The Spectator has updated its earlier story that reported the Dr. Dobson was preparing to endorse Governor Huckabee. From the update:
Tim Minnery, Senior Vice President for Focus on the Family, Dobson's organization, denied on Friday afternoon that Dobson intended to endorse Huckabee in the coming days. Minnery's denial was submitted to the Spectator after Dobson received calls from other social conservative leaders inquiring about the leaked endorsement plans from the Huckabee campaign and Dobson associates. "Dr. Dobson isn't close to an endorsement of anyone in the 2008 race," Minnery wrote in an email to the editor denying there was an endorsement planned.
"Dr. Dobson isn't close to an enodrsment of anyone in the 2008 race." Isn't close? That's too bad, really. Huckabee is the clear choice for Conservatives. If such a high level individual goes out of the way to make such an unequivocal denial on Dobson's behalf, then I would suggest that today's earlier report is flat out wrong. Dr. Dobson has not come around like so many of us have wished he would.
And MSNBC's Firstread reports that the Mike Huckabee campaign has released a statement speaking to the confusion. From the release:
“There is no imminent campaign announcement about his [Dr. Dobson's] support -- and my campaign has not said there is, despite wild Internet rumors and some press accounts to the contrary. I have also spoken personally to him about the matter.”
This is probably going to serve only to make people upset. There were already plenty of people who were upset at Dobson (and others) for not backing the clear candidate for social conservatives. Then today many of those people were elated to hear that Dr. Dobson had come around. Now they find out that Dr. Dobson "denies ferociously" that he is planning to endorse Mike Huckabee. That is just going to remind everyone about how much they have despised the way Dobson and other leaders have handled this election cycle.
