawlenty or Romney can beat Daniels. I guess the primary process will settle that issue.
    If any of the GOP candidates could deliver the economic growth message in an inspiring way – Obama can be beat. If none of them get this right, Obama may well hold on to the presidency. – sigh -

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    Romney doesn’t have any hope of picking up a sizable number of Huck supporters. They should support Romney because
    Huckabee apologized and Mitt immediately accepted;
    they were governors at the same time;
    Romney will agree to change any of his positions to sound like Huckabee.
    I don’t think so. Huck’s supporters divide between Cain, Bachmann, and Gingrich–yeah Gingrich, the last Southerner standing.

  • Darin_H

    It’s moot now that he’s not running, but you know that President Bush (43) worked great with Democrats when he was governor of Texas? That’s what I was referencing in case you missed it.

  • mine

    Eric, I can’t understand your support of Huck. I can if you want to support an Evangelical. I can’t understand it if you want to support a conservative. And the two are not always the same – as in Huck.

  • powertothepeople
  • mine

    The only reason he lasted as long as he did was because of his tag teaming with McCain. Uggg.

  • mine

    I Have passion for Cain and Bachmann. I did have passion for Romney but can’t see him cutting it. I think Huck bowing out will take out much of the mean spiritedness of a campaign.

  • concap

    comparing him to Huck?

    ?Herman Cain. He remains the Huckabee of 2012?.

    Cain is on the far right of right, and Huck is on the far left of right.
    They are on way near one in the same.

  • Doc Holliday

    people here bash them, but at least Dole and Bush Sr. were genuine American heroes. Most of these guys need to be found in some Charlie Cook political registry.

  • dajeeps

    With the economic hell we’ve been thrust through, of which I have been very closely touched, nearly all of it originating from big government, the last thing I want is a big government candidate. And there are plently of them floating around; from Eisenhower on, who would have never thought to sign an abonination like ObamaCare, but are still very Nixonesque on other matters.

    Getting as much of the constitutional limitations on government back as possible is the number one priority for the presidential election in my mind, leaving states to their 10th amendment rights to govern social and most economic issues. It’s not that I don’t care about social issues. I do very much. I just do not think it is the place of nanny Feds to tell us what to do in favor of one side or the other; and I will not vote for someone who will attempt to govern those issues and continue the trouncing upon state governments.

    To me, isn’t not “The economy, Stupid” and it isn’t “Social issues, Stupid!” It’s “The Consitution, or bust!” And I don’t think people realize just how close to the “bust” we are. If we are not able to reign in government in a really big way, none of the other stuff will matter because what we’ve gone through the last couple of years will look like some of our better days.

  • Doc Holliday

    but I have serious concerns about their viability. Cain showed some charisma in the debate, but he made some serious speaking errors. Bachmann did not even show up. Sometimes I think this field is skittish, it is like even they can’t believe this is the actual field. They are like some guy flying coach praying that no one will fill the empty seats to his right and left.

    I am still hoping for someone knew. We need an Allen, Rubio, or Rand Paul. Of course Rand won’t run, nor will Rubio. I think Allen is thinking about the Senate. I just think in some ways the Repubs are throwing this great opportunity away.

  • meg_m

    Herman Cain was born in TN and raised in GA. So, no, Newt isn’t the only Southerner still in this race.

  • Anteater

    Remember me?

    Too bad Huck is out (mbecker and I would have had an entire year of “pleasant” discussions had he stayed in)

    Now I need to know who to back. Should it be Pawlenty? My man Mitch? Or should we draft McConnell?

    I’m leaning towards Pawlenty…

  • Bill S

    Maybe, bet he didn’t strike me as quite as big of a know it all…

  • Ann_W

    Can’t stand Trump the candidate, but the Apprentice is a guilty pleasure of mine.

  • acat

    the opposition (Pawlenty at least, likely also Daniels) just have to run clips of Romney’s speech… they’re gonna beat him like a baby seal.

    Romney also never had a chance in Iowa… that’s going to be a SoCon shootout. My guess is Cain is the big winner of Huck’s withdrawl, but only if he can get some name recognition….

    Mew

  • acat

    and I do not get what Erick is seeing that I’m missing.

    Mew

  • concap
  • acat
  • rickbull

    who lays awake at night wondering if there is or is not a Dog . . .

  • Doc Holliday

    it was the timing that got me. If memory serves, someone implied that Huck would only bring in evangelical social cons, and that is when 20jan outed himself as a gay atheist, it seemed forced :)

  • Doc Holliday

    it should be doG.

  • victrola

    even I felt uncomfortable with the idea of a former Southern baptist minister running for the White House, I can’t imagine what a more secular voter would think. Huckabee reminds voters of 700 Club, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell etc which makes independents run away in horror. It also sets up incredibly high standards for his past and present behavior that he can’t possibly meet. For example, if a preacher is ever caught in a “sin”, it’s especially egregious and very easy to pain them as a hypocrite.

    If Huckabee were to get the nomination, it would have absolutely torn the Republican Party apart, it would be the equivalent of Jesse Jackson getting the nomination for the Democrat Party. The GOP would only win the Old South and Utah, with Republicans outside those states getting slaughtered down the ticket.

    Huckabee’s record is beyond awful, from giving illegal aliens free college tuition, raising taxes (and begging for more) to spending like a drunken sailor. I’m amazed so many conservatives can overlook this just because of one issue, abortion. Especially since every real GOP candidate is already pro-life. If you’re looking to politicians for moral leadership, your soul is SOL.

    I don’t want any candidate to run that doesn’t have a real shot at beating Obama, it’s just a waste of time and resources. Huckabee has incredible communication skills, he really is a lot like Reagan in that way, but just voting for someone because they’re a smooth talker makes about as much sense as voting for someone just because they’re attractive.

  • acat
  • acat

    comparing Huckabee to T.V. ministers who are truly loathsome. Jim Bakker, for example.

    For all his warts, Falwell has my respect. He put his reputation on the line more than once, and was willing to debate Larry Flynt. Repeatedly. Publically. The two formed something of a friendship.

    I disagree quite a bit with Falwell’s policies and political leanings, but he didn’t come across as phony the way Jim and Tammy did… or the way Huckabee still does.

    Mew

  • rickbull
  • Ann_W

    … my hubby and I (accounting backgrounds) mostly just love to watch for the train wreck aspects. I did say a guilty pleasure.

  • victrola

    I wasn’t slamming Falwell, I’ve also heard Falwell was a sincere man, but many people get uncomfortable when religious leaders have political agendas (like banning pornography, for instance)

  • lineholder

    “resonating with the voters.” Cain does have that ability. That’s my take on it anyway.

  • lineholder

    could very well become a valuable ally for the person who does get the nomination.

  • acat

    Do a “four year phased approach”… and make it a party-wide campaign thing.

    Pass an amendment getting rid of the 16th with a four year delay .. and step down the income tax (while stepping up the sales tax) over that time frame.

    Everyones’ tax burden remains – arguably – about the same, and it gives workers and companies time to re-train. Everyone working gets a raise – on paper – and retail prices jump a bit.

    My guess is that, since 45% of Americans aren’t paying income taxes, the working families would end up better off in the medium-term.

    I’d want a maximum cap – in the amendment – for how high the national sales tax can go.

    Oh, and one more detail. Since it’s nationwide? It applies to the internet too.

    Mew

  • acat

    and I have a hard time squaring that with Cain having spoken at Red State gatherings, etc. etc.

    Mew

  • SoFiMil

  • ffc99

    Lots of folks have spoken at Red State gatherings who will never be elected to the presidency. Herman Cain falls squarely into that camp. Heck, if he ends up performing like Huckabee did in 2008 (finishing 2nd in the delegate count) that would be a minor miracle.

  • Doc Holliday
  • acat

    slimy droppings, even if it’s meant purely- as you say – in the realm of the political, it strikes me as ignoring the disgust that a good part of the Red State readership appears to hold Huckabee in.

    Just as a reminder, the reason Huck finished 2nd in delegate count had less to do with his appeal as a candidate and more to do with “Who is still in besides McCain, I want to cast a protest vote!”… and Huck knows it.

    Mew

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    to interesting discussions.

  • lineholder

    but I don’t think that’s how it truly is. There may be a lot more to the situation than meets the eye…a lot of factors involved behind the scenes, and all sorts of subtle nuances that those of us on this side of webpage aren’t privy to.

    Erick strikes me as being pretty shrewd (and I’m meaning that in a complimentary way).

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    Quinn Hillyer over at AmSpec has this take on the announcement:

    Mike Huckabee is clearly running for vice president. His announcement of non-candidacy for president spent so much time touting his own popularity (and his supposedly wonderful motivations and principles) that it seems clear to me he wants to position himself for veep.

    No. Just. No.

  • michael_j_lambert

    Probably because Huck tries to define himself as compared to Romney.

  • michael_j_lambert

    I haven’t seen anything here disliking the Tea Party movement. Some of the individual groups associated with it? Yes. Leery suspicion of any candidate claiming backing by it? Totally. But the movement at large? It is generally liked and lauded.

  • Anteater
  • Anteater

    as 2012 heats up!!

  • acat

    He’s term-limited out, and seems to have done pretty well; haven’t heard any complaints from the Virginians I know, anyway. Selling the state monopoly on liquor and charging a toll for those heading north on the interstate seem reasonable, and I like that he championed drilling offshore.

    That said, he’s either going to be seen as “East Coast” or “Southern”, depending on which would go over worse…. so, who do you pair him with to close the sale?

    Mew

  • Adjoran

    Remember how Fox dealt with Santorum and Newt well before they announced “exploratory committees”? There was never any way they were going to allow Huck to announce on air, leaving them without a profitable show and subject to bias claims and equal time demands. There’s probably even a clause in his contract requiring him to give them x notice if he intends to leave the show before the contract period without penalty, or perhaps a punitive buy-out.

    Same thing for Palin – she’s not getting in this year. She’s young and has young children and she’s seen what the left and media will do to a conservative’s family. I love her, and her time may come, but it isn’t now and she’s smart enough to understand that, and she’s not the sort to do it to boost book sales (koff Newt) or stoke her ego (koff Paul koff Johnson koff Huntsman).

    Romney is most helped. He is aware of his problems with heavily evangelical primary electorates, so wasn’t going to mortgage the farm to compete in Iowa or SC anyway. But with Huck out of the picture, Iowa is now wide open for everyone else. The “winner” there might get less than 25% of the caucus delegates (and yes I know it’s a two-tier process, I don’t care and neither does anyone else, it’s the night of the caucuses that counts in the public mind).

    Also in SC there are the very strong evangelical counties in the upstate which would have been Huck’s base, but without a strong and known frontrunner (SC usually is the GOP establishment firewall, upstarts need not apply), that early state is up for grabs. One might expect Nevada to be friendly territory for Huntsman or Johnson, but they won’t be bringing Mitt’s machine or his money.

    The point is that the early states are now again very competitive – except maybe if Mitt’s been nurturing NH the last four years, he might have the edge there. The borderline candidates will have to spend themselves out, not that they have that much to spend. But out of the handful of also ran potentials, probably only Paul and whichever one actually wins something will be able to go on.

    So the interesting political question now is for Romney, who must be the frontrunner even after shooting himself in the foot with the dumb healthcare speech. He alone can fund it with his network no matter how long it takes – as long as he is in contention.

    But should he try to take advantage of his early money and the sudden vacuum to snatch Iowa, maybe with 23%? Try to rebuild his support in SC? Or continue to downplay Iowa and SC and play for the longer game, hoping to be able to knock some rivals out by Super Tuesday?

  • powertothepeople

    you were right yet you simply took a 50/50 shot and even then, most who know that Hucks greatest chance stood with a SC win and he chose not to appear there or even try to woo Haley, your odds jumped way up.

    But the problem with your ” I was right” statement is that you have no clue as to what you are talking about when it comes to how southern people vote.

    Contrary to your perceived opinion, we are not morons down here.We do not sit around eliminating candidates because they are not from the south nor do we jump on the bandwagon of candidates because they are from here. That is like stating Texas will push Ron Paul to victory just because he is a Texan. Say that to most Texans, other than the brain dead crazy ones, and you may find out just how far a boot fits in the human rectum.

    Here are the facts of SC. We have chosen the eventual republican winner for the last 30 years. Our republican govs have a ton of weight as to who they endorse going on to win. Haley is popular with most republicans here. Now saying that…..

    Newt is not even on the radar. I could care less who jumps in or who does not get in, he is not anywhere near a favorite here. Why he got in is beyond me, but I doubt he pulls a single state in the first primaries and as a result he drops out. Maybe he was just setting up himself to get back in the political spotlight for a run back into congress, but he will not get Haleys nod and will not win the state.

    Whoever wins here, will win the nomination. I see no reason as to why this election will be any different than the last 30. Haley is leaning towards TPaw. I sat and listened to her say it myself without actually saying it shortly after the debates. He won her over with his comments concerning the state. She was impressed with Cain, and it is known she was endorsed by Palin and should Palin get in, which she is not, Haley would seriously consider returning the favor. But Palin will not run, so the winner of this state will boil down to two people, TPaw and Cain and it is leaning towards TPaw. I already know for a fact that TPaw will get the endorsements of a few state reps from my general area unless something blows up or he does something bad. Cain is also getting a few of the endorsements from some other state reps. I have heard of none going to Santorum, Bachmann, Newt, Paul, or anyone else.

    Mitch may change some minds should he get in, but he better do something quick. I fully expect DeMint to come out in favor of TPaw and he carries a boatload of weight down here. There are just too many things about Cain that will keep DeMint from endorsing him. So the claim by you that Newt will benefit from Huck staying out just holds no merit here in the Bible belt or in SC. And since SC will chose the eventual winner, I 100% expect TPaw to be the winner here and the winner overall. And just to state a disclaimer, I am not in the TPaw fan club yet, not in any fan club yet so there is no bias as of yet when I say that. If anything, I may be more of a Bachmann fan than any of the others although I am not fanatical about her.

    And I am saying all this without being for any single person yet and with the fact that I have Cain, Santorum, ?Daniels?, and TPaw on my final list with hopes Bachmann will get in even though it is looking like she will not. Out of all those, Bachmann would stand the highest chance of taking Haley’s endorsement away from TPaw or Cain and has the biggest chance at being the one who could beat all the other contenders in this state IF she was to get in soon which I do not think she will be doing especially since Tim is in and from her state.

  • BigRedConservative

    to Pawlenty and Romney now. Cain doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell due to bad name recognition. As for Newt, he’s still burdened by his private life and his appearance with Pelosi.

    The stragglers left over we can ignore. Daniels doesn’t have either the charisma or the political skill. Huntsman is virtually unknown. And Palin…

    So we end up with a straight Pawlenty/Romney face-off (which is exactly what I hoped for). The only thing that could mess it up would be a re-emergence of the Paul-inistas. But I can’t tell you who’ll win from that.

  • acat
  • lineholder

    She didn’t speculate on that. Romney/Huckabee? That’s a walking, talking nightmare if there ever was one.

  • lineholder

    For various reasons, I think it is possible that this election season could be anything but typical, with an environment where the unexpected could happen.

    It’s amazing. SoCons and FisCons alike are in a very distrustful frame of mind of anything that even remotely speaks of “big government”. Bipartisanship and the ability to compromise or reach across the aisle aren’t being seen as strengths this time around. Candidates who makes these kinds of claims are being questioned for it rather than praised.

    The MSM is reaping the seed that they’ve sown. A greater number of people are paying little or no attention to the input of MSM. This could mean that the general public is going to be more inclined to trust their own judgment in deciding who they want as a Presidential candidate rather than putting confidence in the information provided via these traditional media sources.

    The TEA-party influence has caused Conservatives to set up strong networking bases, which we definitely didn’t have even back in 2008, so this is another new influence that will play into the outcome in 2012.

    And the Obama admin has put themselves between a rock and hard place of their own making. They need both the black and the Hispanic vote in 2012. If the economy had recovered, (which the Obama admin promised with TARP) they might have gotten it. As it is, the economy is still down, (in part due to the impact of Obamacare) which in a lot of cases is pitting blacks and Hispanics against each other in competition for jobs.

    The great “redistribution of wealth” isn’t going as planned, even though Dems had absolute power for as long as they did. Both the black sector and Hispanic sector are questioning why this did not take place, which is opening the door for black and Hispanic conservatives to get the Conservative message out.

    The amount of interest in Conservatism across the spectrum appears to be increasing, and we could see an increase in both black and Hispanic candidates running on the Repub ticket in 2012.

    All of this plays into the dynamics going into the next election. There isn’t any way at this point to determine how much of a shift it might make, but it is fairly safe to say that the enthusiasm will be on the right not on the left.

    I just don’t see this as being a typical election season, so the standard traditional measures that have been used in the past to gauge how well a candidate is and/or is not doing may not hold as true this time around as they have in the past. I think candidates like Cain and Pawlenty stand as much of a chance in succeeding as any other candidate might have, and maybe even more.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    I totally agree with you, but I will go even farther. When I attended an evangelical church in the 1980′s we were very political. We all supported Pat Robertson for president. Of course we were for all the so called social issues 100%.

    Then I began to read and study and learn and I learned that some of the things we were emotionally attached to were simply wrong.

    Trying to use government to force people into acting a certain way is always bound to be counter-productive. I am not talking about criminal activity like theft and murder, nor am I talking about abortion.

    But things like smoking pot, or drinking, or watching a porn movie or heck even dancing! Trying to control the actions of others, especially for their own good is the quickest way to turn them against you. And against all of your ideas and all of the things you support, thus causing more harm than good.

    Also, supporting a candidate just because he might share your same religious views is pretty stupid. We cannot know the heart of any person. Also, history is full of well meaning leaders who were totally incompetent.

  • cordpt

    Arkansas ranked 30th in the nation as the state with the highest state and local tax burden. When he left by the end of 2007, it had risen to 14th. Above average? Maybe in 1845, just after Florida joined the union as the 27th state.

    http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/442.html

    I’ll never forget when Huckabee was asked about a special tax he created on nursing home beds and he said it was a “quality assurance fee” not a tax – this is Huckabee in a nutshell.

    Somehow, that kind of doublespeak was good enough to convince some folks. The fact of the matter though is that Huckabee is basically a pro-life Obama who in a recent speech claimed that the role of the government is “to change the culture and behaviour” and that wants to use the tax code to “punish behaviour” he deems inappropriate. A post-modern Jimmy Carter.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    no matter how much money he raises.

  • cordpt

    This is bugging me, I can’t think of any Allen that could run. It must be someone too obvious, but I’m just missing him…

  • cordpt

    So was McCain, a genuine America hero.

    I kind of disagree with these views about the weakness of the current field. In my mind, Pawlenty is solid and if Daniels joins in he’d be an excellent nominee. In most of the past cycles it was all about the lesser evil.

  • traversecityconservative

    I agree with who you said it helps but I disagree that Hucakabee would have made things better for the race. Now, the Huckabee supporters will pick other candidates and give them more of an edge over Romney. I definitely think that the anti-Romney crowd is much larger than the Romney crowd so we just have to settle on who that person is. I don’t think Daniels has a chance in heck with all of his “Bush” support like Karl Rove. I would NEVER want anyone that Karl Rove likes. You may disagree but I think the only real competitors are Herman Cain and Sarah Palin (& maybe Bachman). This race will be decided by tea party members and we aren’t going to put up with the baggage of Romney, Newt, Pawlenty and Daniels. They’ve each “sold us out” at least once. We won’t be fooled twice.

  • traversecityconservative

    It’s the same thing we had last time – we were all voting for the VP and not the presidential candidate. And that didn’t work.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    There is no contest when it comes to which party favors more laws that restrict liberties across the board, even if one assumes that the GOP positions on abortion, drugs and porn are those of social conservatives; and its the Dem Party and their positions on having all of us get the approval of government minders before we dare make a dime.

    I certainly do agree that whether a politician is a professing Christian or not, matters not as to the carrying out of his duties. What matters is their positions on the issues.

  • traversecityconservative

    Don’t like Pawlenty much and you REALLY have to do more investigating on Christie. He’s just a loud mouth, someone people like to hear go after the unions. But he’s no Conservative.

  • BigRedConservative

    The Jack Bauer-esque general kicked out of the army and now doing great things in the House. But I could be wrong.

  • Green_Lantern

    I was pulled on like an old boot by the straight-talk to the unions. I *do* think that was genuine, and I loved it. However, there is a lot about him that is not conservative, and I see that now. I’ve educated myself about the other points, and they are troubling to me as a conservative.

    Of course I would vote for him if he’s the nominee, but that’s not saying much as I vote a straight-party ticket. It is sad though that the bar is so low for someone to be “better than Obama”. When Jimmy Carter woke up the morning after bin Laden got whacked, he was upset to find out he was once again the Worst President.

  • coralchristie

    I think that Huckabee will now take the role of “king-maker” and impart his opinions of candidates as if they were blessed or cursed by God. For those who follow him and wanted him to run, he will guide their thoughts on candidates. Of course, it will be a loss for Romney because for whatever reason, Huck “innocently” sabotages him at every turn. This whole race could get interesting since the Republican establishment leadership are working to destroy those candidates that rock their boats.

  • powertothepeople

    but Huck will be no king maker. He has a loyal core, but I fully believe one of the reasons he chose not to run was that he found out he had no where near the support now that he had in 2008 and what he had was no where near enough to win back then. He is more of a pundit now than any kind of king maker.

  • cordpt

    Well, he’ll be out of a congressional seat in 2012, so maybe he could consider a run. But he’s even less viable than Cain or Bachmann, there’s no way Allen West would ever gain traction in a presidential run.

  • gpclaw

    You won’t hear any complaints out of me if Christie were tapped for VP, however, he has only begun to get NJ moving in the right direction. If he were to walk away from the governorship, it could set back NJ back to the Corzine days.

    Christie may not be a conservative on every issue, but he is a conservative when it comes to the role of government. The fight for constitutional government will require strong governors who are willing to stand up to the federal government.

  • jaykali

    The Hot Air commenters really hate Huckabee, I think the Redstate crowd is a little friendlier. I feel like we are vastly approaching the day when all conservative commenters will be 100% Ron Paul hard-core libertarians. Even after Ron Paul retires eventually it will be, dang if we had just had Ron Paul this whole deal would have been better. I suppose that points to how bad the rest of the field is, at least perception-wise.

  • gpclaw

    Out of the three, Daniels is the only candidate who has never signed an item from Obama’s agenda into law.

    Romney is carrying the burden of inspiring ObamaCare. The renewable energy standards signed into law by Pawlenty in 2007, is the current strategy being used by Democrats to address global warming.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Gee, I bet some Texans could refute that statement. Fortunately, it no longer matters.

  • gpclaw

    Running against ObamaCare, and the individual mandate, was a key strategy to taking the House, and increasing the Republican ranks in the Senate. If Romney ends up as the nominee, that issue is off the table, and denies Republicans running for congress, as well as Governors.

    A congressional candidate can’t attack ObamaCare, without attacking Romney at the same time.

  • acat

    They know the Dems are going to get pasted in the Senate in 2012 and are trying to minimize the damage…

    Mew

  • acat
  • gpclaw

    If the Dems take up the energy policy Obama laid out in his State of the Union address, relying on a renewable energy standard, which would require energy producers to generate a set percentage of electricity from renewable sources.

    This is what Minnesota’s 2007 energy bill implemented, and has been proposed by Democrats in congress. If Pawlenty is the nominee, Democrats can run on a renewable energy standards, without fear of attack from the right.

  • paramedichess

    In 2008, we were voting for the VP because we pretty much couldn’t stand McCain. However, in 2012, I can vote for Pawlenty because I really do like him. He is not a perfect candidate (they don’t exist, even Reagan had some huge problems) but he governed well and stood his ground on conservative issues even in a blue state with a strongly democrat legislature. The addition of Rubio does two things. First, I think it puts in a VP who becomes a strong tea-party voice at the table. Not only does he rally the base during the election, but he would hopefully be a strong conservative influence in the administration. Second, Rubio helps significantly in the election process. Putting the first Latino on a national ticket demonstrates (once again) that the Republican party is not just for old rich white guys. Rubio locks Florida, and would do a lot to help swing NM, CO and NV. Rubio as VP also gives him the experience to become President Rubio in eight years (Rubio/Haley 2020!).

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    I have seen those things on a local level.

    And yes, democrats do not believe in personal freedom, but they talk a good game, and that is enough to dupe a lot of people.

  • usastandup

    I agree with your comments. I for one have been a Cain fan since he first started to appear on the scene. Kinda like peanuts in a Coke. My two cents worth: Herman has a good chance to avoid some of the media attacks anyone else we promote would draw; He has a wealth of experience that crosses many social and economic classes; He has the education, poise, and wit to deal with the liberal left. It might even be beneficial for him to announce his VP pick early to bring over some doubters. My wish would be that we gather the wagons and support him with all we have. I will.
    If we go all in for Romney then we have a higher chance of losing even if he wins with the remaining squishes in DC. I think the outcome will be better if we support Cain and he wins.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    and apparently he doesn’t think it matters who’s at the top of the ticket. He may write later elaborating on it.

  • acat

    and I just don’t see him being nearly as statist about it.

    Besides, they have to be very careful how they bring it up, or they open themselves to “Yeah, that’s when the scientists were still getting by with their lies”….

    Mew

  • gpclaw

    Pawlenty apologized for supporting cap and trade. He never recanted on renewable energy standards.

    In his exchange with Chris Wallace, Pawlenty spoke specifically to the part of the Minnesota legislation, establishing a panel to look into cap and trade. That was only a small piece of the legislation.

    The part of the legislation that Pawlenty has not moved away from, because it has not been addressed, is his support, and passage, of a renewable energy standard.

  • earlgrey

    read about vairous tea party leaders and the tea party itself. That and the focus on this site on chanign the GOP from within rather than just rallying made me over-gernalize. ]

    Either way, I am relieved not to see Huck in the race.

  • windwaker24

    I will NOT support Gingrich. Yes, he says all of the right things, but his character is crap. How can a man be faithful to a nation of people he doesn’t know, but can’t be faithful to his wife, his closest companion? That is troubling for me. I’m likely to support Herman Cain in if he runs. If not, I don’t know what I’m going to do. With Huck out, Romney is the frontrunner, and he most definitely will not get my vote. A vote for Mitt is like voting for Obama. They’re not that much different from each other.

  • lineholder
  • SoFiMil

    but that’s either quite the hyperbole or quite ignorant.

  • SoFiMil

    Provide us examples of why you believe Obama and Romney are “not much different” from each other. Then be prepared to defend your analysis in ensuing responses.

  • SoFiMil

    The only distinguishable thing between them is their religion.

  • SoFiMil

    Okay, there’s an example of me over-reacting. Romney’s social conservative credentials are definitely suspect; and Huckabee’s fiscal views, whether wrong-headed or not, appear to be genuine.

  • aesthete

    vis a vis renewable energy.

  • 20jan2013
  • aesthete
  • 20jan2013

    “I don’t think there’s any candidate who is making it a centerpiece of his campaign like I am, but I truly believe that this is an urgent, priority issue for the country, and it certainly it is for me. I’ve mentioned it in all three of the national televised debates. I advocate it everywhere I go.” — Mike Huckabee, August 5, 2007

    http://youtu.be/KvT6_-cpcTA

  • 20jan2013
  • 20jan2013
  • 20jan2013

    since Huckabee isn’t running anymore, of course. Everything else looks good.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

    Romney Care. Huck seems the honest nanny-stater.

  • windwaker24

    Obama and Romney are not that different because they both will say anything that will save their skins. Their characters are crap. Romney, like Obama, has flipped on so many issues I have no idea where he stands. Men like that cannot be trusted. I didn’t agree with Huckabee on some things (the government shutdown debacle, illegals, pardons) but the man, in my opinion, has character. He’s honest, promotes the Constitution and Founders and doesn’t bow to people who don’t like him. I don’t believe in beating a man with his past mistakes as I’ve seen so many on here and HotAir do. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m too young to know what Huck did in the ’90s, so I can’t make an opinion of what he did then. That’s not fair and that’s not right. I’m 27 now, and I am a completely different person than what I was at 21 or (even 25 for that matter, and that was two years ago!) Why can’t Huckabee have the same benefit of learning from past mistakes? I watch his show frequently and I’ve heard nothing about raising taxes and big government solutions. He talks about lower taxes and smaller government. In fact, he talks about getting rid of the income tax all together. I care about present positions, not past positions. When Obama was elected, I tried to get behind him as our president even though I didn’t vote for him. That lasted for about 1 month. I tried to see if would make good on his promises of “change” and transparency. Instead, he danced and flipped every which way to save his skin. Mitt Romney is no different. He blew his chance of getting my vote last week with his health care speech. Instead saying “I made a mistake” (which I was waiting for), he danced, twisted and doubled down on his “mistake” still touting it as a good plan, even in the face of the report that can out last week that there a 48 day waiting period to see a doctor. To me, that’s not leadership. A leader will take his lumps and admit when he screws up and come up with a plan to do better for his people. What good is coverage if nobody can see a doctor? He, like Obama, care nothing about the people they hurt. They just care about themselves and their election prospects. I don’t vote for flip-floppers which is why McCain didn’t get my vote either in 2008. And when I say flip-floppers, I mean people flip their opinions just to please the crowd, not people who truly have a change of heart. Character is what I look at when choosing a President. Good character is a big thing for me.The Constitution cannot be upheld and defended by people with no scruples.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    This is standard Huckabee. Sound like he’s all in when in fact he’s all sound. Just like on the human life amendment.

    Thankfully, he’s now gone.

  • ohiohistorian

    All of us. Some of you won?t agree, but I think Huckabee would force the other candidates to bring their A game on message and rhetoric.

    Just to clarify, Eric, what part of McCain’s A game did Huckabee bring about in 2008? As you may remember, for the last two months it was pretty much just the two of them in the running. I don’t remember a one-on-one debate, but you didn’t indicate that was how he would help.

    I am personally glad to get a fraudulent conservative out of the running.

  • powertothepeople

    and if income tax was repealed, it would be a good thing. But the biggest glaring problem with the plan is how do we control the raising of taxes when there is no real way for the consumer to know if the additional cost is normal cost increases due to shortages, demand, food cost, etc or if we were just hit with a politicians “minimal increase.”

    I 100% agree that when you see lower taxes, you see growth. That is a conservative core value. Give companies more of their money, they grow. Give us more of our money, we spend, invest, save, etc. But with a sales tax, it is way too easy for them to raise taxes tremendously on areas we do not see other than in the cost of our product. Not too mention it is way too easy to increase sales tax at the register and not much we can do to stop it. As pointed out above, that is why Cook County is at 11%. It is why in MI, taxes are all over the board since they fluctuate between higher taxes on prepared food, “luxury” items, etc.

  • powertothepeople

    You keep knocking on this issue, yet you still are unable to comprehend Erick’s words. In your above post, you claim he likes Huck and can not fathom why he would knock Huntsman, yet you were way off on that comment. Now you come back to the issue just to try to throw another bomb at the post.

    Let me try to explain this to you so that you can move on to another subject for the sake of us all.

    Erick is not stating he supports Huck, likes Huck, looks up to Huck, agrees mostly with Huck. He has simply stated that had Huck got in the race, it would have forced the other to pay attention, or as he put it, bring their “A” game. He is right whether you are able to understand that or not. Huck is leading in almost every poll at this point, and while the polls are useless, the perceived notion by the other candidates that they are behind would drive them to get a louder better message out. It would light the fire under their fannies so to speak. Then you have the fact that the first primaries are mostly in evangelical land which would give Huck a head start. Considering SC has chosen the eventual winner for the last 30 years and tends to be quite religious, Huck would start with the advantage forcing all of them to work hard to overcome that advantage. It would force contenders like TPaw, Santorum, Cain, and so on to focus in on balancing social issues with financial issues. It would be a win win for both the candidates and the voter.

    You keep making a mountain out of a molehill and are really starting to look foolish. Taking a step back and taking the time to understand the meaning of the words written would be a very good thing for you to do. I doubt Erick or many on here cared on iota that Huck ended up doing the only decent thing he has done in many years by not running, all he was saying was that had he gotten in, it would have benefited us by forcing the other candidates to take notice and get real serious.

  • SoFiMil

    “Obama and Romney are not that different because they both will say anything that will save their skins.”

    LOL, and very true. I’ll have to read the rest later, but you’re on to something there. Include this with your thesis statement and it will make it much more powerful.

  • 20jan2013

    I could warm to that idea!

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    There is no way he’d stand for a fundamentally dishonest progressive like Huckabee. Take down your shrine. Huckabee has finally admitted that he was in it for the money all along. And I find nothing wrong with that, I’m just glad he’s decided to be an entertainer instead of a dishonest politician.

  • Remington_Steele
  • Remington_Steele
  • powertothepeople

    and without rehashing your feelings and ours on Huck, this race is going to boil down to a few things.

    Who wins SC. For the last 30 years, SC has chosen the eventual republican winner. There is nothing pointing to it being any different now. It has also been the person who the gov of the state endorses that goes on to win. Right now TPaw is the lead horse for that endorsement.

    Whoever ends up winning, they will make a VP decision that brings in the person who can shore up moderate areas. Obama is beatable, but we will have to be on our game. Lose too many moderate states and leaning states and it is game over. This will mean that you will see a mixed bag of contenders. Assuming nothing crazy happens between now and then, assuming we are looking at the candidates we will chose between ( not many possibles left, Palin is not going to run, Bachmann may but she better get in soon, Daniels may as well but better get in soon too or it will be too late, and then there is the joker Trump who may get in but will be beat before he even starts) and assuming TPaw gets the expected Haley endorsement and SC win, you will see him team up with a Daniels/Cain type of person, not another “socon religious” person. These candidates know that their ultimate goal is to beat Obama and they must garner a majority of independent votes along with our own moderate leaning to liberal republicans.

    Huck is done this time, he will not see VP from anyone. Should Haley surprise everyone in this state and goes with a Daniels/Cain endorsement, you will see either one of those men grab up a TPaw/Bachmann VP and Bachmann only stands a chance at getting picked by one of those guys if she gets in soon and makes up some serious ground. I would even go as far as saying Hucks position of what “God” told him to do as far as this election and his self pandering ” I am not running speech” may have burnt any cabinet positions as well.

    TPaw has the game in hand and it is his game to lose should he get the expected endorsement from Haley and the follow up SC win. I would expect him to pull a VP from either Cain or Daniels. And the same would be true for Daniels or Cain should Haley surprise everyone and endorse one of them. If that happens, either one will shore up their support by pulling TPaw into the ticket to make sure Socons and religious folks remain interested in the election. I see no scenario where we see another surprise Palin like announcement like we did in 2008.

  • powertothepeople

    most conservative who are not brain dead morons would rather surround themselves with a stadium full of Newts and Hucks then be in the same area code as Ron Paul. He is nothing more than the cancer we can not seem to rid ourselves of. The day Ron Paul retires will be the day you see the biggest celebration amongst the conservative ranks.

  • 20jan2013

    I thought you were going to go hypercynical on Huck with his prayer but it seemed genuine to me. I can’t question someone’s sincerity on stuff like that, seeing as I’m not God. He was damned if he ran and damned if he didn’t; if he ran that he used a show and God to justify a grab at the most powerful office in the world–if he didn’t run so he could continue to make big bucks from Fox News, radio, speeches, and books.

    I think he is going to make Glenn Beck-type money in 2012. $500K per year will be his OLD salary in the not too distant future.

    And if Obama wins a 2nd term, Huckabee will be positioned even better than he was this year to run and win, assuming he hones his high profile over the next 5 years. I know you don’t like him at all, I’m just saying, and my opinion isn’t hitched to my liking him.

    Pawlenty-Cain wouldn’t be bad.

    I’m waiting for someone to convince me NOT to buy into the narrative in the media and among some conservatives here that Palin “can’t win.” I know her negatives are high but if I had half the bad press she did, I’d rank somewhere below used car salesmen (no offense to hard working family men who sell cars).

  • 20jan2013

    I thought you were going to go hypercynical on Huck with his prayer but it seemed genuine to me. I can’t question someone’s sincerity on stuff like that, seeing as I’m not God. He was damned if he ran and damned if he didn’t; if he ran that he used a show and God to justify a grab at the most powerful office in the world–if he didn’t run so he could continue to make big bucks from Fox News, radio, speeches, and books.

    I think he is going to make Glenn Beck-type money in 2012. $500K per year will be his OLD salary in the not too distant future.

    And if Obama wins a 2nd term, Huckabee will be positioned even better than he was this year to run and win, assuming he hones his high profile over the next 5 years. I know you don’t like him at all, I’m just saying, and my opinion isn’t hitched to my liking him.

    Pawlenty-Cain wouldn’t be bad.

    I’m waiting for someone to convince me NOT to buy into the narrative in the media and among some conservatives here that Palin “can’t win.” I know her negatives are high but if I had half the bad press she did, I’d rank somewhere below used car salesmen (no offense to hard working family men who sell cars).

  • aamom
  • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
  • gunslingr45

    slurp slurp

  • gunslingr45

    Sarah Palin. She and Huckabee would largely be fighting for the same crowd.

    I say wrong. I would vote for Sarah, but I am glad he dropped out.

  • tlhanger

    I loved hearing Herman Cain at the convention. I love his ideas. He can do it.
    While I like Huckabee’s TV show, I was hoping he would not run.
    I still like Sarah Palin.
    I like Chris Christie.
    Won’t say there are not others that I can learn about.
    Never thought I’d see a Republican governor at a Republican convention get booed off the stage, so I can see this is gong to be an interesting race.

  • 2warabnvet

    is your “frontrunner”, you can count on him to be “McCain 2012″. and the conservative voters will stay home.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    of anything. You can’t process information, it’s a waste of time.

  • clarioncaller

    I cannot believe there is any serious thought he has ANY chance for the Republican nomination. He has zero…zip…nada.

  • ihateliberals

    of the 1970′s stating that cigarets don’t cause cancer. he looks nice enough but there is just something there I can’t trust. My pick right now is Pawlenty and or Gingrich. Gingrich came form the old Conservative guard. he understands conservatism where most of the others running are made over moderates. A moderate is worthless. On the Democrats side they are called Blue Dogs an on the Republican side the are called RINO’s. they never take a firm stand on anything and when they try to, they eventually give into unnecessary compromise. Most of these guys just like McCain in 2008 don’t know which side of the isle they came from. Gingrich is firm in his convictions an will stand his ground in a fight. Pawlenty strikes me as being the same way. Gingrich is from the “Contract with America” crowd and these others are from the “Contract from America”. that is the stupidest title I have ever heard. It sounds like they are trying to distance them selves “From” America. I know what it really means but it has such negative inclinations. John Boehner is one of these RINO’s and should he remain the Speaker and we get one of these RINO Presidents we will have George W. Bush all over again. George Bush both father and son are more Liberal than conservative and produced the downfall of the Republican party. we don’t need to perpetuate this any longer. My motto is “No More RINO’s”. Whiel Huckabee isn’t a RINO I still don’t trust him to stay that way.

  • blarman

    I wouldn’t vote for anyone based on their self-declaration of religion. I want to know what their real values are. If you listened to Ann Coulter ream Huckabee up and down in a debate, you’d know that he’s nearly as liberal as McCain in a lot of social areas. Sorry, but that’s not going to entice my vote.

  • blarman

    “Working with Liberals” is a misnomer, as we’ve seen during the first two years of Obama. They pointedly ignored the Republicans and told them to stand outside in the cold as they passed bad legislation after more bad legislation. The Republicans need to ignore the Democrats and keep passing conservatively based bills and making the Democrats vote on them. The majority of people in America are center-right, not left and for some reason the Republicans don’t acknowledge this.

    “Working with Liberals” means giving in. It’s past time to stop listening to them. Make them vote on principles and watch as they get booted out of office.

  • clarioncaller

    I never trusted the man. You start looking at what he DID in Arkansas and you see a man with no principals. No core that’s inviolate. Want a shocker…look at the hundreds of pardons in including police killers and rapists. It’s past time to forget him.

  • clarioncaller

    He to will be cast aside.Conservative voters are informed voters. For those who did not know what he was ..this past Sunday…the Conservative mask….slipped.

    And another one bites the dust.

  • ihateliberals

    is no different than Obamacare. I don’t think he is even a good Mormon, A good Mormon is conservative to the core.

  • ihateliberals

    so I should know

  • ihateliberals

    Arlen was a closet Liberal from day one. He went with the Party he thought he could win with. I guess us Pennsylvanians showed him.

  • ihateliberals

    How did his mask slip? I happen to know him.

  • Flagstaff

    Follow the links.

    http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/05/15/newt-gingrichs-rapidly-self-limiting-campaign-defends-the-individual-mandate/

  • Flagstaff
  • jaykali

    The problem with Ron Paul…is Ron Paul. I have heard ppl say that many like the ‘idea’ of Ron Paul, and I think I agree with that just like ppl liked the ‘idea’ of Obama before they actually got to experience him governing.

    I was just saying in my original comment that it seems like on radio and blogs I see a ton of Ron Paul support and I still can’t get my head around it except that libertarianism is on the rise.

  • Doc Holliday

    former Senator, former Governor of VA. He would be perfect if people stood up for him and against the drive by press.

  • 20jan2013
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    I don’t support women. I also don’t support blacks or Hispanics. Oh, and while we’re at it, I don’t support white men either.

    I support candidates who have qualties and experience to be successful in office. At this particular point in time, there aren’t any women who fit that bill who are being talked about. Palin is, at best, a mediocre governor who ran out the back door when she got caught in her own ethics legislation with the most pathetic excuse I’ve heard in 30 years. She’s excellent at throwing red meat and one liners to a section of the base and she’s good at raising money from those same folk. Neither of those things are qualities that are of any particular benefit to our next President and they happen to be her only good qualities at this point in time.

    Michelle Bachman I don’t know a whole lot about. She appears to be an excellent addition to the Republican Caucus in the House. An excellent speaker and fund raiser. She seems to be pretty good on issues and on things fiscal – she has the votes to back that up. Palin has a record as a big spender in every office she’s held, in comparison. She has no record as an executive that I’m aware of so that’s a blank slate. Bottom line, I like her a whole lot better than Palin, but I have no affection at all for anybody coming out of the Congress – House or Senate – and running for President. And that would be male, female, black, white, brown or a green Martian.

    Now then, back to my question. And a follow up. Why would it make a difference?

    And, sonny boy, for your information, I supported former UN Ambassador and member of Reagan’s National Security Council, Jeane Kirkpatrick, for President in 1988. Unfortunately, she decided not to run because she’d have been one heck of a lot better than GHW Bush.

    I have absolutely no problem with competent women. Or competent minorities. FWIW, Margaret Thatcher is one of my heros. As is Golda Meir. I have a real problem with incompetents or those who just try to slide by on their gender or race or their contacts/history (think Newt). I also have a problem with ignorant fools.

  • powertothepeople

    and showing why the combined IQ over at that site is well below 100.

    I have read your moronic crap over there, your racist nonsense, and expect you to be banned here soon so you can not shovel your sh*t here.

  • Bill S

    Oh well. No one’s perfect.

    And you’re gone. Buh bye.

  • lineholder

    A dead give-away if their ever was one.

  • 20jan2013
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Reading comprehension is not your strong point. I clearly said that she “appears” to be excellent on issues and everything else is an unknown. Good on issues and $2.50 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. It won’t get you nominated or elected President. The jury is clearly out on her, I don’t suspect she will rise to the point where she’s a serious candidate. Being a member of the House is a real albatross around her neck.

  • Bill S
  • 20jan2013
  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    This stage of the election season is like going to an eighth grade dance. Lots of people milling around who would like to make a good impression and scared to death that somebody will actually find out anything about them.

    The purpose of primary process is that we find out about people. In no particular order and not necessarily a complete list: Good and bad. Positions on issues. Performance in office. Accomplishments and failures. How they react to media heat. Can they build a team. Can they manage a team. What are their priorities. What is their position on the appropriate scope of government. What activities would they curtail or cut. Entitlements. Etc.

    I’ll give you a current example of the process that should be involved in picking a candidate. Mitch Daniels. On the surface, he’s got a good record as Governor of Indiana. He did a good job of defanging unions by executive order. Is a fiscal conservative who has reduced the scope and cost of government. Has an excellent pro-life record and very well liked and respected by RTL groups in IN. Good on home schooling and vouchers.

    On the other side, he’s probably the most tone deaf guy in the US. Fully able of pissing off large groups without breaking a sweat and doesn’t seem to understand why they’re upset.

    On the whole, I think Daniels is a superb executive who, in a bell jar, would be an outstanding President. Unfortunately for him, Presidents don’t live in bell jars – especially Republican Presidents. I doubt he can lead on a national level. I doubt he can unite the Republican Party in DC and accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

    He was in my “top couple” for a while but he’s falling like a rock. He also hasn’t announced his candidacy yet either so lots of things could change. His warts could get relatively bigger or smaller. We’ll see.

    There is no perfect candidate, simply a candidate who’s pluses outweigh their minuses relative to other candidates in the field. More information and more exposure is really necessary to make any reasonable determination of who’s who. And there’s no rush.

  • 20jan2013
  • aesthete

    Candidate acceptability and ranking is also dependent on what is going on in the world around them. For example, were the Arab Spring to go (more) awry and create a national situation thus that war were on the table, I would want a candidate with a seasoned hand in such issues. Mitch Daniels would not be that person. Rankings should be relative to what’s going on, and should be lightly held at this point. It’s no secret that I’m an admirer or Daniels, and that I think that his entry into the race would be positive, but support of any politician should always be loose and subject to change. While no candidate should be subject to insult, conspiracy-mongering, or hatchet jobs, every candidate should be greeted with suspicion and scrutiny.

  • acat

    …there’s no rule that says Obama has to be their candidate in 2012, after all.

    They’ll have a primary too, and given that the 2012 senate map is going to make their 2010 drubbing look like a cakewalk, there’s a decent opportunity for someone with the balls to grab it and proclaim that Emperor Won has no clothes.

    This becomes especially true if Obama can’t find his {ahem} with both hands on the Israel kerfluffle. (American Jews are, for reasons I don’t understand, very strong Dem supporters but a suggestion that Israel effectively surrender could change that – especially if war is on the table, or is actively being waged.

    I’m not sure what GOP candidate would be better suited – as I recall Petraeus is not running and Powell is still Powell – but it does make Obama worse than useless for the Dems – he’d grow instant anti-coat-tails. That is, he’d suppress turnout, and make the Senate Dems chances even worse.

    Mew

  • acat

    Some of Huckabee’s followers may gravitate to Santorum, but his “congress-only” history, as well as losing in a purple state in a non-Obama year are not going to help him.

    I don’t see him getting any real traction, and dropping out once that becomes obvious.

    Mew