Huckabee Now GOP Frontrunner, Giuliani Falling Fast

There may be a new national frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, has vaulted over former New York City Mayor Giuliani for the first time in the Rasmussen Reports daily survey. Huckabee earned 20 percent of the likely primary vote compared to Giuliani's 17 percent.

The total was the lowest level of support Giuliani has ever recorded, underscoring the increasingly unpredictable nature of the GOP field. Five candidates are now within ten points of the lead. Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, and former Gov. Mitt Romney are at 13 percent, with former Sen. Fred Thompson at 10 percent.

The Rasmussen result caps off, what has been, a steady rise in popularity for Huckabee. Just two months ago, in the same survey, he was registering at a paltry four percent, well behind then leader Thompson.

Huckabee's rise has brought with it increased scrutiny and media attention. On Tuesday evening the Huffington Post broke the news that as Governor, Huckabee was warned repeatedly by victims of convicted rapist Wayne Dumond that Dumond had raped before and would likely strike again if released from jail. With Huckabees help Dumond was nevertheless granted parole and did, in fact, go on to rape and kill at least one other woman.

Comments

[HDR]

05:57 PM on 12/05/2007

I wonder what Steve Dunleavy's response was after Wayne started killing again? How did he spin this on to the Clintons?

[Fez]

05:45 PM on 12/05/2007

Does this guy look just like Gomer Pyle in the photo for this piece? Guh-all-lee!!

[think4urself]

05:38 PM on 12/05/2007

Republicans: Please, please, please nominate Mike Huckabee. Finally, we'd have a real national debate on the implications of biblical inerrancy in US foreign policy. For example, should we bomb the Dome of the Rock to remove the last obstacle to the Rapture, or not? We need a candidate who will appropriately prioritize our agenda.

[ricktheguy]

04:44 PM on 12/05/2007

typical christian conservative...hypocrite, holier than thou..and blames everyone else but himself..the only thing more holier than his religion is his explanation!

[Greenfeet]

04:38 PM on 12/05/2007

We all know what happens when you start to lie to cover a lie. I guess Huckabee didn't get the message. Huckabee is playing "Blame the Clinton's". Go figure??? This must be the Arkansas version of the Hatfields and McCoy's.

[guitrock]

04:10 PM on 12/05/2007

I worked in the Federal Defender's Office for many years before retiring in 2006. Although the feds no longer have parole, I have seen many instances when parolees have committed more crimes. There are a plethora of issues involved when a person is released on parole, and in many cases the officials have to consider evidence that could suggest future dangerousness and then make the best judgment they can.
This story is meaningless. It's Willie Horton all over again. Second-guessing, hindsight, and other typical ways to demonize a candidate who tries to execute the law in accordance with his duties as governor. The alternative would be to deny parole to everyone when there is the slightest change of recidivism. That's not justice. The word probation comes from the Latin word "to prove." Parole involves the same principle. Can the inmate prove himself? Unfortunately, many don't, but as one sympathetic to the plights of many of those in jail, I believe in the second chance.
In this case, the inmate proved himself to be a recidivist. If Huckabee had done nothing, he would not face the criticism he does now. By exercising his discretionary authority, he is criticised. He tried to give the second chance, unlike a lot of what the hard-line conservatives would espouse, and it didn't work out.
Criticize now? I think it's crap, and the candidate Huckabee and politics has nothing to do with it.

[starboymikey]

04:05 PM on 12/05/2007

Okay, so the Huxter is our new Republican "frontrunner," and I read how he attributes this rise to "God." It's just proof that God wants Huck to be president so that he can continue the good and holy works of the Lord's previous annointed one, George W Bush.

Keeping that in mind, I wonder what Huckabee will say when the voters really get to know him and he tumbles down the public opinion sink hole again. Will he blame his slide on God, or will it be Bill Clinton's doing?

[ProfessorVP]

03:49 PM on 12/05/2007

If Schmuckabee just said, "Okay, I did this, and it was a mistake, I apologize to the victim's family," he could get past it.

Of course, that could never happen. He will lie more and get caught more. Will they ever learn- the cover-up is always viewed as worse than the original crime?

[desertdweller]

03:28 PM on 12/05/2007

Give Huck a couple of weeks and he will be following Rudy down the shitter. Wouldn't it be kind of amusing if McCain or Freddy were the last men standing?

[whitewaterwillie]

03:11 PM on 12/05/2007

I'm sure that the upstanding, holier than thou conservative christian republican voters will excuse Huckabee or believe his spin since one on the rape victims was a relative of Clinton. Wasn't that why conservative christian groups pushed for Huckabee to commute the rapist's sentence in the first place?

[liberalredneck01]

03:08 PM on 12/05/2007

I bet it will end up being an Obama/Biden vs Huckabee/McCaine ticket.

[mulegino]

03:08 PM on 12/05/2007

As soon as I saw the rapist story, I figured there must be some new polling numbers in the offing.
Wonder who is pushing this story? Hmm..."whenever you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." [with apologies to Conan Doyle]
It's pretty much impossible that this mud is being slung by the Kucinich camp, or from Ron Paul, say. What we're looking for is a candidate with a major,nationwide political machine, with a lot of wealthy corporate donors, and a lot to lose. A short list of suspects would include, say, "a noun, a verb, and 9/11", as well as "I did not have sex..."

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

02:39 PM on 12/05/2007

You might be right but the truth is the truth. Rudy thinks he is the hero of 9-11 and Clinton can't tell a straight story without doing a poll. I think the only true experienced person is Biden. It is sad that he doesn't get the attention he deserves.

[mulegino]

02:22 PM on 12/05/2007

As soon as the rapist story hits the pages, I knew that there just had to be some new polling information in the offing.
Let's see, the one pushing the story is probably not Kucinich, Paul, McCain, Biden, Obama...hmm...
Without naming names, I'll just say, that short list either involves,a: "a noun, a verb, and 9/11" and b: "I did not have sex with that woman..."