Here’s the judgment of the man who’s been trying to reinvent himself as a master of conservative strategy. If conservative Republicans are forced to go to the bottom of the barrel in 2008, Morris claims, they’ll find Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
(He ended up at the bottom after losing so much fat that he can no longer float at the top.) "Huck," his friends say, is more articulate and passionate than Brownback on "life" and related issues. After all, he’s a former Baptist minister and president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention (Dick mistakenly says Southern Baptist Convention). He also turned his massive victory over his own massiveness into advocacy for fitness and preventive health care policies, which evangelicals (and Catholics like Gary Seaton) sort of like. All I can say for sure now is that Dick is strangely attracted to Governors of Arkansas. I really do like Huckabee, I think, but I don’t heart him yet.
Dick, what about Condi, wasn’t she supposed to be the star of the future, the only one we could turn to, so as to avoid the Hillary scenario?
I always knew that the Condi boomlet wasn’t going to last, because I always knew that she wasn’t as strong as so many wished to portray her.
She’s been a disaster over at State. She’s neither purged the place, nor has she rammed down their throat a new foreign policy gambit. Thus we’re left with the same old, same old, endless trips to the UN, endless talk about where we are in relations to various discussions at the UN. And meanwhile, the Tehranian Manhattan Project moves full speed ahead.
I have always wondered why Huckabee hasn’t gotten more support from evangelical leaders since he is a former minister. But he has the Brownback problem. He is very weak on immigration. It has caused him some problems in the State. Some suggest his weak position is due to the influence of Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart in Ark.
Morris is an opportunist, but his instincts are usually pretty good.
Huck is way stronger than Brownback. First he is an evangelical, unlike Sam. Secondly, despite his strong faith, he isn’t nuts. Brownback has dreams from God telling him to build museums and the like. If the GOP goes for strong religion and strong social conservatism, which i doubt they will, Huckabee will be the guy.
It doesn’t matter what Dick Morris thinks or who he loves. Morris is an opportunistic political strategist.
It’s time for conservatives to be true to themselves and their fellow travelers. For example, NC State Senator Fred Smith believes in social conservative values, but he also believes in individual property rights, a strong economy, and small government.
He’s a true conservative who feels comfortable in his skin because he’s true to himself and that’s what has made him a successful lawmaker in North Carolina.
Fred Smith is probably too long of a shot for me to feature.
Speaking of long shots, I have it second hand from reliable authorities (take that for what it is worth) that Jim Gilchrist of Minuteman and California House race fame has switched to the Republican Party and is visiting New Hampshire. Actually the visiting New Hampshire part is confirmed. His reasoning for switching parties seems to be that immigration is such an important issue that no one is addressing that it needs a spokesman in the major primary.
He might have had a difficult time getting the CP nomination anyway because he is pro-War.
Nathan, is Fred Smith running for Pres.?
Huckabee may be a nice guy, but I thought we were going to leave the "compelling personal history" stuff to the Democrats. Am I happy that Huckabee is no longer morbidly obese? Of course, but it makes him about as qualified as Barack Obama (another "compelling personal history" candidate) to be Commander-in-Chief. Arguably, Arkansas is still a mess by most indicators after Huckabee’s governorship, and he raised taxes to boot. Think Bob Taft with a drawl. If were going to consider Huckabee and Obama serious candidates, perhaps we ought to dispense with the primaries and just have Oprah decide the nominees.
The Bob Taft with a drawl line is not fair. Huckabee supports life completely, supported banning gay marriage ban, and is strong on every social front. Taft is an all around moderate. Huckabee is a passonate Christian, hence economically perhaps as liberal as Taft, but on issues like life, marriage, guns, and the rest there is no comparison.
Hilarious, Prof. Lawler!