Huckabee - A Matter of Character

Fox this evening has been discussing Huck-a-boom’s “Sneak attack ad” and earlier this afternoon CNN showed the Huck saying that he wanted people to turn to the television when the President was speaking and believe that the President would tell him the truth. After the clip the CNN correspondent observed that Huckabee was “Gifted at saying things in subtle ways.”

In my view, its not generally subtle if a CNN correspondent can note it. It was in fact an overt attack on Romney.

Mike Huckabee has not been shy about telling us all that he has “character,” that he is a Christian, etc. But I think Character has more to do with how one acts than what one says, and I think one of the best gauges of one’s Character is how he performs on pressure. I think the behavior that has been on display in regard to Huckabee's defense of his “Sneak attack ad,” has been at the minimum was strange, but in reality I think it has displayed a man cracking under pressure and in fact not having character (The Huckster in my view, may not have character, but he does remind me of another character from Arkansas, the Slickmeister, who like the Huckster had his schizophenic moments (For the Huckster, simultaneously, trying desperately to be both "Mr. Nice Guy" and the politician "gifted at saying things in subtle ways." And then there was the Slickmeister, who was also said to have been "a nice guy" but who came to be especially known for his silver tongue - gifted at saying things in subtle ways).

I was reading a book today called “A Matter of Character: Inside The White House of George W. Bush,” by Ronald Kessler. I’ve really enjoyed reading in depth about the character of our current Commander-in-Chief. I also agree with the central theme that Kessler puts forward, that character matters:

“The poor personal character of presidents like Nixon and Johnson translated in the kind of flawed judgment that led to Watergate and the continuing fruitless prosecution of the Vietnam War. Voters tend to forget that presidents are , first and foremost, people. If they are unbalanced, nasty, and hypocritical, that will be reflected in their judgment and job performance. If a friend, an electrician, a plumber or a job applicant had a track record of acting unethically, being habitually late, or displaying the kind of unbalanced personality of a Johnson or a Nixon, few would want to deal with him. Yet in the case of presidents and other politicians, voters overlook the signs of poor character and focus instead on their acting ability on TV (pp. 11-12).”

“…No one can imagine the kind of pressure that being president of the United States imposes on an individual and how easily a president can be corrupted by power. To be in command of the most powerful country on Earth, to be able to fly anywhere at a moment’s notice on Air Force One, to be able to grant almost any wish, to take action that affects the lives of millions, is such a heady, intoxicating experience that only people with the most stable personalities and well-developed value systems can handle it. Simply inviting a friend to a White House party or having a secretary place a call and announce that “the White House is calling,” has such a profound effect on people that presidents and White House aides must constantly remind themselves that they are mortal (p. 12).”

I posted an article earlier today relevant to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:

The day after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Huckabee said that the killing “changes the world” by adding a new level or turmoil to the Middle East and raises concerns about terrorist attacks on America.

But if this was such an important issue (and I agree it was) his articulation of the crisis was again, in my opinion, a display of a man wilting on pressure (recall his “apology “ comment and his remark about there being more Pakistani illegal aliens crossing the border than any other nationality besides South Americans). In the weeks before his had criticized Bush for not being educated enough about Foreign Affairs…wow….

Saving the Republican Party

Our party can not survive unless we adhere to our basic conservative principles and nominate a person whose values lie in those principles and one that all Republicans will support. If we fail, history will record the death of the Republican party as occurring during the caucus primaries of 2008. This is not speculation on my part, but the opinion of many other experts in political science. Many republicans and independents would either vote for a democrat or abstain, rather than vote for anything less than a person with "true conservative" values.

Take a closer look at the candidates

Rudy Giuliani is intelligent and has proven himself to be capable as mayor of New York City, however Rudy is a liberal in every sense of the word. He is pro-abortion, pro-gay, and pro-gun control. I just can't vote for someone who "cross dresses" and marches in gay pride parades. He is liberal, no other way to put it. He would not represent the values of the Republican party and would not garner the support of all Republicans by any stretch of the imagination. Death of the Republican Party as we know it would occur if he was the nominee.

Mitt Romney is sharp, intelligent and on the face seems to be a good candidate to save the party. If you look closer you will find that in the past few years he has supported sanctuary cities for illegal aliens, supported pro-choice on the abortion issue, supported gay marriages and was elected governor of the most liberal state in the union. Mitt's Mormon religion is not a factor and should not be a factor in America. Mitt may have made a real change as he has stated and may have come to embrace a conservative views on the issues, but he'll have to prove it to me AND that may take years. Mitt might be make a good president for the republican party one day, but not in 2008. Mitt should wait a few years and give us the proof we need that in fact he is a "real conservative" as he says he is. The Republican Party would not be united behind Mitt in 2008, due to his religion. This is a shame , but a fact. We would loose to the Democrats in 2008 if Mitt was nominated.

Mike Huckabee is a good speaker, probably a nice guy and I'm sure an excellent preacher. Mike is conservative on only two issues, abortion and marriage. He is a populist liberal on all other important issues. His popularity base is evangelicals who can't seem to separate religion from electing the leader of the free world. . He was even endorsed by the Democratic governor of Ohio, who said that he reflected Democratic liberal views as well as the other Democratic candidates. He has even went so far as to criticize President Bush, calling his foreign policy "bunker mentality". Huckabee is a Democrat running as a republican, no other way to put it. He would divide the republican party and cause a division from which we could not recover. He is more dangerous to the republican party than having a democrat elected. Probably the most dangerous thing about Huckabee is his naivetie on how to deal foreign policy and the threats facing our nation today. To put it bluntly, he is ignorant on foreign affairs and the part the United States plays as being the premier world superpower and bastion of freedom. Death of the Republican Party as we know it would occur if he was the nominee.

John McCain is a true American hero and I honor and respect him for all he has given in the service of his country during the Viet Nam war. John is a conservative on most issues, but John tends to flip -flop on the issues. Last year he and the despicable Edward Kennedy were two of the main players in the Amnesty Bill that Pres. Bush was pushing down the throats of the American people. Thank God the people spoke up and the bill was defeated. If McCain was the nominated and elected I have no doubts that he would revive that very bill and the next time it may pass. I don't trust him to stop illegal immigration and therefore he gets "thumbs down" from me. He also tends to be a little "hot headed" at times. I'm not sure we need an emotional "hot head" with his finger on the button, if you know what I mean. The Republican party would not unite behind McCain due to a lack of trust. We would loose to the Democrats in 2008 .

Ron Paul...can you say "nut case"....Ron has a libiterian view of what the world and the US should be like. He is so far off having "true conservative" values, he is not worth discussion. The fringe radicals seem to like his message , much the way people who bought in to Ross Perot did some years ago. Ron's idea of US foreign policy is for the US to withdraw from everywhere and become an isolationist country and "everybody would leave us alone" Total BS. Ron could not unite the party, in fact he would cause a split. Death of the Republican Party as we know it would occur if he was the nominee.

Duncan Hunter..... A "true conservative" in every sense of the word. Duncan is strong on all conservative issues, especially illegal immigration. Duncan could unite the party behind him. Our party would have someone that all republicans could support. The liberal media has failed to get behind Duncan, which is what should be expected. They would prefer a republican candidate , like Huckabee, which would divide our party and be easier for the democrats to defeat next November. Duncan gets a "thumbs up" from me.

Fred Thompson. Fred is the only candidate that is conservative on all issues. He is a Federalist, meaning that he is a supporter of states rights and less government. Fred is the candidate that there are absolutely no negatives. He has never flipped his position on any issue. Fred is the one candidate that would appeal to every Republican. Ron Paul supporters might be the exception, but most of them are libertarian and nothing short of a revolutionary would please them anyway. Fred is for lower taxes, stronger military, anti abortion, anti gay-marriage, stopping illegal immigration and less government involvement in our lives, all main stay issues of the Republican Party. Fred is the only candidate in the list that could unite the party and defeat the democrats in 2008.

Just the Facts... check them out for yourself. America awaits your decision.

??? is this not a political forum?...was I not expressing political observations?....I suppose that can be vanity, but during a political primary season that is what I would expect to see posted on a political forum.

Perhaps you just don't like to see your candidate analyzed? In this post I identified several aspects of the Huck's character that appear to me to make him a deeply flawed candidate. You did not respond to my observations, you suggest that you are above it (sort of like the Huck says he is above negative ads...).

I've been listening to Rush today and he has been noting that one of the big liabilities of Huck supporters is that they are "identity" supporters. They support the "identity" or image that the Huck is projecting, but are not willing to look at his substance or analyze his adherence to core conservation principles. Rush also noted that "identity" politics are the historical bread and butter of the democratic divide and conquer political machine. Like Rush I am disappointed to see this tactic being adopted by the Huck and his merry band of supporters.

And as long as I'm on the subject of Rush. I think the way the Huck has tried to manage Rush's legitimate and accurate criticisms of his record as Governor again show a lack of character. I think it was remarkably disingenuous for him to claim that he did not know the supporter to said that Rush was just a beltway entertainer and not worth listening to. And even more dishonest for him to claim that he did not know what was said (it had been in print for 5 days in numerous sources) so he could not even respond to what had been said about Rush. So like you, in regard to my post , he ignored the substance of the issue. This type of avoidance to me of this issue (and others) is an example of a person with weak character.

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