Posted on 12/09/2007 8:07:49 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
New Mason-Dixon polls released Sunday show the primary picture growing more, not less, uncertain with the first presidential voting less than a month away.
No Democrat in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina has a lead safely outside the margin of error.
On the Republican side, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appears to have a double-digit edge in Iowa, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney an 8-point margin in New Hampshire but South Carolina remains up for grabs, with five candidates registering in double digits.
In the Hawkeye State where a Newsweek poll released Friday appeared to show Huckabee with a stunning 22 point lead the Republican contest seems to be a three-person race, with Huckabee at 32 percent, Romney at 20 percent, former Tennesse Sen. Fred Thompson at 11 percent and no other candidate registering higher than single digits.
"All Iowa polls done in late November and early December showed Huckabee and Romney in a virtual tie," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Now we we now have two polls showing Huckabee with a statistically-significant lead. The race in Iowa appears to have radically shifted in the space of a week or less."
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
Anyone that thinks Huckabee will blow out Fred Thompson in a Southern state like South Carolina, contact me, because I have a bridge in Mayor Giuliani's city that I can sell you - cheap!
And Poll Worshippers in the GOP are doing their best Chicken Little impersonations.
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Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
Fred has gone all in in Iowa. It will be interesting to see if he can close the gap there. His handlers, playing the expectations game, have said that a third place showing is a must and second would be considered a victory. Now that he’s massaging Iowan voter egos maybe he’ll really start to move up.
>> Anyone that thinks Huckabee will blow out Fred Thompson in a Southern state like South Carolina, contact me, because I have a bridge in Mayor Giuliani’s city that I can sell you - cheap!
Where’s my bridge? I think Huckabee will blow out. In fact, I’m SURE Huckabee will blow out.
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Oh, wait, you said “blow out Fred Thompson”. I thought you meant “blow out his oil seals”.
Nevermind.
“New polls show no CLEAR leader in either party”
That’s because they are all opaque! Like Duh!
The only two who are real standouts are Hunter and Tancredo and the unfortunate lack of traction for either of them is the real distress of the day.
I think given the alternatives Huckabee is my third choice.
A Leftest Newsweek poll that is a mirror opposite almost 15 others in Iowa is not very convincing. I think they asked something like: “Since Huckabee is surging in the polls, would you consider voting for him?”
Everyone is pushing their guy and we probably won’t have a clue until people actually vote.
“Everyone is pushing their guy and we probably wont have a clue until people actually vote.”
Yup, the 17% undecided won’t break until the very last.
I find it increasing interesting that freepers are relying more and more on the Liberals and the Left to give them their political wisdom.
Please read these articles:
Why parole a monster like Green(Another Rapist Killer Gets Clemency from Huck) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1937215/posts
Huckabee admits immigration plan has revolving door (amnesty or “guest” workers)http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/1937190/posts
Christians Need To Beware Of Mike Huckabee
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1936099/posts
Lets see if this is the Fred Thompson we have been waiting for.
It’s more than having the right positions; he MUST be able to excite and motivate people: first to vote for him, then for his positions. Fred may have more fire in his belly than we believe, but now is the time to show us.
And I have to wonder what your values are. Thompson is lightyears closer to the vlaues of Tancredo and Hunter that the Huckester could ever hope to be.
Huck is closest in political philosophy to former President Jimmy Carter.
Don’t forget that the same folks who write about how wrong Huckabee is for the GOP write about Thompson working for NARAL and not going to Church except when he is home at Mom’s house etc. .
Everything gets distorted at times. Is Huckabee my first choice? No. Far from it. But he can beat Guiliani (which Thompson can’t seem to do). AND I think of all the candidates he has the greatest national appeal.
They all have their warts.
I will vote for the GOP nominee because the alternative is much worse for America and the conservative cause in America.
IT’S TIME FOR HUCK TO BE VETTED PROPERLY.
TEN REASONS TO SAY NO TO HUCK:
1. Soft-on-crime, paroled violent criminals like he was God ...
http://holycoast.blogspot.com/2007/12/huckabee-was-commutation-and-pardon.html
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_07_21_04/huckabee5.html
2. Soft-on-illegals, giving in-state tuition for illegals was his Jesus juice ... HIS RECORD ON IMMIGRATION STINKS ...
Mike Huckabee disses Americans, Mexicans, promotes illegal immigration: http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005609.html
Christians Need To Beware Of Mike Huckabee: http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html
While Gov. of Arkansas, Huckabee was AGAINST proving citizenship in order to register to vote. He called those who were in favor of this racists... http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050218/news_lz1e18perkins.html
Huckabee fought hard to kill an Arkansas bill which would have cut off social services for illegal aliens. Huckabee called the bill, anti-Christian and un-American... http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2005/01/28/News/316347.html
Huckabee supported in-state tuition for illegal aliens... http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2005/03/11/News/318458.html
Huckabees opposition to the illegal aliens bill: http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/000718.html
3. Huckster was and is a tax-and-spend-aholic:
According to the Democrat-Gazette, the average Arkansans tax burden grew from $1,969 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1997, to $2,902 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005, including local taxes, a whopping tax increase of 47% under Huckabees tenure. Tax legislation passed while Huckabee was governor totaled a net tax increase of $505 million, a figure adjusted for inflation and economic growth, according to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
In February of 2004, Huckabee joined with two other Democratic governors in urging Congress to reject a bill that would make the Internet access tax moratorium permanent and embrace a temporary two-year extension of the ban instead.
Every two years, the Cato Institute grades the 50 governors on fiscal stewardship. Heres last years assessment of Tax Hike Mike [emphasis added]:
Thanks to a final term grade of F, Huckabee earns an overall grade of D for his entire governorship. Like many Republicans, his grades dropped the longer he stayed in office. In his first few years, he fought hard for a sweeping $70 million tax cut package that was the first broad-based tax cut in the state in more than 20 years. He even signed a bill to cut the states 6 percent capital gains taxa significant pro-growth accomplishment. But nine days after being reelected in 2002, he proposed a sales tax increase to cover a budget deficit caused partly by large spending increases that he proposed and approved, including an expansion in Medicare eligibility that Huckabee made a centerpiece of his 1997 agenda. He agreed to a 3 percent income tax surcharge and a 25-cent cigarette tax increase. In response to a court order to increase spending on education, Huckabee proposed another sales tax increase.
http://taxhikemike.org
4. When challenged on points #1, #2 and #3, Mike Huckabee and campaign have lied and dissembled on his real record.
5. IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE
[Huckabee] has zero intellectual underpinnings in the conservative movement, says Blant Hurt, a former part owner of, and columnist for, Arkansas Business magazine. Hes hostile to free trade, hiked sales and grocery taxes, backed sales taxes on Internet purchases, and presided over state spending going up more than twice the inflation rate.
Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlaflys national Eagle Forum, said, We called him a pro-life, pro-gun liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor. Phyllis Schlafly herself was even more direct.
President and Founder of Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly, said this about Governor Huckabee: He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles.
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html
6. Got the union endorsements of NEA and IAM, is a shill for the public school monopolists.
7. Has questionable ethics, including diversion of state funds for personal uses, see
http://therealmike hauckabee.blogspot.com
8. Dirty campaigner whose supporters have done push-polling and who is trolling for votes by tapping into sectarian prejudice; a supporter sent out an anti-Brownback anti-catholic email and explained it thusly - pretestants should vote for protestants
9. Hes a nanny-state shill for liberal nanny-statism who wants to implement the totally Goronic CO2 cap-and-trade scam that will hike energy prices yet do nothing good for environment. And he wants to ban smoking.
10. Hes an incompetent boob on foreign policy questions.
Flubbed NIE report questions, and has zero experience in the area. His belief that we should close Gimto to appease the world suggests that he wont have the guts to make hard choices in the GWOT.
Its been said that Huckabee has all of Bushs worst traits, and few or none of his good ones. But the man completely lacks the stature and ethics of G W B.
He is slicker than a greased salmon. Mike Huckabee is the John Edwards/Jimmy Carter combo of the GOP.
He will be an absolute disaster as a nominee.
“Dont forget that the same folks who write about how wrong Huckabee is for the GOP write about Thompson working for NARAL and not going to Church except when he is home at Moms house etc. .”
I am in the camp who thinks Huck is awful - because he is just awful, see previous post - and would be just fine with Fred Thompson.
“Everything gets distorted at times. Is Huckabee my first choice? No. Far from it. But he can beat Guiliani (which Thompson cant seem to do). AND I think of all the candidates he has the greatest national appeal.”
Mitt Romney is a far more genuine leader and genuine conservative (especialy fiscal) and genuinely capable/experienced than Huckabee, *and* he really *can* beat Guiliani, which the underfunded Huck campaign, guaranteed to drive vast swaths of the party to Rudy, CANNOT do.
Huck is a pure stop-Romney-to-get-Rudy-to-win stalking horse.
“Huck is closest in political philosophy to former President Jimmy Carter.”
I agree. 4 weeks ago I wouldn’t have agreed, but I’ve since learned a lot about Huckabee’s real record that his campaign has hidden.
Gulfbreeze, your judgement is usually good, so take a look at post #14 with an open mind and reconsider. I think you are making a mistake here. Especially the ‘pardon machine’ aspect of Huckabee should alert you that there is something very wrong there.
The first state primaries haven't been held yet.
FR has more liberals and leftists as members than ever before.
LLS
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