Honestly, the Dishonesty is Disheartening

Governor Romney, as expected, has waited until the final week before the Iowa caucus to unleash attack ads against governor Huckabee. The support that governor Huckabee has won with his resonating message in the last couple of months governor Romney is trying to buy back by slamming the airwaves with negative, dishonest 30 second television ads. Governor Huckabee responded to the false attacks with an incredibly concise, yet accurate statement:

"If a person is dishonest in his approach to get the job, do you believe he will be honest in telling you the truth when he does get the job? You need a president who gets the job honestly. Because if they don't get it honestly he probably won't serve honestly."

Herein is one of the major reasons that Huckabee supporters like myself support governor Huckabee over governor Romney. It is not because Huckabee is a Christian and Romney is a Mormon. It is because Huckabee is trustworthy, and Romney is not. It is because governor Huckabee has made the hard decisions, and governor Romney has not. It is because governor Huckabee will say what is true whatever the cost, and governor Romney will not. For instance, see here and here.

Governor Romney has distorted the truth. He has not only misrepresented the records of his opponents, he has also misrepresented his own record. He does not deserve the high honor that is the office of the President. Should he become the nominee, I will not vote for him. I suspect there are many like me in that regard; possibly enough like me to ensure that governor Romney will not win the White House in 2008.

If governor Romney is the nominee, then in order to get me to vote for him, one would need to try and persuade me that having a dishonest Republican is better than having a dishonest Democrat. If the only difference is that the dishonest Republican will cut my taxes, whereas the dishonest Democrat will raise them, I'm afraid I would have to respond by saying that I simply cannot vote for either a dishonest Republican or a dishonest Democrat. If presented with such a situation, I will gladly and proudly write governor Huckabee in as my candidate.

Breaking: Huckabee adds Christmas Linebacker to the Campaign Roster

The Huckabee campaign has just announced that they have added the Christmas Linebacker to its stellar campaign roster. After the many critiques and concerns that have been expressed regarding Huckabee's controversial Christmas ad, the addition of the Christmas Linebacker could not have come at a better time. "Our campaign is truly blessed," Huckabee was quoted as saying. In a statement to the press, a campaign spokesperson said:

The addition of the Christmas Linebacker brings a fresh perspective to our message. The Linebacker has agreed to travel with the campaign through the Christmas season.

When asked what the press should say to people who have not heard of the Christmas Linebacker, Huckabee's spokeperson responded, "Just show them the video." Video below.

Important Note:

Every element of this "story" has been made up by the tnhuck team as a stairical joke. No part of the post should be considered as accurate or true.

Coulter Attacks; Huckabee Responds

Ann Coulter has criticized Governor Huckabee in a column and several interviews this week. Her full column can be found here. We will post a snippet from that column, and we have also posted the video of one of her interviews below. First, the video.

Ann Coulter: Neil Cavuto Show (FoxNews)

Second, a snippet from the column:

...And yet, Huckabee has said he agrees with the Supreme Court's lunatic opinion that sodomy is a constitutional right.

Lawrence was promptly denounced not only by Republican governors and Christian groups across the nation, but also by anyone with sufficient reading comprehension skills to see that the Constitution says nothing about a right to sodomy. But when Huckabee was asked about this jaw-dropping ruling from the high court, he said the majority opinion "probably was appropriate."

Huckabee Response

Naturally, we are concerned whenever a potential presidential candidate explicitly suggests that a decision such as Lawrence was decided correctly. We have looked further into the issue, and have come across Governor Huckabee's response to the criticism. We have posted it in its entirety.

Ann Coulter's comments are based on a response I made during a radio call-in show in which a caller asked what I thought about the Supreme Court ruling on Lawrence v. Texas. At the time I had not read the ruling and was basing my opinion on the summary by the caller. After reading the decision I believe it is obvious that the ruling was wrongly decided. Lawrence v. Texas is an extreme example of judicial activism. It could, in fact, be inappropriately used to attack our marriage laws nationwide.

I am in agreement with the dissent by Justices Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas:

[The ruling] dismantles the structure of constitutional law that has permitted a distinction to be made between heterosexual and homosexual unions, insofar as formal recognition in marriage is concerned. If moral disapprobation of homosexual conduct is 'no legitimate state interest' for purposes of proscribing that conduct, ...what justification could there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples exercising 'the liberty protected by the Constitution'?

Furthermore, As Justice Thomas said, we might disagree with the wisdom of a law, but that is the province of the Legislature, not unelected judges. No such activist Justices will be appointed as long as I am President.

I wish Ms. Coulter had contacted me or my campaign to discuss my position in detail before writing her column. I would have appreciated the opportunity to clarify this matter.

Bottom Line

Governor Huckabee's response indicates that he might agree with the policy of repealing anti-sodomy laws, but that he disagrees with the notion that the Supreme Court of the United States has the authority to do so. Rather, Governor Huckabee seems to believe that if anti-sodomy laws are to be repealed, then it is the legislatures of the individual states that are to do so, not the Federal Courts. This is precisely the position that is expressed by Justice Clarence Thomas in his dissenting opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. We will not go as far as to say that Ann Coulter's criticism was unfair; but we will say that when all of the facts are known, her concern on this matter is unfounded.

Ms. Coulter also criticizes Huckabee on his position on evolution and school textbooks. We will address that particular criticism in a future post.

Huckabee Press Conference: On Christmas and Pardons

Here is a video of a press conference where Governor Huckabee discusses his "controversial" Christmas ad, commutations and pardons, and Governor Romney's vicious and disingenuous attacks against his record.

Huckabee on the Today Show

Huckabee talks about the supposed "cross" in this new ad. He goes on to talk about his view on crime. In the end you understand why he is more consistent in his principals then the other candidates. Another reason I like Mike.

Huckabee on Education

The New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association has endorsed Mike for president! Below is why:

Perhaps this blog will call the teachers that vote for Mike "teacherbees"?

Huckabee Leads in Florida

Rasmussen just released its latest polling numbers for Florida. The breakdown is as follows:

1. Mike Huckabee: 27%
2. Mitt Romney: 23%
3. Rudy Giuliani: 19%
4. Fred Thompson: 9%
5. John McCain: 6%
6. Ron Paul: 4%

Gov. Huckabee continues to impress with his continued rise in popularity.

Final GOP Debate

There was a debate this afternoon hosted by the Iowa Des Moines Register. Here is a clip of what we think is one of Gov. Huckabee's best moments.

Huckaboom

The polls are coming out so fast it is hard for us to keep up. Here are some notable, recently released polls.

Rasmussen - Iowa (12/10/2007)

The most recent Rasmussen polling in Iowa shows confirms that Mike Huckabee has pulled away in that state for the Republican nomination. The breakdown is as follows:

1. Mike Huckabee: 39%
2. Mitt Romney: 23%
3. Fred Thompson: 9%
4. Rudy Giuliani: 9%
5. John McCain: 6%

Also, in today's daily tracking poll, Rasmussen shows Huckabee regaining the national lead. Here's the breakdown:

1. Mike Huckabee: 23%
2. Rudy Giuliani: 20%
3. Mitt Romney: 14%
4. Fred Thompson: 10%
5. John McCain: 8%

It appears, at least for now, that Huckabee has risen above the high amount of criticism that has been thrown at him in the last week. There are more polls that have been released, and perhaps we will bring attention to those soon.

A Whole New Race

The Attacks Came Down, and the Polls Went Up

Today's Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows Gov. Huckabee increasing his front-runner status by one percentage point. Here is the breakdown:

1. Mike Huckabee: 22%
2. Rudy Giuliani: 18%
3. Mitt Romney: 13%
4. John McCain: 12%
5. Fred Thompson: 9%

It is likely that these numbers have yet to account for any potential shifts in support since the heavy attacks against the Governor that began on Wednesday. Next week's numbers should give a better idea of how that criticism has affected the Governor's support

Polls, Polls, Polls; Attacks, Attacks, Attacks

There's been so much going on with respect to the Huckabee campaign in just the last two days. We've seen new poll number and new criticisms. We'll do our best to bring these to you. Let's begin with recent poll numbers.

National Poll Numbers

On Tuesday we brought you the Rasmussen national numbers, and suggested that the trend would have Gov. Huckabee surpassing Mayor Giuliani for the national lead by Wednesday. Sure enough, Wednesday's numbers did not disappoint. Today's numbers did not disappoint either. Here's a look at the recent daily numbers since Thanksgiving:

Another national survey also shows good news for Huckabee. A December L.A. Times/Bloomberg National Survey shows that Huckabee has moved into second place nationally for the Republican nomination, 5 percentage points behind poll leader Mayor Giuliani. Here's a look at that poll:

Individual State Poll Numbers

Governor Huckabee has also received some positive polling with respect to the individual state races Recent releases from Arkansas and South Carolina signal that Huckabee's momentum has not faded.

Arkansas

On Wednesday Rasmussen released a poll indicating that Gov. Huckabee has a better chance than Mayor Giuliani to beat Senator Clinton head to head in Arkansas. Here's the breakdown comparing Huckabee to Giuliani:

South Carolina

Rasmussen released a poll today indicating that Mike Huckabee has moved into a quite significant lead in South Carolina. Those results are below.

Bottom Line

Gov. Huckabee has been on the move. He is up in the polls, and some have even referred to him as the front-runner in Iowa and nationally. Corresponding with that success, Huckabee has begun to receive a lot of scrutiny, especially beginning with the stories surrounding his role in paroling Wayne Dumond. It remains to be seen whether such scrutiny will harm his momentum. We'll be watching his poll numbers closely over the next few days to see if Huckabee can rise above the scrutiny.

What's the Deal With the Reaganites

It is true that the Republican hopefuls for President have all tried to convince us that they are the candidate who is most like Ronald Reagan. We here at TnHuck happen to think that Mike Huckabee has made the best case. Now that he is on an upward trend in the polling, the other candidates are trying what they can to derail his momentum by seizing on the most ridiculous things. They have yet to criticize his kindergarten days (as one prominent candidate has done), but given the trend, we would not be surprised if they do.

Of course, Fred Thompson is the former Senator of our state, and as Senator, we are of the opinion that his record was undistinguished. We are also of the opinion that his campaign for President is likewise undistinguished. When the rumors were spreading that he might run, we knew that he would not live up to the expectations which many had hoped he would. We knew better than to expect Fred to ride in on his white horse (or his red Ford pickup) to save the day. We knew that he was not the savior of the Republican party. We knew this because we are Tennesseans. Low and behold, while the pundits seem surprised that Thompson has gained virtually no traction, we are sitting back and saying, "Told you so."

The Thompson campaign has taken upon itself the task of trying to single-handedly destroy the Huckabee campaign. The problem is that the more Thompson tries to do this, the higher Huckabee rises in the polls. That is probably due to the fact that Fred Thompson's critiques are about as convincing as his run for President.

Now, we have chosen to unload on Fred because of one particular attack that his campaign leveled today. In an interview with Imus this morning, Mike Huckabee was asked about his foreign policy credentials. Here is what Huckabee said:

When asked by Don Imus this morning about his lack of foreign policy credentials, Mike Huckabee joked: “And the ultimate thing is, you know, I may not be the expert as some people on foreign policy – but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.” (WABC Radio, 12/04/07)

In response to that comment, Bob Haus, Executive Director of Iowa Friends of Fred Thompson, responded:

“When confronted with a serious question about his lack of foreign policy experience, Mike Huckabee makes a joke. The security of Americans and our allies is no laughing matter. What Americans are looking for in their next president is a commander in chief, not a Court Jester,” added Bob Haus, Executive Director of Iowa Friends of Fred Thompson.

That statement was picked up by some right-leaning bloggers. One of the comments that we find to that post is as follws:

God save us from a man who jokes about national security…

This caused us to chuckle a little. It is especially ironic for the Reaganites to make such a statement. We seem to vaguely remember someone who made jokes about national security. We recall that he said the following:

My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

We jogged our memory to remember who it was who made that statement. It seems that the person was none other than the great Ronald Reagan himself. Was Ronald Reagan a court-jester? Did he take foreign policy lightly? Should he have been allowed to be President given that he was prone to joke about such things? Come on Reaganites. Lighten up. A joke about foreign policy does not indicate that a person does not take the issue seriously.

Given the state of things, I doubt the Reaganites would even think that Ronald Reagan was enough like himself to be nominated.

Huckabee Tied for Lead

We've been fairly busy the last few days. What better way to resume our regular activities than by reporting the latest Rasmussen national poll indicating that Gov. Huckabee is now sharing the lead with Rudy Giuliani nationally in the race for the Republican nomination. Full poll here. Breakdown below.

Given the trend of the last three days, we fully expect to see that Gov. Huckabee will have the sole lead tomorrow.