Posted on 12/08/2007 6:45:38 AM PST by NYC Republican
A new poll of Iowa voters conducted this week seems to show Mike Huckabee surging past the rest of the Republican field, beating his closest rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, by 22 points among Republicans, 39 to 17 percent.
In the latest Newsweek poll, released Friday, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson slides to 10 percent, down from 16 in the last survey. No other candidate rates higher than single digit support.
Polling in Iowa is notoriously difficult because of the unpredictable nature of caucus attendance. And most recent surveys have pictured a much tighter race.
Still, the poll, conducted December 5 and 6, comes after weeks of momentum for the former Arkansas governors campaign, fueled by increased support from social conservatives, who form a major bloc of Iowas GOP caucus-goers.
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
I hope this is just polling tricks. The Huckster is right up there with Rudi-Annie and McPain as absolutely the worst GOP candidates in a long time.
One thing about Huckabee is that so many people still haven't heard of him. As people are learning about who Huckabee is, they tend to support him. This may help to account for why he is able to gain ground so quickly in the polls.
MSM wants Huckabee, a Bush religious look alike that can sustain hate-Bush momentum and be taken down in the general election.
Thompson, a concrete conservative capable of energizing a conservative country and beating any Democrat in the general election.
CN&N, the DNC’s marketing firm fraudulently posing as a journalistic enterprise, conducts a “poll” that supports their clients agenda.
. <- grain of salt
I’m not sure the media has created this. He was getting virtually no press until he began polling well. I think the media is just reporting this one. Now it’s true that the media attention helps once that starts. But Huckabee’s campaign is what is making this happen. Politics is about seeing people, pressing the flesh, word of mouth, making speeches, being on the stump. It always has been, and it always will be.
Some people are saying “remember Howard Dean” but there’s a problem with that analogy. Running against Dean was a solid leftist mainstream alternative — JFnK — who the rats could look to as representing their core beliefs in a more electable fashion. In other words, even as Dean was surging in Iowa back in 2004, JFn was always there in the background as a legitimate leftist alternative.
Where is the legitimate conservative alternative in the minds of the Iowa Christian conservatives, someone they can turn to at the last minute out of fear that their number one choice, Huckashuckster, just isn’t all that electable, or even stable?
Of course I would say (being a FT supporter) that Thompson is the obvious choice for that mantle but just as obviously the Iowa Christian conservatives don’t see it that way. And who else is there? Really, nobody.
If you accept the proposition that Huckaloon is a conservative — which is currently the biggest lie on the American political scene — and you’re worried about electability, and you don’t want to vote for a liberal, then the Iowa Christian conservatives have painted themselves into a corner: they have to vote for Huckafraud.
I don’t see a Howard Dean punctured-balloon event on the horizon. I think Huckashmuck is going to win big in the state of Iowa, which is going to make Iowa conservatives go down in history (once everyone has had time to digest all the facts) as a pretty freaking stupid bunch of “conservatives”.
Would you rather have Huckabee, Rudy, or McPain? I’m just curious.
I’d rather have Thompson. There hasn’t been a single vote cast; Thompson is still in this race.
First he has to prove he can energize conservatives in his own party and beat a Republican.
I'm definitely pro Thompson but his quick descent from rock star savior of the party to near also-ran status is troubling. Fortunately, this race is up for grabs and fortunes can turn his way in a blink. Just hope he seizes the moment when it comes.
The DBM made sure Thompson’s decent was swift and precipitous. Gee, I wonder why?
The Iowa Caucus is nothing like an ordinary primary. Polls mean nothing unless people turn out for the caucuses in the same proportions as they answer the phone.
Change is hard to accept, but the simple fact is that Iowa and NH and other sundry bellwethers of the political past have had their day.
Totaled their clout is worth warm spit compared to the big Southern states and Super Tuesday.
Hillary knows it.
Rudy knows it - but their respective party organizations are still run by citizens from the states which have a collective total of a dozen or so electoral votes.
How many FReepers know that Florida now has a larger population than NY?
The legal census won’t come in time for that to affect the 08 election, but the fact remains. - the demographics are changing as people desert the NE and fly South for Redder pastures - and contrary to popular opinion, not all of them are bringing the old habits with them. They know...
Few people in Florida give a damn about the Iowa caucus and don't care at all for the huckabebe. - His chance here is solidly between zero and nil, and nil has left the building
I agree with you, but one thing disturbs me about the Florida primary. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Florida get penalized by the Republican Party and will now have fewer (or no) delegates at the convention? If that’s true, does that fact alter your view of this year’s process?
Glenn’s not Christian?
DECEMBER 07, 2007
GLENN BECK PROGRAM
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
GLENN: ABC wanted me to do something on Good Morning America. It was my understanding, but I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been involved in all the details, but it was my understanding that Diane was going to have a conversation with me on Mitt Romney and what was happening with Mitt Romney and what I thought he should say in the speech, but that would be too reasonable. That would be a reasonable conversation to have. Instead when I arrive, Richard Land is there and he is a Southern Baptist and I said, hello, Richard, how are you? And we talked for a few minutes and he was a very pleasant man. We get on the air and Diane Sawyer, I think the first question out of her mouth is, are Mormons Christian? And, of course, his answer is no, they’re not which, you know, under two hours sleep I’ve got to tell you I had a hard time, you know, just smiling and letting it pass, especially since I only had two hours sleep because I had done a Christmas show the night before where I was talking about the real meaning of Christmas being with redemption and about not the birth of the baby, about the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So I had a little hard — it was very difficult for me to let that one pass, but I did.
The next question, with about 40 seconds to go, was about the deep doctrinal issues of Mormonism, and I’ve got to tell you something. I want you to put yourself in my shoes. Mormons, the doctrine is different. However, that’s what attracted me to it. For me some of the things in traditional doctrine just doesn’t work, but it works for millions of other people and that’s great. Happens to work for millions of Mormons the other way. That’s great. You know, I’m not going to preach to you, you don’t have to preach to me. We’ll pray for each other and we’ll see each other on the other side hopefully.
Now, imagine, put yourself in this position. Let’s say you are in Saudi Arabia where nobody’s ever heard of the trinity. You’re a Catholic. Nobody’s ever heard of the trinity. What, the trinity? What, it’s three in one, they’re everywhere and nowhere. Jesus is on the cross but he’s really God. So God has died but yet he didn’t die and how does this — imagine you’ve never heard this before. So you’ve never heard any kind of explanation. So it works. You know what I mean? You’ve never heard anybody say, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, you’ve got to slow down. She asked me two questions about deep doctrine issues and I had in my ear, 40 seconds. Oh, well, hang on. I’ve got 40 seconds. Let me explain this to you. You can’t explain it in 40 seconds. You can’t explain anything of deep philosophical viewpoint or deep theological viewpoint. It took me a year of real studying to be able to understand some of the stuff in all of different doctrines, which leads me to this. Nobody really cares. Nobody really cares.
Look, I’ve said this before. You have more Jello with stupid carrots in it than you’ve ever — I don’t even know who came up with Jello and carrots but somehow or another the Mormons did and they’re like, “Here, somebody’s died, here, have some Jello and carrots.” That just makes it worse for me. If you want to know, ask a Mormon. If the media wants to know, why don’t you call somebody who, like, actually does this for a living. I hear the Mormons have a university. That’s weird. Maybe you should call somebody at the university and talk about their theological doctrine. Have the theological issues taken care of by those people. But see, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about an agenda. It’s about an agenda that I’m telling you is going to backfire on the media because if Mitt Romney would get the nomination, Christians will then rally around him and say, whoa, wait a minute, hang on, this looks like it’s a persecution of religion because that’s exactly what it is.
If I got on the air and I said to you, I’m going to vote for Mitt Romney and I’m going to vote for Mitt Romney because he’s a Mormon. Well, wouldn’t you think that I’m the dumbest man in America? And you know what, you’d have every right to think that because if I just voted for Mitt Romney because he was a Mormon, I would also have to vote for Harry Reid, and I got news for ya. I ain’t ever voting for Harry Reid. I don’t care if he is Jack Mormon himself.
Given those three, I'd pick Rudy.
Seriously.
- John
've been supporting Huckabee from the beginning because he is a 100% straight, no nonsence, tell it like it is kind of guy.So you LIKE the fact that he pardoned all those rapists and murderers against the solid wishes of the people who voted him in office in his state? Do you view that as part of his "100% straight, no nonsense" quality?
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