Of Hucksters, Hooligans and Huckabee

Gosh, I'm sure happy now that the Netroots and the Democrats successfully sunk the Fox News presidential debate a few months back.

I thought it was a really dumb idea to do so at the time. But now, much like Mitt Romney, I've changed my mind.

In retrospect, it seems self-evident there's no way the crumb-bums at Fox could have carried off any such debate with, um, the dignity, the gravitas, and the respect for the viewers demonstrated by the venerable CNN in its handling of Wednesday's You (boob)Tube GOP debate.

I mean, if Fox had organized this you can just imagine what would have happened. We would have seen videos of questions from gun freaks tossing loaded weapons around, and from those demanding to know if the Bible was the literal and revealed Word of God, how long women should be jailed for having abortions, what are the most effective forms of human torture, and -- last not but least-- how much does each candidate really love the Confederate Flag!

Oops, say what? That's what you saw on CNN? Sorry... Oh well.

To be honest, I didn't catch the entire "debate." And I if were just about any of those guys up on stage, I'd have to hope that not too many others saw it either. I understand fully they are competing for the loyalty of the Republican base, but they seem so out of synch with the national mood that it's almost painful.

Who can believe that there could by more than 1/4 of the electorate, if that, who today cares to hear you detail what's in your personal gun collection, or how literal you think the Bible is and and whether you'd ban abortion on a federal or just a state level? I don't know nor do I care very much who "won" the debate -- but you've got to figure that whoever the nominee winds up being he must have at least temporarily lost 2-3% of the general election voters who had mistakenly or otherwise tuned in.

The most excruciating moments I caught? I think top prize goes to military cultist Duncan Hunter who argued that gays in the armed forces would offend the cultural sensibilities of the "mostly conservative" young people who enlist. What a hooligan. I suppose serving young negroes Cokes at the Woolworth counter in 1950 would have also been culturally offensive to a lot of folks in Mississippi - but that wouldn't have made it legal, justifiable or humane. The other worst moments? Anytime Mitt Romney was on camera. A full-time cynical huckster who can barely keep track of his own rampant opportunism. Or maybe it was the time visitin' with Good Old Uncle Fred Thompson who -- apparently-- doesn't know much about, well, anything.

Meanwhile, comes news that Mike "The Revealed Word of God" Huckabee is now leading the GOP pack in Iowa. Absolutely no surprise to me, thank you. I predicted a meteoric rise for him back in mid-summer when I saw him out at the Iowa Straw Poll. And it's not just that Huckabee is bona fide social conservative that makes him appealing to the Republican base. He has definite cross-over appeal, projecting a Compassionate Conservatism that GW Bush talked about but never demonstrated.

Save your energy and don't even think about slamming me for being soft on Huckabee. I'm merely recognizing and trying to explain his appeal. He radiates a core decency that seems to be lacking from every other of his rivals and it's starting to pay off for him big time.

Comments

[sparkandy]

He radiates a core decency that seems to be lacking from every other of his rivals and it's starting to pay off for him big time.

That's what's the scariest about Huckabee. For God's sake, he's a born again! NEVER NEVER forget that! As someone who lives in Oral Roberts territory, I am here to tell you that every last one of these people is totally deranged! ANYONE who is guided in politics by his religion is dangerous. We might as well elect a Muslim Fundamentalist as a Christian one. Not all the people in the US are born agains, let alone Christians. We absolutely cannot elect anyone who thinks one religion is better than any other, or even that religion matters except in a personal way. This guy is beginning to scare me more than Mitt.

[Doofus]

'He radiates a core decency that seems to be
lacking from every other of his rivals and it's
starting to pay off for him big time.'

Until he gets going on the evils of the
progressive income tax and the virtues
of what MUST replace it, the 'Fair Tax'.

See also...

Fair Tax, Flawed Tax
Does adding 30% to the price of every house sold sound like a good idea to you?

BY BRUCE BARTLETT - WSJ
Sunday, August 26, 2007

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's unexpectedly strong second-place showing in the recent Iowa Republican straw poll is widely attributed to his support for the FairTax.

For those who never heard about it, the FairTax is a national retail sales tax that would replace the entire current federal tax system. It was originally devised by the Church of Scientology in the early 1990s as a way to get rid of the Internal Revenue Service, with which the church was then at war (at the time the IRS refused to recognize it as a legitimate religion). The Scientologists' idea was that since almost all states have sales taxes, replacing federal taxes with the same sort of tax would allow them to collect the federal government's revenue and thereby get rid of their hated enemy, the IRS. ...

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010523