Posted on 12/29/2007 1:51:19 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
South Carolinians soon will be asked to take a close look at the tax record of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, suddenly a fast riser in the field of Republican presidential candidates.
But it won’t be one of Huckabee’s challengers steering voters to Huckabee’s record. Instead, it will be Club for Growth.Net, a national anti-tax group that has sized up the candidates running for president and found that, in its eyes, Huckabee’s record doesn’t measure up to his fiscally conservative rhetoric.
Club for Growth.Net recently announced it has doubled its ad buy in Iowa and South Carolina, ushering in a time when voters are likely to see increased activity from so-called “527” groups set on having a big say in this state’s primaries next month.
How effective are those groups in raising questions about candidates?
Ask John Kerry, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts who entered the 2004 presidential race as a Vietnam War hero and left explaining, meekly, that he really did earn his Bronze and Silver Stars as a swift boat sailor.
Taking their name from a section in the U.S. tax code, 527 groups are tax-exempt organizations that do not make direct contributions to candidates and are not bound by the same donation and disclosure rules.
Determining who has paid for the work of these 527 groups is often difficult and time-consuming, allowing organizations or people who want to help a particular candidate to do so while avoiding the type of scrutiny — and criticism — that often comes with such involvement.
With Huckabee soaring to the top of polls in Iowa and South Carolina, Club for Growth.Net is looking to pop his balloon. An anti-Huckabee ad entitled “United” will be aired on statewide cable in the Palmetto State.
“The ad seeks to educate the public about Mike Huckabee’s many tax increases and urges taxpayers to call the governor and challenge him on his tax policy,” said Club for Growth.Net president Pat Toomey.
Huckabee strongly refutes the notion that he is an inveterate tax-raiser.
The Associated Press recently reported that Club for Growth.Net and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth share a major donor, Houston home builder Bob Perry.
Perry also has contributed to one of Huckabee’s main rivals for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.
Is it just me, or is Huckabee’s tent starting to collapse? I’m sensing a lot of buyer’s remorse, even though I haven’t seen if the polls are lagging indicators of anything.
Mitts’ money may be starting to pay off.
Moving some towards Thompson even.
Folks are only going after him because he’s a Christian. (sarcasm off)
Yes it is. Huck is shrinking in the polls.
I have no idea where his “big mo” came from, and now it seems it was just some fantasy, in a way. Maybe an MSN invention in case people decided they liked Giuliani and McCain, and the Olbermans needed to show that Republicans are REALLY insane liberals.
Thompson has a very good chance at winning South Carolina.. if he does, he’s got all the momentum heading into Super Tuesday.
I think I know where it came from. It came from a handful of stories that led people to believe he was a tough conservative. Part of it must be attributed to Chuck Norris. I still haven’t figured why he has endorsed him. Friend or no friend. Huck may be a nice guy but that does not make him a good President. The more I look at his record in Arkansas all his tough social conservative talk looks empty.
I think we are going to see a major crack up of Huckabee over the next few days. I’m hoping Thompson who has been campaigning hard in Iowa will rise as Huck sinks. We also should remember that the Iowa polls still show more than 40% of Republicans still undecided. That is a huge number this late in the game. This means that whichever way those voters fall will determine the final outcome.
This leaves open room for big surprises come caucus day. I fully expect Thompson to win back a big chunk of support he lost to the undecided column. Also a lot of the movement we have seen in Huck has been with formerly committed Mitt and Rudy supporters heading back to the undecided column. So the polls are a bit misleading.
Excellent analysis. I share your hopes for Thompson, because the man is real. That’s all I’ve got—it’s that simple, to me.
I hope I’m right on this one. It is all coming down to the wire. Thompson will either be seen as a genius or slow to the gate.
I do believe we are going to see some interesting things in Iowa since Iowa isn’t a closed primary state it means that any Democrats who wish to can vote for Paul by switching at the polls. This opens the possibility that he could actually register a significant showing. I’d never support the guy but if I were him I’d start pushing a Democrats for Paul line.
Yes, which is what leadership is about. He took a calculated risk, and we will SEE his leadership in action. Was it good leadership, or poor leadership?
I LIKE that. I like it that he is going to either look smart or dumb, because that's the kind of guts it takes to run this country. If he's dumb, we're well rid of him; if he's smart, and makes decisions based on his own guidelines, we've seen that in action, not just rhetoric.
Anyway, after the Huck did whatever it is he's accused of doing Arkansas still had an exceedingly low tax rate by anyone's standard.
And unemployment? That's currently about 5.7%. In Massachusetts unemplyment is 4.3% (in contrast).
You can get a pretty good review of what it was during Huckabee's terms in office at: http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?series_id=LASST05000003&data_tool=%22EaG%22
Bebee is not doing quite as well ~ in fact unemployment has jumped since he took office.
This may be the reason former governors get elected President ~ we are able to go back to their state's performance during their terms in office and see if they really screwed up.
Senators have fallen into disfavor ~ no accountability, too many hair stylists, etc.
The Cato Institute gave Huckabee a D for his overall performance as Governor, and an F for his last term. And they don't look at issues like his liberal pro-illegal immigration policy, commuting the sentences of dangerous criminals and so forth. So I think Huckabee falls squarely in the "really screwed up" camp.
“Senators have fallen into disfavor ~ no accountability, too many hair stylists, etc.”
I don’t think the latter has been a problem for Fred.
If you want an attack ad to be effective, you need to target it. Huckabee supporters don’t support him for his stance on taxes, so attacking him there will have no effect.
Takes a lot of work to get his look.
In general I ignore CATO Institute evaluations. For the most part their support staff are inferior.
Maybe, but the Club for Growth whitepapers reach the same conclusion. And it is further supported by the fact that the Huckabee campaign refuses to address the criticisms and instead either (1) levels ad hominem attacks ("Club for Greed") or (2) flat out lies about his record.
So strange.
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