Huckabee Slams Bush, Becomes Frontrunner
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Huckabee
Yesterday, the press was given an article where Huckabee was interviewed about his foreign policy views, and his tone towards Bush is, well, ballsy to say the least.
What’s more, I think this is significant turning point in his campaign. I’ll explain why after some AP reportage…
“American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out,” Huckabee said. “The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States’ main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists.” [...]
He said this year’s troop increase under Bush has resulted in significant but tenuous gains, and he said - much as Bush has - that he would not withdraw troops from Iraq any faster than Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander there, recommends. The military has now slowly begun to reverse the troop increase. [...]
While the Foreign Affairs article is missing the one-liners he is known for, it does have a few folksy comparisons to illustrate his points. On Iran, for example, he makes a case for diplomacy by saying, “Before we put boots on the ground elsewhere, we had better have wingtips there first.”
Okay, so here’s the most important thing about Huck calling Bush out on his questionable foreign policy strategy: he’s giving a voice to a lot of Republicans and Independents who feel the same. Some of those folks have already joined the Ron Paul campaign, but I bet there are a lot more out there who don’t feel that we should become completely non-interventionist, we just need a new direction. So that’s why Huck’s not mincing words and he’s not playing coy. He’s stating it outright, and if there’s one thing that excites voters around election time, it’s straight talking.
Also, does it appear to anybody else that this move has Ed Rollins all over it? I think certainly think so. Rollins understands that many independents don’t really want to vote for a Democrat like Hillary, but if Huck goes after Bush and says the same things a lot of moderate Republicans and Independents are thinking, he gives them permission to vote for…gasp…a Republican!
In short, I’m becoming more and more convinced that not only can Huckabee become the Republican nominee, he can also win the White House.
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, Huckabee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 15th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Just one problem. Fiscal conservatives cannot vote for Huckabee. http://www.taxhikemike.org/
He will only pick up a few more social cons and neo cons. Not fiscal or paleo.
December 15th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
I was initially optimistic about Huck’s potential, not the least due to his folksy funny guitar-playing personality that wins over the masses. But Huck will never win because he has an incredibly narrow, albeit loyal, support base: the evangelical Christians who will look past his fiscally Democratic record.
Democrats won’t vote for him because they’ll never vote for a candidate who’s pro-war, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage. Fiscally conservative Republicans won’t vote for him because he’s too tax-friendly and big-government. And even all of the evangelicals won’t support him once they become more familiar with him (although Romney’s recent attacks are ratger lame). Way too risky for the GOP.
Contrast this to someone like Ron Paul, who has support from fiscally conservative Republicans tired of candidates who don’t have a history of fiscal conservatism, anti-war Democrats who realized none of their choices will actually get them out of Iraq, small-government Libertarians, Constitution Party types, Green Party types, pro-lifers AND pro-choicers… etc, etc.
December 15th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
The problem with Huckabee is that he is the type of politician that will say anything to get elected. That’s why there is only one candidate that is trustworthy enough to get the job done. After a 22 year consistent voting record, Ron Paul has proven to be that leader.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TZ5cpaPlf4
December 15th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
It’s amazing how Huckabee is suddenly (and desperately?) trying to sound like Ron Paul, but his borrowed “imitation cheese food product” rhetoric will prove to be no more palatable than the actual artificial crap.
Am I the only one who noticed how the media literally overnight started pushing Huckabee nonstop last month? The establishment and their corporate-controlled media can continue trying to shove him down the voters’ throats, but they will be badly embarrassed by his weak showing in the primaries. Where are all his supporters and donaters, when Ron Paul will pull in over four times Huckabee’s donations this quarter?
December 15th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Its damn retarded aint it Alan! I think some people are starting to get scared of Ron’s momentum, so they had huck read some Ron Paul papers and started pushing him on TV to blure the line between Ron and the rest of the pack. It is sickening but i saw this coming in sept once the line was drawn and Tompson started to go belly up. I knew no self respecting Christian would vote for gulli or romney so who is left but huck, now that they are bluring the line it will be harder for Ron to set him self apart as the better candidate. Damn dirty politicians! Just keep chuggn Ron ive converted 57 known voters for Ron in the primary by myself. that battle is far from over. and im not done fightn!
December 15th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Chameleon . Nice guitar though.
December 15th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I don’t support Mike Huckabee at all because its easy to see through his pandering…but I have to give it to him that this is a smart strategy. I’m surprised none of the Republicans–besides Ron Paul of course–have separated themselves from the president sooner. Any candidate associated with this president is destined to lose.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:53 am
Elmer Huckabee is become nothing more than a Ron Paul wannabe.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Problem with Huckabee’s scenario is that Bush’s numbers are on the way up.
And support for the War in Iraq hasn’t been higher since 2004. A poll just released Friday found that 77% of all Republicans now believe that a positive outcome will result from the War, which is up from a low or 54% early in the summer.
If Ed Rollins is giving him this advice, shows that it’s not good advice. Just when the War is becomming more popular, and the Surge is clearly showing to have worked, you start trashing it, and Bush?
December 16th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Paul’s poll numbers are down slightly.
He’s at 4.3% in the running RCP average. He was up to 4.7% a couple weeks ago.
Also, a poll released Friday out of California had him at a mere 3%.
Indication that his Anti-War positions are starting to wane. When things were going bad in Baghdad in early Summer, his views might have found some friendly ears, even among Republicans. But now that the Surge is proving to be a stunning success, people are tuning out to him.
Witness McCain’s latest rise in the polls. Pundits are saying that that’s directly related to his steadfastness on the War, even in the dark days.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Eric: Huckabee didn’t present an antiwar message- he simply criticized Bush where criticism was warranted, which is what the Democrats should have been doing all along if they’d been smart.
December 16th, 2007 at 11:06 am
So far everyone is jumping to conclusions about Governor Huckabee’s words that have been taken out of context. This is from a foreign policy speach that was delivered way back on September 28th (Speech, “Paths and Priorities in the War on Terror” given in Washington, DC on September 28, 2007 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
It is one of the best speechs that I have ever heard including when Ronald Reagan would bring tears to my patriotic eyes. When I listened to Governor Huckabee give the speech, I immediately changed candidates and will support him to my death. This has lots to do with me being a veteran and understanding that we can only make our country a better place to live if we all come together and once agin become a strong nation that is respected throughout the world and not one with a “happy trigger”.