I don't believe we have to worry about Huckabee.

While it is true that all of the republican candidates are deeply flawed, I have to think that Huckabee will only see marginal success in the bible belt, and, it has been pointed out here tonight that he doesn't even play well in the state where people know him the best. Besides, he can easily be labeled a religious zealot, and frankly, this country has had enough religious zealotry injected into politics. We have witnessed over the last decade how much damage the religious right can do.

It's going to be interesting to see who breaks out, after the first caucus and primaries. I think Rudy is toast, Thompson was a non starter and Paul is too fringe. As wishy washy as he is, my money is on Romney, as the one to gear up for.

...if you know what I mean.

concern demonstrated here about Huckabee, and frankly, I have never viewed him as a serious threat.

...I had to stop and read that one a second time:

"...if we had to worry about Huckabee, worrying about Huckabee would be our least concern..."

and I thought "YEAH! Damn RIGHT!"

It's like that Zen parable about the disciple who approaches the master for wisdom and the master asks "Have you finished your meal?" and the disciple replies "Yes, master," and the Master says "Then go clean your bowl."

ZEN, baby!

Then I had to go back and read it a third time to make sure I wasn't getting fired up over something I didn't really understand.

I think I get it.

YEAH!

:rofl:

Fliiiiiip-floooooooop!

He said, on tape, that he's to the left of Teddy Kennedy!

He was the Worst. Guvnah. EVAH!!!

like Rudy is going through right now. You and I know that politicians always have a way of re-inventing themselves. I think republican voters, on the whole will hold their nose and choose Romney as their candidate.

He line item vetoed the money to do tunnel inspections, and a bunch of bolts broke loose on a concrete ceiling tile, fell on a car, and crushed a newlywed woman on her way to the airport with her husband.

The husband crawled out of the crushed vehicle. She was dead straightaway.

Had he not vetoed that maintenance money, she'd be alive today.

antagonism. Maybe not fully, but, as a Missouri resident, I have Kit Bond as my bane. Romney is smooth, though, and, when compared to the other candidates by republican voters, he may seem like the safest bet. No doubt they will be holding their noses.

And like I say, this is just my perception of how things will turn out. One last remark, and I know this is going to sound sexist, but his looks won't hurt him one bit at the polls.

Everyone here says he looks like a Ken Doll, and they aren't saying it in an admiring fashion.

Romney isn't all that smooth, either. He's easily flummoxed.

Here watch this and roar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzZC92IXHyw

Hey, compared to the rest of that field he is as smooth as Denzel Washington. The rest of the country doesn't know him as well as your state residents do, nor will they see the side of him that you see.

When you have something LIVE to transport, isn't it normal to put the SUITCASES on the fucking ROOF?????
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part4_main/

The white Chevy station wagon with the wood paneling was overstuffed with suitcases, supplies, and sons when Mitt Romney climbed behind the wheel to begin the annual 12-hour family trek from Boston to Ontario....Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

Then Romney put his boys on notice: He would be making predetermined stops for gas, and that was it.

''''As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.



OK, whadda we have here, now, folks? Why CRUELTY--vets around the country weighed in on how the animal would be buffeted by the wind, to say nothing of how cold he'd be after being hosed down.

STUPIDITY--As noted above, inanimate objects OUTSIDE the station wagon on the roof, animated creatures within...that is the SMART move.

INSENSITIVITY--Ha ha ha, isn't this a FUNNY family story? Yeah, it's Michael Vick LITE!

What an asshole.

backing Romney. His organization is second to none among the republican candidates. What you mentioned will cause a bump in the road, but can be easily whitewashed by the oily campaign handlers.

They are cold to him, and regard him as a useful tool.

He's on a revenge mission, because people made fun of his 'deddy;'.....and his deddy, who ran for president until he was laughed out of the room, was named GEORGE.

Sound familiar?

He paid people to vote for him in that stupid straw poll. He cheated on his taxes, and it was proven. He carpetbagged to grab the governorship, and he paid for that, too.

He has the charisma of cold cat shit. Really.

There are way too many people who have his number.

He was in our faces, lying his smarmy ass off and doing absolutely NOTHING, for his entire single term--and he didn't run for reelection because he knew his ass would be handed to him. He couldn't have gotten reelected with no opposition--people would have voted for NONE OF THE ABOVE if they could have. He fucking SUCKED. Really.

That's the BIG SECRET that hasn't quite percolated out of the state, see? And it's documented. If he makes the cut, performance will be a MAJOR issue. He is already running against Clinton in NH, and his ad where he says "I've done THINGS" is just cretinous--it doesn't sound like accomplishments, it's more like he's about to confess to crimes.

I haven't been following the GOP field closely enough to wager intelligently. I see Huckabee surging, and Romney stagnating right now. We will have to see how his "I am a XTIAN MORMON" speech goes. That could sink him, or he could be buoyed for awhile by it. Depends on how well he reels in the guppies. Romney is spending thousands per vote in IA, Huckabee is buying 'em a hotdog and getting the same results. All Huckabee has to do is PLACE in IA, and he's won. A GOP Comeback Kid thing....

I personally think that Romney trying to imitate JFK with the religion schtick is a big mistake. He's a cold little Ken Doll robot, and I don't think he'll help himself. Heck, Huckabee would probably be able to make the same audience believe that Fred, Wilma, Pebbles and DINO all living in the same house six thousand years ago, when God created the earth, is NORMAL, but I can't see Romney selling underwear to the masses--I just can't. But see, I've seen the lying bastard up close and personal. He's a cold sumbitch. He's gonna have to buy an awful lotta votes to take this thing. And funny enough, John McCain isn't disliked in NH. I'd laugh like hell if he gave Mittsy a run for his money!

One loser after another. Every one of them either creepy, oily, sleezy, goofy, grouchy, lazy...kinda like the seven dwarfs.

and run? I thought it was a joke when NYS Governor Pataki was talking about a run, but at least he's only mediocre as opposed to bat shit crazy.

no one on the republican side with the gravitas of an Al Gore.

fractured convention, the movers and shakers huddled in smoke-free rooms?

has flushed all memory of their prayer meetings for W.

Once the memory is wiped clean, and they think they can get a full-fledged preacher nominated that crowd may get way over excited.

for it this time around, IMO.

Religion-based social conservatism coupled with economic populism. Sort of the opposide of some leading Democrats, who are typically socially liberal but still have a lot of the economic elite in their platforms. Just might work. :scared:

I don't recall seeing it on the DU yet, but that doesn't mean much since I was away for Thanksgiving. Just thought you'd like to read it.

Mind you, these are just my observations, and once or twice in my life I've been known to be wrong!

The rethugs have advantages dems. don't have. A ticket of McCain and Huck would be pretty powerful. I have always thought that our best hope was for rudy, as he has so much NY baggage and and outright obnoxiousness that we could beat him.

None of the republican candidates scare me. If we lose the general, it will be because we shot ourselves in the foot, which is quite possible. And I am convinced that there are a lot of republican voters who are looking for a reason to vote for a democrat, as long as it isn't Hillary.

THAT is the danger of Huckabee.

The GOP wanted a "Reaganesque" nominee. They thought that nominee would be Fred Thompson.

When that fell apart, they went even further to the right with Huckabee. The evangelicals are still stinging from the stories about Rove using their holier-thank-thou asses to get Bush elected and then laughing behind their backs.

We should be concerned about choosing the right candidate for the Democratic Party furst and foremost, but as long as Huckabee's in the game, no one should take their eyes off of him.

Bush family hedges its bets for 2008
By Alexander Bolton
March 26, 2007


Much of Jeb’s inner circle has picked Romney. The list includes Sally Bradshaw, who served as Gov. Bush’s campaign manager in 1994 and 1998 and as his first gubernatorial chief of staff; Ann Herberger, who was the governor’s campaign finance director; and Mandy Fletcher, who recently headed Bush’s think tank, Foundation for Florida’s Future, and worked on his reelection. In addition, Alan Philp, Bush’s former policy director, is coordinating policy and issues for Romney.

Jeb Bush’s former lieutenant governor Toni Jennings, Al Cardenas, who served as Florida GOP chairman under Jeb, David Griffin, who headed Jeb’s second -term transition office and was the Florida Lottery Secretary, Sherri McVay, executive director of Jeb’s statewide advocacy council, and Kristy Campbell, the former governor’s press secretary, are all playing roles in Romney’s campaign.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-family--hedges-bets-2007-03-26.html


This has not been photo-shopped.

Mitt is going to make a major speech about his Mormon Religion, hoping to dispel any notion that it will influence him regarding his policies as Pres. It will be similar to the speech made by John Kennedy regarding his Catholic Religion. I suspect that Mitt will be the Nominee with Jeb as VP.

I've been doing it a long time.

His money will dry up, for one thing, and his position on the Iraq occupation, and his stance on Iran is too scary for war weary republican voters.

CC don't like the flip flopping Romney and GouliAnnie.

But the Rethugs are so desperate to win they'll take anyone.

Huckabee appears to be a genuine social conservative with economic populist leanings. The supply-side, low-tax pro big business crowd will not stand for his nomination--especially if he actually believes the things he's saying about economic fairness.

I go back and forth. A lot depends on how the republican machine would package him. Also, he has the skills needed to debate well, because he can think on his feet, and shape his message for his audience.

His last name will probably keep him from getting the republican nomination. I think he is far more likely to get the VP spot.

The religious issue wouldn't hurt him. I think that it would actually give him an advantage over any of the other republicans when it comes to the general election. I'm not saying that with any intent of saying if what he believes is right or wrong, good or bad. Just that religion has and will continue to be a huge factor in elections. As a rule, only religious candidates will win national elections, and non-religious folks will be marginalized as an insignificant minority. Again, that isn't based on who is right or wrong, just the realities of what wins in elections.

I mean, really. I have never seen such a bunch of wacked-out losers as the sad excuses for candidates on the Republican side. How can any of them manage to win nomination?

- Rudy is on his way out, with more disgusting revelations to come
- Mitt is a programmed Mormon empty suit with nothing whatever to say
- Thompson is a Grumpy Old Man who can't be bothered to campaign
- McCain is an aging ex-maverick who thinks bush and his Irag War are just dandy
- Huckabee is a faux-normal religious nut (read the Rolling Stone article)
- Tancredo and Hunter are absurd, embarrassing right-wing firebrands
- Ron Paul is dead right on Iraq and dead wrong on everything else

Can you spot the winner? Me neither!


edit: added RP

Snow White's Dwarves!!!