As noted before Huckabee was on Meet the Press this morning. On the topic of Mitt Romney Huckabee says he believes the former Mass governor is running a “desperate and frankly dishonest campaign”.
What I find interesting is that Huckabee once again has come to the defense of John McCain saying the Senator is an “honest man” and “John McCain is a hero in this country and a hero to me”. Do I hear the potential for a McCain/Huckabee matchup or maybe even a Huckabee/McCain match-up for the Vice Presidency? The two both have what the other needs, McCain has the experience and national security cred, Huckabee has the evangelical and overall religious cred.
After an onslaught against him by Mitt Romney and others former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee used todays appearance on Meet the Press to defend his record. Part of that defense was raising tax revenue in order to make “improvements” in the state. Which is a valid argument that will undoubtedly get completely lost to voters.
As I see it Republicans have backed themselves into a corner on the issue of economics and tax cutting. When running there is never a tax increase they don’t like or a tax cut they do. Same on spending, when running there is never an area of spending they wouldn’t like to decrease. When actually governing though life isn’t an across the board black or white thing.
What you see with the race today is a major problem for Republican candidates everywhere. Those who have lead and governed have had to make decisions that were right for people but wrong to a narrow philosophy. What you see in those who haven’t had to govern or really lead is a narrow philosophy that does not take into account what might be right for ALL the people later on.
So we get these back and forth “you raised taxes, no you raised taxes, I lowered taxes, no I lowered taxes” arguments that don’t speak to either philosophy or what is good for the country.
The ground war — the laborious, unglamorous process of identifying supporters and making sure they show up to make their preference known when it counts — has always been a critical part of the contest in Iowa. But the turnout effort among Democrats this time around has exploded into the most ambitious and costly in the history of this state’s presidential caucus system, and it puts on display the sharply diverging strategies the candidates are pursuing as they hurtle toward the first real test of the 2008 campaign.
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama are trying to expand the tiny universe of caucusgoers, a fundamental shift in the way candidates have approached the Iowa caucuses. Mr. Edwards is focusing mainly on voters who have reliably voted in the past.
Programs include driving voters to the polls, babysitting, providing snow shovels, free food and more to entice, delight and get out the vote.
Found via TPM Election Central of a Guardian Unlimited interview with John Deady, the co-chair of New Hampshire Veterans for Rudy Giuliani.
“He’s got I believe the knowledge and the judgement to attack one of the most difficult problems in current history and that is the rise of the Muslims, and make no mistake about it, this hasn’t happened for a thousand years. These people are very dedicated and they’re also very very smart in their own way. We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people until we defeat or chase them back to their caves or in other words get rid of them.”
After Mike Huckabee asserted that more non-South-of-the-border illegal immigration comes into the U.S. from Pakistan than any other place but not knowing where that face came from, Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager told reporters his candidate “has no foreign policy experience”.
After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto the focus has returned from social issues to foreign policy and national security ones leaving candidates like Huckabee facing new questions and criticism. Though there are several candidates who have no experience on these subjects Huckabee’s campaign is the first and so far last to just come right out admit that.
When this election season started I thought the Democrats might have learned a thing or two from the last two cycles and decided not to eat their young by completely obliterating one another in the primaries thereby setting up the Republicans with all their arguments for the general. It appears I was completely wrong as Edwards says Obama is in Never-Never-Land, Clinton has hit Obama’s experience and Muslim roots and Obama has not only linked Clinton’s Iraq War vote to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto but now has put all of her experience as First Lady down as simply attending tea parties.
Now I understand the importance of the vetting process, I believe in it but I also understand that in politics sometimes you have to consider the greater value.
In 2004 it was hard to swallow when John Edwards was named the Vice Presidential candidate for John Kerry, a man he had just attacked during the primary. Edwards helped open the attacks on Kerry, giving credence to the idea he was unelectable. Read the rest of this entry »
A story from the Huffington Post notes a slight rule change for Caucus night in Iowa. Typically the doors close at 7:00PM with no exceptions. However on Caucus night anyone who shows up at the right time but the wrong precinct can be given a note that will let them into the right precinct even if they are late.
No offense to Iowa, whom I have continually bashed on this blog for running things in a less than straightforward manner, but if someone cannot find the right precinct I think it is OK to disqualify them. Remember you do hold these things every two years regardless of whether there is a presidential campaign.
In short, good news for the Obama campaign which is hoping out-of-state students will show.
I have to admit that many months ago I was a complete and total skeptic over this “Ron Paul Revolution” cry. I still am skeptical but over the last few months I have also seen a lot of Ron Paul support displayed on lawns, on buttons, on banners and in discussions with people.
I was also pretty happy to see that a local from Webster, NY which is just a few minutes away from my home is keeping a Ron Paul blog entitled Rochester Patriot. I always like seeing local blogs especially political ones and it is also nice to know that Ron Paul supporters are more than spambots but real people.
I have mixed feelings about the way the Bhutto tragedy yesterday was suddenly used for political gain by the candidates. I agree mostly with some assessments about the way different candidates handled it.
Clinton did the best job of putting her personal story with into a moment of highlighting her experience. McCain did the second best job, I thought, though he had a few too many “I” moments. Conversely Obama sounded way too stiff, detached and non-presidential in my opinion while Rudy Giuliani threw in too many “I lived through 911″ statements that didn’t really add up.
In addition though it was a nice political move for John Edward’s to seek an audience on the phone with Musharraf (he succeeded) I don’t entirely know what he gained by talking to the leader. In contrast again Joe Biden who held a press conference and who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and highlighted his experience and relationships with all the players, really hit it out of the park as to why his experience and knowledge matters. Read the rest of this entry »
Edwards suggests taking down Musharraf could result in instability. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto rejects the claim and suggests it is a repeating of Musharraf’s own scare tactics.