Huckabee: Demonizing Obama A "Fatal Mistake"

CNN:

Former GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee called Barack Obama's candidacy "a landmark achievement" Tuesday, and warned fellow Republicans not to demonize Obama.

"Republicans will make a fundamental if not fatal mistake if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barack Obama," Huckabee told reporters in Tokyo, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Read the whole story: CNN

Comments

[PatrickforO]

Good advice. Isn't it sad how the R power structure and screamers are ignoring it? They will regret it because they are killing their party. RIP

[Gbemiro]

i think Huckabee understands the kind of message Obama is sending to them

[AnotherIADem]

Huckabee is right, but I kind of hope the republicans fail to heed his advice. It is fun to see them going "macaca "all over themselves.

[queotic]

I like Huckabee. I don't agree with his positions. but he defended Obama during the Wright controversy and now he is encouraging his party to stick to the issues, not to petty personal attacks. That's how politics should be.

[layman]

Your Holiness, Isn't it Demonizing others, and f--k the truth, the Repug TradeMark ?

[wordvarc]

.

Obama = Psalm 1

McCain = Bush III

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[wordvarc]

.

Scoffing cynicism and demonizing are Rove's political trademarks. McCain recently sold his soul and anointed w's fear and hate mongering mastermind to run the same sordid, dirty, demonizing campaign that trashed and beat himself in 2000.
.

[thecanadian]

The R campaign of trashing is definately turning off the little support & respect that was even possible for McCain before this. They can play their dirty politics for awhile but it will only put
their party deeper in the gutter. If the Rep. want any kind of consideration, they will have to curb their hate mongering. Also, any future candidates will be seriously smeared.

As for NO control McCain personally - whatever happened to his (and his wifes) assertion that he was going to run a clean campaign on the issues? He is not a leader if he can't control the message!

[southafrica4obama]

He just said that because he was on foreign land. Just making money!

[Syco]

They should listen to huckabee.
He made a joke about barack getting shot at and he was demonized for it

[kvet]

Everyone knows,,,what goes around,,,comes around....­full circle!...­ten fold!.....­Even the Huckster know this!

[The5thW]

So who will say this to the Democrats re McCain? I just read the McCullough Adams bio section on the Adams Jefferson contest. A reminder that these cultured statespersons were demonized moreso than even today. The charge that Adams was insane and Jefferson an atheist certainly have their current counterparts though.

[BigMike75]

Huckabee I must say has been one of the GOP voice's of reason. His NRA joke about Obama was dumb, but he immediately apologized for it. And he did have a more rational response to the Rev. Wright fiasco when it was going full bore, than a lot of republicans I saw.

[freedomforamerica]

I totally agree. He's the real deal. In fact, I wish more of the GOP would ask themselves this question: "WWHD" (What Would Huckabee Do?) ;-) He'd take the high road, that's what he'd do.

[jeffp26]

If anyone knows about demons, other than pat faith healer robertson, it would be mikey the huckster.

[joselopez]

The Republicans have no other choice then to go after him personally. There is no way they could win on the issues during this election cycle.

I do not agree with it, despise it, but understand it.

It is up to the mainstream media to assist the American people sort out the fact vs fiction when it comes to both candidates.

Obama is also going to need an attack dog VP who has his back and will defend him when false charges are levied against him.

[XME]

At first I misread the headline, though Huckabee was demonizing Obama as a "fatal mistake"! I was surprised because he seems to be the only Republican who doesn't want to play slimeball politics. I was glad to see he hasn't stooped to that level.

I definitely like him...woul­dn't want him for my president.­..but I do like him!

[kissmygrits]

I know, right? I disagree with him on almost every issue, but he's funny and sort of normal in other ways that the Republicans candidates were not.

[XME]

Yes, I think it's because he's able to display some modicum of objectivity, which is a rare quality in Republicans!

[layman]

His Holiness, stooped so low as to receive a pay check from the Fixed News Network.

[XME]

Yeah, I know...I can't defend the man on that one. But I can give him credit for not getting down in the mud with the worst of the Repugs.

[NoneyaBizniss]

It's too bad Huckabee was hurt by 20 years of hateful, crazy evangelicals. Seven, eight months ago, Americans heard Huckabee=e­vangelical and they fled. By the time people figured out Huckabee's not one of the crazies, it was too late.

I'm glad it happened, though. :)

GObama!

[Angelus2007]

I think Obama is lucky Huckabee didn't win the nomination, not that Obama couldn't still win, it would be more difficult. He is a voice of reason, and the future of the republican party. If most republican politicians, and pundits thought like him they wouldn't be at an all time low in popularity. Many republicans (voters not public figures) are like this guy. They have their set of values and beliefs on policies they are different from those on the left. Yet, they don't hate those on the left, they want politics to be about the issues, they just have a different stance from the democrats.

If Huckabee was the nominee instead of McCain, he would be standing toe to toe with Obama discussing issues. The voters would decide who wins based upon issues. The difference between Joe Democrat and Joe Republican aren't that different, they have different viewpoints of several key issues, and what is important to one isn't important to the other.

Huckabee also could mitigate some of Obama's strenghts. He has a similar populist view on the economy, he enacted in Arkansas a statewide version of SCHIP several years before it was on the national state. He increased graduation rates, lower teen pregnancy, increased Arkansas standing in education. He supports a pathway to citizenship and the Dream Act.

I was a Clinton supporter, and I know if Huckabee was running he would get my vote over Obama. I trust the guy.

[Grunty1]

Huck wouldn't have gone very far. Sure, the religious would have loved him, but he seems almost 20% authentic (about 40% more than the rest of the GOPers), so the business wing of the party would have despised him.

Not that it really matters anymore.

[nathananderson]

Sounds like what a lot of Bush supporters were saying. I've always viewed Huckabee as a Bush clone.

[Hallucinocynic]

Huckabee is a fundamentalist right winger who is anti-abortion. That alone disqualifies him for me. As an MD, his views on creationism versus evolution are, in practice, antithetical. I couldn't vote for someone who believes that the world was created 6000 years ago.

[mcole]

are you kidding me? if huckabee had been the republican nominee when he made that oh so foolish remark about obamaa dodging a gun ...... we would be preparing obama for his coronation as we speak..

[joselopez]

Yeah, I am with you too, I wish Hucabee would have won the Republican Primary!!! lol

Dems were salivating at the prospects of facing him!!!

I got my wish, I was pulling for both Obama and McCain. They were the two best candidates hands down.