It would be ironic if Huckabee wins his party nomination

[question everything]

and - heavens forbids - wins the election, thanks to the fact that the country knows that a governor from Hope, Arkansas, can be president.

[DrFunkenstein]

1. Vice President Huckabee

If it isn't McCain getting the VP nod, it'll be Huckabee.

[MADem]

2. He's getting more bang for his buck than any other GOP candidate.

He's a real charmer--pity he's such a Fundy RightWinger "Flintstone Kid."

[JI7]

3. he seems pretty likable, Ghouliani has better positions on some issues

like abortion rights, but i HATE Giuliani as a person. Huckabee i don't have a problem with as a person so far.

[MADem]

4. When I said "Flintstone Kid" I wasn't talking about vitamins...

He's one of those NUTJOBS who thinks that Dino actually DID walk the earth with Fred and Wilma, just a few thousand years ago, when "The Good Lord" made the globe...

No shit.

A pleasant guy, but a NUTJOB, a "Science denier."

[truedelphi]

5. The bang for the buck comes from his being on

Either the Daily Show or The Colbert Report.

And I agree - so far he is a likeable person. A little too "godly" for my taste and of course he is full steam ahead on Wars for our "security"

But he looks like someone that would fit in at the dinner table with the rest of the crowd.

[MADem]

9. He's also doing well in Iowa and NH simply because he's on the ground

He's easily met. He's not afraid to get in a crowd, and doesn't have an overly-protective entourage. He's not got sprayed hair, fake suits, face make-up, and overly-whitened teeth.

And DAILY and COLBERT aren't helping him as much as his new commercials wit Chuck Norris and that wrestler guy---those are getting a lot of buzz. A lot of conservatives who like him don't like those programs, and don't watch them. They may have given him "general" awareness at the outset, but he's doing a lot of the hard slog work in IA and NH, and he takes ANY invitation to ANY talking head show, big or small, that invites him.

And those commercials make people think he's just a Hail Fella, Well Met PEACH!! Not a guy who actually BELIEVES that Fred and Barney walked the earth with Dino....

[AnonymousWhiteGuy]

6. Huckabee is...

the Republican counterpart to Kucinich. He probably most closely represents the Republican/Conservative hardcore base, but would never win the primary or general election. While it's true that the base vote in the primary and moderates do better in the general election, these "niche" candidates usually are perceived as "going nowhere" and get glossed over in the primaries.

[Devlzown]

7. Huckabee scares me the most.

He could really do a lot of damage.

[BushOut06]

11. Huckabee has plenty of baggage

I think once people start learning about all his ethical problems, they won't want any part of that.

[BenDavid]

8. News reports indicate that former Arkansas Gov.

Mike Huckabee is gaining momentum in the GOP presidential primary. MSNBC.com, for instance, reported that “Huckabee has become an increasingly buzzworthy candidate in recent days -- with his warm reception at the Values Voter conference, a solid performance at the FOX debate, and the endorsement of roundhouse-kick-to-the-face expert and actor Chuck Norris.”Governor Huckabee is an extreme conservative who recently referred to legal abortion as a “holocaust” and has publicly called on the religious right to “take this nation back for Christ.” His views represent a radical departure from the core constitutional principle of separation between church and state. In light of Huckabee’s momentum – and the possibility he could be a Vice Presidential nominee – we thought it important to get the word out about the former Governor’s extremism.

The rise of Huckabee should be a major concern both for Republicans (who now have another very failed candidate as their potential nominee) and for Democrats (who should be concerned whenever an extreme candidate gets a whiff of the Presidency).

NJDC has blogged extensively about Huckabee. Here are a few concerns about his record:

- In June, Huckabee issued a call to arms to religious conservatives, urging them to vote on the very social issues that are undermining the wall between church and state.

- Also in June 2007, Huckabee said that "most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo ..."

- In May 2007, Huckabee went on record as not believing in evolution.

- In October 2006, Huckabee joked that he lost weight because Democrats put him in a concentration camp.

- In 1998, Huckabee called on the religious right to "take this nation back for Christ."

In January 2007, as Huckabee was preparing his presidential bid, the Washington Post reported on his radical views. Among the interesting points in the article:

also publicly supported creationism, a philosophy advocated by fervent Christians, arguing that students should be exposed to the study of the doctrine as well as evolution.

During the political campaign, Huckabee could prove a poster boy for political corruption. He made news before leaving the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, when he set up gift registries on several websites, allowing lobbyists and others seeking to curry influence to know exactly which gifts to purchase for he and his wife. As we've blogged in past posts about Huckabee, this quote from a retired Arkansas government official says it all about the former Governor and potential Republican nominee:

“He’s using the trappings of the governor’s office to get everything he can, and the sad part of it is, I honestly believe he does not see anything wrong with this,” said Kerns, a retired lawyer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. “It’s like ‘ethics’ is a foreign word to him.”

Let's hope he never has the opportuntiy to "use the trappings" of the White House to do the same.

Dangerous Dark Horse:

HUCKABEE IS WRONG FOR AMERICA

Ben David

[question everything]

14. If I were a hard core Republican I would certainly consider him

Seems that with him hard core Republicans do not have to compromise with candidates who - gasp - support(ed) choice and gay rights, or even lobbied for pro-choice organization.

The fact that Guiliani leads shows that many Republicans are ready to do what we have done in previous elections - vote for the most electable candidate - in their mind - while holding their noses.

[Tejanocrat]

10. Ironic? How 'bout inconceivable? Club for Growth {{{HATES!!!}}} Huckabee. Even most Repubs flinched

when Huckabee announced in one debate that he didn't believe in evolution and, in the next debate, announced that he would not reject the idea that the Earth is only 6000 years old (based on fuzzy Bible math and contrary to the "theory" of geology).

Huckabee's a nonstarter. He'll create a HUGE splash coming in a close second in Iowa, and maybe after a dip in NH, he'll bounce back in SC, but that is the end of the road for Huckabee.

And he is NOT a VP possibility. He's too fundamentalist on social issues to run with Romney or Giuliani, too crazy on the misnamed "fair tax," and -- according to Repub Kool Aid drinkers -- too liberal on everything else.

By the time Romney (or Giuliani) is picking his running-mate, the primary will be over. Once these guys have won the primary, they will not need to tack to the right any longer and so they will no longer bow to the fundamentalists. Moreover, the Repub VP will need to be a kick-ass fund raiser (because they are trailing badly). This is Huckabee's weakest attribute.

Huckabee will neither win the nomination nor serve as anyone's VP.

[napi21]

12. I don't know much about Huck, but I've read that the people of Ar.

don't like him at all! THAT tells me a lot! If the people from your own State don't like you, there's something very wrong. They are in the best position to know what you're really like! That same thing holds true for Rudy. Most of the people from NY don't like him at all!

[DFW]

13. He's smile and pat you on the back

And tell you to say hello to Jesus just before he threw the switch.

He may a nice jovial guy, but so was Idi Amin. I hope (no pun intended)
he goes nowhere but back to Little Rock.