Huckabee - 'stupid' 'shrewd'

[William Thornton]

From , skewerer of liberals and democrats: "stupid and easily led", "cornpone,"

From : "shrewd... telegenic...natural...bright...charming...friendly...clever..." and "...plays the victim well...manipulator...mean streak...something unsavory..."

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[Haruo]

[Haruo]

[Dave Roberts]

I'm intrigued by the fact that anyone would be coming up with such a thing to say. Maybe I don't run in the "right" circles, but I've never had someone come and say they were claiming a scripture for me. Makes me a bit curious why they would be doing so to Huckabee, and who would be making such statements????

[Rock]

This fellow may just be the next president of the United States. Granted, I am a democrat and will in all liklihood vote for my parties nominee. However, Huckabee has just enough populism in his stump attract my interest. He understands what it means to do unto the least of these. Note his approval of tutition assistance for the children of illegal immigrants. And isn't "Shrewd and Mean" just another way of saying be as gentle as doves and wise as serpents? well, maybe not exactly, but it is close. I suspect that there are some high level republicans who are quite disgruntled over Huckabee's rise in the polls. I imagine they would much prefer him to be pulling Ron Paul numbers rather than Romney numbers.

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[Kaylor]

[Rock]

[Rock]

[KeithE]

I got one question for William.

Why are you picking exclusively on Huckabee among the Repubs? You have had several other anti-Huckabee posts recently.

Just curious. I'm certainly not a Huckabee supporter.

[Haruo]

[KeithE]

[Chris]

[Chris]

Here is an interesting story this morning from NBC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22365097/

I was interested in the perception that "he kept his own counsel". That could be good thing. GWB may have been a better President had he not sought the counsel of Rumsfeld, Rove, and Cheney.

He was also accused of siding with "liberal Democrats" while Governor. The perception of a "liberal Democrat" depends on where the perceiver is standing, though.

[Jim]

Rock: He understands what it means to do unto the least of these. Note his approval of tutition assistance for the children of illegal immigrants.

J: Notwithstanding that goodness is…well, good, and that practicing it is by way of emulating the life of Jesus, it must be remembered that Jesus was not speaking to or for the government when he remarked the “least of these.” He was speaking to his followers, who today would be thought by most to be simply the “church.” Churches are welcome to pay tuition costs for the “least of these” (and should in many cases, instead of building monuments to muscle-building for the members to play around in), but neither Huckabee nor anyone else should expect the government to do this in instances wherein laws (in this case, immigration) have been violated. In any case, those born in this country are automatically citizens and already have all the rights of citizenship, no matter the circumstances of their parents. The laws permitting this should be changed, however, since the opportunism driving illegal immigration is perhaps most obvious in the entitlement field.

[William Thornton]

For KeithE, Huckabee deserves some scrutiny because...

1. He is unelectable. There aren't enough evangelicals to elect a president. Why should handfuls of folks in IA and SC determine the nominee?
2. His gaining the gop nomination would be a disaster. We would end up with Hil and no credible alternative.
3. His record troubles me. The pardons etc.
4. His experience level is severely lacking.
5. He reverts to the language of the church/state demagogues at times...
6. A candidacy based on (as one supporter put it) "faith and values" falls short of what the nation needs from a president. He is no more qualified because of his faith than I am.

We had the Christian born again candidate in 1976, a far more intelligent and experienced individual and he was a presidential disaster. Coulter might be provocative but I think she is on target about his intelligence level..

And I cannot believe that a democratic leaning, voting baptist like my friend rock would listen to some of what huck has said and still be able to say he is intrigued.

That said, I think he is a good guy. If he is the nominee, I'll vote for him before any of the democratic socialists. At this point, he has a snowball's chance.

[Dave Roberts]

I don't always agree with William, but on Huckabee I tend to do so. He is one of those who gained traction in Iowa. Just once I would like for Iowa, NH, and SC to have little to do with the presidential nominations. The rest of us deserve to be heard as well. I haven't seen the first televised ad (other than the You-Tube ones, and the little states that are voting first should not be determinative. By the time of the last VA primary, half the people I cared about had already dropped out. I still think the most electable in either party may be John Edwards. Had the last ticket been reversed.....who knows?

[Mark]

[Mark]

[Chris]

[Jim]

Chris: In my lifetime (maybe another 8 years), I'd like to see ALL Presidential primaries held on the SAME day (about 2 weeks before the first national party convention, i.e. July). That way, voters in no state would have more influence.

J: That makes so much sense that it will not be done. You’re right on. I liked it best when before 1972 the conventions were something actually designed to pick a candidate, no matter the smoke-filled backrooms and all the rest. The conventions now are not even noticed by most of the public, since they’re TV-ops, nothing more, nothing less. Remember Bill Clinton’s long walk through all those corridors to make his grand entrance to the convention in 1996. Iowa and New Hampshire represent about 3.3 million people, about a third of the population of New York City. It’s disgraceful that their caucuses/primary actually can make or break a candidate. I’m hopeful that everything stays wide open in both parties until at least super-Tuesday, when I would like to see McCain come out on top and believe that Biden would be the most electable democrat, since he has more sense than either Hillary or Obama. Actually, I’m pulling for Kucinich for obvious reasons. Gravel would have been even better.

[Haruo]

[Chris]

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