Huckabee to TPaw: Give your staff the boot

Daily Caller ^ | 06/14/2011 | Caroline May

[iowamark]

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee had some harsh words for presidential hopeful and fellow former governor Tim Pawlenty Tuesday, telling him to give his staff the boot.

In an appearance on The Laura Ingraham Show, Huckabee gave his analysis of Monday night’s CNN’s New Hampshire Republican primary debate. According to Huckabee, Pawlenty’s staff is not serving him well.

“He needs to get rid of some of his consultants,” said Huckabee. “I saw this with [Mitt] Romney four years ago and I’m seeing it with Pawlenty now: over coached, over consulted. Get rid of ‘em!”

Huckabee advised that the former Minnesota governor needs to speak from his heart and ignore the experts.

“Walk into the hall with your heart. Go in there with what you know you believe and what you know you have done,” he said. “Listen to the question, speak to it, if you make a mistake, so what!”

To Huckabee it is less about what the consultants can cram into a candidate’s mind right before the debate and more about the leader as a person.

“Americans can live with their leaders if they make a mistake,” he said. “What they can’t live with is a leader that doesn’t know where his own compass is pointing. And that is where I think Americans and particularly Republicans are looking for on every one of those debate stages: Who comes here, not so much with an index card filled with cleaver answers that a consultant wrote, but who comes here with the clarity of conviction and the consistency of thought. That is what we look for.”

Huckabee added that whoever the Republican nominee is, he will support them over Obama.

“Whoever from our team gets the nod I can assure you, I want them to be the next president,” Huckabee said.

[iowamark]

Audio clip from The Laura Ingraham Show at the link.

[Joann37]

Huckabee is great at criticizing the announced candidates for their tactics, but lacked the courage himself to run.

[no dems]

I'm sorry, but, T-Paw was the biggest loser and biggest disappointment in the Debate Monday night. His answers sounded like warmed over stump speech one-liners. But, his biggest gaffe was when he passed up an opportunity to "man-up" and take on Mitt Romney. T-Paw, the guy who was the tough bully on the Sunday morning talk show, was a cowardly, little girl in the Debate who couldn't even look at Romney while he was waffling and squirming. LOSER!!!

[samtheman]

Yeah.... it’s his staff, that’s his problem...

Sure, that’s the reason he’s a card-board cut-out of a “conservative”.

Yeah... right...

[no dems]

Huckabee is great at criticizing the announced candidates for their tactics, but lacked the courage himself to run.

I'm glad the Huckster didn't run. When he's in the presence of Liberals or certain media outlets, the "Conservative", Arkansas Republican folds like a cheap suit.

[lonestar]

TP is snoring-boring.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

Blame it on his staff if you want. I was leaning towards Pawlenty and like his ideas. However, after the debate when he wouldn’t confront Romney on what he rightly called ObomneyCare, I can’t support him in the primaries. If he can’t man up on Romney, he’ll fold like a cheap suit against Obama. He should have known this was coming (his attack on Romney) and been prepared for it. Heck, John King teed up batting practice for him. He swung and missed. People talk about him not violating Reagan’s eleventh commandment but I’m quite sure that Reagan would have figured out a way to confront Romney and make his point about Obmneycare.

[no dems]

Ref. your Post #7: I agree with every word. Could not have said it better myself.

[no dems]

I was also leaning toward Pawlenty if Sarah doesn't run, but after the Debate, I'm going with Bachmann, Santorum or Cain. I have a question for all you FReepers:

Do you think T-Paw realizes how badly he blew this opportunity? A weenie he might be, but, surely he's not so stupid as to not know that he messed up big-time.

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

Worse, he was bullied by the moderator into saying Obamneycare.

A Republican candidate, especially one running against Obama, can’t let themselves be bullied.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Do you think T-Paw realizes how badly he blew this opportunity?"

If he doesn't, then he's tone deaf as well. I think he knew he was blowing it while he was blowing it. These people are so caught up in being nice all the time. That's what their "advisors" are always telling them is my guess. However, I'd like to see a little passion out of them once in a while. Newt's best time in the debate was when he got a little angry and passionate about whether he would ensure that people in his administration were loyal to the United States. I'm sure an advisor would advise against that kind of outburst. However, it just makes practical sense that you don't want to let the enemy into your administration and he had passion about it.

People always think of Reagan as a nice guy and he was. But he could get a little passionate once in a while. Remember the debate in New Hampshire? I paid for this microphone! He was showing passion. People want to know that their leader is alive and passionate about the issues. That doesn't mean he's mean or angry. That means he's not going to be milquetoast when meeting with important world leaders.

[ilgipper]

I agree. Not sure if this totally kills of his candidacy, but it was a massive setback. It is not his people, though, as Huck claims. It is the candidate. He’s a relatively successful governor who is trying to move to the right to enter national politics. Either he isn’t quite ready for the big stage or isn’t fully committed to the ideas he is trying to sell. Either way, he has a month or two to recover or he is going to be the first top tier casualty of the race.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Worse, he was bullied by the moderator into saying Obamneycare."

I don't think he was bullied. I think John King threw him a fastball down the middle and belt high. He swung and missed. If I were Pawlenty, I would not have waited for King to mention it. I would have mentioned Obamneycare long before King mentioned it. Romney is the front runner and he's got a gaping hole weakness. I would have found ways to exploit it and saying Obamneycare was one of the ways I would have done it. He would have risen in the polls if he would have called Romney out on his health care mandate problem IMO.

[no dems]

Good point. There IS a difference in “anger” and “passion”.

[DH]

Pawlenty is only doing what his “handlers” tell him to do.

Of course, this is standard procedure for career politicians that always measure which way the winds blow before ever speaking or committing themselves on any issue.

We already have a president that has no independent thought process...we don’t need another.

[randita]

I was leaning his way as well and will not rule him out completely. But he did have that deer in the headlights look when King confronted him and he should have been ready to press his point as he did on Sunday or else he shouldn’t have coined the phrase a day before the debate.

He has been tough on Obama though, but would he be tough going toe to toe with Obama in a public forum? He’s got to prove toughness before it gets to that point or else he’s not going to have the chance.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"He has been tough on Obama though, but would he be tough going toe to toe with Obama in a public forum?"

Exactly, he was tough on Mitt and Obamneycare just the day before but could not do it toe to toe in a public forum. The stakes are too high to say yeah he'll do it with Obama. He has to prove it to me and he's failed in that regard. I guess he could get better, but I'm going to have to see him take on Mitt mano y mano in one of these debates before I trust that he'll do it against Obama.

[9YearLurker]

Yep. I appreciate that he isn’t running; he could have really gummed up this race.

He is a paid pundit now and, truthfully, as long as he doesn’t attack Palin I’m ok with his commentary.