Off The Bandwagon
By Mitch Berg
Huckabee stock seems to have taken a bath recently.
First Ringer sounds off with a resounding “sell” order:
Huckabee appeals to the media and pundits for two reasons. As a Baptist preacher who seems like a combination between Jerry Falwell and William Jennings Bryant, pundits believe his pro-marriage, pro-life preachings echo those of the stereotypical conservative while his “Cross of Gold” economic views have won him fans among the Manhattan/D.C. publishing nexus.
In other words – a Republican Lori Sturdevant would like, with a drawl?
Are Republicans ready – or interested – for a socially conservative Huey Long? Probably not. Populism has shallow roots in the GOP, even traditionally. One might have to go back to Alf Landon, nominated in 1936 amid the Kansas sunflowers and Republican dread over their election prospects, to find even a minor populist leading the national ticket. And given the results of that election, the argument for another populist nominee seems slight.
Huckabee – the man from Hopeless.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I never cared much for Governor Huckabee but never thought there was a chance he’d come close to being the nominee because:
1) The fiscal conservatives within the GOP are mad as Hades at the level of spending and Huckabee shows even less sign of fiscal restraint than Bush (who finally found his veto pen) and on top of that has a track record of raising taxes
2) The limited government conservatives aren’t interested in a socially conservative proponent of the Nanny State who wants a national smoking ban.
3) And (like it or not) illegal immigration is shaping up to be a hot issue for this election cycle and the people who fought tooth and nail against the last proposed immigration “reform” bill aren’t going to accept a candidate who is to Bush’s left on that issue.