Posted on 01/04/2008 11:55:25 PM PST by Ol' Sparky
I think a large part of Huckabee’s success is being overlooked. For 3/4ths of a year, the GOP choices seemed to be quasi-liberals - first Giuliani, then Romney and now McCain. The evangelical base can’t be particularly thrilled with any of them. Thompson and Hunter didn’t catch on, not because they were too conservative but because they did not represent outsiders. Thompson is a former Senator who has yet to play up his acting credentials or anything else that would prevent him from being seen as a stuffy pol. Hunter comes across as what he is - a guy stuck in Washington for some time.
What Huckabee appeals to are outsiders with the populism cadence of a preacher. His Christiantiy doesn’t *scare* people, less so than it attracts them. He is essentially reviving the Jimmy Carter campaign of acting like Washington is from another planet and asking What Would Jesus Do?
Huckabee represents the rank and file, particularly in the South and the Heartlands who have said “we’re tired of your Washington beltway social liberals, GOP. Get us some fresh blood that doesn’t have the stench of D.C or the RINOland Northeast to them.”
That’s the niche that Huckabee has carved out. With better focus-grouping, Thompson could have been that guy but Fred’s message hasn’t been to pose as an aw-shucks outsider but an I’m-a-former-senator insider. Which left the door wide open for Huckabee.
I don’t think Huckabee will be the nominee because I think he’s likely to gaffe his way out of front-runner status (he’s already come close a few times) and I don’t think he has the resources to go the distance. But he tapped a vein in Middle America that none of the others can reach. He may not win in New Hampshire, but Huckabee has to be considered a contender anywhere between Appalachia and the Rockies.
You seem to be Olasky ignorant, if I may say so.
Compassionate conservatism is not about taking your money. It is about government making room for private efforts for the welfare of the people and cooperating with them.
Good thing the Savior wasn’t that fickle and blind. He took simple fishermen, a hated tax collector and a persecutor of the believers and forged them into a team that transformed the world.
Message to evangelicals - you just nominated McCain or Rudy. Nice job!
No it is not. And this article hits it on the head.
We sent the republicans up there because we thought that
What we got, was no significant support on family values and instead of fiscal conservatism, we got mean hearted big business back room politics whose only attempts at cutting government was arbitrary cuts in Medicaid which helps the poorest of the poor, and reducing back bankruptcy protections which had been in place since the founding fathers. Thankfully, at least the Medicaid cuts weren't passed.
Cutting aid to the most needed in society while funding the pork worse than ever is NOT fiscal conservatism. Worse, God tells kings and rulers to consider the cause of the poor and needy, and He strips rule from one king that fails to do so.
Free trade with third world countries that are willing to work for $2 a day with none of the social protections and cost thereof that we enjoy is an out of business strategy. And as long as the short-term corporate profits are rolling in from transfer of technology to China, the Republicans don't seem to care.
It's hard to imagine voting for liberals since I share hardly any social values with them. But based on their recent actions I don't seem to share much with Republicans either.
I agree with Dobson, if we can find candidates that better reflect our values within the Republican party, lets stay and vote for them. But if what we are going to get is what we've had recently, then lets go find a third party.
I always find these types of statements interesting. They are always so similar in theme as those which one comes across from atheists when they criticize any number of the more miraculous, faith requiring doctrines associated with Christianity. Just change the point of view and you have the same thing - offensive, generally ignorant, and inflammatory rhetoric meant to appeal to emotion rather than reason.
If Romney is the Republican nominee, and the arrogant and prideful superiority (cloaked under the guise of “principle”) of evangelicals keeps then from voting for Romney because of his faith, then IMHO they’ll get what they deserve for President. I guess they can take solace in their sense of their own moral superiority while they lament the further deterioration of our country’s most basic moral principles under a Democrat President, whomever that might be, who shares few of their critical moral values.
They may be your leaders but they are not mine...
I and many others are not blind, we just don't care for where your leaders are trying to lead us...
And who do you think MY leaders are?
I was going to post something similar to this earlier, but I think evangelicals miss the forest through the trees in that Mormons—save for a corrupt opportunist like Harry Reid—also don’t approve of abortion, same sex marriage, and so on. On other threads I’ve used the term “holier than thou” to describe the types of evangelicals like the author of the article above. The kind of argument that “well Mormons are a non-Christian cult”, while it may indeed have merit, grates on me, especially as a non-evangelical (and mainly non-religious) conservative.
That having been said however, I would consider a Mormon if I thought he was actually a more consistent conservative and that’s something I can’t convince myself with Romney. If, for example, Utah governor John Huntsman wanted to run for President in the GOP primary, I’d support him. If this election is actually going to be about issues (not exclusively, but at least in a general sense), then I think this is where Romney could be in trouble should he get the nomination.
I’ve ranked the participants of the primary in the position of their attraction/appeal to me...
1. Hunter
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. Thompson
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
“
“
“
“
45.
46.
47. McCain
48. Guillani
49. Huckabee
50. Romney
Do you really think it matters to us which one of these 4 anti-conservative, underachiever clowns gets the pick???
On the one hand, I agree that making illegal aliens eligible for scholarships and tuition benefits that even our own people aren't elligible for isn't right. And I don't want amnesty either.
On the other, we have had this unofficial policy for 20 years of letting them into our country. To deny them emergency medical care because they can't pay would be to treat them subhuman. We don't treat our own people that way. To deny their kids an education while allowing them to stay here, would also be wrong.
Don't get me wrong. I'm ok with enforcing the law and deporting them. I'm ok with enforcing the law and punishing companies that hired them illegally while driving law abiding companies out of business. I'm ok with taxing them and prosecuting them for tax evasion if they aren't paying. But as long as our policy is to allow them to stay, then we need to treat them as human.
I found this site which assesses Republican candidates on immigration. I thought it was very interesting. I can see why some here support Duncan Hunter. I wish I knew more about him.
National Taxpayer Protection Pledge Press Releases
Presidential Campaigns 2008
Candidate State
John Cox Illinois
Gov. Mitt Romney Massachusetts
Senator Sam Brownback Kansas
Representative Duncan Hunter California
Governor Jim Gilmore Virginia
Representative Tom Tancredo Colorado
Gov. Mike Huckabee Arkansas
Rep. Ron Paul Texas
Alan Keyes Utah
http://www.atr.org/press/national/pledge/index.html
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=26
The Secure America Plan
A 9-Point Strategy for Immigration Enforcement and Border Security
Overview: Implement a broad-based strategy that commits the resources of the federal government to the enforcement of our immigration laws and results in the attrition of the illegal immigrant population.
1. Build the Fence
Ensure that an interlocking surveillance camera system is installed along the border by July 1, 2010.
Ensure that the border fence construction is completed by July 1, 2010.
2. Increase Border Patrol
Increase the number of border patrol agents.
Fully support all law enforcement personnel tasked with enforcing immigration law.
3. Prevent Amnesty
Policies that promote or tolerate amnesty will be rejected.
Propose to provide all illegal immigrants a 120-day window to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and leave the country. Those who register and return to their home country will face no penalty if they later apply to immigrate or visit; those who do not return home will be, when caught, barred from future reentry for a period of 10 years.
This is not a “touchback” provision. Those who leave this country and apply to return from their home country would go to the back of the line.
4. Enforce the Law on Employers
Employment is the chief draw for most illegal immigrants and denying them jobs is the centerpiece of an attrition strategy.
Impose steep fines and penalties on employers that violate the law.
Institute a universal, mandatory citizenship verification system as part of the normal hiring process.
Prevent the IRS and the Social Security Administration from accepting fraudulent Social Security numbers or numbers that don’t match the employees’ names.*
5. Establish an Economic Border
Move toward passage of the FairTax.
The FairTax provides an extra layer of security by creating an economic disincentive to immigrate to the U.S. illegally.
6. Empower Local Authorities
Promote better cooperation on enforcement by supporting legislative measures such as the CLEAR Act, which aims to systematize the relationship between local law and federal immigration officials.
Encourage immigration-law training for police. Local authorities must be provided the tools, training, and funding they need so local police can turn illegal immigrants over to the federal authorities.
7. Ensure Document Security
End exemptions for Mexicans and Canadians to the US-VISIT program, which tracks the arrival and departure of foreign visitors. Since these countries account for the vast majority of foreigners coming here (85 percent), such a policy clearly violates Congress’ intent in mandating this check-in/check-out system.
Reject Mexico’s “matricula consular” card, which functions as an illegal-immigrant identification card.
8. Discourage Dual Citizenship
Inform foreign governments when their former citizens become naturalized U.S. citizens.
Impose civil and/or criminal penalties on American citizens who illegitimately use their dual status (e.g., using a foreign passport, voting in elections in both a foreign country and the U.S.).
9. Modernize the Process of Legal Immigration
Eliminate the visa lottery system and the admission category for adult brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.
Increase visas for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants.
Expedite processing for those who serve honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Improve our immigration process so that those patiently and responsibly seeking to come here legally will not have to wait decades to share in the American dream. Governor Huckabee has always been grateful to live in a country that people are trying to break into, rather than break out of.
*This policy will be drafted to comply with the final federal court decisions on this issue.
Note: This plan is partially modeled on a proposal by Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies. (”Re: Immigration: Ten Points for a Successful Presidential Candidate,” National Review, May 23, 2005.)
I appreciate your points. This election is so critical I hate to see the types of arguments made by the author, that is those that do little but interject division. I’m sure the Democrats love it though. I think they’d love to see another “Ross Perot” divide the Republican vote.
I personally would like to see Thompson as president, Romney as vice president, Giuliani as attorney general, Hunter as sect. or defense, Tancredo in homeland security, Huckabee as sect. health and human services.
Whomever people want as president, I wish they would promote the person directly without trying to do it by destroying other candidates. I get the impression that many think the way to get Thompson president is to destroy Romney, Huckabee, and McCain so that the votes will then fall automatically on Thompson. The end result will be they will all be severely damaged goods.
When you shin a light on Huckabee, his support fades, but many are motivated by identity politics and vote for the smooth talking preacher without any thought of his record on the issues of the day.
Also, the author lost all credibility when he lumped Limbaugh in with “establishment conservatives”. He probably thinks that Coulter is an “inside the beltway” NY/DC Republican because of her opposition to the Huckster as well.
Now that's funny because I can't see why all the people here don't support him...
And how is it that Duncan Hunter has been discussed and linked to thousands of times in the last year at FR and you haven't bothered to check him out???
If you are going to vote in the next election, why would you NOT check out ALL of the candidates???
Once you get a taste for kool-aid......
They see Christian and forget about just how bad an overbearing, meddling federal government can be.
This is a big problem.
I think that every conservative in America should sit down and watch the video from cspan on democratic precint 53 from Iowa.
It was staggering to watch the active hive of moonbats in operation. Our differences are night and day.
The directions they would lead this country into would cause a untold amount of damage.
It is imperative to vote as conservative as possible in this election.
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