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Rockin' Huckabee
Thursday April 24, 2008
In today's Wall Street Journal, former Bush advisor Karl Rove very accurately identifies what's wrong with and why the two candidates for the Democratic nomination don't resonate with the average voter. It is a great read:
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The Democratic Party has two weakened candidates. Mrs. Clinton started as a deeply flawed candidate: the palpable and unpleasant sense of entitlement, the absence of a clear and optimistic message, the grating personality impatient to be done with the little people and overly eager for a return to power, real power, the phoniness and the exaggerations. These problems have not diminished over the long months of the contest. They have grown. She started out with the highest negatives of any major candidate in an open race for the presidency and things have only gotten worse.
"And what of the reborn Adlai Stevenson? Mr. Obama is befuddled and angry about the national reaction to what are clearly accepted, even commonplace truths in San Francisco and Hyde Park. How could anyone take offense at the observation that people in small-town and rural American are "bitter" and therefore "cling" to their guns and their faith, as well as their xenophobia? Why would anyone raise questions about a public figure who, for only 20 years, attended a church and developed a close personal relationship with its preacher who says AIDS was created by our government as a genocidal tool to be used against people of color, who declared America's chickens came home to roost on 9/11, and wants God to damn America? Mr. Obama has a weakness among blue-collar working class voters for a reason.
"His inspiring rhetoric is a potent tool for energizing college students and previously uninvolved African-American voters. But his appeals are based on two aspirational pledges he is increasingly less credible in making.
"Mr. Obama's call for postpartisanship looks unconvincing, when he is unable to point to a single important instance in his Senate career when he demonstrated bipartisanship. And his repeated calls to remember Dr. Martin Luther King's "fierce urgency of now" in tackling big issues falls flat as voters discover that he has not provided leadership on any major legislative battle.
"Mr. Obama has not been a leader on big causes in Congress. He has been manifestly unwilling to expend his political capital on urgent issues. He has been only an observer, watching the action from a distance, thinking wry and sardonic and cynical thoughts to himself about his colleagues, mildly amused at their too-ing and fro-ing. He has held his energy and talent in reserve for the more important task of advancing his own political career, which means running for president.
"But something happened along the way. Voters saw in the Philadelphia debate the responses of a vitamin-deficient Stevenson act-a-like. And in the closing days of the Pennsylvania primary, they saw him alternate between whining about his treatment by Mrs. Clinton and the press, and attacking Sen. John McCain by exaggerating and twisting his words. No one likes a whiner, and his old-style attacks undermine his appeals for postpartisanship.
"Mr. Obama is near victory in the Democratic contest, but it is time for him to reset, freshen his message and say something new. His conduct in the last several weeks raises questions about whether, for all his talents, he is ready to be president."
Read the whole article here. | | | |
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Sunday February 10, 2008
Apparently, with only 87% of the precincts reporting, the State of Washington has stopped counting votes in the GOP primary and declared John McCain the winner.
Vote totals:
McCain 3468
Huckabee 3226
That's only 242 votes difference! Which 13 precincts don't merit having their votes counted?!
I believe the Huckabee campaign is filing a protest on this. If you are a supporter or simply a fan of fair elections, e-mail the Secretary General of Washington state and demand they finish the vote count. I'm from Florida. I don't have to remind you what a fiasco claims of voter fraud can bring.
Win or lose, count all the votes! This is still a democracy!
mail@secstate.wa.gov
Update:
News of this has reached several of the more prominent blogs. Their response is exactly what you would expect:
Why doesn't Huck just disappear? Who cares? And my favorite from Michelle Malkin who posits that Huck is being given a free pass from the media on this. Huh?! According to her, if it were Mitt Romney instead of Huck making the noise about this, the media would be excoriating him.
My response is that if it were Mitt instead of Huck, Michelle would have her boys Brian and Allah, burning up the web with attacks and calls to action. And all the other talking heads, bloggers and pundits would be screaming about democracy under attack. Instead they make jokes about the Gov. and worse.
As Michelle said:
"Interesting dynamics at play here, no?" | | Posted by postaldog at 3:17 PM - | |
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Friday February 8, 2008
First an apology -- for some reason, I've been locked out of my blog for nearly a week. So I've missed some big doin's. Here's what I'm thinking now:
The Dobson endorsement his huge. Though it is promoted as Dobson's personal choice and not an organizational endorsement, we all know better. This will move a lot of voters to the Gov. Perhaps this may motivate the Baptist leaders to finally support one of their own ministers. All that could lead to a lot of votes in upcoming primaries. Particularly in the remaining southern states which have a lot of delegates.
Mitt Romney has suspended his campaign. That is important to notice, that he said suspended not quit. He is still planning on having an effect on the race, possibly as kingmaker if Huck mounts a serious charge.
And what about that? Can Huck overtake Maverick? The simple answer is yes, obviously. There are over a thousand delegates left to be won. Maverick is 500+ ahead of the Gov. So let's say Huck wins Texas, which pundits think he may. And Virgina and N. Carolina and Lousiana. Now McCain is less than 200 ahead. That's nearly a statistical dead heat.
What I've noticed so far in these primaries is that voters seem to be sheep. Or lemmings. Or something like that. They are simply voting for the front runner. I had though after the Gov's dramatic win in Iowa, that we might be looking at a race based on ideas and values and intelligent voting. But instead, we've got voters voting for who ever is out front. At least in many cases.
John McCain's problem is conservative opinion makers don't like him. There's a damning bit on Michelle Malkin's site today. A letter from a Hill staffer (that's Capital Hill, not Hillary), who recounts how McCain is brutal to staff, intolerant and dismissive. And how they are loath to vote for him. Huck is still a viable candidate. And the antithesis to McCain's personality. He can campaign as the anti-McCain without getting personal and nasty.
What can the Gov. do? He needs to firm up his positions on things like border security and the economy. Beyond his Fair-Tax proposal. He needs to revist some of his decisions that were catagorized as pandering -- global warming, waterboarding, and the like. Make new and more informed stances on these subjects. He can win over more of the public and more of the opinion makers with honest, intelligent decisions and policies. And he should reach out to Mitt. Their differences were far less strident than what Mitt had with Maverick. Mitt's delegates and remaining voters in upcoming primary states could swing the Gov. into win after win.
What can you and I do? Continue to support the Gov. I'm making another donation this afternoon. Watch my Ranger widget for the change in dollars. If you believe the man is the best choice, put a couple of dollars on him. Use my widget and donation code 41 so I know you've donated, and I'll match your donation dollar for dollar. The difference between me (and I hope you) and the whiny pundits and bloggers, is I don't cut and run when I'm not getting my way. I'll support the Gov. until the last day. Because I believe it is the right thing. I believe he is the right man. And doing right isn't always the easiest path, but that's what makes it so noble.
Don't give up! Huckabee 2008!
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Saturday January 19, 2008
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Here's some new poll data as of Friday, the 18th. Sorry I didn't get these out earlier. After McCain's initial bounce from NH, things have calmed down and the Gov. is closing the gap in SC once again. Also note that Rasmussen has Huck in second place nationally again. Good news. I've also added the delegate totals to the bottom of the standings. As I mentioned before, I think there is a good chance this will be a brokered convention, with a lot of swapping and deal making on the floor. Might be interesting.
poll data via realclearpolitics.com
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REPUBLICAN NOMINATION |
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RCP AVERAGE |
McCAIN 28.3 |
HUCKABEE 19.4 (2) |
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RASMUSSEN |
HUCKABEE 22 |
McCAIN 21 |
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AP-IPSOS |
McCAIN 33 |
HUCKABEE 19 (T2) |
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CNN |
McCAIN 29 |
HUCKABEE 20 (T2) |
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NEVADA |
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RCP AVERAGE |
ROMNEY 25.7 |
HUCKABEE 12.3 (3) |
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MASON-DIXON |
ROMNEY 34 |
HUCKABEE 13 (3) |
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RESEARCH 2000 |
McCAIN 22 |
HUCKABEE 16 (3) |
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AM RES GRP |
ROMNEY 28 |
HUCKABEE 8 (6) |
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SOUTH CAROLINA |
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RCP AVERAGE |
McCAIN 27.1 |
HUCKABEE 25.3 (2) |
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AM RES GRP |
HUCKABEE 33 |
McCAIN 26 |
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INSIDER ADV |
HUCKABEE 26 |
McCAIN 26 |
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FOX NEWS |
McCAIN 27 |
HUCKABEE 20 (2) |
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SURVEY USA |
McCAIN 31 |
HUCKABEE 20 (2) |
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ZOGBY |
McCAIN 29 |
HUCKABEE 22 (2) |
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RASMUSSEN |
HUCKABEE 24 |
McCAIN 24 |
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MASON-DIXON |
McCAIN 27 |
HUCKABEE 25 (2) |
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FLORIDA |
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RCP AVERAGE |
McCAIN 23.2 |
HUCKABEE 17.3 (4) |
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INSIDER ADV |
GIULIANI 21 |
HUCKABEE 13 (4) |
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RESEARCH 2000 |
McCAIN 26 |
HUCKABEE 17 (3) |
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SURVEY USA |
McCAIN 25 |
HUCKABEE 18 (3) |
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STRATEGIC VIS |
McCAIN 27 |
HUCKABEE 20 (2) |
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QUINNIPIAC |
McCAIN 22 |
HUCKABEE 19 (T3) |
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RASMUSSEN |
McCAIN 19 |
HUCKABEE 17 (4) |
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CALIFORNIA |
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RCP AVERAGE |
McCAIN 25.7 |
HUCKABEE 13.3 (4) |
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RASMUSSEN |
McCAIN 24 |
HUCKABEE 13 (T3) |
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CNN |
McCAIN 20 |
HUCKABEE 13 (4) |
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SURVEY USA |
McCAIN 33 |
HUCKABEE 14 (3) |
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NEW JERSEY |
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RCP AVERAGE |
GIULIANI 28.7 |
HUCKABEE 9.7 (4) |
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RASMUSSEN |
McCAIN 29 |
HUCKABEE 10 (T3) |
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GANNETT |
McCAIN 29 |
HUCKABEE 11 (3) |
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RESEARCH 2000 |
GIULIANI 34 |
HUCKABEE 8 (T4) |
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DELEGATES |
ROMNEY
HUCKABEE
McCAIN
THOMPSON |
42
32
13
3 |
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| | Posted by postaldog at 1:09 AM - | |
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Friday January 18, 2008
I’m writing you as we travel between events here in South Carolina. This is important, so please take a minute now to hear me out.
Chip Saltsman, my national campaign manager and I just reviewed our final get out the vote plan. While we feel it is a strong plan, we have isolated one area that needs strengthening and immediate improvement. We want to increase our voter identification and turnout calls and the price tag for these additional calls is $300,000.
Will you make an immediate contribution of $15, $25, $50, $100, $250 or even $500 today online to help us fund this effort?
We have set a goal of raising this money by tomorrow at midnight so we can ramp up our calls in time for the South Carolina primary. If your financial support comes in after this deadline we won't be able to invest it in time for the South Carolina primary.
I firmly believe, this may be the difference between victory and defeat for our effort in South Carolina on Saturday. We must raise $300,000 immediately. If everyone receiving this email gave at least $25 we would more than triple our goal. But please don't count on someone else because reaching this goal is going to take leadership from you.
With deep gratitude,
Remember, I will match all donations, dollar for dollar, until my donation goal is met. Use donor code 41 so that I know you have donated from this blog. | | | |
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