AZ for Mitt

2008-02-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

This will be the last post of AZ for Mitt. Thank you to all of you Romney supporters out there, especially in the Grand Canyon State.

As for November, I cannot vote for McCain in good conscience. I'll still vote for Romney as a write-in candidate.

If there's anything this primary contest has taught me it is that I am a conservative more than I am a Republican. I used to think the two terms were synonymous, but now I know better.

Best wishes.

James

Update: An e-mail from a friend:

Within minutes of hearing that Mitt Romney was ending his bid for the White House I changed my party affiliation to "No Party Preference". Suffice it to say that I do not align myself with the GOP nor any political party. I am instead guided by conservative values that, as you have noticed, are alarmingly lacking from the GOP and all other political parties.

2008-02-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

Mitt suspended his campaign today. Here's what he had to say:

"Soon, the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it is Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to win the Presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the Constitution. Economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy and opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.

"Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign. You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today, we are a nation at war.

"And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child's play. About this, I have no doubt.

"I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters – many of you right here in this room – have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

"I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism.

"It is the common task of each generation – and the burden of liberty – to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.

"To this task, accepting this burden, we are all dedicated, and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope. America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the Earth.

"Thank you, and God bless America."

2008-02-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

POST-SUPER TUESDAY ANALYSIS

· Super Tuesday proved that this is a very fluid election. Gov. Romney won seven states, including Colorado and Minnesota where Republicans must be competitive in the general election.

· The nomination is by no means settled. Even assuming that McCain reaches 700 delegates once counting finishes in California, he would still need to win 77% of delegates from upcoming states to secure the nomination by April 1.

· Gov. Romney did surprisingly well in several key, battleground states. Gov. Romney won Minnesota despite Sen. McCain have the support of the sitting Republican governor and senator. Gov. Romney also did better than expected in Georgia and Missouri.

· Gov. Romney has received eleven gold medals, eleven silver medals and six bronzes. He is the clear full-spectrum conservative in this race.

Post-Feb. 5:

· On Thursday, Gov. Romney will be at the Conservative Political Action Conference where Gov. Romney will address his vision for the future of the Republican Party and nation.

· After Feb. 5, we expect to be competitive in the Kansas and Washington state caucuses on Feb. 9 and then the Feb. 12 states – Virginia, Maryland, and also Washington, D.C.

· Upcoming states will be fertile ground for Gov. Romney because the two largest states on the primary calendar between today and April 1, Texas and Ohio, are favorable terrain. Texas has a very conservative GOP primary vote and 140 delegates; Ohio's economy is similar to Michigan and the state has 88 delegates.

· Gov. Romney did well in caucus states where we focused our energy and resources. In just a few days, Republican voters will caucus in Kansas (39 delegates, winner-take-all) and Washington (40 delegates, proportional) which promise to be strong states for Gov. Romney.

Conservatives Are Coalescing Behind Governor Romney:

· Once again, Gov. Romney carried conservative voters by wide margins. Nationally, he won conservatives by double-digits, 42%-31% over Sen. McCain.

· Even in states Sen. McCain won, Gov. Romney carried conservative voters. For instance, in California, Gov. Romney won conservatives by six points, 39%-33%. Gov. Romney even won conservatives in McCain's home state of Arizona, 43%-40%.

The Republican Party Is Not Coalescing Behind Sen. McCain And Gov. Huckabee:

· Super Tuesday's results show that Sen. McCain is not the presumptive Republican nominee as he himself had expected.

· Sen. McCain made several campaign mistakes. He spent the last few days campaigning where he was the strongest – New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He also spent time in Massachusetts where Gov. Romney won comfortably.

· Gov. Huckabee is not expanding his base of support. He overperformed anywhere where there were large numbers of evangelical voters and underperformed wherever there weren't. Gov. Huckabee's lack of support is evident in his underperforming showings in AZ, CA, NJ, NY, CT and MA.

· Gov. Huckabee has lost five states to Ron Paul, including at least three on Super Tuesday.

2008-02-06T11:19:00.001-07:00

2008-02-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh:

"I think right now Romney probably -- as the campaign has coalesced and as the campaign has progressing on down the highway -- I think the one candidate of the three still out there on our side ... in saying who more closely embodies all three legs of this conservative stool, you'd have to say that it's Mitt Romney. There's actually no choice in the matter. It certainly isn't Senator McCain."

2008-02-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh on voting for Huckabee:

"A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain."

2008-02-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sean Hannity: "I'll tell you right now, and I've not announced this, but I will be voting for Mitt Romney in this campaign. It's the first time I've stated it publicly. I'll state it now." ("Sean Hannity Radio Show," 1/31/08)

Rick Santorum: "In a few short days, Republicans from across this country will decide more than their party's nominee. They will decide the very future of our party and the conservative coalition that Ronald Reagan built. Conservatives can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines in this election, and Governor Romney is the candidate who will stand up for the conservative principles that we hold dear," said Senator Santorum. "Governor Romney has a deep understanding of the important issues confronting our country today, and he is the clear conservative candidate that can go into the general election with a united Republican party."

Laura Ingraham: "All right, I'm going to see your endorsement and raise you an announcement: February 12th is the big D.C. primary, I'm pulling the lever for Mitt Romney. No doubt about it. No hesitation." ("The Laura Ingraham Show," 2/1/08)
To listen to Laura Ingraham, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnXDJHUE_VQ

Lars Larson: "It's time for the GOP to pick a real Republican standard bearer. I've been keeping my powder dry on this question for months till I had the chance to talk to all of the potential nominees. I've done that now, and I'm left with only one conclusion. Governor Mitt Romney is the best choice for 2008." ("The Lars Larson Show," 2/1/08)
To listen to Lars Larson, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5op8PIq62Ao

2008-02-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

McCain, Huckabee Worst Picks for Evangelicals
Contact: Rev. Schenck, 703-447-7686
MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Reverend Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK), in his capacity as a private citizen, today released this statement regarding tomorrow's primary votes:
"I have spent the last 33 years as an active evangelical Christian. I am an ordained evangelical minister. I graduated from an evangelical Bible college and an evangelical seminary. I serve on the board of America's oldest association of evangelical church leaders, and I head one of the most active evangelical ministries in Washington, DC.
"I have thought long and hard about the upcoming elections. I have prayed earnestly about them, and I have met many of the candidates and their top campaign people and I have studied their platforms and policy proposals.
"After careful and prayerful consideration, I have concluded that an evangelical vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for John McCain, and a vote for John McCain will be a disaster for this country.
"Let me explain. It's clear to me and many others that Mike Huckabee is not broadening his appeal enough to win the primary. Therefore, his only contribution is to siphon off votes, giving McCain a clear path to victory. It's very possible Huckabee is being positioned to be John McCain's pick for vice president. In order to win, McCain needs Mike Huckabee and the evangelical votes he brings with him. The specter of a McCain-Huckabee ticket is bad for evangelicals.

To read more click here.

2008-02-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Romney's latest web ad:

ANNOUNCER: "Is John McCain really the heart and soul of the Republican Party?

"Imagine a debate between McCain and Hillary Clinton.

"On amnesty for illegal immigrants, they agree.

"On voting against President Bush's tax cuts, they agree.

"On imposing an additional 50 cents a gallon cost on gasoline: they agree.

"On blocking conservative judges, they agree.

"Even Bill Clinton says?"

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: "'She and John McCain are very close.'"

ANNOUNCER: "Don't we need a leader who agrees with conservatives?"

GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: "I'm Mitt Romney and I approved this message."

To watch "Very Close," please see: http://tv.mittromney.com/?showid=730826

2008-02-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail from John McCain's campaign today:

Like me, Mike Christian was shot down and captured in Vietnam. As his cellmate, I watched as Mike began to collect little scraps of red, white and blue cloth, and with a needle fashioned from a splinter of bamboo, he sewed an American flag on the inside of his blue prison shirt. Every afternoon, my fellow POWS and I would recite the Pledge of Allegiance to Mike's flag. No other event of the day held as much meaning for us.

The prison guards soon discovered Mike's flag - an offense for which he was beaten severely. Mike was returned to our cell and we helped him to the bare mattress in the room. After a few moments, with Mike still bloodied, broken and eyes nearly swollen shut, we watched in awe as he gathered his scraps of cloth and started sewing another American flag.

We must never forget those Americans who, with their courage, with their sacrifice, and with their lives, have protected our right to vote.

Please vote in the Arizona Primary on Tuesday, February 5th.

It clearly illustrates the difference between Mitt Romney and John McCain. Romney is all about the future, about an optimistic vision of solving America's challenges and opening up new opportunities. McCain is about the past. I can't say I've heard him articulate a vision of the future, and I have know idea what his plans are to deal with illegal immigration, the economy, traditional family values or any number of key issues. Do you?

Tomorrow is either a vote for the future or a vote for the past. I pick the future.

2008-02-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Conservatives, here is Mitt Romney (hat tip Elect Romney Blog).

"Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest.” – National Review (Editorial, “Romney For President,” National Review, 12/11/07)

Conservatives, here is John McCain.

Today, The Washington Post Revealed Sen. McCain Is Not Interested In Social Issues:
Sen. McCain: “It’s Not Social Issues I Care About.” “McCain seems distinctly uninterested when asked questions concerning abortion and gay rights. While campaigning in South Carolina, he told reporters riding with him on his bus that he was comfortable pledging to appoint judges who would strictly interpret the Constitution in part because it would reassure conservatives who might otherwise distrust him. ‘It’s not social issues I care about,’ he explained.” (Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear, “Contenders Highlight GOP’s Ideological Struggle,” The Washington Post, 2/3/08)

Others Have Noted That McCain Doesn’t Care About Social Issues:
A Former McCain Aide Previously Said “His Heart Isn’t In This Stuff.” “‘Yes, he’s a social conservative, but his heart isn’t in this stuff,’ one former aide told me, referring to McCain’s instinctual unwillingness to impose on others his personal views about issues such as religion, sexuality, and abortion.” (Todd S. Purdum, “Prisoner Of Conscience,” Vanity Fair, 2/07)

- Former McCain Aide: “But He Has To Pretend [That It Is], And He’s Not A Good Enough Actor To Pull It Off. He Just Can’t Fake It Well Enough.” (Todd S. Purdum, “Prisoner Of Conscience,” Vanity Fair, 2/07)

Sen. McCain Tries To “Placate” Conservatives. “Will McCain’s understandable effort to bend a little here and bow a little there to placate the most conservative elements of his party, who play a disproportionate role in the nominating process get him all twisted up before he ever gets to face the general electorate that polls suggest admires him so?” (Todd S. Purdum, “Prisoner Of Conscience,” Vanity Fair, 2/07)

Couple Sen. McCain’s Lack Of Interest In Social Issues With His Lack Of Understanding Economics:
Sen. McCain: “The Issue Of Economics Is Not Something I’ve Understood As Well As I Should.” “Like Mike Huckabee, who joked recently that he ‘may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night,’ McCain suggested to reporters Monday that American consumer culture offered a short cut to expertise. ‘The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,’ McCain said. ‘I’ve got Greenspan’s book.’” (Sasha Issenberg, “McCain: It’s About The Economy,” The Boston Globe, www.boston.com, Posted 12/18/07)

- Sen. McCain: “I Still Need To Be Educated.” “On a broader range of economic issues, though, Mr. McCain readily departs from Reaganomics. His philosophy is best described as a work in progress. He is refreshingly blunt when he tells me: ‘I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.’” (Stephen Moore, “Reform, Reform, Reform,” OpinionJournal.com, 11/26/05)

2008-02-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Here's the latest poll for Arizona:

43%--McCain
34%--Romney
9%--Huckabee
7%--Paul

As Rush Limbaugh has said, a vote for Huckabee (and I would add Paul) is a vote for McCain. Romney could win Arizona if enough conservatives switch from Huckabee and Paul to Romney.

It's your choice Arizona.

2008-02-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Mitt won Maine by a huge margain:

52%--Romney
21%--McCain
19%--Paul
6%--Huckabee

And no, there aren't very many Mormons in Maine (only 10,000 out of over 1.3 million, or less than 1%).

He's now only five delegates behind McCain:

97--McCain
92--Romney
29--Huckabee

And he's pulling away from McCain in California according to Zogby:

40%--Romney
32%--McCain
12%--Huckabee
5%--Paul

2008-02-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Despite the mainstream media's McCain push, Romney is still tied with McCain in the latest national poll coming out today:

30%--Romney
30%--McCain
21%--Huckabee

2008-02-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

Maine for Mitt!

Early results in the Republican caucuses showed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leading Sen. John McCain and dark-horse candidate Rep. Ron Paul by a wide margin.

With just over 12 percent of Maine precincts reporting, Romney had 53.2 percent of the vote, with Paul in a distant second at 20.6 percent and McCain at 18.3 percent. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was fourth at 5.2 percent.

2008-02-02T15:44:00.001-07:00

There comes a rare opportunity, maybe once in a generation if we're lucky, to elect someone of both high morals and high ability. Usually candidates are medicore at best in both of these categories. This chance may not come again for most of us. The time is now for Mitt Romney and for America. Use your voice and vote to make a difference this Tuesday.

2008-02-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

While maybe disappointed, I hope that none of you are discouraged over the GOP primary race right now. While some in the media think that it's over and McCain has all but won, I thought I would provide some perspective.

The current delegate count is McCain 97 and Romney 74 (althought some have it slightly different). To win a candidate must get 1,191 delegates. In other words, McCain needs 1,094 more delegates and Romney 1,117 more delegates.

To put that in more concrete terms, if McCain and Romney were spiders climbing your living room wall, trying to be the first to the ceiling, McCain would still be less than 8 inches from the floor, with Romney about one and three-quarter inches behind him with over 7 feet still to climb. The race is far from over.

In fact, while liberal Republicans have endorsed McCain this week--Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzeneggar--conservatives such as former Senator Rick Santorum and talk-show host Sean Hannity have endorsed Romney. And in a blow to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the Arkansas Republican Assembley has endorsed Romney over their former governor.

Romney is a turnaround artist, and conservatives are beginning to realize the nightmare of a McCain nomination. Still, a big push is needed before next Tuesday, and here's how you can help (from an e-mail from the campaign):

"The calls you make that connect you to voters could put Mitt over the top, they could mean the difference in determining our next president. Please join us during all or some of the following times by emailing "I want to win" to CallatHome@MittRomney.com.
Saturday, 1-10pm EST
Sunday, 1-8pm EST
Monday, Noon-11pm EST
We are calling so late because we will be calling states in other time zones. We will not call Eastern states after 8pm at night.
We’ve had groups signing up on our website and offering to help from San Diego, California, to Dallas, Texas, to Southern New Jersey, and tagging themselves as everything from Mensans to FredHeads to Grocery Store Owners to Cosmetologists for Mitt. Thousands of new contributors have flooded to the web to pledge their support in the form of a financial contribution.

All of this demonstrates the widespread support for Governor Romney and shows he’s the candidate who can unite the Republican Party and our nation.
Please join us be emailing "I want to win" to CallatHome@MittRomney.com.
Thanks,The Romney for President Team

P.S. If you are unable to make calls but want to support the Call at Home program, please consider making a contribution of $250, $100, $50, $25, or any amount you can afford to go directly to buying more Call at Home minutes. Or even if you plan to make calls, you may make a contribution to keep this program going."

Now, I strongly discourage you from making calls on Sunday. And even if you can only donate $5 or $10, every dollar means more television ads can be run. Additionally, you can contact family and friends in states that are having their primary next Tuesday and tell them why you support Romney. Here's the list of states: New York, Missouri, Arizona, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Utah, Montana, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alaska, and North Dakota.

You can even have a personalized Mitt Romney recorded message phoned to someone. It will say their name (not all names are recorded) and you can personalize it to the issue most important to them (you get to hear it before it's sent in case you don't like it or want to change it). To check this feature out go to http://romney.varitalk.com/

We can make a difference.

2008-01-30T09:43:00.001-07:00

Here's some interesting tidbits from CNN's exit polls:

Romney wins amongst pro-life voters, McCain wins amongst pro-choice voters.

Romney wins amongst voters who say they attend church weekly or monthly. McCain wins amongst those who attend church a few times a year or never.

Romney wins amongst those who feel that illegal immigration or terrorism are the most important issues. McCain gets the most votes from those who place the war in Iraq or the economy first.

Romney wins amongst white voters, McCain wins amongst Latino voters.

17% of voters in the GOP primary were independents, with McCain winning 44% of those, or 143,000 votes from independents. His overall margain of victory was 96,000 votes.

2008-01-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

Super Tuesday Math: Far, Far from Over
By Hugh Hewitt

CNN puts McCain with 97 delegates and Romney at 74.

Let's look at the worst case for Romney on Super Tuesday.

Next Tuesday the winner-take-all states that lean McCain are New York (101), Missouri (58), Arizona (53), New Jersey (52) Connecticut (30), and Delaware (18) for a total of 312 delegates. (Even though Missouri, another winner-take-all leans Huck right now, lets give its 58 delegates to McCain.) Romney is favored in winner-take-all Utah (36) and Montana (25), for a total of 51 delegates.

Thus before the sorting takes place in the other states, McCain's got 409 delegates and Romney's got 126.

Huckabee will certainly get the 34 Arkansas delegates to go with his 29, for a total of 63.

States dividing delegates Tuesday on other-than-a-winner-take-all basis:
California 173
Georgia 72
Illinois 70
Tennessee 55
Alabama 48
Colorado 46
Massachusetts 41
Minnesota 40
Oklahoma 41
West Virginia 30
Alaska 29
North Dakota 26
Total 671

If these divide 40-40-20, McCain and Romney will add 269 delegates each, and Huck 133. But since we are going worst case for Romney, make it 50-30-20, or 336 for McCain, 201 for Romney, and 134 for Huck.

Total at the end of Super Tuesday without a major reversal of fortune for Romney:
McCain 745, Romney 327, and Huck 197.

It takes 1,191 delegates to secure the nomination. There are more than 900 delegates left to fight for after Super Tuesday.S

tart looking hard at the numbers and put yourself in the discussions with Team Romney. It isn't pretty, but it is far, far from over.And if the Huckabee voters look at the reality and see they are voting for McCain when they vote for Huck, anything can happen.

2008-01-30T09:33:00.001-07:00

Romney beat McCain amongst conservatives, but McCain gets the liberal and moderate vote. Click here for CNN's coverage.

2008-01-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here's my report card on the four main candidates in the GOP:

Executive Leadership Experience
Mitt Romney--A
He's had a quarter of a century running businesses, the Olympics and a state. He's known for turning things around. The Democrats have zero executive leadership experience, and Romney's resume will be a stark contrast and a boon for the GOP

John McCain--D
He has none. Some might say he's a leader in the Senate, but if that's the case, where has he led us the past 22 years? He's never worked in the private sector, and legislating is not leading. Never having managed or run anything larger than a Senate office is not impressive, and it's the same credential Hillary and Obama have, so the GOP has no advantage with McCain.

Rudy Giuliani--B
He was the mayor of New York for almost a decade and did accomplish some good things. Before that he was a government lawyer, so he's had some good experience in the public sector, but none in the private sector.

Mike Huckabee--C+
He was governor of Arkansas for 10 years, however his record there was quite unimpressive. He has more experience than McCain, Clinton or Obama, but not that much success. Before that he was a preacher.

Fiscal Conservatism
Mitt Romney--A
He erased a 3 billion dollar defecit in one year without raising taxes, and turned it into a billion dollar surplus with a couple of years. He understands that the problem with government budgets isn't income but outgo, and he knows how to cut waste.

John McCain--B-
He previously opposed Bush's tax cuts, but now supports them. He's against pork-barrel spending, but doesn't seem to really understand the economy. And some of his environmental policies would significantly increase gasoline taxes and thus prices at the pump.

Rudy Giuliani--B
Decent record of cutting taxes, but also fought keeping some taxes.

Mike Huckabee--D+
Cut some minimal taxes as governor, but also raised taxes 20 time resulting in a $500 million tax increase during his administration. He's a big government type of politician and he received an F from the Club for Growth.

Traditional Values
Romney--A
He's pro-life, against human embreyo farming, and probably the most passionate defender of traditional marriage in the country.

McCain--B
He's pro-life, but for embryonic stem cell research and doesn't support a federal marriage amendment.

Giuliani--D-
He's pro-choice and against the federal marriage amendment, though claims he'd try and support adoption programs to reduce abortions.

Huckabee--A
Pro-life and supports federal marriage amendment.

Illegal Immigration
Romney--A
He sought and received permission to authorize his state highway patrol officers to arrest illegal aliens, something no other governor did or has done. He's for legal immigration, but thinks illegal immigration has to stop and our borders have to be secured.

McCain--D+
Pushed the so-called Amnesty bill this past summer. He says he's learned his lesson, but his Latino outreach director is King Amnesty (see post below)

Giuliani--C-
New York city was a sanctuary city under Rudy.

Huckabee--C
Supported free instate tuition and other such friendly policies for the children of illegal immigrants, turning Arkansas into a magnet.

War on Terror
Romey--A-
Most of the pundits agree that he understands the issues and the mindset of the enemy better than any other candidate. He's willing to use force when necessary and diplomacy when necessary.

McCain--A-
Obviously a military background, though I don't trust his temperment. I think he might be more likely to use aggression when aggression is the wrong choice.

Giuliani--B+
He tries to ride on the coattails of 9/11, but his leadership helping New York recover really has nothing to do with fighting terrorists. Though I think he'd be a decent wartime leader.

Huckabee--D
Seems to be pretty clueless when it comes to foreign policy.

Private Life/Character
Romney--A
Happily married for nearly 40 years with 5 solid sons. There is nothing remotely shady in his background and all that know and work with say he is a decent and kind man. His demeanor in the debates when being attacked attests to his solid temperment.

McCain--D+
He's mean, distorts the truth, and admitted to having an affair that led to the termination of his first marriage.

Giuliani--F
He's on his 3rd marriage because of numerous affairs. He's too much like Bill Clinton and if a man won't be faithful to his wife why would he be faithful to anyone else, like the citizens of the U.S.

Huckabee--C+
Solid marriage and family, but investigated 14 times for ethical violations as governor, convicted twice, though he got one conviction overturned. He also has been dishonest in his attacks on Romney, and has been rather slick in running an overtly secretarian campaign. I don't trust him.

2008-01-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

The NRO's Rich Lowry:

I think it’s totally dishonest, and I took away a couple of things from it. One, I think McCain just kind of feels entitled to this cheap shot, because he was genuinely up front about the surge, he was more courageous about it than pretty much any other major politician. So he just feels, though, he can deliver this low blow. And the other thing that is going on, I think, is McCain is much more comfortable attacking harshly and unfairly his enemies within the Republican Party than he is attacking Democrats. And layered on top of this is his obvious, and I think I find it very distasteful, but his obvious hatred for Mitt Romney. If you saw the clip of McCain today, chortling as he was talking about Romney’s flip-flopping, it’s this kind of insincere McCain laughter that masks his true bile that he’s directing towards Mitt Romney. So I find the whole thing, from the dishonesty to the kind of sentiment animosity it’s revealing about Mitt Romney, to be really unworthy of John McCain, and kind of a shame.

2008-01-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

George Will chimes in on McCain's crooked talk and his increasing similarities to the Clintons.

This was a garden-variety dishonesty, the manufacture of which does not cause a Clinton in midseason form to break a sweat. And it was no worse than -- actually, not as gross as -- St. John of Arizona's crooked-talk claim in Florida that Mitt Romney wanted to "surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do" in Iraq because Romney "wanted to set a date for withdrawal that would have meant disaster."

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the Clintons should bask in the glow of John McCain's Clintonian gloss on this fact: Ten months ago Romney said that President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki should discuss, privately, "a series of timetables and milestones." That unremarkable thought was twisted by McCain, whose distortions are notably clumsy, as when Romney said, accurately, that he alone among the candidates has had extensive experience in private-sector business. That truth was subjected to McCain's sophistry, and he charged that Romney had said "you haven't had a real job" if you had a military career. If, this autumn, voters must choose between Clinton and McCain, they will face, at least stylistically, an echo, not a choice.

But that dreary scenario need not come to pass. Romney seems to have found his voice as attention turns to the economy, a subject on which McCain seems neither conversant nor eager to become so. And in South Carolina, Obama, more than doubling Clinton's 27 percent, won a majority of the votes, becoming the first person in either party to do so in a contested primary this year. He won a majority of men and of women, which pretty much covers the rainbow of genders. And he used his victory speech to clearly associate the Clintons with "the idea that it's acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election" (hello again, Bill, you political ethicist who famously said "you gotta do what you gotta do") and "the kind of partisanship where you're not even allowed to say that a Republican had an idea -- even if it's one you never agreed with."

Obama is running against two Clintons -- or one and a fraction of one, given how much she has been diminished by her overbearing spouse. Romney is marginally better off running against a Clinton impersonator.

2008-01-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Governor Romney On Cutting Wasteful Earmarks (Fox News, 1/28/08):

Governor Romney: "My record as the Governor of Massachusetts has been to veto over 800 items, and I would take my veto pen with me to Washington and do the exact same thing. I've said that if I get spending bills, which in discretionary accounts raise our spending by more than inflation less one percent, I'll veto them. I believe the President's executive order specifically saying don't spend these earmark accounts – if they haven't been voted on by congress, don't spend the money, that makes a lot of sense to me. It's a policy I'd maintain going forward. We're going to have to rein in these earmarks, rein in the pork barrel spending. I think that's essential."

To watch Governor Romney, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a1pVNkQQEU

2008-01-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

TOP 10 REASONS WHY SEN. MCCAINSTILL NEEDS "TO BE EDUCATED"ON ECONOMICS

"When the most important pro-growth tax cuts in a generation were proposed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003, Sen. McCain vigorously opposed them." – Club For Growth President Pat Toomey (Pat Toomey, Op-Ed, "The McCain Record," The Wall Street Journal, 3/13/07)

#1: Admits He Knows Little About The Economy:
- Sen. McCain: "The Issue Of Economics Is Not Something I've Understood As Well As I Should." "Like Mike Huckabee, who joked recently that he 'may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night,' McCain suggested to reporters Monday that American consumer culture offered a short cut to expertise. 'The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should,' McCain said. 'I've got Greenspan's book.'" (Sasha Issenberg, "McCain: It's About The Economy," The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/, Posted 12/18/07)

- Sen. McCain: "I Still Need To Be Educated." "On a broader range of economic issues, though, Mr. McCain readily departs from Reaganomics. His philosophy is best described as a work in progress. He is refreshingly blunt when he tells me: 'I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.'" (Stephen Moore, "Reform, Reform, Reform," OpinionJournal.com, 11/26/05)

#2: Opposed The Bush Tax Cuts In 2001:
- In 2001, Sen. McCain Was One Of Only Two Republicans To Vote Against The $1.35 Trillion Tax Cut. The bill lowered marginal rates, eliminated the marriage penalty, and doubled the child tax credit. (H.R. 1836, CQ Vote #170: Adopted 58-33: R 46-2; D 12-31; I 0-0, 5/26/01, McCain Voted Nay)

#3: Opposed The Bush Tax Cuts In 2003:
- In 2003, Sen. McCain Was One Of Only Three Republicans To Twice Vote Against The $350 Billion Tax Cut. The comprehensive bill lowered taxes by $350 billion over 11 years – including increasing the child tax credit and eliminated the marriage penalty. (H.R. 2, CQ Vote #179: Passed 51-49: R 48-3; D 3-45; I 0-1, 5/15/03, McCain Voted Nay; H.R. 2, CQ Vote #196: Adopted 50-50: R 48-3; D 2-46; I 0-1, 5/23/03, McCain Voted Nay)

#4: Opposed Making The Bush Tax Cuts Permanent:
- In 2004, Sen. McCain Said He Would "Clearly" Not Support Extending The Tax Cuts. RUSSERT: "Since the Civil War, every president who has been at war has increased taxes. Should the president consider postponing his tax cut?" SEN. MCCAIN: "I would have – I voted against the tax cuts because of the disproportionate amount that went to the wealthiest Americans. I would clearly support not extending those tax cuts in order to help address the deficit. But the middle-income tax credits, the families, the child tax credits, the marriage tax credits, all of those I would keep." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 4/11/04)

#5: Was Against The Bush Tax Cuts Before He Was For Them:
- Within The Span Of 15 Seconds, McCain Was For, Against, And For Tax Cuts. SEN. MCCAIN: "I've been involved in all of these issues, I know how to stop the irresponsible spending. I've always been for tax cuts, I have always...uh... although, I voted against the first tax cuts, but these tax cuts have to be made permanent..." (Fox News' "Fox & Friends," 1/24/08; http://www.youtube.com/)

#6: Still Says He Was Right To Vote Against The Bush Tax Cuts:
- Sen. McCain Still Believes He Was Right To Vote Against Numerous Republican Tax Cuts. RUSSERT: "Do you believe that voting against the Bush tax cuts was a mistake?" SEN. MCCAIN: "Of course not." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 1/6/08; http://www.youtube.com/)

#7: Used Democrat Class-Warfare Rhetoric To Attack The Bush Tax Cuts:
- Club For Growth President Pat Toomey: Sen. McCain's Statements Sounded Like Kennedy's And Kerry's "Class Warfare." "In 2001, Sen. McCain argued, 'I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief.' That statement is virtually indistinguishable from the class-warfare demagoguery used by Democrats like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry." (Pat Toomey, Op-Ed, "The McCain Record," The Wall Street Journal, 3/13/07)

#8: Included A Tax Increase In His 2000 Campaign Economic Plan:
- McCain Said His 2000 Tax Plan Would Have A Tax Increase. O'REILLY: "All right. So you want to target the – the middle-class people, and you're willing to live with the rich people paying the taxes they're – they're paying." SEN. MCCAIN: "Sure. And I don't want to take any money. In fact, the program that I have gives them a slight tax increase, but the question is what do you do with the surplus. Governor Bush puts it all in tax cuts. I want to give middle-class Americans a tax break, spend it on Social Security, Medicare, and paying down the debt." (Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," 1/20/00; http://www.youtube.com/)

#9: Opposes Permanent Repeal Of The Death Tax:
- In 2002, Sen. McCain Was One Of Only Two Republicans To Twice Vote Against Permanent Repeal Of The Death Tax. (S. 1731, CQ Vote #28: Adopted 56-42: R 45-2; D 11-39; I 0-1, 2/13/02, McCain Voted Nay, H.R. 8, CQ Vote #151: Motion Rejected 54-44: R 45-2; D 9-41; I 0-1, 6/12/02, McCain Voted Nay)

#10: Joined Sen. Joe Lieberman To Propose Higher Energy Taxes On Consumers:
- McCain-Lieberman Would Dramatically Raise Taxes On All Carbon-Based Fuels, Like Gas For Your Car And Home Heating Oil. "What is not widely understood is that [Sen. McCain] is currently sponsoring legislation that, in the name of fighting global warming, would dramatically raise the tax on all carbon-based fuels, including gasoline, home heating oil, coal, and to a lesser extent, natural gas." (Roy Cordato, "McCain's Costly Tax On Energy," National Review, http://article.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/10/08)

2008-01-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here are two previous posts that outline Gov. Romney's strengths and accomplishments.

Here's why many Evangelical Christians support Mitt.

Here's some biographical information about Mitt.

2008-01-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

From MyManMitt:

Miami Herald: Robo calls paint Romney as pro-Castro, says Cardenas
Mitt Romney' s state chairman Al Cardenas says robo calls portraying Romney as soft on Castro have been going out this afternoon to Miami voters.
The calls almost immediately following appearances by diplomat Roger Noriega praising the candidate on Spanish-language radio, said Cardenas, who called the calls "dirty pool" and "despicable."
He said he's not sure who is behind the calls but said "we can only assume it's one of our opponents."

St. Petersburg Times: Anti-Romney pushpolling
Romney campaign is getting reports of anti-Romney pushpolling in Orlando, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, the calls started this morning.
The poll calls are saying that Romney never supported Bush tax cuts, supports tax-payer funded abortions and wants relations with Fidel Castro. Some calls have targeted the Cuban community in South Florida and are in Spanish, said Al Cardenas, Romney's Florida chair.
"These are clearly negative and false attacks against Gov. Romney by a flailing campaign desperate to change the dialogue on issues that matter most to Florida voters like lower taxes, less government and stronger families," said campaign spokeswoman Kristy Campbell.

Funny, I never hear the news reporting on pushpolling calls from Mitt Romney or in support of Mitt Romney.

2008-01-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

John McCain's Latino outreach director is scary.

Mexico First?
McCain has embraced a Vicente Fox’s aide as his own.
By Mark Krikorian of the National Review Online

“I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think ‘Mexico first.’ ” These are the words of Juan Hernandez, John McCain’s “Hispanic outreach director,” on Nightline June 7, 2001.

The blogosphere has been abuzz over the news of Hernandez’s position in the McCain campaign, thanks to the spadework of Michelle Malkin (see here, here, and here) and Jerry Corsi. Thanks also to the power of the Internet, McCain was actually asked about this at an event in Florida Sunday, though he tap-danced his way out of answering directly.

But this potentially explosive story hasn’t gotten any traction in the mainstream press. The first explanation that comes to mind, of course, is that McCain is the media’s preferred Republican, a sense reinforced not only by Thursday’s endorsement of him by the New York Times , but also the Washington Post’s quasi-endorsement on Sunday.

But the more likely explanation is that many people don’t see the news value. After all, whom do you expect McCain would name as his Hispanic outreach director but a fellow supporter of amnesty and accelerated mass immigration? But this is a bigger deal than that.

Contrary to some of the more enthusiastic venting on the web, the problem is not that McCain has a Hispanic outreach director; while the government shouldn’t have anything to do with race or ethnicity, it’s perfectly natural for a political campaign to do outreach to any and every kind of voter. In fact, McCain’s “very close” friend, Hillary Clinton, last spring named Raul Yzaguirre to lead her Hispanic outreach effort. Naturally, Yzaguirre is a big supporter of amnesty and mass immigration — until he retired in 2004, he was president of the National Council of La Raza.

But even Yzaguirre has never been a foreign government official.

After Vicente Fox was elected in 2000, he named the U.S.-born dual citizen Hernandez (a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas) to head the newly created, cabinet-level Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad (making him, in effect, Fox’s “Hispanic outreach director”). Hernandez’s oath of office was presumably similar to the one taken by his boss:

I swear to follow and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to perform the job of President of the Republic which the people have conferred upon me with loyalty and patriotism, in all actions looking after the good and prosperity of the Union; and if I do not fulfill these obligations, the Nation will demand them of me.

“Loyalty,” “patriotism” — it’s a good oath. For a Mexican. Not for an American.

Before Earl Warren started making up emanations and penumbras of the Constitution (in this instance, the case of Afroyim v. Rusk in 1967), Hernandez would have been stripped of his American citizenship for having committed an “expatriating act,” specifically “accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof.” (8 USC 1481)

On the radio Saturday, Hugh Hewitt and Michelle Malkin noted the incongruity of the McCain campaign’s embrace of this former foreign government official:

HH: I know. I’ve got a question for you. If John Kerry had employed as a senior adviser a dual citizen who had served in the French cabinet under any of our many French adversaries/allies, how would the Republicans have treated that Kerry adviser position? Wouldn’t we have raised holy hell about that?

MM: Oh, yeah, it would be worth five Drudge sirens in 100 point, World War IV font.

No kidding.

The contempt for American citizenship that McCain has shown by naming this political bigamist to a post in his campaign isn’t even the whole problem. One might also ask how McCain could even consult with a person of such extreme views, let alone name him Hispanic outreach director. McCain’s support for amnesty and accelerated mass immigration is bad enough, but you can, at least in theory, be for those things and still support firm borders and patriotic assimilation.

But McCain’s Hispanic outreach director is a man who has spent years opposing the very legitimacy of America’s borders and Americanization in the most public way possible. The man has been on every TV-news show in creation rejecting as passé the very idea of sovereign borders and patriotic assimilation into the American mainstream. (Digger’s Realm has compiled a greatest-hits video.)

Before teaming up with McCain, Hernandez became (he still is) a senior fellow at the Reform Institute, the think tank McCain set up after his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign — Brian Anderson of City Journal described it as “the 2008 McCain-for-President campaign-in-waiting.”

And Hernandez’s job there is to run — what else? — the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative. If any more evidence of the institute’s leanings were needed, note that last year it sponsored an online contest to “Design Your Portion of the Border Fence” and gave top honors to a design that explicitly compared border fencing to the Berlin Wall. (See all the entries here.)

This is much worse than the similar controversy over Ron Paul’s ghost-written newsletters; it’s obvious McCain and his people knew perfectly well what Hernandez was about, and they didn’t see anything wrong with it. That tells us all we need to know about the sincerity of McCain’s newfound support for secure borders.

— Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and an NRO contributor.

2008-01-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

I just got done making phone calls for Mitt. One of my fellow callers in the call center spoke with a woman who had received a call from the McCain campaign earlier in the day. When the woman indicated she would be supporting Romney, the McCain campaign caller asked if she would still support Romney if she knew that Romney had voted against the Bush tax cuts.

Funny, I didn't know that governors could vote on federal tax legislation?

The straight talk just gets more and more crooked.

A woman I talked to asked if it was true that Romney engineered taxpayer-supported abortions underneath the his health care plan. I gave her the correct information. I don't know who was the source of that fallacy, but McCain did send out a mailer with that info on it in South Carolina, so I doubt we'd have to look far.

2008-01-28T15:07:00.001-07:00

For a breakdown of McCain-onimics, click here. For a look at Romney's economic prowess, click here.

2008-01-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Re: Low Blow [Andy McCarthy] of NRO's The Corner:

I'm starting to think Sen. McCain should not be allowed to mention the other candidates' names within 30 days before a primary. I mean, he levels an allegation about Romney that's just flat not true, and if some organization wanted to run an add calling him on it, they would be in violation of his "reform" of campaign finance regulations. What a racket!

2008-01-28T10:24:00.001-07:00

McCain-onomics. That spells "recession."

2008-01-28T10:01:00.001-07:00

John McCain is dishonest. He has made claims about Mitt Romney that he can't produce proof to back up. He has attacked Mitt Romney for something he didn't say, but gave a free pass to Democrats for actually saying what McCain claims Mitt said.

John McCain is no straight-talker. He is a desperate man. For evidence of his duplicity, click here, here, here and here.

Here's what CNN (of all networks) is saying about McCain:

Speaking of straight talk, no American politician has gotten more adoring press coverage than John McCain. But let's be clear about what John McCain is doing about Mitt Romney. He's lying. He's lying about Mitt Romney's position, no question about it. And you know I think that -- this idea that Mitt Romney supports timetables, now, in fact most Americans support timetables to get out of Iraq, Mitt Romney doesn't happen to be one of them. That's really outrageous what McCain is doing bringing up this ancient interview and distorting it at the last minute so he doesn't have to talk about the economy.

In New Hampshire Romney rad ads contrasting his position with McCain's on several key issues. Despite the fact that those ads said McCain was an honorable man, McCain whined that Romney was unfairly attacking him. McCain then rad an add that did not talk about issues or accomplishments, it merely called Romney a phoney. While Romney praised McCain's character while pointing out differences on positions, McCain ignored positions and slurred Romney's character.

In South Carolina, as noted in a previous post, McCain sent out a mailer with blatant falsehoods about Romney's record. Romney didn't return the favor.

Now in Florida McCain, trying to get the topic back on the War in Iraq, makes the false claim that Romney supported a withdrawal timetable for the troops like the Democrats. He did not. Now, McCain repeatedly lies about Romney and attacks his character. Romney calls McCain an honorable man.

Why does John McCain have more nice things to say about Hillary Clinton than Mitt Romney? Here's what Bill Clinton has to say:

If Hillary Clinton and John McCain become their party's presidential nominees, the general election race is likely to be a love-fest.

At least according to Bill Clinton.

Campaigning in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Friday, the former president brushed aside suggestions his wife would prove to be a divisive nominee for the Democratic Party, pointing out how she has successfully worked with Republicans in the Senate — including one of the current GOP presidential candidates.

"She and John McCain are very close," Clinton said. "They always laugh that if they wound up being the nominees of their party, it would be the most civilized election in American history, and they're afraid they'd put the voters to sleep because they like and respect each other."

2008-01-28T09:56:00.001-07:00

John McCain thinks Sam Alito is too conservative and wouldn't appoint justices like him (from the Wall Street Journal via NRO):

More recently, Mr. McCain has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because "he wore his conservatism on his sleeve."

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has called for more justices in the mold of Alito and Roberts. I don't trust John McCain to appoint conservative justices to the bench.

2008-01-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

From James Fallows of The Atlantic:

Man from Mars perspective on the Republican debate
24 Jan 2008 11:19 pm

As soon as this evening's Florida debate ended, the MSNBC TV commentators were wondering how it would have looked to "someone who was seeing these candidates for the first time."

Why didn't they just ask me?

This is the first debate among the Republicans that I've seen at full length and in real time.* So factoring in all the expectations I'd gathered from coverage (Romney too weaselly, McCain really the strongest one, Huckabee a charmer, etc), how did it look?

Romney by a mile. More precisely, the only candidate you could imagine putting up a plausible general-election fight. Again, I'm not handicapping the GOP race, which I know nothing about. I'm not saying how each candidate did relative to previous appearances. I am telling you how this one debate looked if you had never seen these guys on the same stage before.

McCain, Giuliani, and Huckabee all notably ill at ease when asked to say anything about the economy. (Huckabee: building two new lanes on I-95, Maine to Florida, as an energy saving measure???) When Romney asked Giuliani a specific question about how to deal with China, the answer reminded me of the way I would sound if asked to fill 90 seconds discussing my favorite fashion designers. McCain attempting to describe his economy policy by listing his advisors. (Jack Kemp?) The more the economy matters as The general election issue, the less this will cut it -- and the more Romney can use at least the veneer of his being able to discuss the issue.

Two other random points:- Boy, do these people hate Hillary Clinton! Her name was mentioned at least ten times as often as George Bush's (and all Bush mentions, that I heard, were from Romney).
-
The intrusiveness and badgering nature of Tim Russert's questions! I wonder whether the two parties will subject themselves to another presidential cycle of "debating" on these demeaning terms.

Here endeth the report from outer space.

2008-01-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

What They're Really Saying About Gov. Romney At The Boca Raton, FL, GOP Debate - Vol. III

MSNBC's Pat Buchanan: "I got to say that I think clearly Mitt Romney dominated tonight. His performance was flawless. He looked presidential." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08)

- Buchanan: "I think Romney clearly won tonight." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08) - Buchanan: "He looked terrific. He got off the best two lines of the night." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 1/25/08) - Buchanan: "I think he was crisp and strong." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 1/25/08)

- Buchanan: "If Romney is in the lead tonight and people are looking at this, he looks to me like a man, quite frankly that can beat Hillary Rodham Clinton and can be president of the United States." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08)

ABC News' Jake Tapper: "Romney, who is in a dead heat with McCain for first place in some recent polls here in Florida, had perhaps the best night, presenting a polished and confident demeanor." (Jake Tapper, "GOP Debate: Not Quite A Smoka In Boca," ABC News' Website, http://abcnews.go.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

The Washington Post's Michael D. Shear And Juliet Eilperin: "The debate offered Romney a chance to shine as he received several opportunities to discuss economic issues and his experience in the private sector." (Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin, "Republicans Play To Right In Fla. Debate," The Washington Post, 1/25/08)

The Weekly Standard's Dean Barnett: "With that preamble out of the way, I must unequivocally state that last night was an enormously successful evening for Romney. He's a serious guy, and a capable one. That came through last night." (Dean Barnett, "Boca Break Down," The Weekly Standard, http://www.weeklystandard.com/, 1/25/08)

Time's Mark Halperin: "... Romney came out strong, unapologetic and on message." (Mark Halperin, "GOP Debate Report Card," Time, http://www.time.com/, Posted 1/25/08)

- Halperin: "[Romney] settled comfortably into the 'looks and sounds like a president' zone that is one of his chief assets." (Mark Halperin, "GOP Debate Report Card," Time, http://www.time.com/, Posted 1/25/08)

- Halperin: "[Romney] Seemed to anticipate an eventual one-on-one contest with McCain, and displayed the confidence of a man who feels certain he has a spot in the finals. Bottom line: Benefited more than anyone else from the oddly low-key nature of a high-stakes." (Mark Halperin, "GOP Debate Report Card," Time, http://www.time.com/, Posted 1/25/08)

National Review's David Freddoso: "By the time he was done, Romney even demonstrated that he understands why a one-time rebate is not a real economic stimulant." (David Freddoso, "The Debate Begins," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

Townhall's Jennifer Rubin: "Romney had perhaps his best debate performance? He was at his best when speaking on economics and he successfully ducked a question from Giuliani on his position on a national catastrophic insurance fund." (Jennifer Rubin, "Republican Debates Offer Little Foresight," Townhall, 1/25/08)

- Rubin: "He forcefully rebuffed the moderator's inquiries about how much of his personal fortune he has spent on the campaign. He too should be pleased that voters saw a confident, economically literate candidate." (Jennifer Rubin, "Republican Debates Offer Little Foresight," Townhall, 1/25/08)

Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell: "Overall, Mitt Romney had a good night. He sounded informed, human and comfortable. And he handled several tough questions with ease." (Scott Maxwell, Op-Ed, "Debate Was A Good Night For Everyone But Pimps, Gamblers, Non-Republicans," Orlando Sentinel, 1/25/08)

RedState's Alexham: "There weren't many fireworks between our candidates last night, but one did stand out in a big way: Mitt Romney. He was good. Very good." (Alexham, "Romney Rising: And This Time, It's For Real," RedState, http://www.redstate.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Alexham: "I think we are finally seeing the real Mitt Romney: The smart, wonkish, well-mannered, technocrat, problem-solving businessman. That's who Mitt Romney is, and he has finally revealed his true persona to the rest of us. And I, for one, appreciate it." (Alexham, "Romney Rising: And This Time, It's For Real," RedState, http://www.redstate.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Alexham: "Romney is at his best when he is engaged in wonkish problem solving ..." (Alexham, "Romney Rising: And This Time, It's For Real," RedState, http://www.redstate.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Alexham: "Be who you are Mitt, and you may just become the next president of the United States." (Alexham, "Romney Rising: And This Time, It's For Real," RedState, http://www.redstate.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

2008-01-25T09:25:00.001-07:00

The NY Times (probably the most liberal paper in the country) has endorsed John McCain in the GOP primary (hat tip Hugh Hewitt). Here are some quotes:

Still, there is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator John McCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe...

We have shuddered at Mr. McCain’s occasional, tactical pander to the right because he has demonstrated that he has the character to stand on principle. He was an early advocate for battling global warming and risked his presidential bid to uphold fundamental American values in the immigration debate...

But Mr. McCain took a stand, just as he did in recognizing the threat of global warming early. He has been a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, working with Senator Russ Feingold, among the most liberal of Democrats, on groundbreaking legislation, just as he worked with Senator Edward Kennedy on immigration reform.

2008-01-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

What They're Really Saying About Governor Mitt Romney At The Boca Raton, FL GOP Debate - Vol. II

MSNBC'S Chuck Todd: "Romney looks good and sounds confident tonight." (Chuck Todd, "Romney Starting Off Well Tonight," MSNBC's First Read, http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Romney made a strong first impression." (Marc Ambinder, "Live Twittering Of The Debate," The Atlantic, http://twitter.com/marcambinder, Posted 1/24/08)

Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey: "Florida voters got their final head-to-head look at the Republican presidential candidates tonight, and the winner of the debate was Mitt Romney." (Ed Morrissey, "Florida Debate: Romney Scores, Rudy Close Behind," Captain's Quarters' Blog, www.captainsquartersblog.com, Posted 1/24/08)

- Morrissey: "He looked presidential, poised, and factually prepared." (Ed Morrissey, "Florida Debate: Romney Scores, Rudy Close Behind," Captain's Quarters' Blog, www.captainsquartersblog.com, Posted 1/24/08)

- Morrissey: "In a debate that spent the first two-thirds with everyone doing well, Romney not only broke out on his own in the last stanza, he successfully parried some strange attacks from Tim Russert as well." (Ed Morrissey, "Florida Debate: Romney Scores, Rudy Close Behind," Captain's Quarters' Blog, www.captainsquartersblog.com, Posted 1/24/08)

Michelle Malkin: "Romney's being treated like the front-runner and he's acting like it." (Michelle Malkin, "GOP Florida Debate: Show Us The Conservatism," Michelle Malkin's Blog, http://michellemalkin.com/, Accessed 1/24/08)

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "Mitt Romney should send a thank you card to Tim Russert and Brian Williams. They threw hard balls at the former Massachusetts governor and he hit them all, many out of the park. Romney's allocation of time had to be disproportionate, but that was the Williams/Russert choice, and Romney made the most of it." (Hugh Hewitt, "'General Hillary Clinton' And 'They're Doing It In Europe Now,'" Townhall Blog, http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Hewitt: "Democrats watching tonight have to be very worried that Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee." (Hugh Hewitt, "'General Hillary Clinton' And 'They're Doing It In Europe Now,'" Townhall Blog, http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

American Spectator's Wlady: "Terrific Romney answer to Russert's nosiness about how much he's spent in Florida. Russert's mistake: his insinuation that he was asking the question on behalf of the people's right to know. Romney instead let it be known he'll report his spending on Jan. 31, as required by law; and there's no reason to give his opponents a competitive advantage." (Wlady, "Rich Man, Poor Man," AmSpec Blog, http://www.amspec.org/, Accessed 1/24/08)

ABC News' Rick Klein: "Romney gets an initial question on the economy -- this is tailor made for him. ? He sounds authoritative and in control on this subject." (Rick Klein, "Live Blogging During GOP Debate," ABC News' Political Radar, http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar, Posted 1/24/08)

National Journal's Jennifer Skalka: "Winners?Mitt Romney -- Mistake-free night." (Jennifer Skalka, "No Battle In Boca," National Journal's On Call, http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

Heading Right's Ed Morrissey: "Best line of the evening so far: General Hillary Clinton." (Ed Morrissey, "Best Line Of The Evening So Far," Heading Right Blog, http://headingright.com/, Accessed 1/24/08)

- Morrissey: "Romney just delivered a hell of a punch against Hillary Clinton, Bill, and the Democrats." (Ed Morrissey, "Romney Lapping The Pack," Heading Right Blog, http://headingright.com/, Accessed 1/24/08)

- Morrissey: "I am impressed." (Ed Morrissey, "Romney's Running Away With It!" Heading Right Blog, http://headingright.com/, Accessed 1/24/08)

American Spectator's Phillip Klein: "Romney is clearly benefiting from the focus on the economy." (Phillip Klein, "Quick Debate Reaction," AmSpec Blog, http://www.amspec.org/blogger, Accessed 1/24/08)

Heading Right's Fausta Wertz: "[Y]es, this is the Mitt Romney hour." (Fausta, "Back To Mitt," Heading Right Blog, http://headingright.com/, Accessed 1/24/08)

Townhall's Matt Lewis: "If one had to assign a winner tonight, Mitt Romney would probably get the nod." (Matt Lewis, "GOP Debate Analysis: Florida Now A Two-Man Race," Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lewis: "The debate focused more on the economy than it did on any other topic, and I think he is more adept at talking about this topic than is his primary opponent, John McCain." (Matt Lewis, "GOP Debate Analysis: Florida Now A Two-Man Race," Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lewis: "He also did a good job of going after the Clintons -- something that McCain should have actually done more of." (Matt Lewis, "GOP Debate Analysis: Florida Now A Two-Man Race," Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lewis: "Romney was ahead in the last Florida poll I saw, and since nothing that happened tonight is likely to radically upset the apple cart, he wins tonight merely by maintaining the status quo." (Matt Lewis, "GOP Debate Analysis: Florida Now A Two-Man Race," Townhall Blog, www.townhall.com, Posted 1/24/08)

2008-01-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

What They're Really Saying About Governor Mitt Romney At The Boca Raton, FL GOP Debate

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "I think conservatives probably related to Mitt Romney, talking about tax cuts, talking about being a governor, talking about what he did in the private sector for all those years. On the economic part of this debate, I don't think there is any doubt that this was Mitt Romney's best performance." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08)

- Scarborough: "The first 30 minutes - it was about the economy. I thought Mitt Romney absolutely dominated that segment of it." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08)

Time's Mark Halperin: "Romney A-" (Mark Halperin, "Who Wants To Be The Nominee?" Time's The Page, http://thepage.time.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

MSNBC's Chuck Todd: "I thought this was Mitt Romney's best debate performance." (MSNBC's "Live," 1/24/08)

National Review's Rich Lowry: "Romney has seemed authoritative – confident and on his game..." (Rich Lowry, "The Debate So Far," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lowry: "'We're the Party of Change' ... Home-run answer from Romney. It was drawn from his standard lines on the stump, but a terrific message, convincingly delivered." (Rich Lowry, "'We're The Party Of Change'," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lowry: "Good night for Romney." (Rich Lowry, "Good Night For Romney," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Lowry: "Romney is dominating the last half-an-hour." (Rich Lowry, "In Terms Of Sheer Time..." National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham: "Romney just stole that issue from both Rudy and McCain. His answer was intelligent and far-reaching. I liked the idea of high-risk areas getting together to pool risk. Rudy's been trying to pander with this idea and I think both Romney and McCain made the pandering look silly by taking a broader approach." (Mary Katharine Ham, "The Cat Fund," Townhall Blog, http://www.townhall.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

National Review's Kate O'Beirne: "Romney's insights about his state's National Guard was helpful. He seems particularly aggressive and sure-footed tonight." (Kate O'Beirne, "On Offense," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

Michelle Malkin: "Excellent Romney answer on Iraq. Strong, tough, focused on the surrendercrats. He takes on Dems for their withdrawalmania?cites debate in SC when Hillary refused to say she wanted to win and recycled Code Pink line." (Michelle Malkin, "GOP Florida Debate," http://michellemalkin.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

- Malkin: "Romney excoriates Dems and says 'how dare they' take credit for surge." (Michelle Malkin, "GOP Florida Debate," http://michellemalkin.com/, Posted 1/24/08) - Malkin: "Romney just out-McCained McCain on the war." (Michelle Malkin, "GOP Florida Debate," http://michellemalkin.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Romney was swell on the economy..." (Marc Ambinder, "Romney Made A Strong First Impression... No One Tried To Jab At Him," Twitter Blog, http://twitter.com/marcambinder, Posted 1/24/08)

Hot Air's Bryan Preston: "Mitt Romney is asked whether the war in Iraq was worth the sacrifice and effort. He delivers the best answer of the bunch and punches the hippies in the Democrat party to boot." (Bryan Preston, "Debate Highlights: Huckabee On The Economic Stimulus; Romney On Iraq," Hot Air, http://hotair.com/, Posted 1/24/08)

2008-01-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

This would be funny if it wasn't so untrue (from the American Chronicle):

"Huckabee praised McCain for running a clean campaign in South Carolina, insinuating that Romney did not."

For evidence that Huckabee is clueless or dishonest, check out the independent, non-partisan factcheck.org:

McCain is sending out a postcard mailing in South Carolina that is misleading on more than one point.

It says that "Romney provided taxpayer-funded abortions," a distortion. Romney's Massachusetts health-care plan faced a court order requiring abortions to be covered.

It says Romney "refused to endorse Bush Tax Cut Plan," but fails to note that McCain himself voted against it.

Huckabee wants to be McCain's vice-president, and that's why he can overlook dishonest campaigning.

2008-01-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a great rundown of Romney's conservative accomplishments while Governor:

---In the four balanced budgets he signed into law, Governor Romney used the line-item veto or program reduction power to cut spending by nearly $1 Billion. Over the course of four budgets, Governor Romney made over 300 line-item reductions, 350 line-item eliminations and struck language 150 times.
--- When Gov Romney took office in Massachusetts, he inherited a $2 billion deficit. While in office, he turned the $2 billion into a surplus----WITHOUT raising taxes.
---Gov Romney solved the health care crisis in Massachusetts----and his plans are still used today. He did this by using the free market and competition---and without raising taxes.
--- Gov. Romney was instrumental in passing a bill abolishing a retroactive capital gains tax in the state that would have forced nearly 50,000 taxpayers to pay an additional $200 million in state taxes and fees
--- 4 years ago --- before the illegals marched in our streets --- Romney opposed a bill that would have allowed illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. "Those who are here illegally should not receive tacit support from our government that gives an indication of legitimacy," the governor said. (Scott S. Greenberger, "Romney Stand Dims Chances Of License For Undocumented," The Boston Globe, 10/28/03)
--- Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have permitted illegal aliens to pay the same in-state tuition rate paid by citizens at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
--- Romney vetoed the bill providing state funding for human embryonic stem cell research
--- Romney vetoed a bill that provided for the "morning after pill" without a prescription because it is an abortifacient and would have been available to minors without parental notification and consent
--- He vetoed legislation which would have redefined Massachusetts longstanding definition of the beginning of human life from fertilization to implantation

I would add that it was a 3 billion dollar defecit, not 2, and that he has been the country's most ardent and vocal defender of traditional marriage.

2008-01-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement on former Senator Fred Thompson withdrawing his candidacy for President of the United States:

"Throughout this campaign, Fred Thompson brought a laudable focus to the challenges confronting our country and the solutions necessary to meet them. He stood for strong conservative ideas and believed strongly in the need to keep our conservative coalition together. Ann and I would like to extend our best wishes to Fred, Jeri and their family and congratulate them on their efforts during this campaign."

Welcome FredHeads. Here in Arizona we like conservatives. Just look at Saturday's Maricopa County GOP Straw Poll results below.

2008-01-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

George Will weighs in on McCain in his latest column: "John McCain--Faux Straight Talker."

2008-01-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's an article that gives us a glimpse of Rudy's character. It's not pretty.

2008-01-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

Maricopa County is the heart of McCain country. It is the most populous county in Arizona by far, and houses Phoenix, the capitol. Maricopa County's GOP held a straw poll Saturday, and here are the results (via Sonoran Alliance):

Overall Votes (662 Votes):
#1 - Mitt Romney - 28.4% (188)
#2 - Fred Thomson - 18.3% (121)
#3 - Ron Paul - 17.4% (115)
#4 - Duncan Hunter - 14.0% (93)
#5 - John McCain - 12.1% (80)
#6 - Rudy Giuliani - 5.0% (33)
#7 - Mike Huckabee - 4.8% (32)

Most Acceptable (1781 Votes):
#1 - Fred Thompson - 20.8% (370)
#2 - Duncan Hunter - 20.1% (358)
#3 - Mitt Romney - 20.0% (356)
#4 - Rudy Giuliani - 13.2% (235)
#5 - Mike Huckabee - 11.6% (207)
#6 - John McCain - 7.6% (135)
#7 - Ron Paul - 6.7% (120)

Most Unacceptable (1949 votes):
#1 - John McCain - 21.9% (427)
#2 - Ron Paul - 20.3% (396)
#3 - Rudy Giuliani - 18.3% (357)
#4 - Mike Huckabee - 17.4% (340)
#5 - Duncan Hunter - 8.0% (156)
#6 - Fred Thompson - 7.8% (152)
#7 - Mitt Romney - 6.2% (121 )

Notice that McCain finishes a distant 5th to Romney in the voting, and places first as the most unacceptable candidate amongst those who know him best.

Also, if you remove Hunter (who's already dropped out) and Thompson (who is expected to drop out this week), Romney wins every category (even without those deletions he wins two and finishes .8% behind first on the third).

2008-01-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

I've already seen headlines at MSN.com that say Romney gets the Mormon vote. I wonder if this is the MSM's attempt to further rile up Evangelicals in hopes of getting MSM's favoite RINO--Mike Huckabee--more votes in future elections.

But here are the facts.

Mitt got 94% of the vote in Nevada. That means he did worse than Bush in 2004 in the general election were "W" got 95% of the Mormon vote in the entire country.

Bush isn't Mormon. Mormons like conservatives. Romney's a conservative.

UPDATE: Here is the link to the Standard Weekly article that indicates 95% of Mormons voted for Bush in 2004:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=5672&R=ED3458A

And here's the actual quote (about halfway down the page):

Most Mormons would be thrilled at the prospect of a Romney candidacy, and not just because Romney is a Republican and Mormons overwhelmingly vote Republican (they went 95 to 5 percent for Bush in 2004, up from 88 to 12 percent in 2000).

Also, Jeff Fuller did some analysis of the exit polls, and when you calculate the numbers of Mormons (Latter-day Saints) who voted in the Democratic Caucus in Nevada, Mitt actually received 73% of the Mormon vote in the Silver State. Click here for Jeff's analysis.

2008-01-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've wondered why Mitt gets taken to task for changing his mind on some positions, while other candidates get a free ride. A new study out of Vanderbilt University explains why:

Bias against Mitt Romney’s religion is one of the reasons that the tag “flip-flopper” sticks with the former Massachusetts governor but not his Republican opponents, according to Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer. “There is no question that Romney has changed his positions on some issues, but so have some of the other candidates,” Geer said. “Why does the label stick to Romney but not his opponents? At least some of the answer lies in Romney’s Mormon beliefs.”

Geer and colleagues Brett Benson of Vanderbilt and Jennifer Merolla of Claremont Graduate University designed an Internet survey to assess bias against Mormons, how best to combat it and its potential impact on the nomination process and general election campaign.

“We find that of those who accuse Romney of flip-flopping, many admit it is Romney’s Mormonism and not his flip-flopping that is the real issue,” Benson said. “Our survey shows that 26 percent of those who accuse Romney of flip-flopping also indicate that Mormonism, not flip-flopping, is their problem with Romney.” Benson noted that the pattern is especially strong for conservative Evangelicals. According to the poll, 57 percent of them have a bias against Mormons.

The poll, which was conducted by Polimetrix, included an oversample of Southern Evangelicals that Geer said measured bias with far more precision than previous efforts. The survey shows that 50 percent of conservative Evangelicals evaluate a moderate Christian candidate more positively than a conservative Mormon candidate.

The study’s findings suggest that criticizing Romney for flip-flopping is an effective campaign strategy because it sticks with two different groups: those who are genuinely concerned about Romney’s shifts on certain issues and those who use the label as cover for the fact that they do not want to vote for a Mormon for president.

“As the campaign continues to unfold, these data become increasingly relevant as the Republicans choose a presidential nominee,” Geer said.

2008-01-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

Ross Perot will vote for Mitt Romney and slams McCain in this Newsweek interview:

Perot says he intends to vote for Mitt Romney in the Texas Republican primary on March 4, citing Romney's experience in business and his family values. "When I went to the Naval Academy and met my first Mormons I asked why so many were excellent officers," Perot recalls. "I learned it was because of their strong family unit."...

The Perot-McCain relationship goes back to McCain's five and a half years of captivity in Hanoi. When McCain's then-wife Carol was in a serious car accident, McCain's mother called Perot for help. "She asked me to send my people to Philadelphia to take care of the family," Perot says. Afterwards, McCain was grateful. "We loved him [Perot] for it," McCain told me in 2000.

Perot doesn't remember it that way. "After he came home, he walked with a limp, she [Carol McCain] walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona [Cindy McCain, his current wife] and the rest is history."

2008-01-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Real McCain Record:
Obstacles in the way of conservative support
By Mark R. Levin (NRO)

There’s a reason some of John McCain's conservative supporters avoid discussing his record. They want to talk about his personal story, his position on the surge, his supposed electability. But whenever the rest of his career comes up, the knee-jerk reply is to characterize the inquiries as attacks.

The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter. For starters, consider:

McCain-Feingold — the most brazen frontal assault on political speech since Buckley v. Valeo.

McCain-Kennedy — the most far-reaching amnesty program in American history.

McCain-Lieberman — the most onerous and intrusive attack on American industry — through reporting, regulating, and taxing authority of greenhouse gases — in American history.

McCain-Kennedy-Edwards — the biggest boon to the trial bar since the tobacco settlement, under the rubric of a patients’ bill of rights.

McCain-Reimportantion of Drugs — a significant blow to pharmaceutical research and development, not to mention consumer safety (hey Rudy, pay attention, see link).

And McCain’s stated opposition to the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts was largely based on socialist, class-warfare rhetoric — tax cuts for the rich, not for the middle class. The public record is full of these statements. Today, he recalls only his insistence on accompanying spending cuts.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, McCain was consistently hostile to American enterprise, from media and pharmaceutical companies to technology and energy companies.

McCain also led the Gang of 14, which prevented the Republican leadership in the Senate from mounting a rule change that would have ended the systematic use (actual and threatened) of the filibuster to prevent majority approval of judicial nominees.

And then there’s the McCain defense record.

His supporters point to essentially one policy strength, McCain’s early support for a surge and counterinsurgency. It has now evolved into McCain taking credit for forcing the president to adopt General David Petreaus’s strategy. Where’s the evidence to support such a claim?

Moreover, Iraq is an important battle in our war against the Islamo-fascist threat. But the war is a global war, and it most certainly includes the continental United States, which, after all, was struck on 9/11. How does McCain fare in that regard?

McCain-ACLU — the unprecedented granting of due-process rights to unlawful enemy combatants (terrorists).

McCain has repeatedly called for the immediate closing of Guantanamo Bay and the introduction of al-Qaeda terrorists into our own prisons — despite the legal rights they would immediately gain and the burdens of managing such a dangerous population.

While McCain proudly and repeatedly points to his battles with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who had to rebuild the U.S. military and fight a complex war, where was McCain in the lead-up to the war — when the military was being dangerously downsized by the Clinton administration and McCain’s friend, former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen? Where was McCain when the CIA was in desperate need of attention? Also, McCain was apparently in the dark about al-Qaeda like most of Washington, despite a decade of warnings.

My fingers are crossed that at the next debate, either Fred Thompson or Mitt Romney will find a way to address McCain’s record. (Mike Huckabee won’t, as he is apparently in the tank for him.)

2008-01-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Someone has done the math at Redstate.com, and apparently Romney is best positioned to win enough delegates to claim the nomination by just consistently taking second place.

2008-01-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

According to CNN's exit polls

(http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/index.html#val=NHREP),

some interesting info comes to light:

Romney wins the vote of those who approve of the War in Iraq (37% to McCain's 33%), whereas McCain wins the vote of those who disapprove of the war (44% to Romney's 19%).

Romney wins among those who identify themselves as Republicans (35% to McCain's 34%) and among those who consider themselves Conservative (38% to McCain's 30%).

Romney wins among Urban voters (34% to McCain's 32%).

Romney trounced McCain with voters who placed illegal immigration as the most important issue (56% to 19%).

Romney won among voters who don't want gay civil unions (36% to McCain's 32%).

Romney won among voters who had positive feelings about Pres. Bush (37% to McCain's 32%).

Romney won among those who think the next president should be more conservative than Bush (35% to McCain's 31%).

The strange data here is that Romney's wins the support of those who approve of the War in Iraq/War on Terror, whereas McCain overwhelmingly wins the vote of those opposed. Is this strategic voting on the part of liberal independents who don't want to face Romney in the general election, or are Granite Staters clueless about McCain's stance on the War?

The good news for Romney is that 80% of the country is urban (where he won), illegal immigration is the most important issue in many states (South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, California, etc.), which issue Romney won, and conservatives went with Romney (and very few states will have the liberal leanings of an heavily independent GOP New Hampshire vote).

While McCain is the frontrunner for Michigan, Romney's should be competitive in Nevada, Florida and maybe even South Carolina given the exit poll data above.

2008-01-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, it's going to be a war of attrition, and the candidate with the best resources--organizational and financial--will win, and that's not McCain or Huckabee. As of right now, with one win and two second places, Romney is leading the delegate count:

30 Romney
21 Huckabee
10 McCain
6 Thompson
2 Paul
1 Giuliani
1 Hunter

Who would have thought Rudy would be tied for last in the delegate count after the first three states?

2008-01-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Huckster is at it again (via Mark Levin at The Corner):

Now, I know most of the Republican candidates have changed certain of their positions. But I have to say, when I read this story this morning, I was floored.

Heading into South Carolina, where illegal immigration appears to be the biggest issue among Republicans, Huckabee is going to support a constitutional amendment prohibiting birthright citizenship? Did I not hear him in several debates, including on Sunday, admonishing those of us who've long opposed birthright citizenship, about God's children coming out of the shadows? Is this not the same man who only a few months ago supported McCain-Kennedy?

Romney has explained his conversion on abortion — the day it occurred, how it occurred, and why it occurred. We have to make judgments about the credibility of a politician making a conversion, based on their records, recent statements, and ultimately, character. You can accept it or not.

But for Huckabee to throw on the table such a dramatic shift of position from one day to the next, just before the South Carolina primary, without ever indicating such a view during any of the debates or in any of his many media appearances since the beginning of his run for president, is to me as cynical as it gets in a season of cynical acts.

2008-01-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Huckabee scares me. He's a unhealthy combination of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter:

I only could stay for Huckabee's 15-minute opening remarks at a packed—I mean packed—event at a gym in a Londonberry middle school this morning, but it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It was one of the most stirring and persuasive defenses of self-government and limited government—including the doctrine of subsidiarity—that I have heard in a long time. This guy is very good, and very shrewd—after playing the evangelical card in Iowa, today he was saying how America is all about "live free or die."

2008-01-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Romney wins Wyoming. On to New Hampshire.

P.S.--It will be interesting if the media tries to chalk this up to Wyoming's LDS population. If they'll check their statistics, though, they only make up 11% of the state, with the actual percentage of adult voters being smaller due to the higher percentage of children in LDS families.

2008-01-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

I thought this was interesting in a sad sort of way:

In summary, the turnout for the Republican Iowa Caucus was nearly 50% higher than the previous Caucus with a 125,000 record turn out. It was expected that the turnout would be about 75,000-80,000 with the unknown being the evangelical and fair tax groups. Had such been the case, Mitt would have won Iowa with his stable and strong support. It wasn't to be. Of the 35% that voted for Mike Huckabee, 80% claimed the label of evangelical Christians.

Upon further inquiry, a large majority of the evangelicals stated that the most important measure of the candidate was whether his faith and religion were aligned with theirs. Mitt being Mormon was catalytic to their rally around Mike. They further indicated that only 7% felt Governor Huckabee was electable and only 10% felt he had the necessary leadership experience to be POTUS. Unfortunately, a very sad commentary on the failings of the Iowa evangelicals, that they would vote principally on the basis of religion.

2008-01-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

From Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic.com:

A Romney volunteer writes:

Today I spent all day at the Romney HQ manning the phones calling voters all over Iowa. We ran into voters who told us they had gotten calls from people stating they represented the Romney campaign and when the voter disclosed they planned to vote for Romney, the caller then asked to take a few minutes to outline Romney's policy positions.
The caller would then provide a litany of misleading statements like how Romney planned to raise taxes and why, etc.

2008-01-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

The NRO's Jim Geraghty on Huckabee's false claims in the attack ad that was, then wasn't, then was, then wasn't...

Adding to the theory that the Huckabee's negative ad was never meant to run: It knocked Mitt Romney for "no executions." Of course, Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty. I suppose Romney could have just gone out and killed somebody - I understand the opposition party in that state is big on leaving people in cars underwater. But it seems unfair to suggest that Romney was somehow soft on crime because his state never legalized the death penalty. (Others would find other supporting arguments for that assertion.)

Had that ad run, the silliness of that line of attack probably would have dominated the final 48 hours of the campaign, and Huckabee, or someone around him must have known that the discussion would not go well for them...

UPDATE: Interesting information from another campaign that does not have a dog in the fight of Iowa, or not a particularly large one, at least.

First, they note a August 21, 2002 article in the Boston Herald that declared, “Republican Mitt Romney and running mate Kerry Healey rolled out a crime-fighting plan yesterday that would … reinstate the death penalty.”

Then they note an April 29, 2005 Boston Globe article: “Governor Mitt Romney yesterday filed a long-awaited bill to reinstate the death penalty in Massachusetts for deadly acts of terrorism, killing sprees, murders involving torture, and the killing of law enforcement authorities. The bill, which Romney called ‘a model for the nation’ and the ‘gold standard’ for capital punishment legislation, draws entirely from the findings of a special commission that set out 10 recommendations last year. That panel sought to design a virtually ‘foolproof’ death penalty law by relying on verifiable science and tougher legal safeguards.”

Then a Globe article from December 16 of that year, noting, “Even on reinstating the death penalty, a hot-button issue on which polls have indicated that Romney had popular support, the governor lost a vote in the house by nearly 2 to 1. Eight years earlier, a capital punishment bill failed on a tie vote.”...

2008-01-03T10:17:00.001-07:00

From Factcheck.org:

In the run-up to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Huckabee is running a TV ad featuring graphics that claim he was "tough on crime" and "brought Arkansas' crime rate down," and that he "cut taxes over 90 times as governor."

In fact, the violent crime rate was higher at the end of his tenure than it was the year he took office. And the tax cuts he claims credit for were minor compared with the large increases he approved, which included an increase in the state sales tax.

2008-01-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

The American Spectator's Quin Hilyar's case against Huckabee and McCain (mostly McCain):

As truly horrific as it would be for the liberal and unethical Mike Huckabee to win the Republican presidential nomination, many Republicans still believe it would be almost as difficult to stomach the nomination of John McCain.

Huckabee, of course, would utterly destroy the old Reagan coalition, as even his campaign chief Ed Rollins has acknowledged. Huckabee's bizarre propensity for letting criminals return early to freedom, combined with his utter cluelessness about foreign policy, also means that he would get absolutely crushed by the Democrats in a general election contest.

But McCain's problems are almost as great, which is why reports of a comeback by the Arizona senator have so many conservatives scratching their heads.McCain is, and looks, more than two years older than Ronald Reagan was when Reagan was elected president, and a poll last year showed that 42 percent of respondents said they would not vote for somebody who is 72 years old. That is a far higher percentage than that of people who would not vote for a Mormon (24 percent), a woman (11 percent), or a black person (5 percent).

McCain is not a tax cutter in a party that has made tax cuts one of its most basic tenets for nearly 30 years. Not only did he vote against President George W. Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 -- cuts that clearly are responsible for the booming economy of the past four-plus years -- but just last week he told National Review's Rich Lowry that he was correct not to vote for those tax cuts.

Then, of course, there is the large and passionate segment of the Republican electorate that wants to get tough against illegal immigration, and they have good reason to consider John McAmnesty to be not just against them but a highly disagreeable archenemy.And speaking of which, McCain seems almost constitutionally unable to disagree without being disagreeable. When he disagrees with somebody on just about any issue, he gives the sense of being so angry that he is having trouble not jumping out of his own skin to wring the other person's neck.

Witness his politically effective but completely cheap shot at Mitt Romney a couple of debates back when Romney made what actually was a reasonable point about the dangers of discussing the specific procedures used in various forms of "waterboarding" terrorist suspects.

In the same debate, McCain vociferously attacked Rudy Giuliani for supposedly being against the line item veto. McCain was wrong and Giuliani right that the form of item-veto at issue was dangerously unconstitutional legislation. (I write this as somebody who has been writing columns in favor of line item vetoes for a full quarter century. Even I, an item-veto supporter, saw from the start that the version supported by McCain was unconstitutional.) But right or wrong, McCain's demeanor was far too aggressive for the case at issue.

In short, McCain is an angry old man.

THEN THERE ARE McCain's weaknesses (from a conservative standpoint) on government regulation and on judges. On the first topic, what it pretty much boils down to is that if something moves, McCain wants to regulate it. He wants to regulate campaign speech, anything having to do with the environment, smoking, the price of medicines (interfering with free-market savings), oil drilling in Alaska, securities trading, and other things.

On judges, McCain repeatedly boasts about being a main mover behind the "Gang of 14" that supposedly helped garner approval for President Bush's nominees. The numbers say otherwise.With a tiny Republican Senate majority in 2003 and 2004, the Senate approved 19 of Bush's appeals court nominees while blocking 12. But with the Gang of 14 operating in 2005 and 2006, the Senate approved only 16 appeals court nominees (plus two Supreme Court nominees) while again blocking 12 -- even though the party's Senate majority was much bigger, with 55 seats versus just 51 seats in the previous Congress.

What's worse, other than the three nominees immediately approved through the Gang's deal, the few other post-Gang nominees who were approved tended to be less solidly conservative than the ones approved in the previous Congress.The simple fact is that the Gang of 14 "saved" a "right" to filibuster judicial nominations to death that Republicans have never, ever used, while the alternative to the Gang would have been to deny the Democrats the unconstitutional filibuster option they had grievously abused.Conservatives were not helped by the Gang. We were mugged.

SUCH REGULAR MUGGINGS of conservatives by McCain helps explain why so many in the conservative movement are unmoved by McCain's story of personal heroism, his stances against wasteful pork barrel spending, and his undeniable leadership on matters of defense.

2008-01-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

So Mr. Huckabee didn't want to risk his soul by running a negative ad (full of errors) against Romney (and of course showed it to a room full of the press who, of course, would never show it to the public).

However, it appears the ad has been running for the last day or two (via Hugh Hewitt):

Remember that ad attacking Mitt Romney that Mike Huckabee unveiled at a press conference before announcing that he wouldn't be running the ad?

Well, it turns out that the ad, which attacked Romney on a host of fronts, seems to have run on Iowa television anyway -- at least a day and half after Huck promised at the presser he'd pull it, touting his decision as proof of what a noble campaign he's run.

This morning, a reader reported to us that the ad ran last night in Cedar Rapids, on TNT, during a rerun of Law and Order. And a day of run-arounds by the local cable company and unreturned calls by from the Huckabee campaign makes it pretty clear our reader is right.

We've spent a fair amount of time trying to track this one down. First we checked in with a low-level official at the cable provider, an outfit called Mediacom. They put us in touch with the people who do their ad booking, a company called Onmedia. The people at Onmedia were friendly and helpful and went back to check for us -- but once they did, the higher-ups abruptly clammed up and stopped returning our calls.

Then we went to a higher level official at Mediacom. This official, Thomas Larsen, would not confirm or deny that the ad had run. But he did confirm that on Monday they received an order from the Huckabee campaign to yank an ad -- and that the ad hadn't in fact been yanked until today.

2008-01-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here is an e-mail sent from an Arkansas Evangelical Christian Republican to Hugh Hewitt:

A Plea from Arkansas: Christian Conservatives Need to Take a Closer Look at Mike Huckabee's Record as Governor
by David Thompson

As a conservative, evangelical, politically-active father of four in Arkansas I believe it is imperative for like-minded voters to become more familiar with the Mike Huckabee that just completed 10 years as our governor. I realize it’s sometimes hard to know what to believe during a campaign, so I've tried to include links to published stories, with most coming from years past when the events noted were taking place.

For those who don't know much about me, I attend a very conservative evangelical church in Central Arkansas that includes some other politically active members (past/present elected officials, lobbyists, candidates, etc), and our family currently homeschools our young children. Since 1996, I have been heavily involved in numerous Republican campaigns in Arkansas at all levels (even managing a few). I have also served as vice chairman of the Republican committee in Arkansas' largest county. Yet I don't know of a single person in these circles who is supporting Huckabee for President - although I do know many that are definitely not supporting him. Of course, this is anecdotal evidence, but consider that Huckabee just finished serving 10 years as our governor (and I am sure there are many Republicans in Arkansas who are supporting him - I just don't know them). The truth is, most conservatives in Arkansas had written him off long before his Presidential bid.

That said, here are 7 key reasons I cannot in good conscience support Mike Huckabee as the Republican nominee for President. This is based on his record here and is not a personal attack - I cannot speak for his or anybody's motives. This list is not the result of intense research - it's based on what I know and have experienced first-hand as a politically-active conservative Arkansan. It's a list I could have given you 6 months or even 2 years ago. And I am not attempting to echo or give validity to any criticism he is now receiving nationally (and I don’t think ALL of it is fair). This is the Mike Huckabee we know.

1) Governor Huckabee did lasting damage to the Republican Party and conservative movement in Arkansas.

It's hard to go after Democrats with a conservative message when your Republican Governor is out front releasing violent criminals, providing state benefits to illegals, pushing tax increases, expanding government spending and programs, and constantly walking an ethical tight-rope (more on each of these items to follow). This tied our party's hands - many conservatives got frustrated, apathy set in, and some quit the fight. In addition:

Huckabee insisted on having "his people" controlling the Republican Party campaign organizations that are set up in Arkansas each election cycle. He also insisted that his guy remain as state party chairman when party leaders planned to make a change. The mismanagement and ineptness that followed was so great that the Republican Party plunged into debt and the Federal Election Commission levied the the largest fine ever against a state political party following an investigation of the 2000 and 2002 election cycles. Obviously, this set back the Republican Party of Arkansas for years.

When Huckabee started his first full term in 1998, Arkansas had just elected a Republican Governor, Lt. Governor, U.S. Senator, and 2 Republican Congressmen. Upon his leaving office in 2007, Republicans now hold no statewide offices, have no Republicans in the U.S.Senate, and only one Republican Congressman remains.

It was often said during Huckabee's term that Arkansas had 3 parties: Republican Party, Democrat Party, and the Huckabee Party.

"He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party in shambles." - Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum

"His support for taxes split the Republican Party, and damaged our name brand." – Former Arkansas State Representative Randy Minton (R)

"I think if they knew [his record] it would totally de-energize them . . . his policies are just wrong." – Former Arkansas State Senator Jim Holt’s (R) warning for conservatives around the country who think they have found their candidate in Mike Huckabee.

2) Governor Huckabee's non-stop clemencies continually hindered the work of criminal prosecutors and miffed Republicans. The numbers are staggering - over 1,000 clemencies and commutations of criminals as governor. Most people now are familiar with his push to parole convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who went on to rape and murder a Missouri woman less than a year after his release. But there are many more troubling facts regarding Huckabee’s pattern of releasing violent criminals. While I cannot speak for Huckabee’s motives, it seems clear that he used poor judgment and was reckless with this executive power.

Huckabee released more criminals than the combined total of every border state to Arkansas (made up of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana) - even though the combined population of these states is 16 times higher than Arkansas'. He also issued more than double the clemencies of his three predecessors combined.

In many cases, Huckabee's actions set loose savage criminals convicted of grisly murders over the passionate objections of prosecutors and victims' families. This American Spectator story details some of these violent cases and explains the resulting difficulties they presented prosecutors working with other victims and their families.

Huckabee and his appointees ignored the laws on the books, including the requirement to notify victims' families and explain the reasons for those clemencies. He said to fully explain his reasoning would cost millions of dollars and "take money away from education and Medicaid and other things."

A 2004 investigative article by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette found that prisoners had a better chance of being granted clemency by Huckabee if they had a mutual acquaintance, labored at the governor's mansion under a prisoner work program, or a minister intervened on their behalf. Prosecutors say Huckabee was more inclined to release or reduce the sentences of prisoners if he had direct contact with them or was lobbied by those close to him.

He often refused to learn the facts of the cases (sometimes not even reading the murderer's own confession), made no attempt to get the police/prosecutor's case files, or even get input from the victims' families before making his decision.

The clemency granted to one multiple DUI offender was likely tied to large political contributions from the offender's family, including a soft money political organization run by Huckabee's people.
Good summary article

"Last January, after Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, lost his re-election bid, he issued 16 clemencies, and there was a huge outcry. That's how many Huckabee averages per month." – Arkansas Leader, (August 11, 2004)

"He seems to believe that granting clemency to murderers, rapists, drunk drivers and other convicted criminals is a part of the everyday affairs of the governor's office rather than something that he should approach cautiously and selectively." – Robert Herzfeld, Saline County Prosecuting Attorney during Huckabee’s tenure

"I know some of the people that Huckabee let loose have reoffended. Some of them we've caught and some of them we haven't caught......I used to be able to tell the families of victims, in all good faith and candor, that it was a rare event when a governor commuted a sentence and let a murderer back out, or a rapist back out or a child molester back out. But I can't do that anymore." - Larry Jegley, longtime Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney

"I felt like Huckabee had more compassion for the murderers than he ever did for the victims." - Elaine Colclasure, co-leader of the Central Arkansas chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.

3) Governor Huckabee's pattern was to ignore immigration laws, often in the name of Christianity.

Huckabee opposed immigration enforcement as governor on a number of fronts. Immigration enforcement groups call Huckabee’s record on immigration "a disaster" and reference him as they guy who "scares the heck" out of them.

In 2001, Huckabee’s human services liaison Robert Trevino pushed for legislation to provide driver’s licenses for illegals. It was understood by legislators that he acted with Huckabee's blessing.

In 2001, Huckabee opposed a measure to require proof of citizenship to vote.

In 2005, Huckabee supported a bill that offered illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates and made them eligible for the same merit-based scholarships to Arkansas state colleges and universities as legal citizens. The bill would have violated federal law and was not enacted by the legislature.

In 2005, he opposed a bill that denied some state benefits to illegals and required proof of citizenship to vote (patterned after Arizona’s Prop 200 that has been successful in curtailing illegal immigration in that state). In this story, Huckabee called the measure "un-American….inflammatory….race-baiting and demagoguery." He added that the bill "inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there’s a real problem. But there’s not." He then singled out State Senator Jim Holt, also an openly professing Christian, saying, "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice."

In 2005, Huckabee criticized federal agents for a recent crackdown on illegals, saying that it wasn’t fair to the innocent family members of those targeted in the operation. (No word on whether he also opposes raids on other law-breakers who might also have innocent family members affected by the fruits of their illegal activity.)

In 2005, Huckabee promoted an "open door" policy on immigration as he addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) national convention in Little Rock. LULAC is a left-leaning group that opposes virtually all measures of immigration enforcement.
"He was an absolute disaster on immigration as governor. Every time there was any enforcement in his state, he took the side of the illegal aliens." - Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that played a major role in rallying the phone calls that helped defeat this year's Senate immigration bill.

"I would hope he could be trusted to secure the borders, but given his track record in Arkansas, I don't see the conservative he has portrayed himself to be in Iowa." - Jake Files, a former Arkansas state representative and current chairman of the Sebastian County Republican Party

4) Governor Huckabee was no friend to fiscal conservatives in Arkansas.
Huckabee’s record on taxes, government spending, and growing government programs was miserable. Basically, when the economy got tough, Huckabee expected families like mine to tighten our budgets in order to help state government meet its spending whims.

In 2003, Huckabee called a special session of the legislature to push for a tax increase to make up for spending shortfalls. This led to his signing HB1039, an across the board income tax and tobacco tax increase. Huckabee even refused to consider a Republican proposal to cut spending and use general improvement funds (i.e., legislative pork) to make up for the budget shortfall. Ironically, the same day Huckabee was practically begging the Arkansas legislature to raise taxes (here’s the video ), President Bush was also in Little Rock to push for his tax cut plan. (Note: When asked about this video recently, Huckabee gave a misleading response to Fox News, blaming his tax increase plea on a court order. This prompted State Representative Johnny Key, the current Republican Leader in the Arkansas House, to send out a letter correcting the accuracy of Huckabee's statement.)

If that weren't enough, Huckabee called a 2nd special legislative session in 2003 to pass a nearly one-cent state sales tax increase. The measure also expanded the sales tax to include previously exempted services (for more information and context, see reason #6 below).

During Huckabee’s term, Arkansas showed a net tax increase of $505 million, and the average Arkansan’s tax burden grew from $1,969 to $2,902. Governor Huckabee raised more taxes in 10 years in office than Bill Clinton did in his 12 years.

During Huckabee’s 10 years as governor, state spending more than doubled (from $6.6 billion to $16.1 billion), higher education and public schools got big increases, as did social services. Meanwhile, the state added about 8,000 full-time workers to its payroll during that period, a 19% increase (according to the Bureau of Legislative Research).

The conservative Cato Institute gave Huckabee an "F" for his final term as governor on its Fiscal Policy Report Card, saying, "Huckabee’s leadership has left taxpayers in Arkansas much worse off." His grade was lower than 15 of the 21 Democrat Governors. His overall grade as governor was a D.

"The main reason for the drop was his insistence on raising taxes at almost every turn throughout his final term." – Cato Institute explaining why Huckabee had dropped from a "D" to an "F" on their Fiscal Policy Report Card.

"[Huckabee] says he’s pro-family. If you’re raising taxes on the families of Arkansas, causing wives to go out and get jobs to make ends meet, that’s not pro-family." - Former Arkansas State Representative Randy Minton (R)

"In the past, he blamed Democrats for raising taxes...We voted for them, but he proposed them." - Arkansas State Senator John Paul Capps, a Democrat

5) Huckabee left a long trail of ethics questions while Governor of Arkansas
This is an area where I think Huckabee does receive some unfair criticism. Some of the ethics charges against him were frivolous and politically motivated. However, it has been concerning for some time just how much the governor accepted in gifts and how he was seemingly always pushing ethical limits.

During his tenure, Huckabee accepted 314 gifts valued overall at more than $150,000, according to documents filed with the Arkansas' Secretary of State office.

The Huckabees set up wedding registries at local department stores as Mike was leaving office – even though they had been married for 30 years. State ethics laws prohibited Huckabee from receiving gifts of more than $100……but there was an exception for wedding gifts.

Judicial Watch, a non-partisan group dedicted to fighting government corruption, listed Huckabee among their Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians of 2007. Huckabee was one of only three Republican politicians to make the list.

6) Huckabee's education record shows him to be an advocate of the "status quo"

The New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association (NEA) has endorsed Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee for the upcoming Primary elections. This is the first time in memory that they have recommended a Republican (in 2004 they endorsed Howard Dean). They likely chose Huckabee because:

Huckabee has consistently opposed virtually all proposals for education reform, including school choice vouchers.

The former president of Eagle Forum of Arkansas said Huckabee "continued the Hillary Clinton education plan" as our governor.

When the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas’ public school funding was "inequitable," Huckabee took the ruling as a mandate to raise taxes in order to once again increase school funding...which he did. (To his credit, however, he also used the opportunity to consolidate some of the school districts in the state - although rural legislators severely watered down the proposal.)

7) Huckabee has very little support for his Presidential bid here in Arkansas

For the most part those in his party who know him best are not supporting him.
In October, a University of Arkansas poll showed that, among all Presidential candidates in both parties, only 8% of Arkansans said they were supporting Mike Huckabee.

That same week, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that only one-third of Republicans in the Arkansas Legislature said they were supporting their former governor's Presidential bid.
After this story, the Huckabee campaign published a list of supporters in his home state. The Arkansas News Bureau then reported that as some of the names on Huckabee's Arkansas endorsement list were used without permission and had to be removed.

This is purely anecdotal, but despite my involvement in Republican politics, I am unaware of any of my Republican friends who are supporting Huckabee. I have seen maybe 3 Huckabee for President bumper stickers – and I live in Republican west Little Rock and work 2 miles from the state capitol where Huckabee just completed over 10 years as Governor (my wife says she saw her first sticker today…..guess he's picking up steam here!).

"...if Huckabee didn't have things sewn up with Republicans back home, what kind of message did that send?....The truth is that Huckabee hasn't had that much support from former and current Republican legislators." - David Sanders, conservative columnist for Arkansas News Bureau (November 11, 2007)

Conclusion:

I realize the Republican Presidential field does not leave true conservatives with much to get excited about. However, it is unlikely I will support Huckabee over any of the Republican frontrunners because of his liberal record, his questionable judgment, and his reckless use of power while Governor. Now is not the time for Republicans to compromise on core conservative values. More importantly, we need a leader with a history of using strong judgment as our nation continues to lead the world in the War on Terror.

Two final questions:

1) Given the many vulnerabilities in his record, what is the likelihood that Huckabee would win in a general election? Democrat National Committee officials have already been quoted as saying that they see Huckabee as "easy kill" and refer to him as "the glass jaw -- and they're just waiting to break it." The DNC has issued over 200 attack press releases on Republican candidates - only 4 on Huckabee, the last one coming 10 months ago.

2) Does his record as governor represent someone who should be given greater power and responsibility? Is he Commander and Chief material? Leader of the free world? National Review recently expressed concern, and Huckabee raised eyebrows with recent comments critical of U.S. Foreign policy and our role in the world - he was essentially repeating the Democrat talking points!

Feel free to pass this letter on or contact me if you have any questions about anything stated here. I have tried very carefully to be fair, accurate, and to stick to facts from Huckabee's record. But it's certainly possible I made a mistake somewhere or worded something poorly. I would be more than happy to further dialogue on any of these issues.

Sincerely,
David Thompson
Little Rock, Arkansas

2008-01-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

I was just making some phone calls for Mitt to voters in New Hampshire (and they're getting hammered by everybody).

I spoke to one gentleman and explained I was supporting Gov. Romney because of his pro-life, pro-traditional marriage positions.

The man laughed and said he wasn't supporting Romney for the same reason. When asked who he was supporting he responded, "McCain."

Now, I have no problem with someone voting for McCain because they like the fact that he's voted against the federal marriage amendment (twice) and is for embryonic stem cell harvesting.

But I hope no one will vote for McCain under the delusion that he will protect life (in all its forms) and stand up for traditional marriage (which included appointing conservative judges), because McCain won't. Romney will.

2008-01-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Apparently someone in South Carolina decided Mitt was too big a threat to their candidate and decided to send out a hit-piece on the LDS faith via the mail.

For details go to My Man Mitt's piece on it here.

2008-01-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Boston, MA – Today, U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement on foreign policy experience in this era of new global threats:

"Senator McCain is an honorable man but his recent attacks on Governor Romney are a stretch. In challenging times, we need a leader who can guide America and chart a course to overcome the threats our country faces today. Governor Romney is the only presidential candidate who has outlined a comprehensive strategy for leading America forward and defeating the global Jihadist threat. He will build a stronger military, develop a new counter-terrorism force and work with our allies and partners around the world to help nations reject Jihadism. Governor Romney is the leader our country needs."

2008-01-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

By: Mark DeMoss
Townhall
Tuesday, Jan 01, 2008

"Ed Rollins was once Ronald Reagan's political director and now serves as Mike Huckabee's campaign chairman. Last weekend he told a reporter, 'The breakup of what was the Reagan coalition – social conservatives, defense conservatives, and anti-tax conservatives – it doesn't mean a whole lot to people anymore.' He declared, 'it's gone.'" ...

"But regardless of whether he's right or wrong, I'm disappointed to see Mr. Rollins throw in the towel on such a compelling coalition. It may just be that his current client cannot unite the three legs that make up this conservative stool – but I believe there is a candidate who can.

"A year and a half ago, I concluded Governor Mitt Romney was the most qualified person to run for president from either party in my lifetime and decided to support and help him as a volunteer. Mitt Romney has had three undeniably successful careers, heading one of the most successful venture capital and investment management firms in the world, presiding over a profitable and safe Winter Olympic Games just months after the attacks of 9/11, and governing the state of Massachusetts and turning a nearly $3 billion deficit into a nearly $1 billion surplus without raising taxes.

"While there have been presidential candidates who may have more business experience, few had ever governed anything. We have also had candidates with more government experience, but none of them has had any business experience. And no other candidate has presided over an Olympic Games, a role that required handling hundreds of millions of dollars, assembling some 23,000 volunteers and mobilizing one of the largest security operations.

"As an evangelical Southern Baptist and a social conservative, I like the leadership Governor Romney provided our movement in defending traditional marriage between a man and a woman and in opposing embryonic stem cell research. I believe his values are consistent with mine in every way, whether or not his theology is." ...

"As a fiscal conservative I like the fact that Governor Romney understands that the money we send to our state and federal governments is our money, and 'not their money,' as he told Governor Huckabee in one of the candidate debates. Fiscal and anti-tax conservatives will like his record on not raising taxes and fighting, even against great opposition, to reduce the size of government. He decided on his first day as governor to leave office with a smaller, more efficient state government than when he arrived and managed to do just that.

"And as a national defense conservative I like the fact that Governor Romney has supported the President's plan to help Iraq and to give General Petraeus and other military leaders a chance to work their plans and strategies in a complex situation. I like that he understands the threats that radical Islamic jihadists pose to our security, the importance of securing our borders, and the need to equip our men and women in service with the tools they need to succeed on our behalf." ...

"In other words, the so-called Reagan coalition appears to be alive and well within the Romney fold right now. It just may prove to be a winning combination."

2007-12-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here is an e-mail sent to the Elect Romney in 2008 blog from a family visiting Iowa who ran into some of the candidates campaigning today:

Alexa was just on FOX News with Romney!!! Attached are a couple of photos from today. Celeste interrupted Mitt’s speech when he mentioned his time at the Olympics with a “whooowoow”. He stopped and asked if she was there and she pointed to the girls and said, “They were in the closing ceremonies”. The Salt Lake Tribune DC correspondent came and interviewed them while he was working the voters/crowd.

A far cry from our visit to the Giuliani camp. We were ushered with all the other voters to the back of his offices while the press all were at the front. Giuliani’s staff assured all of us that Rudy would visit every room to shake hands and say HI. Well, needless to say he entered through the rear, where we were, rushed through the crowd to the front and only because I shoved my hand out for him to shake did I get his attention. When he was done speaking to the media, we were ushered out of the office because, “Rudy has to do an interview”. So it is clear that Rudy’s strategy is to play to the media and not his voting public. A pre-cursor of what will happen if elected broken promises!

Having been with all three Republican candidates over the past two days, here’s my take…
Huckabee, personable, sincere and caring. Does not necessarily feel or look like a strong leader in person. While I think he is a good guy, what I didn’t see, feel and hear was anything that leads me to believe would be an effective leader of our country.

Giuliani, arrogant, self serving and political. He didn’t connect with anyone at this campaign headquarters (especially the voting public there to see him). He only wanted to play to the media. Even a simple “promise” that he would visit and shake everyone’s hands was broken in exchange for a media interview. Just a foreshadowing of what would come if elected. Not an impressive man after having been in his presence.

Romney, honest, direct, amicable and engaging. He speaks from his heart while still talking about what the future holds and needs to be. His remarks and content of the same show vision and leadership. His past experience in the business world coupled with his leadership experiences in Massachusetts come alive when he speaks. He took time to engage his supporters/public and was very genuine with each person he addressed. He has an “air” of leadership and confidence that I didn’t see in his peer republicans.

While I will say I was partial to Romney before the past two days, it is quite clear that after being with all three the past two days, Romney has and possesses leadership qualities that the others don’t. He can be trusted and while he may not have all the answers today, his past experience is indicative of figuring out solutions to domestic and global issues.

2007-12-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Does Huckabee have a problem telling the straight truth, or does he just get easily confused?

Bolton denies he is a Huckabee adviser
By: Lisa Lerer Dec 28, 2007 05:04 PM EST

In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team. On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.”

At a Thursday evening press conference, Huckabee said, "I've corresponded with John Bolton, who's agreed to work with us on developing foreign policy.”

Bolton, however, has a different view. “I’d be happy to speak with Huckabee, but I haven’t spoken with him yet,” said Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. “I’m not an official or unofficial adviser to anyone,” said Bolton, who mentioned he’d had conversations with other Republican candidates but refused to name any names.

Asked to explain Bolton’s comments, Huckabee aides said the former Arkansas governor had e-mailed with Bolton...

2007-12-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Judicial Watch, a non-profit, non-partisan organization announced their annual list of the 10 most corrupt politicians in America. Guess who made the list?

5. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY): Giuliani came under fire in late 2007 after it was discovered the former New York mayor’s office “billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons…” ABC News also reported that Giuliani provided Nathan with a police vehicle and a city driver at taxpayer expense. All of this news came on the heels of the federal indictment on corruption charges of Giuliani’s former Police Chief and business partner Bernard Kerik, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to accepting a $165,000 bribe in the form of renovations to his Bronx apartment from a construction company attempting to land city contracts.

6. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR): Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.” And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down.

The only other elected Republican official to make this elite group was Larry Craig. Now that's company.

2007-12-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Misled in New Hampshire
By the Editors (National Review)

John McCain’s aides complain that Mitt Romney is running a negative campaign. Those same aides have been attacking Romney themselves, but for the most part they can outsource the negativism to their friends in the press — starting with the Union Leader, a prominent conservative newspaper in New Hampshire that has endorsed him. (We have endorsed Romney.)

The Union Leader’s advocacy of John McCain has become so fierce and lopsided that it has practically transformed itself into a pro-McCain 527 organization. It has not formalized the arrangement, which is lucky for it: If it had, McCain would, on his campaign-finance principles, have to try to shut it down.

There is a lot to like about Senator McCain, and we do not fault the Union Leader for endorsing him. We do fault its double standards. The newspaper counts it as a damnable “flip-flop” every time Romney has changed his position or even his emphasis. McCain can switch his views on the very same issues without a disparaging word from the Union Leader.

Take taxes. Romney, as governor of Massachusetts, stayed neutral in the battle over President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts. We wish he had spoken up in their favor. Senator McCain, alas, was not silent: He voted against the tax cuts, as he had voted against the 2001 tax cuts. He flip-flopped on estate taxes, defending them after having voted to get rid of them. As he geared up to run for president this time around, however, McCain became a born-again supply-sider. Now he wants to keep the tax cuts he originally opposed.

The Union Leader has blasted Romney for changing his mind on immigration. It accused him of lying, too, for saying that McCain wanted to let illegal immigrants earn Social Security benefits while working here illegally. But Romney was right. McCain has voted to let illegal immigrants who meet certain conditions become citizens and then receive benefits for their prior illegal work. Few Senate Republicans joined him.

We won’t throw around the word “lie” quite as recklessly as the Union Leader, but its candidate first argued for an “amnesty” and then spent months claiming that his immigration bill did not amount to one. And if flip-flopping on immigration is a crime, McCain can be charged with it, too. He himself says that he has changed his position on the issue. One of the principal points at issue in the debate over his bill was whether we should try “enforcement first.” Since the bill’s collapse, McCain has said that he now understands that we should. If that is not a flip-flop, it is only because his claims of a change of heart are insincere. (The liberal newspapers that have endorsed him seem to think so.)

Some of Romney’s critics allow that all politicians change their positions over time, but say that Romney stands out for changing his very political identity. Supposedly he ran as a moderate technocrat in Massachusetts, but is running as a culture warrior in the Republican primaries. We think both halves of this characterization are overstated, but in any case it is not a critique that John McCain’s supporters can credibly make. McCain was a reliably conservative legislator for 15 years. Then he moved left for three years, so much so that liberals began urging him to change parties. Then he zigged back to the right.

For us, the most important question about a flip-flop is whether the movement is in the right direction. We are glad that Romney has changed his mind about abortion and McCain has changed his about taxes, although we prefer Romney’s open admission that he was wrong in the past to McCain’s evasiveness. We hope McCain comes around some more on immigration, and campaign-finance reform, and a lot of other issues — and we will not attack him as a flip-flopper if he does. Voters who hold flip-flops against politicians, however, should be warned: McCain is every bit as much of one as Romney is, and all the bile of New Hampshire’s editorialists cannot change the fact.

2007-12-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Stem cell, contraception groups paid Huck
By: Kenneth P. Vogel Dec 28, 2007 06:19 AM EST

Mike Huckabee last year accepted $52,000 in speaking fees from a bio-tech giant that wants to research human embryonic stem cells, a non-profit working to expand access to the morning after pill and a group pushing to study whether tightening gun control laws will reduce violence.

Huckabee opposes embryonic stem cell research, emergency contraception and stricter gun laws – all of which rank high on the list of deal-breakers for many of the religious conservatives whose support he’s ridden to the top of the Republican presidential field. The payments – from drug-maker Novo Nordisk, which engages in stem cell research, the Public Health Institute, which works to expand access to “morning after” contraception and Grant Makers in Health, which is seeking to steer funding to studies of gun violence – highlight the delicate line Huckabee has walked on the profitable speaking circuit.

The former Arkansas governor has used appearances before churches, universities and other groups to both expand and capitalize on his reputation as a leader in conservative Christian and public health circles.

But along the way, he’s accepted honoraria from public health interests that sometimes support causes anathema to the GOP right. Huckabee “isn’t afraid to speak to people who don’t agree with his message or personal philosophy,” said his spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa.
She added, though, that Huckabee sticks to “limited, focused and non-political” topics such as “preventive health care or similar issues.”

That answer may not satisfy some social conservatives, said Bill Lauderback, executive vice president of the American Conservative Union.

“It raises questions as to his philosophical positions,” Lauderback asserted, “if he is accepting very lucrative speaking fees from special interest groups who have a markedly different perspective on certain social issues from what he is projecting as a candidate.” The speaking and book circuits helped Huckabee, whose salary during his decade as governor never topped $79,000, make ends meet – both before and after he left the governor's mansion early this year.

According to state and federal public records, he pulled in more than $405,000 since 2004 in honoraria, books sales, consulting and outside income through 12 Stops, Inc. a company set up that year to manage his private sector business. It’s not hard to see why his story appeals to groups and companies in the public health arena.

An ordained Baptist minister who dropped more than 100 pounds after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, Huckabee pushed to expand health care access and incentivize healthy living in Arkansas. Novo Nordisk, which touts itself as a world leader in diabetes care, in May announced it was giving away 35,000 Spanish-language copies of Huckabee’s book, “Quit Digging Your Grave With A Knife and Fork: A 12-Stop Program to End Bad Habits and Begin a Healthy Lifestyle.”

Two months earlier, Huckabee received a total of $35,000 in two payments from the company, according to a personal financial disclosure statement he filed with the Federal Election Commission.

On its website, the company calls human embryonic stem cell research “essential” to addressing diseases including diabetes and Parkinson's.

But it adds it will only use human embryonic stem cells “derived from spare embryos from (in vitro fertilization) treatment that are obtained with freely given informed consent” and it says it does not support “the creation of human embryos solely for research purposes.” Huckabee is “opposed to research on embryonic stem cells,” according to his website.

Asked about the apparent contradiction, Novo Nordisk spokesman Sean Clements said the company and Huckabee “share the same passion for changing diabetes for the nearly 21 million Americans with the disease.”

The company’s connection to the research was too much for Mitt Romney, who also opposes most embryonic stem cell research.
Unbeknownst to him, he had between $100,000 and $250,000 in stock in Novo Nordisk in a blind trust that was made public this summer.
At the time, Romney said the trust manager would “endeavor to make my investments conform to my positions.”

The California-based Public Health Institute, a non-profit that paid Huckabee $13,000 for a January speech, works on a range of public health issues.
T
hey include expanding access to emergency contraception – also known as the morning-after pill – in the U.S. and abroad. The institute did not return telephone calls and emails. But its website asserts “The best way to make change happen is to bring together people and institutions with common interests and, sometimes, different points of view.”

Huckabee this year received $4,000 from the D.C.-based non-profit group, Grant Makers in Health. It helps foundations evaluate grant proposals in a range of areas, such as expanding healthcare access for immigrants, including illegal immigrants, and studying the impacts of gun-control laws on violence – hardly causes celebre among conservative activists. Grant Makers did not respond to requests for comment. Other entities that paid Huckabee seem more closely aligned with his world view.

He reported receiving nearly $11,000 from book sales and honoraria from five churches and from conservative Liberty University (Huckabee says he donated payments from the churches). Castle Partners, a group that invests in health and fitness companies, paid him $15,000 to speak last year, while the Cooper Institute, an exercise research group on whose board Huckabee once sat, paid him more than $3,000 in honoraria and book sales. The International Music Products Association, which this year gave the guitar-playing Huckabee its “Music for Life Award” for commitment to music education, also paid him $40,000 in consulting fees for a contract that ran through September.

As for book sales, the McBride Agency paid him nearly $150,000 in book royalties, while a political committee he controlled, Hope for America, paid him nearly $8,000 for books.

2007-12-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

From John Podhoretz:

The horrifying assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan this morning comes only one week before the Iowa caucuses and 12 days before New Hampshire. It is a sobering and frightening reminder of the challenges and threats and dangers posed to the United States by radical Islam, the nature of the struggle being waged against the effort to extend democratic freedoms in the Muslim world, and the awful possibility of a nuclear Pakistan overrun by Islamofascists. This is what the next president will be compelled by circumstance to spend a plurality of his or her time on. This is what really matters, not the cross Mike Huckabee lit up behind his head in his Christmas ad.

2007-12-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt attempts to jog New Hampshire's memory on Senator McCain:

John McCain needs to get ahold of the producers of Men In Black I and II quick. The only way Arizona's longtime thorn-in-the-side of the GOP can claim the Republican nomination is with a neuralyzer, the device the MIB agents use to selectively erase the memory of civilians who have seen the aliens among us at too close a range.

In fact, he's going to need a lot of them as there's a lot McCain has to hope Republicans forget as they head to the polls in Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan and beyond.

First, they have to forget that the fundraising advantage the GOP built to counter the Dems' union juggernaut was overthrown by the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform," and done so in an unconstitutional fashion, proving not only McCain's indifference to the party's success but also to the idea of Free Speech. This bust of a bill also unleashed the 527s on the land, guaranteeing even more secretive and dirty pool politics. Senator McCain's signal legislative achievement turns out to be deeply flawed constitutionally and counterproductive of its announced goals.

Economic conservatives will also have to have their memories erased of Senator McCain's votes against the Bush tax cuts.

The neuralyzer will also have to get to the social conservatives and erase the memory of John McCain's votes against the Federal Marriage Amendment.

The biggest issues for many Republican voters center on immigration and border security. These voters will have to be persuaded to forget John McCain's ill-fated attempted jam down on immigration which McCain ally Lindsey Graham forced through the Judiciary Committee. Not remembering the bill is a bit of a big order since it was known as McCain-Kennedy and was widely understood by conservatives to be tantamount to amnesty.

National security conservatives will have to agree to set aside the fact that McCaiin's grandstanding on the issue of the treatment of unlawful combatants in September 2006 derailed the entire GOP's endgame agenda heading into the elections. The Senate leadership and the White House had agreed on a careful series of legislative propositions on the Gitmo detainees and on surveillance protocols for use when watching terrorists abroad communicating with their allies inside the U.S., an agenda which also included some crucial judicial nominations like the still stalled one of Peter Keisler to the D.C. Circuit of Appeals, an agenda which would have done much to recapture the sense of momentum the upper chamber and the GOP as a whole had lost and which would have focused the public on the war and the role of intelligence gathering in it. Senators McCain and Graham smashed up the entire plan and the Senate majority was erased a few weeks later.

And all conservatives will have to set aside their deep, deep anger over John McCain's Gang of 14 coup that ended the hopes of restoring decency, order and constitutional process to the judicial confirmation process.

Recall what had happened: Serial filibusters were staged by Dems against many Bush nominees throughout 2003 and 2004. The GOP and the president campaigned on the issue of the judges throughout the elections of 2004, and won a 55 seat Senate majority in part on the strength of the outrage on the issue. Majority Leader Frist set about organizing a strategy --the Constitutional Option or Nuclear Option-- which anticipated that a ruling would be requested from the Senate Chair --the Vice President-- on whether or not a filibuster could be used against a judicial nominee. At least 50 of the GOP's 55 senators were pledged to support the chair. A crucial and long-lasting victory would have been won and a principle established.
Days before the vote and the end of the filibusters, John McCain engineered a deal with six other Republicans and seven Democrats which threw some fine nominees under the bus in exchange for a temporary abandonment by Democrats of filibusters against some Bush nominees. The shock and outrage at McCain among conservatives at this awful deal was of a intensity that has rarely been matched. John McCain in effect undid the vote of 2004, compromised away an issue he had not been asked to lead on and on which millions of Republican voters had voted and for which they had contributed. Millions of Republicans care deeply about judges. John McCain did not. He could not allow Majority Leader Frist his victory, but in sabotaging Frist, he sunk his own candidacy. The one issue on which all three core GOP constituencies agree is the importance of originalists on the bench. It was obvious amid the wreckage brought about by the Gang of 14 that John McCain didn't care about the courts. He cared about John McCain.

The neuralyzer will have to be set to be careful not to obscure the memory of John McCain's heroic service and painful sacrifices during his long imprisonment, and it will have to leave the memory of Senator McCain's steadfast support for victory in the war. He is truly a great American.

But he is a lousy senator when it comes to legislation and priorities, and a terrible Republican when it comes to the party's agenda.

The independents and the newspapers of New Hampshire love the idea of a McCain candidacy. Some are giving a last salute to McCain for his wartime heroism. Others are expressly attempting to stop Mitt Romney's momentum for the reason that the same newspaper tried to stop Ronald Reagan in 1980 --Romney has the best chance in November.

But it is the Republican nomination McCain is seeking, not the applause of the MSM and independents. A Republican nomination he won't be getting.

2007-12-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Romney Is the Real Deal
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 7:53 AM
By: Ronald Kessler (of Newsmax)

Last April, Newsmax magazine ran a cover story headlined, “Romney to the Rescue: Romney’s Got the Right Stuff for 2008.”

Based on interviews I conducted with Mitt Romney and his friends, family, and aides, as well as with critics and neutral observers, the profile depicted him as a remarkably successful businessman and conservative governor with impeccable character.
Since the Newsmax article appeared nothing has changed.

No one has revealed that Romney appointed a close friend as police chief who has since been indicted for dealings involving figures with ties to the Mafia, as is the case with Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani did this even though he was warned about red flags in the candidate's background.

There have been no revelations that Romney commuted or pardoned 1,033 criminals, including 12 murderers, as did Mike Huckabee. To the contrary, Romney granted no commutations or pardons as governor. Nor did Romney raise taxes. In contrast, by the end of his 10-year tenure, Huckabee was responsible for a 37 percent hike in the sales tax in Arkansas. Spending increased by 65 percent — three times the rate of inflation.

Huckabee joined Democrats in criticizing the Republican Party for tilting its tax policies “toward the people at the top end of the economic scale.” He aligned himself with Democrats and showed an ignorance of the Bush administration’s extensive diplomatic efforts when he said the White House has an “arrogant bunker mentality.”

In contrast to his nice guy public image, when Huckabee asked in a New York Times Magazine interview, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” he belied nastiness and demonstrated what George Will has rightfully suggested is bigotry.

Huckabee’s serial ethics violations and misuse of funds to maintain the governor’s mansion in Arkansas for restaurant meals, pantyhose, and dry cleaning bills recalls Bill and Hillary Clinton’s improper appropriation of White House furniture and chinaware for their Chappaqua, N.Y, home.

Unlike Fred Thompson, Romney has not been revealed to have a lazy streak. Aside from being a key backer of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, in his eight years in the Senate, Thompson was the primary sponsor of only four pieces of legislation, none of any significance.

On the campaign trail, the sour-looking Thompson has distinguished himself as someone who schedules two or three events a week and often cancels at the last minute.
A former CIA officer recalls what happened when Thompson and seven other members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Committee visited Pakistan in late 2002.

“The other senators, including John Edwards, attended the classified intelligence briefing,” the former officer says. “Thompson blew it off and spent a lot of time drinking and eating.”

Finally, Romney has not been found to have a vicious, out–of-control temper, as is true of John McCain. Nor did he twice oppose President Bush’s tax cuts — a key ingredient in the current the economic recovery — as did McCain.

“He [McCain] would disagree about something and then explode,” said former Sen. Bob Smith, a fellow Republican who served with McCain on various committees. “[There were] incidents of irrational behavior. We’ve all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I’ve never seen anyone act like that.”

Over the years, McCain has alternately denied being prone to angry outbursts, admitted he struggles to control his anger, and claimed he only becomes angry over waste and abuse. But those who have experienced it say his anger does not erupt over policy issues or waste and abuse. Rather, his outbursts come when peers disagree with McCain or tell him they won’t support him.

Distorted Image
What has changed since the Newsmax article appeared is that the public’s perception of Romney has been distorted by the lens of media coverage and televised debates that focus on the trivial and irrelevant.

In selecting the CEO of a company, no one would hold a debate among candidates for the job. Instead, a search committee would look at character, which is a compass to future behavior, and competence as measured by candidates’ track records.

The media coverage and debates have focused on anything but. Instead, they have focused on atmospherics, promises that may or may not be kept, who is ahead in the polls, and how well the candidates tell jokes and respond to questions from a snowman on YouTube.

Half the stories and references to Romney in the media refer to his religion, which is irrelevant to how he would perform as president. Some critics say that Romney is not a Christian — leaving Jews out in the cold — or that his Mormon beliefs mean he is gullible. If so, Christians and Jews must be equally gullible. After all, they believe that Moses parted the Red Sea, that Jesus paid taxes with coins from a fish's mouth, and that a drop of oil burned for eight days.

Interestingly, polls show that those most likely to say they would not vote for a Mormon as president are also most likely to describe themselves as liberals, who profess to be tolerant.

With the help of the media, opponents have managed to portray Romney as a flip-flopper. The fact is that while most of the candidates have changed position on some issues, Romney has made a clear change on only one issue. While he has always been personally pro-life, like Ronald Reagan, he is a convert to the pro-life position when it comes to public policy. But as governor, Romney took pro-life stands, vetoing bills that authorized embryo farming, therapeutic cloning, and access to emergency contraception without parental consent.

That track record is far more important than his endorsement of Roe v. Wade more than a decade ago during a debate with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. In fact, even more than Reagan as governor of California, Romney’s actions as governor fit the conservative mold in the most liberal of liberal states.

While playing up the theology of Romney’s religion, the media have downplayed his record of success. Few stories mention that he is both a Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School graduate. Romney started Bain Capital, a venture capital firm, from almost nothing in 1984. In evaluating whether to invest in a company, Romney would conduct massive research and play devil’s advocate to flush out facts.

Relying on those techniques and data he developed about the true amount companies spend on office supplies, Romney decided to invest $600,000 in Staples before it opened its first store in Brighton, Mass. After the opening, he invested millions more.

“He made eight times his money in three years,” Tom Stemberg, founder of Staples, tells me.
Bain Capital now has assets of $40 billion, and Romney is worth close to $250 million. In addition, he established a trust valued at $100 million for his five sons.

Romney worked similar miracles when he took over the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, turning a $397 million budget shortfall into a $56 million profit. As Massachusetts governor, he turned a $3 billion deficit into a surplus without raising taxes. Along the way, Romney developed a health insurance plan designed to cover all Massachusetts residents. It’s now being copied by other states.

In training new agents, the FBI Academy at Quantico, Va., teaches that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Yet over and over, voters have ignored warning signs of poor character and have overlooked track records, only to regret it.

When he was a candidate for vice president, Richard Nixon became embroiled in an ethics issue when the New York Post revealed he had secretly accepted $18,000 from private contributors to defray his expenses. It should have come as no surprise that he would end up being driven from office by the scandal known as Watergate.

Given Bill Clinton’s flagrant, compulsive philandering while governor of Arkansas, it should have come as no surprise that he would turn out to be a spineless leader who was unwilling to deal effectively with al-Qaida but was willing to have sex with an intern in the Oval Office and to lie under oath.

When she was first lady, Hillary Clinton fired a White House usher because he returned a call from former first lady Barbara Bush seeking help with her laptop. After 9/11, she appeared on national TV and claimed that when the two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, her daughter Chelsea was going to jog at Battery Park near the towers, where she heard and saw the catastrophe unfold.

Clinton’s arrogance was so profound that she did not coordinate the story with Chelsea, who wrote an article for Talk in which she described where she was that day. According to Chelsea, she was on the other side of town in a friend’s apartment on Park Avenue South. She watched the events unfold on TV.

Only a fool would choose a friend, an electrician, a plumber, or an employee who displayed such nastiness and disregard for the truth. Yet Hillary Clinton is a serious contender for president.
True Conservative

In contrast, when told in July 1996 that the 14-year-old daughter of one of his partners had been missing in New York for three days, Romney closed down Bain Capital and asked its 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to try to find her. The girl had gone to a rave party and taken ecstasy.

“I don’t care how long it takes, we’re going to find her,” Romney told the girl’s father Robert Gay.

As a result of a massive campaign orchestrated by Romney, he was able to locate and rescue the girl when she was within a day of dying from the effects of an overdose.

If that episode — virtually ignored by the media — tells you a lot about the man and his character, so does his choice of a wife. In personality and intelligence, Ann Romney bears a striking resemblance to the widely admired subject of my book "Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady."

Like Giuliani, Romney recognizes that no issue is more important than protecting the country and staying on the offense in the war on terror. But unlike Giuliani and the other leading Republican candidates, Romney’s record demonstrates that he is true to all three prongs of the conservative movement. Many conservatives don’t seem to get that. Instead, they keep looking for a new flavor of the month, only to be disappointed again and again when they learn more about their latest infatuation. Could Felons for Huckabee be next?

“One of the reasons I decided to endorse Romney is that I became convinced that he is the only candidate developing a credible ability to appeal to economic, social, and defense-oriented conservatives,” David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union, tells me.

Within the conservative movement, no one is more respected than Keene, who has headed the ACU since 1984. With one million members, the ACU runs the Conservative Political Action Committee’s (CPAC) annual conference in Washington and publishes an annual Rating of Congress — the gold standard for ideological assessments of members of Congress.

“Giuliani appeals to defense-oriented conservatives and can make a credible argument to some economic conservatives, but he can’t pass the giggle test with social conservatives — and doesn’t really try to do so,” says Keene. “Mike Huckabee appeals to social conservatives but has demonstrated virtually no appeal to those who focus on national defense and economic issues. Thompson may have had the potential to do what Romney is now doing, but hasn’t done so. John McCain is a hero to many national defense oriented conservatives, but he has little appeal in other quarters.”

Romney, on the other hand, has “developed into a candidate who has tried hard to appeal across these factions in the way Reagan did some decades ago,” Keene says. “Like all the others, he began with credibility issues, but as time has gone on, more and more conservatives are beginning to accept today’s Mitt Romney as the real deal rather than the caricature others are portraying.”

Reagan Candidate
That is why Romney has the support of conservatives as different as Robert Bork, Paul Weyrich, former Sen. Jim Talent, Michael Novak, and Kate O’Bierne and the editors of National Review, says Keene.

“This support will broaden and deepen as more and more members of the conservative coalition realize that Romney can hold the coalition together and advance their cause better than the other candidates,” predicts Keene.

The Newsmax cover story last April called Romney “The Reagan Candidate.”

That is as true today as it was then.

2007-12-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

I found the comments of Huckabee's supporters in this latest piece from MSN.com sadly off-base. They focus not on the Huckabee's political accomplishments or vision, but his personality and religion:

"I think I'm leaning toward Governor Huckabee," says Lori Brown, who works at an accounting firm in Sheldon. "I guess I'm not sure who else I really like. But he seems to be just a real guy. I'm a Christian, too, so I see eye-to-eye with him. At this point."

On Huckabee's final swing through Iowa before Christmas, many found him funny and charming, especially when he borrowed a bass guitar to play "Takin' Care of Business" in the Sioux City High School auditorium.

"I thought he did a good job of emotionally connecting," said Michael Andres, a college theology professor in Orange City. Andres is "warming to Huckabee," although he has also been interested in Arizona Sen. John McCain among the Republicans and in Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

"I didn't know if there was a whole lot of substance," Andres said of Huckabee. "He didn't explain what he was going to do. I felt like he spent a lot of time separating himself from Romney."...

"I like him because he's a Christian, and he's in the right community for that," said Krosschell, who is retired from the Greyhound Corporation. "I was kind of up in the air when he was like an asterisk, like he said. I really didn't know who to vote for. I was part of the Christian Coalition thing. I was waiting for the right thing to come along."

Here's what the one Romney supported quoted in the article said:

Of Romney, retiree Judie Cain of Council Bluffs, Iowa, says, "I like his take on immigration."

"I'm on Social Security now, and I don't like the idea that it's going to immigrants when I paid in it all my life, and they just swam across," says Cain. In fact, only legal immigrants are entitled to Social Security benefits, and illegal immigrants pay millions of dollars a year in Social Security taxes.

"Now, I know Huckabee is probably a good candidate, too, but I don't think he's as intelligent," she said.

Interesting that the Romney supported was concerned about policy and intelligence, while the Huckabee supporters were worried about religion and emotionally connecting.

As for Huckabee being the right candidate because he's a Christian, there isn't a candidate on the GOP side that is not a Christian, at least in professed beliefs.

Yes, Romney is a Christian, and good 'ole Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter feels so to (from this 1997 interview):

Jimmy Carter calls things as he sees them. And he just made a call that leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention won't like.

Arguably the highest profile member of the Southern Baptist faith, the nation's 39th president told reporters this week that SBC leaders are wrong in characterizing Mormons as non-Chris-tians.

"Too many leaders now, I think, in the Southern Baptist Convention and in other conventions, are trying to act as the Pharisees did, who were condemned by Christ, in trying to define who can and who cannot be considered an acceptable person in the eyes of God. In other words, they're making judgments on behalf of God. I think that's wrong.''

Carter said his personal philosophy includes a nonjudgmental, reconciling type of spirituality with which he acknowledged many people - including leaders of his Southern Baptist faith - disagree. When questioned by the Deseret News about the SBC's characterization of Mormons as non-Christians, Carter said his church's leadership has become "narrow in their definition of what is a proper Christian or certainly even a proper Baptist."

But according to Carter, Mormons aren't the only ones that Southern Baptist leaders find troubling.

"They're much more rigid in defining who is an acceptable fellow Christian. There is a movement in the Southern Baptist Convention, now at the leadership level, even to criticize, condemn and even withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance, which is an alliance of Baptists."

"So, I think that the worst thing that we can do, among the worst things we can do, as believers in Christ, is to spend our time condemning others, who profess faith in Christ and try to have a very narrow definition of who is and who is not an acceptable believer and a child of God."

"I think this is one of the main reasons that Christ not only said once, but repeated on other occasions, that we should not judge others, we should let God be the judge of the sincerity of a human mind or a human heart, and let us spend our time trying to alleviate suffering, opening our hearts to others, learning about the needs of others, being generous, being compassionate and so forth.''

He said taking the good news of Christ's gospel to all the world is "a mandate that has guided Baptists as well as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others all down through the centuries. I think that that's part of my own life commitment, is to tell others about Christ, and to offer them, at least, the word of God, and to let the Holy Spirit decide, or ordain the results of those intercessions. So, I think that that's a very worthwhile effort.''

Carter has reservations, however, about Christians trying to convert other Christians, as will undoubtedly happen in Utah next summer as Baptists seek to share their message and Mormons return the favor.

"The only thing I'm hesitant about is exactly what you mean by proselytizing. If you mean should we Protestants devote our time to converting Catholics to be Protestants, that's something with which I generally disagree. I think, though, that if people don't know about Christ, I have a mandate directly from our Savior to try to share the message that he espoused both through his own words and through his own actions.''

As for members of his own 30-family congregation, "the people in my own local church have no interest in trying to condemn Mormons or trying to convert Mormons to be good old Baptists like me.''

2007-12-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

No surprise, but Mike Huckabee appears to be blatantly deceptive on his immigration record, at least according to the Washington Times (via MyManMitt):

Mike Huckabee is overselling his record of cracking down on illegal aliens as governor, claiming he ordered his state police to arrest illegal aliens when in fact he never signed the agreement with federal authorities that would have allowed it.

Mr. Huckabee signed a bill that began the process, but he never followed through with signing an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to secure training for state police officers. Without it, they cannot enforce federal immigration law.

"This is a policy difference, but the facts are the facts — under Governor Huckabee's administration, there was never even any effort to begin negotiating with Homeland Security," said former state Rep. Jeremy Hutchinson, the Republican who sponsored the 2005 law.

Mr. Huckabee's campaign acknowledged he didn't follow through, but said it was lack of time, not lack of interest.

"The clock ran out. We're glad to hear Governor Beebe picked up the ball and is running with it," said Charmaine Yoest, a senior adviser to Mr. Huckabee.

Mr. Huckabee signed the law in March 2005, more than 20 months before he left office. In less than a year in office, his successor, Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, has already begun negotiations with DHS.

Immigration-control groups say they fear Mr. Huckabee could repeat President Bush's track record on immigration, which they say amounted to tough talk but a failure to follow through.

"The devil is in the details, and Bush has shown a pattern of deception on immigration enforcement again and again and again, and the Huckster is right in line with that technique," said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, who said Mr. Huckabee is trying to fool the Republican primary electorate.

"He knows he's wrong on immigration; he can't win if he's wrong on immigration — therefore, lie," Mr. Gheen said.

He said he will be in Iowa in the run-up to the Jan. 3 caucuses to try to convince voters Mr. Huckabee can't be trusted.

For the whole article, click here.

2007-12-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

From My Man Mitt we have this post from economist and Hoover Fellow Thomas Sowell:

The only candidate of either party who truly looks presidential is Mitt Romney.

It was unfortunate that Mike Huckabee and others have tried to make his religion an issue.John F. Kennedy was supposed to have taken that issue out of politics — and Huckabee’s bringing it back in ought to disqualify him for a shot at the White House, even aside from Governor Huckabee’s wholesale pardons of criminals and his raising taxes.

Romney and Giuliani are both articulate Republicans — and it is rare for the Republicans to have two at one time. Some presidential election years they haven’t even had one.

For the whole article, click here.

2007-12-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Romney’s Education Plan: A Winning Formula
By Doug Wilson (Townhall.com)
Monday, December 24, 2007

Taking on the educational establishment is like picking a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel—it simply isn’t done.

Mitt Romney apparently never got that memo.

As governor of Massachusetts and on the presidential campaign trail this year, Romney has bucked the establishment by supporting much-needed reforms such as school choice and rightly labeling the failure of so many of our inner-city schools the “civil rights issue of our time.”

Click here for the whole article.

2007-12-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

The LA Times looks at Huckabee's 23% national sales tax. Here's an interesting excerpt:

Among the early advocates of a national sales tax were members of the Church of Scientology, a group that battled the IRS for years to gain recognition as a legitimate religious institution eligible for tax-exempt status. Church leaders backed the establishment of Citizens for an Alternative Tax System in 1990 to advance the cause of replacing the income tax with a national sales tax.

Eventually, the church won tax-exempt status and the group faded. But the issue was taken up by another group, Americans for Fair Taxation -- better known as Fairtax.org -- founded in 1995 by a group of Texas millionaires.

Click here for the whole article.

2007-12-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

The mainstream media isn't biased...(this is from Powerline):

Flip-Flopping Vs. Growing In Office

At a time when Mitt Romney is being pounded in the press on the flimsiest possible grounds, the Associated Press takes a look at Barack Obama's record to judge the extent to which his currently-expressed views are different from those he has espoused in the past. The results are eye-opening, as Obama has shifted ground across a broad range of issues. But the AP is quick to assure us that these changes are nuanced and evolutionary:

The Democratic senator from Illinois hasn't made any fundamental policy shifts, such as changing his view on whether abortion should be legal.

The contrast with Romney, who has been officially dubbed a flip-flopper by the mainstream media, is explicit:

Political analysts don't see much danger for Obama in the changes. They aren't major shifts akin to Republican Mitt Romney's changes on abortion and gun control, so voters aren't likely to see the senator as indecisive or calculating.

But the AP's own recitation shows that Obama has changed his position on far more issues than Romney: the death penalty, a ban on handguns, the Patriot Act, socialized ("single payer") medicine, and repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. As for the AP's assertion that Obama's flip-flops haven't been "major shifts," why not? He used to be in favor of socialized medicine, but now isn't. He called the Patriot Act a "shoddy and dangerous law," then voted to renew it. He opposed a federal ban on same-sex marriage, then supported it. By what standard are these not "major shifts"?

Further, the AP's investigation raises serious issues about Obama's credibility. Obama now seeks to distance himself from positions he took in 1996; he claims that a staffer filled out a form for him and "misrepresented" Obama's views on a number of issues:

Obama's presidential campaign contends that voters can't learn anything about his views from the 1996 questionnaire, which was for an Illinois good-government group known as the IVI-IPO. Aides say Obama did not fill out the questionnaire and instead it was handled by a staffer who misrepresented his views on gun control, the death penalty and more.

That claim, however, is dubious at best:

IVI-IPO officials say it's inconceivable that Obama would have let a staffer turn in a questionnaire with incorrect answers. The group interviewed Obama in person about his answers before endorsing him in that 1996 legislative race, and he didn't suggest then, or anytime since, that the questionnaire needed to be corrected, they said.

It is deeply ironic that, at a time when Mitt Romney's credibility is being questioned by the AP and others, based on trivial and irrelevant discrepancies in Romney's account of events that happened 44 years ago, evidence that Obama is lying about positions that he himself took in 1996 is dismissed with a shrug.

Why the disparate treatment? It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the Associated Press covers candidates based on their party affiliation.

To comment on this post, go here.

2007-12-24T13:50:00.001-07:00

Here's a post from Dave Riehl:

Why Listen To Judges And Prosecutors When You Have Friends?

I don't imagine Huckabee will like this quote from a friendly staffer on Huckabee's pardon problems addressed today in the New York Times. Seems you can't be tough on crime and have friends, too.

The Fields case also underscores the degree to which personal and political connections sometimes played an important role in how Mr. Huckabee used his powers of clemency. Some who received clemency were recommended by Baptist preachers who had long supported Mr. Huckabee. A few had worked as trustees in the governor’s mansion. Others, like Mr. Fields, were championed by Mr. Huckabee’s political allies.

“When you have somebody that you trust and is your friend and is putting their neck out there and is asking you to do something, versus judges and prosecutors who want to look tough on crime, that would have more of an impact with him,” Mr. Cox said.

2007-12-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

The Sioux City Journal has endorsed Romney. Here are highlights:

Sioux City Journal Endorsement
Editorial
December 23, 2007

"At a time when the challenges we face as a nation are formidable, complex, divisive, political and dangerous, America needs a leader with energy, intellect, vision, charisma and experience.

"In his party's field of presidential candidates, Mitt Romney stands out as such an individual. Today we endorse Romney as the Republican we support in the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses.

"Romney combines an outsider's new face with a proven track record of success as an executive in both the private and public sectors." ...

"Personally, he is engaging, even charming, he has shown an ability to reach across partisan divides, and he is passionate on the campaign trail. In terms of leadership qualities, he possesses 'it,' and the importance of 'it' should not be diminished." ...

"In order to win his party's nomination and compete in the general election, Romney first must prove he's conservative enough, of course. Whether the subject is national defense, economics or social issues, his conservative credentials are strong." ...

"Having earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, founded his own venture capital and investment company, managed the Olympic Games and run a state in which the Legislature is some 85 percent Democratic, Romney understands economic principles, the intricacies of reform in areas such as education and health care, and the essential need to work with the other side. It's reasonable to say the economy and budget of Massachusetts were in dramatically better shape when he left office than when he entered, that the once-troubled 2002 Winter Olympics were transformed into a profitable success under his watch." ...

"Finally, the 60-year-old Romney – son of the late George Romney, a three-term governor of Michigan and secretary of Housing and Urban Development in Richard Nixon's first term – is a man of decency and integrity. Likability cannot be discounted as an attribute important in a candidate for public office.

"Among all the Republican candidates this year, Romney best taps into what we believe Americans seek – a different look, a fresh vision, a return to America's goodness and greatness."...

2007-12-24T13:39:00.001-07:00

Gov. Huckabee is bringing in $25,000 a pop for speaking engagements to church's in Iowa, according to Redstate via EFM.

Does anyone have an ethical problem with this?

Can you imagine the hullabaloo if Romney did this?

2007-12-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

Over at Evangelicals for Mitt, they have a post which they've titled: "Finding Jesus in a Jailhouse." Here excerpts from the Wall Street Journal article:

As Mr. Huckabee has surged to the top of the Republican presidential race, scrutiny of his record here in Little Rock has grown. One element in particular is the high number of prison-sentence commutations and pardons that Mr. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, granted during his decade in office -- more than a thousand, or twice those of the previous three governors combined...

Mr. Claiborne, who will turn 40 on Friday, grew up in Little Rock. In 1991, while he was living in Washington state, Mr. Claiborne was convicted of robbery and possessing stolen property and went to prison briefly. When he got out, he returned to Little Rock.

On the morning of April 1, 1993, according to a prosecutor's notes, Mr. Claiborne broke into the home of 72-year-old Cloy Evans, in a working-class neighborhood of Little Rock. Mr. Claiborne tied Mr. Evans to a chair and ripped his phone from the wall. He ransacked his house. He took a shotgun and rifles and headed next door.

Vivian Allbritton had just come inside from hanging the laundry when Mr. Claiborne broke down her back door. He ordered her and her husband, Homer, a World War II veteran, to lie on the kitchen floor, and pointed the shotgun at their heads. He ripped the wedding rings from Mrs.

Allbritton's fingers, according to her son, Greg.Mr. Allbritton, then 69 years old, started to have chest pains. Still, he tried to flee for help. But he slipped and fell, and Mr. Claiborne dragged him back inside the house and ransacked their home, according to Greg Allbritton and the prosecutor.

Mr. Claiborne left in the couple's 1983 Mercury. A few weeks later, Homer Allbritton suffered a heart attack, his son says. After he had committed seven more felony crimes for which he was convicted, Mr. Claiborne was apprehended.

Mr. Claiborne went to prison on a 375-year sentence, which was later reduced to 100 years by Mr. Huckabee's predecessor, Jim Guy Tucker. Mr. Claiborne repeatedly applied for early release, Greg Allbritton says.

Mr. Williams said he pushed for Mr. Claiborne's early release because his family asked for his help. "And I want to help people," he says, declining to elaborate. Mr. Williams says in general he would lobby the governor in person when he saw him at political or official events.

In 2004, the Allbrittons got word that Gov. Huckabee was going to back Mr. Claiborne's commutation request. "It was like anyone who said they'd found Jesus could get Gov. Huckabee to commute their sentence," says Greg Allbritton, whose father, Homer, had died in 2001. Greg called the Pulaski County prosecutor, Larry Jegley, to complain about Mr. Huckabee's decision.

"When I heard his story, I got angry," says Mr. Jegley, a Democrat. Mr. Jegley held a press conference to press Mr. Huckabee for a moratorium on clemencies. Of Mr. Claiborne and his list of felony convictions, he says: "This guy was trouble."

And how did our reformed criminal turn out?

In September of this year, a police officer found Mr. Claiborne slumped over the wheel of his car in the middle of a Little Rock intersection, passed out. The officer found marijuana, small bags and a scale in the car with Mr. Claiborne. He was charged with possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. Mr. Claiborne is now out of jail on $15,000 bond, court records show.

2007-12-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt on McCain and the race:

The unfortunate byproduct of the McCain bubble in New Hampshire is the obligation to revisit why it is that McCain faded in the first place. It would have been better all around if he'd bowed out after a disappointing finish in the Granite State, a resolute voice for victory, an American hero, but a fellow who's time had come and gone. But Huck's rise in Iowa combined with the Lieberman endorsement has created a certain to be short-lived boomlet in McCain futures. It also reminds us why he faded in the first place when he ought to have been triumphing in the way MSM has been predicting since 2004.

Let's start with the Gang of 14 coup that undercut a carefully calibrated strategy developed between then Majority Leader Frist and the White House, a coup that still rankles. The line of stalled judicial nominees --good men and women whom John McCain threw under the bus for a headline, along with other nominees sacrificed in the spring of 2006-- is long and growing longer with every month. Senator McCain avoids every serious discussion of his failed "compromise" and declares that he saved the judicial filibuster for the GOP, an extra-constitutional power the GOP ought not to want. Up-or-down votes for nominees who clear committee was the rule that Frist and the vast majority of Republicans wanted --the constitutional option. John McCain put his interests ahead of those of the party and the base. It was the moment that undid his comeback with the party willing to forgive the McCain-Feingold folly, and he hasn't recovered and cannot recover because the courts mean so much to each part of the party, but not to Senator McCain.

To that sharp memory of McCain as anti-party maverick, add the McCain grandstanding of September, 2006 when Bill Frist convened the Senate with a timetable to address the treatment and interrogation of terrorists, surveillance of terrorists and confirmation of judicial nominees beginning with Peter Keisler, and Senators McCain and Graham threw in enough monkeywrenches to derail the entire schedule --for what? The language on torture that emerged made no substantive change to American law, but Senator McCain's theatrics did stop Bill Frist from a series of legislative victories that might have made him a rival to the perceived McCain lead in the GOP nomination race.

The GOP Senate majority was lost, of course, and many believe the 55-45 solid majority was a victim of McCain's grandstanding throughout the second Bush term combined with the rise of the 527s that his vaunted anti-First Amendment law, McCain Feingold, birthed. Peter Keisler never got his committee vote, and still languishes in the Patrick Leahy controlled Judiciary Committee. The McCain-Feingold powered 527s continue to proliferate and distort the politics of the new century, and parts of the McCain masterpiece have been declared the obvious unconstitutional restraints on political speech that they are, but from Senator McCain we get zero remorse for this First Amendment fiasco.

There hasn't been much point in discussing this record while Senator McCain faded and saw his funds dip to almost nothing. But now he's back, the favorite of Independents in New Hampshire, and his pals in the MSM are trying to foist him again on the GOP. Romney's lead hasn't buckled in New Hampshire, and McCain's numbers haven't risen with GOP regulars for a very good reason --you don't get to lead the party you have consistently undercut for a decade.

So as attention turns to Christmas and then football and resolutions, we are exactly where the GOP always ends up: gathering behind the most conservative, electable Republican, who this year turns out to be Mitt Romney.

2007-12-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

McCain Says Allegations That He Did Favors for D.C. Lobbyist Are Untrue
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 21, 2007; A05

Sen. John McCain said yesterday that he has "never done any favors for anybody -- lobbyist or special interest group," as his presidential campaign issued a statement denouncing allegations of legislative favoritism as "gutter politics."

The Arizona Republican has hired a prominent Washington criminal attorney, Robert Bennett, to deal with the matter. "What is being done to John McCain is an outrage," Bennett said in an interview.

Bennett said he sent prepared answers yesterday to written questions submitted by New York Times reporters who have spent weeks investigating questions about whether the senator did favors for a Washington lobbyist or her clients. She has also retained a lawyer, according to a knowledgeable source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing legal matters.

McCain called Times Executive Editor Bill Keller this month to deny the allegations and to complain that he was not being treated fairly by the Times reporters, who had not yet interviewed him, the source said.

The Times inquiry burst into public view when the Drudge Report Web site posted an item about the newspaper's probe. Keller did not respond to a request to comment.
Speaking to reporters in Detroit, McCain confirmed the Times inquiry, adding: "I do find the timing of this whole issue very interesting. And we're not going to stand for what happened to us in 2000. We're getting close to the primary," he said, referring to the Jan. 8 contest in New Hampshire.

Bennett said McCain had personally retained him "to respond more forcefully" to the allegations than he did to unfounded rumors in the 2000 South Carolina primary, which included the falsehood that McCain had illegitimately fathered a black baby. Those rumors, Bennett said, "may have cost him the election."

McCain's top strategists initially declined to comment on the Drudge Report item, fearing that would open the door for news organizations to write about what his advisers regard as a non-story. McCain took the matter into his own hands by fielding questions about the controversy in Detroit, prompting his campaign to issue its statement.

"It is unfortunate that rumor and gossip enter into political campaigns," said the statement from Jill Hazelbaker, the campaign's communications director. "John McCain has a 24-year record of serving this country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the important issues facing our country."

Internet gossip Matt Drudge has occasionally served as a conduit for allegations that news organizations are investigating but have not yet published.

Bennett represented President Bill Clinton during the impeachment investigation mounted by Congress. In 1989, Bennett was special counsel to a Senate ethics committee probe of five senators, including McCain, over their ties to convicted savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating. The panel concluded that McCain used poor judgment in interceding with banking regulators on Keating's behalf, but that no punishment was warranted.

2007-12-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Baptists Not On Board
By Robert Novak

When Mike Huckabee went to Houston on Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved presidential candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a nonpaying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president.

Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they encountered each other in California. The former governor of Arkansas took issue then with comments by Pressler, a former Texas appeals court judge, that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war against secularists within the Baptist church.

The warmth in Texas and hostility in California reflects the dual personality of the pastor-politician who has broken out of the presidential campaign's second tier. Huckabee can come across as either a Reagan or a Nixon. More than personality explains why not all his Baptist brethren have signed on the dotted line for Huckabee. He did not join the "conservative resurgence" that successfully rebelled against liberals in the Southern Baptist Convention a generation ago.

Criticism from co-religionists stands apart from criticism by the Club for Growth, the Cato Institute and the Arkansas Eagle Forum of Huckabee's 10 big-government, high-tax years as governor. Because no Republican candidate since Pat Robertson in 1988 has depended so much on support from evangelicals, opposition by Huckabee's fellow Southern Baptists is significant.

Huckabee's base is reflected by sponsors of Tuesday's fundraising luncheon (requesting up to $4,600 a couple) at the Houston home of Steven Hotze, a leader in the highly conservative Christian Reconstruction movement. State Rep. Debbie Riddle was the only elected official on the host committee, most of whose members were not familiar names in Texas politics. David Welch is executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council. Jack Tompkins heads a firm providing Internet services to the Christian community. Entrepreneur J. Keet Lewis is an active Southern Baptist.

A better-known committee member was Baptist minister Rick Scarborough, founder of Vision America. In endorsing Huckabee on Nov. 1, Scarborough said, "I acknowledge that Huckabee is not the perfect candidate" but one "who will listen to wise counsel." Scarborough and Huckabee clashed during the Baptist wars. Fighting to drive the liberals from the temple, Scarborough was badly defeated for president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas while Huckabee embraced the liberal church establishment to become president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

Judge Pressler, who led the Southern Baptist conservative resurgence in the late '70s, agreed with Scarborough about Huckabee's orientation and went a different route in presidential politics. When Huckabee on Nov. 9 announced the Southern Baptist leaders supporting him, Pressler was not on the list; on Dec. 7, Pressler endorsed Thompson. Pressler is known to be concerned that Huckabee plays to the establishment and would be subservient to the State Department and the New York Times.

On Oct. 26, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal quoted Pressler as saying: "I know of no conservative he appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention." The next week, during their California encounter, Huckabee confirmed reports from people who know him that his good-natured facade conceals thin-skinned irritability. The candidate jumped Pressler with bitter complaints.

Shortly thereafter, bitterness was demonstrated during an interview with Zev Chafets of the New York Times. Huckabee was irritated that Richard Land, a prestigious Southern Baptist leader, had not endorsed him. "Richard Land swoons for Fred Thompson," he said, though as a policy Land endorses no one. Huckabee appears to believe that everyone in the Southern Baptist Convention is obliged to support him: "If my own abandon me on the battlefield, it will have a chilling effect."

Huckabee's encounter with Pressler two months ago did not deter the judge from telling me this week much the same thing he said to the Journal's Fund: "I don't know of conservative appointments he made, and I don't know of any contribution to the conservatives." After Huckabee's warm greeting in Houston on Tuesday, however, Pressler told me: "I would never do anything to hurt him." But he did not go so far as endorsing Huckabee for president, and that sends a strong message to conservative evangelicals.

2007-12-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

According to George Will:

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's role in the '70s Show involves blending Jimmy Carter's ostentatious piety with Nixon's knack for oblique nastiness. "Despicable" and "appalling" evidence of a "gutter campaign" -- that is how The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass., characterized this from Sunday's New York Times Magazine profile of Huckabee: "'Don't Mormons,' he asked in an innocent voice, 'believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

Imagine someone asking "in an innocent voice" this: "Don't Jews use the blood of gentile children to make matzoth for Passover?" Such a smarmy injection of the "blood libel," an ancient canard of anti-Semitism, into civic discourse would indelibly brand the injector as a bigot with contempt for the public's ability to decode bigotry.

Huckabee's campaign actually is what Rudy Giuliani's candidacy is misdescribed as being -- a comprehensive apostasy against core Republican beliefs. Giuliani departs from recent Republican stances regarding two issues -- abortion and the recognition by the law of same-sex couples. Huckabee's radical candidacy broadly repudiates core Republican policies such as free trade, low taxes, the essential legitimacy of America's corporate entities and the market system allocating wealth and opportunity. And consider New Hampshire's chapter of the National Education Association, the teachers union that is a crucial component of the Democratic Party's base.

In 2004, New Hampshire's chapter endorsed Howard Dean in the Democratic primary and no one in the Republican primary. Last week it endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary -- and Huckabee in the Republican primary. It likes, as public employees generally do, his record of tax increases, and it applauds his opposition to school choice.

Huckabee's role in this year's '70s Show is not merely to attempt to revise a few Republican beliefs. He represents wholesale repudiation of what came after the 1970s -- Reaganism.

2007-12-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Tom Tancredo has dropped out of the GOP race and has endorsed Mitt Romney (Tancredo is the most outspoken critic of illegal immigration).

2007-12-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

PEGGY NOONAN — American Pastoral — Mike Huckabee preaches to the choir, but not everyone’s singing along — Friday, December 21, 2007

Is there a word for “This is nice” and “This is creepy”? For that is what I felt. This is so sweet-appalling.
I love the cross. The sight of it, the fact of it, saves me, literally and figuratively.
I wound up thinking this: That guy is using the cross so I’ll like him. That doesn’t tell me what he thinks of Jesus, but it does tell me what he thinks of me. He thinks I’m dim. He thinks I will associate my savior with his candidacy. Bleh.
The ad was shrewd.
Was the cross an accident? Please.
Mr. Huckabee reminds me of two governors who became president, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Like Mr. Clinton, he is a natural, charming, bright and friendly. Yet one senses something unsavory there, something not so nice. Like Mr. Bush, his approach to politics seems, at bottom, highly emotional, marked by great spurts of feeling and mighty declarations as to what the Lord wants. The problem with this, and with Bushian compassionate conservatism, which seems to have an echo in Mr. Huckabee’s Christianism, is that to the extent it is a philosophy, it is not a philosophy that allows debate. Because it comes down to “This is what God wants.” This is not an opener of discussion but a squelcher of it. It doesn’t expand the process, it frustrates it.
Mr. Huckabee is clever. He puts forth his policies, such as they are, based on a faith-based understanding of public policy, and if you disagree with his policies, or take a hard shot at them, or at him, he suggests the reason is that you look down on evangelicals.
He plays the victim well. Others want to “trip him up,” but he’ll “get my message out there.” His foes are “Wall Street-Washington” insiders, elitists. On the “Today” show he said his critics are the type who never liked evangelical Christians.
This is a form of populist manipulation. Evangelical Christians have been strong in the Republican Party since the 1970s.
Prayer is powerful. But Huckabee’s critics say he’s a manipulator with a mean streak and little knowledge of the world.

2007-12-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

POTOMAC WATCH — Leap of Faith — Mike Huckabee and Little Rock ethics — BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL — Friday, December 21, 2007

As pigs in pokes go, the Democratic Party bought itself a big one in 1988. Michael Dukakis was relatively unknown . . . was a typecast liberal–a furlougher of felons, and a guy who looked mighty awkward in a tank.

Mr. Huckabee is starting to get a look-see by the press, though whether the nation will have time to absorb the findings before the primaries is just as unknown. The small amount that has been unearthed so far ought to have primary voters nervous. It isn’t just that Mr. Huckabee is far from a traditional conservative; he’s a potential ethical time bomb.

Most of this is out there, thoroughly documented, and even now slowly filtering its way to voters. Of more concern is what has not yet been discovered about Mr. Huckabee’s time as Arkansas lieutenant governor and governor, in particular on ethical issues. There are signs that Mr. Huckabee’s background–borne of the same Arkansas establishment that produced Bill Clinton–is ripe to provide the sort of pop-up political scandal that could derail a general election campaign.

In Arkansas, Mr. Huckabee was investigated by the state ethics committee at least 14 times. Most of the complaints centered on what appears to be a serial disregard for government rules about gifts and outside financial compensation. He reported $112,000 worth of gifts in one year alone, nearly double his $67,000 salary.

Five of the 14 investigations resulted in admonishments: Two for failing to report gifts (one was later overturned), the other three for some $80,000 that Mr. Huckabee and his wife received but failed to initially report. One of these admonishments involved a $23,500 payment to Mr. Huckabee from an opaque organization called Action America that he helped found in 1994 while lieutenant governor, and that was designed to coordinate his speeches and supplement his income.

Mr. Huckabee caused an uproar when he used a $60,000 account intended to maintain the governor’s mansion for personal expenses, including restaurant meals, dry cleaning and boat supplies. He also faced a lawsuit over his assertion that $70,000 worth of furniture donated to the mansion was his to keep. Sprinkled among all this are complaints about the misuse of state planes and campaign funds, mistakes on financial disclosure forms, and fights over documents related to ethics investigations.

Any one of these episodes individually may appear penny ante, but they add up to a disturbing pattern. People I’ve spoken with who worked with Mr. Huckabee in Arkansas dispute the idea that he is “corrupt.” They instead ascribe his ethical mishaps to a “blind spot” rooted in his beginnings as a Baptist minister and a Southern culture of gift-giving; they suggest he never made the mental transition to public office.

Some will also argue Mr. Huckabee is no more ethically challenged than Mr. Giuliani . .
The obscure governor from Arkansas is, in contrast, a deep sea for media diving. Most recent have been stories about his pardons and commutations, as well as the news that R.J. Reynolds contributed to Action America. Mr. Huckabee–who now wants a national smoking ban in public places–responded that he never knew he accepted tobacco money, which has inspired a former adviser to claim Mr. Huckabee is being “less than truthful.” What’s next?

2007-12-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Judge Robert Bork has endorsed Mitt Romney for President:

Boston, MA – Today, noted conservative jurist Judge Robert Bork endorsed Governor Mitt Romney for President of the United States. Joining Romney for President, Judge Bork said,

"Throughout my career, I have had the honor of serving under several Presidents and am proud to make today's endorsement. No other candidate will do more to advance the conservative judicial movement than Governor Mitt Romney. He knows firsthand how the judicial branch can profoundly affect the future course of a state and a nation. I greatly admired his leadership in Massachusetts in the way that he responded to the activist court's ruling legalizing same-sex 'marriage.' His leadership on the issue has served as a model to the nation on how to respect all of our citizens while respecting the rule of law at the same time."

Judge Bork continued, "Our next President may be called upon to make more than one Supreme Court nomination, and Governor Romney is committed to nominating judges who take their oath of office seriously and respect the rule of law in our nation. I also support Governor Romney because of his character, his integrity and his stands on the major issues facing the United States."

2007-12-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

First Huckabee made this claim:

"In fact I think I’m stronger than most people because I truly understand the nature of the war that we are in with Islamo fascism. These are people that want to kill us. It’s a theocratic war. And I don’t know if anybody fully understands that. I’m the only guy on that stage with a theology degree."

While I don't understand how a degree in Christian theology helps someone be the most qualified candidate to deal with Islamic terrorists, I guess he's free to make the claim. But then, the truth came out from Huckabee's director of campaign research:

"Governor Huckabee doesn’t have a theology degree. He only spent a year in seminary."

Can you imagine Romney claiming that he was the best candidate to deal with the economy (which he is) because he has a business degree from Harvard (which he does), and then it came out that he'd only spent a year at business school? His campaign would be done over in disgrace. Why can Huckabee distort his record and get away with it?

2007-12-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Huckacide"
Townhall
By Rich Lowry
December 13, 2007

"The ghost of Howard Dean haunts the pundit class. As soon as a candidate of either party spikes up in the polls, he is compared with Dean, who had a spectacular boomlet in the second half of 2003 only to deflate as soon as people began to vote in early 2004.

"After many false prophecies, Dean circa 2008 has finally arrived. He is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee."

…

"Like Dean, Huckabee is an under-vetted former governor who is manifestly unprepared to be president of the United States. Like Dean, he is rising toward the top of polls in a crowded field based on his appeal to a particular niche of his party. As with Dean, his vulnerabilities in a general election are so screamingly obvious that it's hard to believe that primary voters, once they focus seriously on their choice, will nominate him."

…

"In general, the public tends to support Democratic proposals for bigger government, which Republicans counter by saying that the proposals will require higher taxes. Huckabee will be equipped poorly to make this traditional Republican comeback, given his tax-raising history in Arkansas. Huckabee tries to compensate with a sales-tax scheme that allows him to say he supports eliminating the IRS, but is so wildly implausible that it would be a liability in a general election.

"Then, there's national security, the Republican trump card during the Cold War and after 9/11. Huckabee not only has zero national-security credentials, he basically has no foreign-policy advisers either, as a New York Times Magazine piece this Sunday makes clear. In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in September, Huckabee struck notes seemingly borrowed from Barack Obama, hitting the Bush administration for its 'bunker mentality' and strongly supporting direct talks with Iran."

…

"Democrats have to be looking at Huckabee the way Republicans once regarded Dean – as a shiny Christmas present that is too good to be true."

2007-12-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

NO LAUGHING MATTER: GOV. HUCKABEE'S TUITION BREAKS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS "A DISASTER"

The No Laughing Matter!:
A serious look at Governor Mike Huckabee's record and policy beyond the one-liners. As in:

· Governor Mike Huckabee: "And the ultimate thing is, I may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night." ("Imus In The Morning," 12/4/07)

· National Review: "The Holiday Inn Express Candidate." "In sum, conservatives should have worries about the depth and soundness of Mike Huckabee’s foreign-policy views. And staying at a Holiday Inn Express is not going to be enough to allay them." (Editorial, "The Holiday Inn Express Candidate, National Review, 12/10/07)

Today, Gov. Huckabee Says The Jim Gilchrist Endorsement Shows That He Was Not "Soft On Immigration":

Gov. Huckabee: "You know, clearly Iraq we've been through, and I think there could have been questions on immigration, in part, because some major developments. Even though I'm being attacked on it, it was our campaign who got the endorsement of Jim Gilchrest, the founder of the Minutemen Project. So I think the issue of soft on immigration is taken off the table for me." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 12/13/07)

To watch Governor Huckabee, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=favuJq2i-jg

However, Yesterday, Huckabee Supporter And Minutemen Founder Jim Gilchrist Calls Gov. Huckabee's Tuition Breaks For Illegal Immigrants "A Disaster":

Lars Larson: "But I want to ask you a couple of questions. I've looked at Huckabee's record. I've actually interviewed the Governor and I think he's a nice guy, but on illegal aliens, he's a train wreck."

Jim Gilchrist: "On a couple of issues. Offering the illegal aliens in-state tuition, that's a disaster. And I've talked to him about that." ("Lars Larson Show," 12/12/07)

To listen to Jim Gilchrist, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1lWTNua5xY

2007-12-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

And he's running as a "Christian" leader:

"Huck's Gift-Givers Ended Up In State Posts"
Politico
By Kenneth P. Vogel
December 14, 2007

"Mike Huckabee accepted more than 90 gifts from 21 Arkansans he appointed to state posts during his decade as governor, a Politico analysis of state public records found.

"Since setting his sights on the White House, those supporters, their families and their companies have kept on giving. They contributed nearly $161,000 to a pre-presidential campaign account and Huckabee's official campaign committee since late last year, according to state and federal campaign finance records."
…

"In one year, the value of the gifts given to Huckabee amounted to more than $112,000 – nearly double his $67,000 state salary. And he wrangled with the state Ethics Commission over gift rules, with the commission twice finding he’d broken them (one violation was later overturned).

"Huckabee twice sued the commission, once seeking a statute of limitations on ethics complaints and in another suit he sought to narrow the scope of prohibited gifts. Ironically, he was represented before the ethics commission by Crass and one other lawyer who donated their services – as gifts.

"Huckabee later named one of the attorneys, Tom Mars, to head the Arkansas State Police."
…

"Huckabee is an avid hunter and fisherman, and his appointees to the state’s influential Game and Fish Commission provide a window into the layered relationship he had with supporters. At least four Huckabee appointees to the seven-member commission had given the governor gifts and are now counted among his presidential donors.

"Ronald Pierce is one of Huckabee’s longtime fishing buddies and the owner of a bass boat manufacturer. From 1997 to 2000, Pierce loaned Huckabee a pair of boats that today would retail for about $40,000 each. He also gave Huckabee and his wife, Janet, jackets and rain suits.

"Huckabee named one of the loaner boats 'State Business' because, he once joshed, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, it allowed his secretary to tell callers 'He’s out on State Business' when he was on fishing trips.

"After Huckabee’s gifts drew some bad press, Huckabee became concerned that 'it would kind of look bad' if Pierce loaned him a new boat, Pierce told Politico. So Pierce’s company pulled its loaners and sold the governor a new boat – albeit at a reduced price usually reserved for professional fishermen whose patronage is good marketing. 'The governor driving your boat on the lake is going to help you,' Pierce explained.

"Huckabee last year tapped Pierce for a seat on the Game and Fish Commission and this year Pierce and his wife gave $4,600 to Huckabee’s presidential campaign."
…

"In all, Huckabee accepted more than $54,000 in clothes for himself and his family during his decade as governor. And the lion’s share – $25,000 – came from Jennings Osborne, a colorful businessman who was by far the most generous gift giver to the Huckabees.

"Osborne, whose website describes him as 'Little Rock's own version of Elvis' gave Huckabee, his family and staff more than $60,000 worth of gifts, including $11,000 in flowers, nearly $12,000 worth of pastries and more than $25,000 in clothes.

"Huckabee appointed Osborne to a seat on the commission that oversees the stadium where the University of Arkansas football team plays some home games, and Osborne and his wife contributed $4,100 to Huckabee’s presidential campaign."
…

"Huckabee also gave appointments to givers of less extravagant gifts who have yet to appear in his campaign donation reports.

"He accepted a barbecue grill from a resort owned by the family of a man he appointed to the state’s State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission.

"He accepted as gifts seemingly common services, including car repairs. He reported receiving free eye care and 'eye wear' from an optometrist and an ophthalmologist – both of whom he tapped for spots on the boards overseeing their respective professions.

"In 1996, when the governor’s mansion was being refurbished, Huckabee received free 'general contracting and interior design services' from designer Georg Anderson and furnishings from cotton magnate Charles Adams. The next year, Huckabee named Anderson, as well as Adams’ wife, Myrna Vine Adams, to the Arkansas Governor's Mansion Commission.

"When Adam's furniture gift, worth more than $70,000, was first revealed, Huckabee claimed it was his family’s to keep. He backed down after a lawsuit was filed over the furniture and his family’s use of a $60,000-a-year fund, which the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported had been used to pay for pizza, a doghouse, a magazine subscription and pantyhose for Janet Huckabee.

"The suit was settled with the furniture still in the mansion and Huckabee, while admitting no wrongdoing, acknowledging a dispute 'regarding reimbursements.'"

2007-12-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here's reaction to today's debate in Iowa:

Fox News' Frank Luntz: "When we do these debates, usually there is some sort of a split in how people react in terms of winners or losers. We do not have a loser this time, but clearly, Mitt Romney was the winner." (Fox News' "Live," 12/12/07)

- Luntz: "When Mitt Romney talked about education, it was an absolute home run. Romney's communication of education talked about his background and it was very effective in his presentation." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07) - Luntz: "[Romney] united both elements of the Republican Party. And not only was his language effective, but they thought that the job that he did was very well-communicated." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07)

- Luntz: "It was a very good day for Mitt Romney – very effective." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07)

National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Mitt won – sounded presidential, competent, made a case for himself, and was optimistic but realistic about the threats we face. He's hit his stride." (Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Was There a Conspiracy Against Rudy and McCain?" National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/ Posted 12/12/07)

- Lopez: "...he seems to be focusing on his managerial skills in a big way this debate. Strikes me as a smart idea." (Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Romney, the Manager," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Mitt Romney had a hell of a good afternoon." (Marc Ambinder, "First Take: The Final Republican Debate," The Atlantic, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

- Ambinder: [Romney] seemed more sinewy than usual, less programmed, quite (dare we say) presidential, and even-tempered." (Marc Ambinder, "First Take: The Final Republican Debate," The Atlantic, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

National Review's Rich Lowry: "Romney wins in a romp. Positive and substantive." (Rich Lowry, "Luntz Focus Group," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

- Lowry: "Romney nails his answer to the tax question." (Rich Lowry, "Middle Income Families," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

Lowry: "I think Romney's tax answer was so good with its emphasis on 'middle class families' is that so far the only candidate to try to address the anxieties of the middle class is Huckabee. Romney needs to get on that territory, but provide better policy answers than Huckabee. Which is exactly what he did." (Rich Lowry, "Off The Charts," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

- Lowry: "Another plug for 'middle class families' from Mitt. It's important for him to keep hitting on it." (Rich Lowry, "Another Plug For 'Middle Class Families'," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

Commentary's John Podhoretz: "Romney says it's incredibly important that the next president should be a conservative. We need to follow Ronald Reagan's model: social conservatives, economic conservatives and foreign policy conservatives. I want to draw on those strengths. Very strong answer." (John Podhoretz, "LIVE: Blogging the Republican Debate Part Two,"
Commentary's "Contentions" www.commentarymagazine.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

- Podhoretz: "Quick call on the debate: Romney is very good." (John Podhoretz, "LIVE: Blogging the Republican Debate Part Two," Commentary's "Contentions" www.commentarymagazine.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

The Weekly Standard's Richelieu: "Romney on his game." (Richelieu, "Richelieu: The Iowa Debate," The Weekly Standard's "Campaign Standard," www.weeklystandard.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

National Review's Jim Geraghty: "The issues – education, the budget – played to [Gov. Romney's] strengths." (Jim Geraghty, "Iowa PBS and the Des Moines Register: Making CNN Look Good," National Review's "The Campaign Spot," http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)

2007-12-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

In today's debate Mike Huckabee claimed, " I had also the most, I think, impressive education record."

I'm not sure how he's measuring that, but the standard measures don't back up his claim:

According To The National Assessment Of Educational Progress, Arkansas Ranked Below Average In All Four Major Criteria In 2007 – Mathematics And Reading In Both Grade 4 And In Grade 8. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 252 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 33rd With An Average Score Of 238 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 298 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 43rd With An Average Score Of 274 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 236 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 38th With An Average Score Of 217 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 2nd With An Average Score Of 273 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 41st With An Average Score Of 258 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)

For 2006-2007, Arkansas Was Ranked As The 32nd Smartest State. (Morgan Quinto Press Website, "Results Of The 2006 Smartest State Award," www.morganquitno.com, Accessed 11/23/07)

· For 2006-2007, Massachusetts Was Ranked As The 2nd Smartest State. (Morgan Quinto Press Website, "Results Of The 2006 Smartest State Award," www.morganquitno.com, Accessed 11/23/07)

2007-12-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Michael Novak has come out in public support of Mitt. Here's why (hat tip to MyManMitt):

National Review beat me to it, alas, but I have been deciding to come out publicly for Mitt Romney for some days now. I have been supporting him privately for weeks, though I was trying to avoid supporting anybody publicly.

But the attacks upon Romney's religion have been a last straw. They are just not fair. I remember his father's campaigns and what an upright man he was — and no one even breathed a word against him because of his religion.

In addition, every one of the Mormons I have ever worked with, beginning with a great graduate assistant for one of my classes at Stanford in about 1967, have been the most well-mannered, inquisitive, competent, kind and thoughtful people I know. Arch Madsen of Bonneville Broadcasting, with whom I served on the Board of International Broadcast for many years, Joe Cannon who was on the AEI Board, Senator Orrin Hatch, and a long list of others always lifted my spirits.

One of my favorite texts from the New Testament is "By their fruits you shall know them." That verse has taught me to look for persons who actually love God, not so much by the churches they attend or what they say they believe, but by how they and their families live their lives. Over two public generations now, the Romney family has given us examples of upright, decent, warm lives, given to public commitment even though they did not have to be.

These days, though, it has become imperative for some Christians to come out publicly for Mitt, now that his religion has come under unfair attack. I am no expert on Mormon theology, but I do profoundly admire the good family life and good individuals it keeps sending forth into the world. Those are signs I read clearly.

And last night and today I was too sick at heart at Mike Huckabee's low and dirty dig at the Mormon faith, along disgustingly false lines. In running a clean campaign, the devil is in the details. Here Huckabee made the devil into a dirty headline. It seems to be a fatal mistake. Since Huckabee has shown himself to be such a good-humored, folksy man, this aside was entirely unnecessary, and emphatically wrong. He should disown it, and publicly apologize, very quickly.

In any case, that's the last straw. Someone has to protest, in the name of Christianity itself, that spreading bigotry and hatred for the sake of winning a political campaign is wrong. I for one don't want to let this issue of bigotry and suspicion pass by without protest — and without open support for its victim. The least Americans can do is speak up for each other on matters of religious liberty.

Romney is a good, executive-keen man, and without this mud he would earn the respect and love of the American people on his own.

2007-12-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is from Powerline on Huckabee's most infamous pardon and deceptive claims regarding it (thanks to www.mymanmitt.com):

The Huffington Post has released additional documents from then-Governor Huckabee's file on Wayne Dumond, the rapist Huckabee concluded should be released from prison and who, after he was released, committed murder. Our friend Byron York, who has been and remains critical of some of the attacks directed at Huckabee over the Dumond affair, has reviewed the documents. He concludes that Huckabee has a lot to explain.

I'll say. The file was provided to Gov. Huckabee by a staffer who didn’t agree with Huckabee’s view that Dumond should be freed (it is this staffer, I understand, who provided the documents that appear on the Huffington Post). The file contains 12 letters written by eight different women, three of whom reported being raped or sexually assaulted by Dumond. It also includes an affidavit provided by the Arkansas state police in which Dumond confessed to a rape for which he was never charged. Thus, far from being a victim of the criminal justice system, there was good reason to believe that Dumond had committed crimes for which he was not serving time. Why Huckabee thought Dumond had gotten a “raw deal” is beyond me, and Huckabee has failed to provide a plausible explanation.

Then, there's the issue of whether Huckabee has been honest in his statements about the Dumond affair. In this post, I argued that Huckabee may well have been less than truthful in claiming that he didn't influence the state parole board's decision to grant Dumond parole. In addition, the documents released by the Huffington Post make a mockery of Huckabee's statement to Tim Russert that he wished he had known more than he knew about Dumond before coming down on the side of his release. The documents in the file provided all the information Huckabee needed to make the correct judgment. Read them for yourself and see whether you agree.

JOHN adds: This deserves to be Mike Huckabee's Willie Horton moment. Just as the furlough of Willie Horton, a murderer who was never slated to be released from prison, revealed the vapidity of Michael Dukakis's liberalism, Huckabee's fuzzy-headed sympathy with serial rapist Wayne Dumond reveals the shallowness of Huckabee's approach to issues of public policy.