Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee appears to have the clear advantage out of the gate when it comes to the 2012 battle for the GOP presidential nomination...I guess they didn't poll anybody I know. Heck, I know lifelong rock-ribbed GOP voters who have said they'd join me in voting Wookie if the GOP was dumb enough to offer up Huckabee or Romney in '12.
The "C" stands for "credibility"?
ReplyDeleteThe pools I've seen indicate that Romney may have the edge, but usually also say it's too far out to call.
I believe the press has alot to do with bolstering Mittens and Gomer: the smearing of Sarah Palin has had enormous effect.
ReplyDeleteI have republican friends who say she is unelectable. I, of course, respectfully disagree.
If Bonzo can get elected (especially being a b-grade actor and graduating from Eurkea College), I'm sure Caribou Barbie can too...
You live in Indiana. Tell us about Mitch.
ReplyDeletePawlenty did a good job of eliminating himself from consideration with the kiss up the MSM over this past weekends events.
Is Mitch any good? I've heard some things one way and another, but I don't live in Indiana.
I'd rather Chris Christie ran than Palin, even if only for the collective apoplexy it would cause when he cut loose on the press.
ReplyDeletePersonally, as much as I like Palin I think she would be far more effective as chair of the RNC. Maybe if she was running the RNC they would stop backing crappy RINOs.
Good point, Dan.
ReplyDeleteAs of today, I'd far rather see Pawlenty or Christie win; for me both Romney and Huckabee are simply non-starters. I also like the idea of Palin being in charge of the RNC. I would still love to see her prove her mettle as VP for four or eight years before moving up to the big chair, but in the meantime it would be nice to see her take some of the stupid out of the Stupid Party.
ReplyDeleteChris Christie and Jan Brewer - the aneurysms would be enormous.
ReplyDeleteThe truth might be a bit more bizarre. The GOP just might be dumb enough to field another Bush in '12...and I might even be dumb enough to vote for Sprout.
ReplyDeleteBut not Huck, and not Sarah...though let me give a big hell yeah to the idea of Palin shaking up the RNC.
One thing we do know is who the dems will run. And it's hard to imagine that anything that the suits - or the hairsuits - come up with could be worse than another dose of that.
AT
So what happened to all the Bobby Jindal love?
ReplyDeleteRomney backed MassCare and the Mass.
ReplyDeleteAWB. Huck is an open border advocate. I go full Wookie if either is nominated.
Yeesh. The more they mention the 'tried and failed' bunch, the more I have to wonder if John Bolton isn't an enlightened choice.
ReplyDeleteThe press is constantly trying to tell us who's electable within the GOP and they always seem to be RINOs like Huck and Romney. Enough already. I'll take my chances with Palin and yeah the Wookie suit is ready.
ReplyDeleteThe big question is who do I dislike more, Romney, or Huckabee. I hope it doesn't come down to that. I voted for Romney over McCain in the Primary, but that really wasn't much of a choice.
ReplyDeleteWhy - specifically - all the Huckabee hate?
ReplyDeleteDude wouldn't be my "ideal" political leader, but anyone close to my ideal would be utterly unelectable.
Huckabee does seem to understand the 2nd amendment. One quote I remember of his: "Hunting is great. I like hunting. But the 2nd amendment isn't about hunting. It's about being able to protect yourself, your home, and your community." I don't think I've ever known of any other non-fringe-party presidential candidate really understand that.
So, again, not a big Huckabee fan. But I wouldn't put him in the same class as weasel Romney, unless he's done something really egregious that I haven't heard about.
Timing is wrong for Christie in 2012, and iffy for 2016; because NJ's election cycle is a year behind the national one.
ReplyDeleteWhich is a shame, because he's a walking, talking, apoplexy generator.
Please tell us why you don't like Huckabee.
ReplyDeleteStart with howling economic illiteracy, on the order of Jimmeh Peanut.
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, he seems to be good on the 2nd Amendment, but other than that, he's basically an anti-abortion version of Bill Clinton, politics-wise.
ReplyDeleteRomney? Frack No!
ReplyDeleteProblem is, there's a bunch of good governor and mayoral material mentioned in this thread, but not a potus among 'em, imo.
ReplyDeleteWhere's a good b-grade eureka-grad actor when you need him?
AT
kahr40 -The press is constantly trying to tell us who's electable within the GOP and they always seem to be RINOs like Huck and Romney.
ReplyDeleteYep. Pretty neat way to stack the deck, and the same way we wound up with Yosemite Sam back in '08. "Let's convince the reichwingers to nominate the candidate who is really least attractive to them but also least offensive to us. How can we do that? [thinks] I know! We'll convince them that he's a moderate who can attract the independents, and is really the only candidate who can POSSIBLY win! MWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!"
What, Bob Dole wasn't answering his phone?
ReplyDeleteNJT: 'Our Man' Mitch HATES public education and he would rather kill it than correct or improve it. Wants all 'charter' schools. Might work in cities, but leaves the rural areas, which were poor to start with, even worse under his proposals.
ReplyDeleteI am NOT a Mitch Daniels fan, plus he screwed up our time zones...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
I don't know about anybody else, but I don't like Huckabee because IMHO he combines the worst of both worlds for the GOP: on many issues he's a RINO, and on others he's a religious ideologue. Any candidate who supports McCain-type immigration reform, supports 'alternative energy,' supports cap-and-trade, and yet wants to reintroduce religious indoctrination into public schools is not a candidate I can support. No how, no way, not gonna happen, don't even ask 'cause my mind's made up.
ReplyDeleteAnybody from Minnesnowta who can discern the difference between an orifice and an excavation will tell you that Pawlenty is the RINO from Hades. You almost have to be, in order to get elected in this state. He buckled under to "public pressure" (the lame-stream propaganda networks) from the state legislature and failed to veto multiple years of spending bills that have bankrupted the state, leaving us with a $6 billion deficit (which, with Mark "Run away" Dayton as the dot-gov, will be fixed only with tax increases, not spending cuts).
ReplyDeleteHe's probably less conservative than Giffords was, since an AZ dem-winger is probably better on most issues than a MN rep-winger.
If Pawlenty is the best presidential candidate that the rep-wing can vomit out of its system for 2012, I'm going to throw away my vote on whoever the big-L Libertarian Party puts up as a candidate, 'cause I am NOT going to vote for him just because he's got an "R" behind his name.
What wolfwalker said.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Huck's view of the Second Amendment involved George Washington paddling across the Icy Delaware before dawn so he could get to a wicked sweet duck blind before the Red Coats shot all the Teal!
ReplyDeleteI am no wookie, but I swear if Huckabee is the GOP nominee, I will be voting Libertarian...and stocking up on (more) ammo.
ReplyDeleteI have voted Republican all my life, except for that one moment of stupid back in '92 when I pulled the lever for Perot, and I'm telling you that if they screw the pooch nominee-wise, I'm done with the GOP.
If Mike Huckabee is the nominee, I'll probably give up on voting. Maybe for good.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I'm in love with Mitch Daniels, but he's way better than most of the crop of candidates we've had in Republican presidential primaries since I started voting. He's imperfect. But he's also one of only two governors in America who told the feds to take their bailout money and shove it. Counts for a lot, in my book.
Jindal/Palin (or the reverse) would be a dream ticket. Chris Christie's also somebody I'd be thrilled to see on the ticket, but he's still too desperately needed in the job he's already got.
The worst thing about Huckabee (for me, anyway) is dealing with evangelicals who insist they have to vote for him because he's got a fish on his car -- all other considerations be damned. Gah.
ReplyDelete@Blackwing: yep, not impressed with Pawlenty, either. I was shocked when there were rumors (during the last POTUS cycle) that he was Executive Branch material by the GOP.
ReplyDeleteThough I vote GOP across the ticket, and on a continual basis (Though had Herman Munster made his political platform on sane spending and the economy instead of focusing on his traitorous Vietnam service I would have voted for him instead of Bush), I'm thinking that maybe, I too, should get fitted for my Wookie suit and be ready for something new.
I have some carpet remnant in one of my basements. Perhaps I'll start there.
I wonder- has the MSM ever described ANY D. candidate for a nomination as "unelectable"?
ReplyDeleteSure they may say that one has a better chance than another, but they NEVER say that one of them can't beat the Rs.
The worst thing about Huckabee (for me, anyway) is dealing with evangelicals who insist they have to vote for him because he's got a fish on his car -- all other considerations be damned. Gah.
ReplyDeleteThus proving that we've come...no distance at all, really...from Filmer in terms of justifying who gets to make everyone else toe the line.* Give a guy a badge, a flag, and some guys with guns, and he's God's Anointed.
Just take his word for it. Or else.
*I can't figure out any other mechanism for deteriming how a body suddenly acquires the right to aggress. "Here a miracle occurs" has to be in the equation somewhere.
Ken: My thought is that I'm electing a president, not a church elder. I don't care if Brother Jones believes in a flat or a progressive tax, as long as his doctrinal foundation is sound. The reverse applies to secular political contests.
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with what is said about Huck and Mitt; I generally considered myself at least a token Republican until the 2008 fiasco, when it was so apparent the Stupid Party had thrown the election to The Won as surely as as fifth-rate boxer kissing the mat in a championship fight. I enjoy Huck's talkfest on Fox, but cannot back him as Prez.
ReplyDeleteAs for Romney, as a co-religionist I look at him from a different perspective, and let me tell you I just don't trust him. Every time I see him on the boob-tube the hairs on the back of my neck start to creep. The only thing I am sure of is that Romney wouldn't be "entertaining" interns in the Oval Office.
cap'n chumbucket
Oh look! Here's another puff piece for Tim Pawlenty!:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/11/AR2011011104438.html
It's so nice of our liberal friends in the Washington Post to help us conservatives find a good Presidential Candidate.
..and if he isn't convincing enough, they can write puff pieces on some other Republican Timmy!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwVA698Hx2g
The Stupids run Huckabee or Romney, I'll write in a 3rd party.
ReplyDeletePlain, simple, done.
Enough of this bullshit. If they can't figure out how to beat our current Fearless Leader, I'm done with them.
WV: flogiese. The art of beating sense into willing idiots.
I like Bobby Jindal a lot, but he is in serious need of charisma implants in order to be a real contender. It's too bad but most of the country doesn't care what your politics are, they just want someone who "speaks good." Unfortunately those same people haven't figured out yet that that is how we ended up with the current idiot in chief.
ReplyDeleteHuckabee is the "compassionate conservative." Only worse. He is everything we hated about W (liberal spending), and very little of what we liked about W(capable of actual leadership when necessary).
As for Romney, while there is very little that I dislike about him there is nothing I really like about him either. So I default to my wife's opinion, "There is something creepy about him, maybe it's the hair that doesn't move."
Personally, I have noticed a distressing tendency among the GOP to nominate whoever came in second in the last primary. The first Bush in '88 was the VP, but also came in second in '80. Dole in '96 had challenged Bush (badly) in '92. W was an anomaly, but McCain had come in second in '00.
W was a Legacy, in the Ivy League sense. And, at that, he had a "serious" challenger in McCain.
ReplyDeleteWV: puneer - well, yup. Always remember the 1st rule of Pun Safety. Wait until AFTER they put the coffee down - but it's not as much fun that way
Well, I'd love someone like Palin in the White House.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can get Fred Thompson as Attorney General.
USMC General James Mattis woulkd unfotunately be ineligible to serve as SecDef in time (SecDef can't be anyone who has been an active duty officer in teh last seven years; lots of people forget this). But we could toss him into SecState (with John Bolton as his XO) and liven things up a bit.
Jindal in Interior, maybe?