Mike Huckabee, my number one choice for the Republican presidential nomination, continues to demonstrate why he is my number one choice for the Republican presidential nomination…
ORLANDO, FLA. — With about 150 supporters crowded around a podium set up on the tarmac of Orlando Executive airport (and about 20 Ron Paul supporters waving signs outside) Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of “Right Now†by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.â€
[**UPDATE: The Huckabee campaign later clarified the last quote, telling CBS News: "Gov. Huckabee while speaking at a campaign event earlier this morning in Florida intended to extend his deepest sympathies to the people of Pakistan when he used the word 'apologies.' He is outraged and saddened by the attack and the loss of a world leader whose life he believes was a profile in courage."]
(snip, snip. snip.)
He made a bad choice of words when saying the U.S. needs to consider “what impact does it have on whether or not there’s going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan.†He should have said whether or not martial law will be reinstated – it was lifted nearly two weeks ago. A minor slip, maybe, but not a subject he wants to mess up on when he is already considered weak in the area of foreign policy.
[**UPDATE: The Huckabee campaign later clarified this last point, telling CBS News: "Governor Huckabee firmly believes that emergency rule/martial law in Pakistan, as a practical matter, should not be viewed as having been completely lifted until the restrictions imposed during that period on the press and judges are removed. Although General Musharraf let the pendulum swing a little more freely in the last few weeks, the overall policy, which is what the Governor was addressing in his comments, has been, and continues to be, repressive."]
It is a good thing when your campaign has to “clarify” your every statement, isn’t it? We’ve just enjoyed seven years of Bushisms… now we can look forward to Huckisms.
Really… where do the Republicans find these guys? Do they have a special farm hidden away somewhere where they breed them?
At the risk of repeating myself: Please, please, Republicans… nominate this guy!
TV election news has been hardest on Hillary Clinton this fall, while Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have been the biggest media favorites, according to a new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University. The study also found that Fox News Channel’s evening news show provided more balanced coverage than its counterparts on the broadcast networks…
Fox News Channel’s coverage was more balanced toward both parties than the broadcast networks were. On FOX, evaluations of all Democratic candidates combined were split almost evenly – 51% positive vs. 49% negative, as were all evaluations of GOP candidates – 49% positive vs. 51% negative, producing a perfectly balanced 50-50 split for all candidates of both parties.
On the three broadcast networks, opinion on Democratic candidates split 47% positive vs. 53% negative, while evaluations of Republicans were more negative – 40% positive vs. 60% negative. For both parties combined, network evaluations were almost 3 to 2 negative in tone, i.e. 41% positive vs. 59% negative.
Brit Hume… Bill O’Reilly… Chris Wallace… Sean Hannity… Tony Snow… John Gibson… Dennis Miller… Geraldo Rivera… Shepard Smith…
I don’t know which “Fox News Channel’s evening news show” these folks are watching or what they’re smoking while they’re watching it, but wow… really? One cannot help but wonder where George Mason University ranks on the list of favorite party schools.
Here is the current selection of videos on the FOX News website:
Romney, Thompson, Huckabee, Bush and McCain. Not a Democrat in the bunch. Looks balanced to me. Doesn’t it to you? The folks at CMPA think it is.
I hope the Republicans are listening to me. Are you, Republicans? Since it is so vitally important that a Democrat move into the White House in January of 2009, I have ranked the top four Republican candidates (in my opinion) in the order in which I believe they would most easily be defeated by the Democrats (any Democrat):
Mike Huckabee
Rudy Giuliani
Mitt Romney
John McCain
I realize there are other Republicans in the running, but I don’t believe they will be after next week’s Iowa caucuses.
Number two, Rudy Giuliani, is starting a new TV campaign tomorrow. He’s returning to the only thing he has going for him, 9/11 (and he really doesn’t even have that)…
The old Republican mantra: “Vote for me or die.” Somehow I don’t think it’s going to work quite so well this time around. People, thankfully, are starting to wise up.
Fred Thompson, the one-time savior of the right wing of the Republican party, is out of money. He has a new TV ad he wants to run in Iowa prior to next week’s caucuses, but he can’t afford it.
He needs $248,846 dollars by 6 pm tomorrow to run the ad, according to his website. As of this writing, his followers have chipped in $93,995. Bottom line: If you are a Republican and if you want Grandpa Fred to have any hope of being your presidential nominee in 2008, you had better head on over there and chip in some bucks.
(That’s a mighty big tank on that red pickup. I know gasoline is expensive these days, but that’s ridiculous. Perhaps Grandpa Fred had best look into getting a hybrid.)
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally that also killed at least 20 others, aides said.
Bhutto’s supporters erupted in anger and grief after her death, attacking police and burning tires and election campaign posters in several cities. At the hospital where she died, some smashed glass and wailed, chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf.
The death of the charismatic 54-year-old former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism…
The United States has for months been encouraging Musharraf to reach an accommodation with the opposition, particularly Bhutto, who was seen as having a wide base of support in Pakistan. Her party had been widely expected to do well in next month’s elections.
Pakistan was just emerging from another crisis after Musharraf declared a state of emergency on Nov. 3, and used sweeping powers to round up thousands of his opponents and fire Supreme Court justices. He ended emergency rule Dec. 15 and subsequently relinquished his role as army chief, a key opposition demand. Bhutto had been an outspoken critic of Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule.
Educated at Harvard and Oxford universities, Bhutto served twice as Pakistan’s prime minister between 1988 and 1996. Her father, who also served as prime minister, was executed in 1979 two years after his ouster in a military coup.
She had to have known when she returned to the country in October that her life expectancy was not all that great. Still, this is not good news. It will only serve to deepen the chaos in Pakistan, a nation with nuclear weapons and one of our key allies in the “war against terrorism.”
At the risk of repeating myself: It is time for the adults to take charge.
I have endeavored throughout this holiday season to post the candidates’ holiday greetings. Here are a few that somehow escaped my attention.
First on the stage, Democratic candidate John Edwards…
Next, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has a holiday message for the troops…
Finally, Republican candidate Mitt Romney (not posted on YouTube, but taken directly from his campaign website)…
There you have it. It’s the day after Christmas, so I’ll not be on the lookout for any further greetings from the candidates. I trust those I have posted have given you a little glimpse into the personalities of the people who want to be the next President of the United States.
OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) – Presidential contender Mike Huckabee bagged a pheasant Wednesday, offering Iowa voters the image of an experienced outdoorsman on the hunt, shotgun blasting and dogs braying.
Just a campaign gambit? “Maybe it will show that I certainly understand the culture of being outdoors,” Huckabee said. “It’s not something we had to go out and get a primer in. It’s very much ordinary to me.”
Oops. Wrong picture. That’s actually John Kerry proving he’s a man’s man back in 2004. Here’s Pastor Mike:
I’m suitably impressed.
Please, please, Republicans… nominate this guy! (Rudy Giuliani would be my second choice, followed closely by Mitt Romney and John McCain.)
For your global warming action alert, here’s the view on my deck this morning at 7 am:
I love this argument. It’s the end of December and it’s snowing in Minnesota, so all that global warming stuff must be baloney. Screw the science and the disappearing ice caps — it’s snowing in Minnesota!
We haven’t had any snow here in Dallas, yet. It’s unlikely we will. The weather’s kind of been fluctuating this month… 70 degrees one day and in the 40s the next. No wonder everybody has the sniffles.
Each year around this time I like to visit the websites of the Democratic and Republican National Committees. This year the difference between the two is particularly striking.
The DNC wishes you and your family happy holidays:
For the RNC, it seems to be politics as usual… an attack on Hillary Clinton:
Rather easy to see which party shares in the spirit of the season and which one is only interested in their usual smear politics, isn’t it?
The message at the end kind of screwed up. It was supposed to say “from your friends at esoterically.net/weblog.” Oh, well, it’s the thought that counts, right?
