Huckabee for President 2008

[MISHUGINA]

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1952159120071219

Getting another conservative Republican as President of United States for 2008 would spell doom for the entire freakin planet. That Huckabilly president would push further an already ****ed up war on terrorism, jack up oil prices because of that and probably would push for abolition of Kyoto Protocol and make US pollute the earth twice the carbon they're releasing right now.

Ok, its mostly exaggeration but hell I'm worried.

[Don]

No need to worry.  Huckabee's a nice guy.

[BachQ]

That Huckabilly president would push further an already ****ed up war on terrorism, jack up oil prices because of that and probably would push for abolition of Kyoto Protocol and make US pollute the earth twice the carbon they're releasing right now.

Ok, its mostly exaggeration but hell I'm worried.

He'd be President for only 4 years.  How much damage can be done in just 4 years?

[Wendell_E]

He'd be President for only 4 years.  How much damage can be done in just 4 years?

That's funny.  In a completely unfunny way. 

[Don]

He'd be President for only 4 years.  How much damage can be done in just 4 years?

Not much.  Bush has had eight years and he didn't ruin the country (although he put in a good attempt).

[ChamberNut]

Not much.  Bush has had eight years and he didn't ruin the country (although he put in a good attempt).

Maybe not, but I'm still shocked that Americans wanted Bush after 4 years.

[Don]

Maybe not, but I'm still shocked that Americans wanted Bush after 4 years.

Yeah, that was suprising.  But you have to look at his opponent; the Democratic Party has a knack for picking losers.

[Gustav]

he was still a nobody several months ago, but it seems that his ratings have been positively effected by the "Colbert Bump".

[Brian]

he was still a nobody several months ago, but it seems that his ratings have been positively effected by the "Colbert Bump".

Colbert bumped Huckabee from 2% to first place? During the writers' strike? I find this one hard to believe...

[Don]

Colbert bumped Huckabee from 2% to first place? During the writers' strike? I find this one hard to believe...

So do I.  I think that the debates have been good for Huckabee.  He comes across as the sole candidate who isn't a prick.

[Gustav]

Colbert bumped Huckabee from 2% to first place? During the writers' strike? I find this one hard to believe...

I am not so sure that it was entirely due to the Colbert bump, but i can imagine that appearing on the show (several times) only helped him.

[jwinter]

...He comes across as the sole candidate who isn't a prick.

LOL, that about sums it up.  He's got a natural and easy sense of humor, which is invaluable in American politics.  It's that "down-home" quality that Bush Jr. so cannily cultivated; he comes across (to certain carefully targeted demographics) as the kind of guy who'd be fun to hang out with, have a beer with, shoot ducks with, etc.  A Good Ole Boy.  Nobody in the history of western civilization has ever had the urge to have a beer with Mitt Romney (or John Kerry, or Al Gore), hence they did not get elected.

I wouldn't lose sleep over Huckabee, though.  Bush has shoved the political pendulum back towards the center so hard that I can't imagine a Republican taking the White House in '08, and certainly not any of the folks currently running.  Huckabee may play well to parts of the Republican base in the South, but either Clinton or Obama would squish him like a bug in a general election.  The GOP's only hope (and it's a faint one at that) is to move to the center, and start acting like traditional conservatives in the fiscal rather than the whacko Bible-thumping sense.  Frankly I'm amazed that they seem to be embracing someone who is both more explicitly anti-science and has even less foreign policy experience than Bush did -- even finding someone like that is quite an accomplishment...

[Don]

I wouldn't lose sleep over Huckabee, though.  Bush has shoved the political pendulum back towards the center so hard that I can't imagine a Republican taking the White House in '08, and certainly not any of the folks currently running.  Huckabee may play well to parts of the Republican base in the South, but either Clinton or Obama would squish him like a bug in a general election. 

I'm not so sure of that.  Yes, an excellent choice from the Democratic Party would easily best Huckabee, but neither Clinton nor Obama is in that category.

[david johnson]

it's seldom about who/what the candidate is...it's who they're running against.
i used to live down the street from where huckabee preached.
heard him a little.  he's an ok guy.
i'd take him over hillobama any day.

dj

[jwinter]

I'm not so sure of that.  Yes, an excellent choice from the Democratic Party would easily best Huckabee, but neither Clinton nor Obama is in that category.

I'll certainly grant that neither Clinton nor Obama is an ideal choice, but I think that the Republican field is remarkably lame this time around.  Giuliani and Huckabee each seem to appeal to one side of the GOP base, while at the some time putting off the other side -- and if the nominee can't bring both sides together, I don't like their chances in a general election (the base might spontaneously unite against Clinton, given her baggage, regardless of the nominee, but if that's the sole appeal I don't think it's enough).  Giuliani at least has Pat Robertson's endorsement, which might help somewhat amongst the social conservatives, but I don't see how Huckabee extends his appeal to fiscal conservatives, independents or Democrats -- I can't fathom how any sane person could look at the direction the country is headed, and determine that the way to fix it is to put a preacher in the White House.  (Well, all right, I can fathom it, but still...)

Of course there's a cynical part of me that, after watching Bush get re-elected, wouldn't be surprised by anything.  But I'm trying not to become a total pessimist.  It makes me cranky.   

[Don]

it's seldom about who/what the candidate is...it's who they're running against.
i used to live down the street from where huckabee preached.
heard him a little.  he's an ok guy.
i'd take him over hillobama any day.

dj

I just knew that Clinton and Obama were coupling in private these days.

[Don]

Of course there's a cynical part of me that, after watching Bush get re-elected, wouldn't be surprised by anything. 

That's how I felt when Nixon was elected, and I concluded that my preferences were far different than the mainsteam American voter.  Since nothing's changed, any candidate could take the helm.