Mike Huckabee

Des Moines Register Poll On Presidential Race Of 2016

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The Des Moines Register, the leading newspaper in Iowa, has started to poll on who is favored in the Iowa Caucuses, the first vote of a presidential election year, always held in January, which can catapult a candidate all the way to the Presidency, as it did for Barack Obama on January 3, 2008.

Of course, polling this early is no real indicator of what will happen in two years, and in fact, being an early leader is a hex, and usually means that someone else will end up winning the Iowa Caucuses and have the edge to be the Presidential nominee of a political party.

But, if for nothing other than political discussion and debate, the poll shows Hillary Clinton in the lead, with only Joe Biden being competitive with her in any fashion. The other names listed, really “dark horses”, are Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and, surprising to some, former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, both of whom have shown interest in running, with Schweitzer being much more open about it.

On the Republican side, five have a positive rating of more than 50 percent, including in order, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan (VP running mate of Mitt Romney in 2012), former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (now a Fox News talk show host), Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and tied for fifth, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Under 50 percent are Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

It is interesting that the front runners are people who have lost their last race, while the also rans are newer people, many of whom have an extremist image, although really, all of the ten listed are extremists on the right, with the exception of Christie and Bush.

And Hillary Clinton has enough support for now that she would seemingly have an edge over any and all Republicans, and remember that Barack Obama carried Iowa twice in a state that, despite its strong right wing evangelical image, votes Democratic for President in recent elections, and is likely to do the same in 2016, whether it is Hillary or Joe Biden or some newer candidate for the Democrats.

Former Presidential Contenders Who Have Gone Far Right Since: Mike Huckabee And Lamar Alexander

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When one looks back at past Presidential campaigns at the numerous Presidential wannabees who failed to gain the nomination, one realizes the evolution of some of them from a respectable moderate conservative view to an extremist far Right advocacy now!

It is astounding to see people the author once respected going off the deep end, in their desire to conform to the Tea Party crowd!

Two such examples are former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who sought the GOP nomination in 2008, and former Tennessee Governor and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander, who sought the Presidency in 1996 and 2000, and served as Education Secretary under President George H. W. Bush.

Huckabee has his own talk show on radio and a Fox News Channel show as well, and he sounds like a total right wing lunatic these days, instead of the reasonable, personable conservative he was as Governor and as a candidate for President. It is astounding how he has caved in to the Tea Party crowd in his mad quest to enrich himself by saying what his right wing audience wants to hear!

And Alexander, now a Senator from Tennessee, was someone to be respected, but now is off the wall in his views, including wishing to end the minimum wage, which is already way behind the cost of living, but yet he wants to keep low wage workers in permanent poverty!

Both should be ashamed of themselves, as their legacy will be the destruction of their reasonable moderate conservative image, which at the time of the Presidential Elections of 1996, 2000, and 2008, made them decent alternatives to Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and John McCain!

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee Has Become A Total Lunatic By Predicting That Barack Obama Will Not Finish Second Presidential Term!

Ronald 11 Comments

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was one of many Republicans who sought the Presidency in 2008, and while not winning the nomination, he came across as a strong conservative with somewhat reasonable views, seen as in the mainstream of the party for that election year. He even came across as likeable and pleasant in personality.

However, once Huckabee gained a radio talk show and an hour on the weekend on Fox News Channel, he went berserk, the best term that can be applied to a man who moved to the “hard” right and has emerged as a delusional and whacky man in his statements, making him a lunatic to any reasonable, rational human being!

And now, Huckabee has declared that the Benghazi, Libya tragedy makes it likely that Barack Obama will be impeached, and be unable to finish his second term as President!

Think about just how loony that statement is! Could Obama be impeached by the Republican controlled House of Representatives? YES, for certain, similar to the 105th Congress under Speaker Newt Gingrich which impeached Bill Clinton on December 19, 1998!

But Clinton ended up, even with a Republican controlled Senate, having votes to remove him from office on two impeachment counts, with a 50-50 tie and a 55-45 vote to remove, making it 17 and 12 votes short of removal from office by a two thirds vote!

And now, the Senate is Democratic 55-45, and even if a Senate trial came in 2015 or 2016, with a possible Republican controlled Senate, there would still be no more than, say, 53-54 Republican Senators, and where would the GOP gain anywhere from 13 Senators then to 22 Senators this year or next to convict and remove Obama from the Presidency?

Huckabee is a true lunatic, therefore, and even if it were to happen, all it would do is give Vice President Joe Biden the Presidency, and an edge for the Presidential Election of 2016, which no one should think would lead to his likely defeat as a sitting President. So what would be gained by the GOP removing a term limited President?:

The answer is, simply, race hatred, pure and simple! There is NO justification to impeach and remove Obama, anymore than there was for Bill Clinton, and just as with Clinton, an impeachment would besmirch Obama in history, but he would still survive in office, and leave more popular as a result, just as with Clinton, who has become a “rock star” in his post Presidency!

Talk Of Obama Impeachment Over Benghazi Tragedy: Republican Insanity!

Ronald 68 Comments

The Republican Party and the conservative movement have been out to get President Barack Obama from the day he took office, just as they were with President Bill Clinton.

The right wing was able to impeach Bill Clinton over his sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky, but was unable to remove him from office, even with a majority Republican Senate in 1999.

Now, the tragedy of the death of the ambassador and three support staff in Benghazi, Libya, is being conjured up to be a scandal on the level of Watergate under Richard Nixon, Iran Contra under Ronald Reagan, and the sex scandal under Clinton.

And Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, now a right wing talk show host gone mad, are suggesting that impeachment of Barack Obama is possible, a totally lunatic concept!

NOTHING about Benghazi is worthy of impeachment, and it would simply be another “lynch mob” as occurred with Bill Clinton, making a mockery of the impeachment provision of the Constitution, by utilizing it for the third time in 40 years, when only the Richard Nixon case was worthy of impeachment!

It would undermine the ability of the government to deal with the many domestic and foreign policy issues this nation faces, and be a waste of time and money, as even with an impeachment, which would stain the reputation of Obama permanently, as it did with Clinton, the reality is that NO WAY would a two thirds vote of the Senate be possible to remove the President from office, any more than it was with Bill Clinton!

It is an exercise in futility, unjustified, and clearly is just a political ploy that would reverberate on the Republican Party and the conservative movement, leading to just more political confrontation, and cause disgust among the American people!

Fox News Channel Tries To Rehabilitate Its Image: Massive Job Ahead!

Ronald 16 Comments

Fox News Channel has recently dismissed Sarah Palin and Dick Morris from their group of “celebrities”, and has hired former Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, joining former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and journalist Juan Williams as their “open minded, liberal” brain trust to improve their image.

Is this a good thing? Yes, in the sense that, hopefully, it might change the editorial view of Roger Ailes and others at Fox News Channel, to attempt to be more fair in their news coverage, and their weekend analysis of the news and politics.

But a station which has Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly spewing their right wing propaganda, and having other right wing favorites, including Mike Huckabee, Neil Cavuto, Andrew Napolitano, Monica Crowley, and Dana Perino, and even a publicity hound such as Geraldo Rivera, has a long way to go before it gains true credibility as a REAL news channel, instead of a propaganda organ, which has the effect of making its followers LESS informed than if they did not watch any news!

Forget It: Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee! The White House Is NOT Your Future!

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Many Republican officeholders are hinting that they may seek the Presidency, but for a whole bunch of them, the best advice is to simply FORGET IT! There is no chance in the world that any of the following will be the next President of the United States:

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
Governor John Kasich of Ohio
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin
Governor Rick Perry of Texas
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

In reality, any Republican nominee will have a great deal of trouble being elected President in 2016.

However, the following have some chance to be the nominee and to compete for the Presidency:

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman
Senator John Thune of South Dakota

Good luck, Gentleman, but the Democrats have a tremendous demographic edge for the long term future in the Presidency!

Chick Fil A And Conservatives And Republicans: Again On The Wrong Side Of History!

Ronald 2 Comments

Witnessing so many conservative Republicans going out of their way to support Chick Fil A’s owner in his anti gay contributions to various hate groups against gay rights and gay marriage boggles the mind!

It is NOT so much an issue of whether the Chick Fil A owner is against gay marriage based on his religious beliefs. It is the fact that he has spent millions in support of hate groups who wish the worst for gay men and women in their daily lives!

And for people such as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Minnesota Congresswomen Michele Bachmann, and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, along with Fox News Channel talk show hosts and Rush Limbaugh, to demonstrate that they have no issue with the hate groups against gay men and women, proves once again that conservatives and Republicans are on the wrong side of history!

The same element, much of it very “religious”, opposed women’s right to vote before 1920; demonstrated anti semitic views over a long period of time; fought against civil rights for African Americans with bloodshed and violence; and have been actively involved in promoting discrimination and hate against undocumented immigrants, particularly from Latin America.

Conservative Republicans and conservatives in the news media never seem to realize what they are doing–or do they? We would like to think they are “misguided”, but the more one thinks about it, the more one has to come to the conclusion that they clearly KNOW what they are doing, and that liberals and progressives must continue the fight for justice, humanity, and common decency, knowing that they are doing the will of any truly “religious” person in fighting against hate and prejudice and discrimination!

Chick Fil A And Politics: Not A Good Match!

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The Chick Fil A restaurant chain has managed to get itself involved in a controversy over politics which can only hurt business and alienate customers, by the decision of its management to take a strong public stand against gay marriage, and for traditional marriage.

It is not the job of any corporation to take political stands on controversial issues, as there is no way to avoid alienating many people in the process.

Of course, the management have a right to their view, but to go out of their way to promote their private ideas to the public is totally inappropriate.

What it has led to is a break by Jim Henson’s Muppets as an ally in advertising, and a silly campaign by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to show support for Chick Fil A, a way to draw attention to himself, since he seems to crave public attention which has been ignoring him since he decided not to run for President this year.

One even wonders if Huckabee is vying to be Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate, although, considering his nasty comments about Mitt Romney in 2008, it would be a shot gun marriage!

In any case, corporations may have the right to spend money excessively in political campaigns, due to the infamous Citizens United Case of the Supreme Court in 2010, but they should NOT be taking political stands on divisive matters, that split the country, in so doing!

Regarding Chick Fil A, the author has always admired your chicken, but he is not going to be a customer anymore, until and when they renounce their views, which is not likely. I guess Boston Market is now the place to go, as an alternative, until and when they decide to put their business at risk by a stupid decision to get involved in politics!

Bill Clinton Pardons vs. Mike Huckabee And Haley Barbour Pardons: Double Standard!

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When Bill Clinton left the Presidency in 2001, he was embroiled in controversy over giving pardons to over two hundred individuals for drug offenses and white collar crimes, meaning financial violations. The turmoil went on for weeks, with Fox News Channel and conservative talk show hosts widely condemning his actions, and claiming he had committed insufferable harm.

But when Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee left office in 2007, he pardoned people who had committed heinous murders. And now, outgoing Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, supposedly a very bright and talented politician who had considered the Presidency, and had refused to pardon two African American sisters of a minor crime, but released them on condition that one sister would give a kidney donation to the other, which occurred after they were released, an ethical quandary medically. has gone beyond the pale completely!

Now, Barbour has given pardons to four people convicted of murder who had been allowed as inmates to work at the Governor’s mansion, along with at least 25 other people convicted of murder, manslaughter or homicide, a stunning development hard to explain.

And under the law, neither Huckabee back in 2007 nor Barbour today needs to do any explaining of the pardons, certainly far more heinous than any of the pardons Bill Clinton did in 2001!

This is another example of the double standard that exists, which allows Republicans a “free pass”, while Democrats are under constant attack by conservatives in radio and on Fox News Channel!

Historical Reality Of Iowa (Top Three) And New Hampshire (Top Two) Are The Only Choices For Presidential Nomination Of Either Party

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All of the candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination contend they will go on, even if they perform poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But the historical reality is that unless one ends up in the top three in Iowa AND the top two in New Hampshire, there is no future for such a candidate.

The only exceptions are Bill Clinton in 1992 in Iowa in 4th place behind “favorite son” Tom Harkin, “Uncommitted”, and Paul Tsongas, but Harkin winning 76 percent of the vote; and John McCain, who in 2008 in Iowa ran behind Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, but lost to Thompson for third place only by a total of 424 votes. NEVER has anyone in either party ending up lower than second place in New Hampshire won the Presidential nomination of either political party!

Thus, only five Iowa third or fourth place finishers have ended up winning New Hampshire and being the nominee: Bill Clinton fourth in 1992, Michael Dukakis third in 1988, George McGovern third in 1972, John McCain fourth in 2008, and George H W Bush third in 1988.

So, assuming the polls are correct, Jon Huntsman (not really competing in Iowa), Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and probably Newt Gingrich, are “toast”, with Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and probably Rick Santorum (due to a late surge at the proper time), the real contenders in New Hampshire.

That would mean that Rick Santorum would become the candidate of the “social conservatives”, but the odds are that Mitt Romney will win New Hampshire and go on to become the GOP nominee for President in 2012 against President Obama!