Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Huckabee's Mouth Misfires, Again Despite the gaffes, misstatements, and outright lies that have marred his campaign, Mike Huckabee brags of being "the one candidate among Republicans who hasn't had to take back what he said on the campaign trail".by George Dance
(libertarian)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
On May 16, Mike Huckabee was addressing the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Louisville, Kentucky, when his talk was interrupted by a loud bang. Quickly, he ad-libbed: "That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair." That got a good laugh, so Huckabee pressed on: "He was getting ready to speak. Somebody aimed a gun at him and he, he dove for the floor." (1)
That was met with some nervous laughter, but mainly with stunned silence. The idea of a gun being aimed at Sen. Obama, whose security has been an issue in this campaign, was not one the audience appeared to find amusing. Nor did they seem to enjoy the insinuation that NRA members go around aiming guns at their political opponents.
Huckabee apologized for the remark after his speech, and later posted this apology on his Huck PAC Blog:
During my speech at the NRA a loud noise backstage, that sounded like a chair falling, distracted the crowd and interrupted my speech. I made an off hand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama. I apologize that my comments were offensive, that was never my intention. (2)
But by then the damage had been done; media everywhere were repeating and panning the comment. The New York Daily News called it a "tasteless joke" (3), the Wall Street Journal an "offensive jab" (4), the Boston Globe an "attempt at humor." (5) The Baltimore Sun headlined its coverage, "What the 'Huck' was he thinking?" (6)
Even Bob Barr, running for the Libertarian presidential nomination, got off a few metaphorical shots:
To suggest, as Governor Huckabee did, the misuse of a fire arm toward a political candidate is reckless. His attitude toward proper, legal and safe use of fire arms was demeaning to all of us who advocate the right to bear arms. His reprehensible use of a threatening and violent scenario involving a firearm at the NRA's National Convention was beyond belief. (7)
A common reaction was that, with this comment, Huckabee has destroyed his prospects to become John McCain's running mate. As the Arkansas Times put it, "jokes like these reinforce the notion that Huckabee might have a problem with message discipline.... This story has legs." (7)
Indeed. If this were an isolated incident, it would be relatively easy for McCain and his party to forgive and forget. But, sadly, it is not.
This is only the latest in a series of gaffes, misstatements, errors of fact, and even outright lies to have come out of Mike Huckabee's mouth during this campaign. Some highlights:
In the Republican debate in Orlando on Oct. 15, 2007, Huckabee invoked the signers of the Declaration of Independence, calling them "brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen." In fact, only one of the 56 signers, John Witherspoon of New Jersey, was a clergyman. (8)
In another 2007 debate, Huckabee defended his 2005 support of a bill to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for scholarships and in-state tuition assistance, by claiming that the bill contained a set of stringent conditions (eg, that the recipients had to be alcohol- and drug-free), most of which were in fact non-existent. (9)
On Nov. 8, 2007, Huckabee claimed, in an interview with Christian Broadcasting News, to have a "theology degree." However, on Dec. 12, his campaign director of research, Joe Carter, told National Review: "Governor Huckabee doesn't have a theology degree. He only spent a year in seminary." (10)
On the morning of Nov. 14, 2007, Huckabee -- under fire for supporting tax hikes as governor of Arkansas -- claimed that the increases were mandated by "a Supreme Court order that we had to fund education at a higher level." Later that day, his campaign rushed out a release acknowledging that (as FOX News put it) "in fact, that's not true." (11)
On Dec. 25, 2007, at a campaign event in Florida, Huckabee apologized to the people of Pakistan for Benazir Bhutto's assassination. (His campaign later explained that he had meant to say "sympathies" rather than "apologies".) He also told a CBS reporter that the U.S. had to look at "what impact does it have on whether or not there's going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan" -- when in fact martial law had been lifted two weeks previously. (12)
On Dec. 31, Huckabee held a press conference at which he said that he had decided to not air a negative ad on Mitt Romney -- and then showed the ad to the assembled reporters, guaranteeing its circulation for free. When FOX News aired part of the ad during an interview with Huckabee the next day, he exclaimed to the hosts: "I don't know how you obtained that copy [of the ad] because we didn't give it to anybody. We had a box of CDs of them. We gave them to no one." This, despite his stating at the press conference just the day before: "We prepared it, sent it to the stations. It was supposed to start running at noon today." (13)
At the New Hampshire debate on Jan. 5, 2008, Huckabee bragged to Mitt Romney: "I supported the president in the war before you did. I supported the surge when you didn't." However, a year previously, he had told an MSNBC interviewer: "Well, I'm not sure that I support the troop surge". (14)
At the Florida MSNBC debate on Jan. 24, Huckabee claimed that all of the Republican candidates, except himself, had insisted in a previous debate that the economy was "doing great." (15)
On Feb. 5, Huckabee released a video telling supporters in Georgia that, "if there's somebody you know who's not going to vote for us, ... let the air out of their tires ... don't let them near a voting booth." (16)
On Feb. 27, Huckabee released a letter challenging John McCain to a two-man debate, "Now that the race for the Republican nomination is down to just the two of us". (17)
It is doubtful whether any other candidate with such a record of shooting himself in the foot would still be seriously considered for any office, anywhere. However, Huckabee's followers, mainly born-again Christians or 'evangelicals', remain fanatical in their support. Indeed, some of them appear to be completely disconnected from reality.
(A case in point: The fan website Only Huckabee, which is calling for Americans to pledge "to vote only for Mike Huckabee as President of the United States of America and no one else." To date, over 2,000 Huckanuts have already signed the Only Huckabee pledge -- despite the fact that Huckabee endorsed McCain for the same office more than two months ago.) (18)
Huckabee seems as much in denial as these supporters. Indeed, on the same day as his latest gaffe, a Newsweek interview with him appeared on the web (ironically titled "The Lessons of my Campaign") in which he bragged that "I've been the one candidate among Republicans who hasn't had to take back what he said on the campaign trail". (19)
For his part, McCain unquestionably needs evangelical support to win the Presidency. So, despite this latest gaffe, Huckup still has a good chance to take the coveted running mate slot; and, with that, a good chance to be the Republican nominee in 2012.
In which case, I am sorry to say, this article may be only the first of a long and sorry series.
(4) Amy Chozick, "Huckabee’s Obama-NRA Joke Isn’t a Crowd Pleaser," Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2008. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/16/huckabees-obama-nra-joke-isnt-a-crowd-pleaser/
(5) Foon Rhee, "Nothing to joke about," Political Intelligence, Boston Globe, May 16, 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/05/nothing_to_joke.html
(6) Rick Pearson, "What the 'Huck' was he thinking?", The Swamp, Baltimore Sun, May 17, 2008. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/what_the_huck_was_he_thinking.html
(7) Max Brantley, "Piling on Huck," Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, May 17, 2008. http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/05/piling_on_huck.aspx
(14) "Michelle Malkin, "Saturday night jive: The New Hampshire debates; Round One - GOP candidates," Michelle Malkin, Jan. 5, 2008. http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/05/Saturday-night-jive-the-new-hampshire-debates/
(15) C.T. Johnson, "Jan. 24 Republican Debate Report: Did Mike Huckabee Lie Through His Teeth?", Nolan Chart, Jan. 25, 2008. http://www.nolanchart.com/article1435.html
16) "With 24 hours to go, a Huckabee message to Romney," Political Insider, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 4, 2008. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2008/02/04/with_24_hours_to_go_a_huckabee.html
(17) Fin Gomez, "Huckabee to McCain: Debate Me," FOX Embeds, FOXNews.com, Feb. 27, 2008. http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/02/27/huckabee-to-mccain-lets-debate/
(18) Only Huckabee (accessed May 17, 2008). http://www.onlyhuckabee.com/
The views expressed in this
article are those of George Dance only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. George Dance is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
I am curious, why are Conservatives constantly bashing Huckabee? I constantly hear them refer to him as Huckleberry among other names. I thought name calling and making fun of names went out of style once you graduated 6th grade?
I constantly hear Governor Huckabee referred to as Former Pastor or Preacher and some even refer to him as still being a Preacher or Pastor when in fact, he hasn't been for more than 13 years. Not to mention the fact that he was Governor (10.5 years) longer than he was a Pastor (8 years).
Yet you never hear Mitt Romney referred to as Bishop Romney. Mitt Romney was indeed a Bishop of the Mormon faith for 3+ years. He was also "Stake" president in the Massachusetts area which oversaw all temples in Massachusetts. I would think that if we are going to constantly refer to Huckabee as Pastor, then we should give Bishop Romney equal time.
As for Liberals, Obama gets a pass when he refers to small town America as being bitter and "clinging to God and guns". The double standard is just too funny. I am amazed at just how blind and/or stupid we are as a society these days.
Why the double standard? Well, I can't speak for any of the rest of the media, but I'm happy to spell out my reasoning. It's based on my Grudger morality, which I'll have to spell out: If someone does nothing to harm me, then it's right for me to try to co-operate with them; to overlook their faults, and try to be positive. However, if someone does try to harm me, then, it's right for me to retaliate in kind. That may sound like revenge (and indeed the morality does justify revenge), but I don't see that as a point against it.
In this case I was motivated by the attacks on me, and on Ron Paul supporters in general, that I have been receiving from Huckanuts in the last few days. I'll quote just one, from the website I mentioned above, Only Huckabee:
"Dance's column ... is based on political paranoia fed by his support of Congressman Ron Paul. The Ron Paul supporters are definitely conspiratorial kooks and are so blinded by their paranoia that they are willing to believe anything that feeds their persecution complex. Makes you wonder what kind of candidate Ron Paul is that he attracts such people."
As I see it, their going after a mote in my eye is sufficient reason for me to start talking about the beam in theirs.
It's sad, cause for a long time, I've wanted to believe that Huckabee could have been turned. But he's little more than shill now for the establishment, under the guise of being an outsider and there to swipe away the evangelical support.
I saw Huckabee apologize on Meet The Press today. It was a bit strange. I think he and Romney are both jockeying for the VP spot, without actually saying so. He couldn't be worse than Dick Cheney.
I believe he could be worse than Cheney, and in fact, watching him over the last year, I've mentally drawn several paralells to Dan Quayle; which is more than a little frieghting to me. I think Christopher Avery said it best -- "Don't rely on a common enemy to sustain goals", Which seems to be the mental focus of Huckabee; that being -- standing in front of a crowd and trying to win them over by being the enemy of their enemy... and thus the crowd's friend.
Very well researched post by the way. I liked it a lot.
Replying the first comment on here- you're mistaken. All Mormon males are "priests" in their church. They don't pay their clergy, so everyone must pitch in. So, yes, Mitt Romney was a "Bishop" but he never did that full time and it is not comparable to Huckabee's full-time, anti-Mormon, paid clergy status. (I say "anti-Mormon" because of Huckabee's continual "anti-Mormon cloaked" remarks and ads during the campaign and his openly anti-Mormon speech at the Southern Baptist Convention held in Salt Lake City prior to the presidential election; -interestingly, Huckabee took this anti-Mormon speech and all of his anti-Mormon publications off of the internet just before the election began and then was quite deceptive about his knowledge of Mormonism throughout the campaign).
Furthermore, adding credibility to Romney and taking it from Huckabee, Romney spent most of his life as a businessman while volunteering his time, as he could, to church service. Romney earned both MBA and JD degrees with the highest grades, from Harvard University- arguably the most intellectually competitive educational programs in the world. Then, after making hundreds of millions as a venture capitalist, Romney decided to dedicate the remainder of his life to public service.
On the other hand, Huckabee, dropped out of his theology program (though he later lied about it and said he got the degree) and became a Mormon-bashing preacher until he was elected as governor by the same people that elected Bill Clinton.
Presented with these clarifying facts, we see evidence for the idea that Huckabee is merely a poor preacher with strong and bigoted anti-Mormon sentiment, whereas Mitt Romney is a proven law and business expert and public servant.
Given the facts, and the fact that Mitt Romney's IQ probably triples Huckabee's (my honest professional opinion as a psychologist), assuming Ron Paul can't get in this year, which guy do you want for VP?
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