2009-11-10
Huckabee Goes Negative on Palin and Her Supporters
I may not be willing to support the guy for President in 2012, but I'll give credit where credit is due. Huckabee is calling out a lot of Republicans for the hypocritical way they are treating him relative to their treatment of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. In an interview with Politico, Huckabee said:
"Some of the people who had excoriated me and really been very dismissive of me for views that I had taken, and labeled me anything from a populist to an ignoramus — the same people have been very defensive [of] and laudatory to Sarah Palin."
He's exactly right! They ought to be just as critical towards Palin as they are towards Huckabee, they are both equally dangerous for the country. The difference is that Sarah Palin might be even more dangerous for the Republican Party and the conservative movement, which means the hypocrites in the party that Huckabee is calling out should be even more critical of Palin.
Of course, I doubt that's the way Huckabee sees things but hypocrisy is hypocrisy, and I too think Huckabee and Palin deserve to be treated the same way.
Huckabee's intentions may not be entirely pure, either. Palin and Huckabee are both in Iowa right now pitching their new books and themselves in the process to 2012 Republican Caucus voters. Sarah Palin might be the personification of a gaffe, but she's able to raise a LOT more money that Huckabee and that makes her a threat to Huckabee's 2011/2012 Iowa operation (if for no reason other than she'd split his base when it comes time to vote).
With regards to the national attention she's getting compared to himself, Huckabee also added:
"I'm glad she's getting the props - I know I'm not nearly as attractive"
Ahhhh! So the reason nobody is taking Huckabee seriously right now has nothing to do with his abysmal fundraising statistics... his problem is that he doesn't have boobs, expensive clothes, and fancy hair.
Archived Comments
Christian
I don't blame Huck for being a little jealous. Palin has become some kind of rock star based on very little in the way of success, experience, or anything really tangible. Don't get me wrong, I like Sarah, I think she has the right philosophical underpinnings. She also did some good things in Alaska confronting the status quo. But let's face it, AK is small time in the world of politics. On the grander stage I just don't think she carried herself very well. Couple that with the family soap opera, and it's just all too distracting to make her viable.
Does Palin become the spoiler leading to a Romney nomination? God, I hope not.
Wickle
Actually, I have wondered why Gov. Palin, the almost-one-term governor of Alaska, gets praised as well-qualified by the same people who dismissed 10 1/2 years as governor of Arkansas.
As for the people who derided Gov. Huckabee's intelligence ... to see them now praise Palin is somewhat painful. Gov. Palin combines Pres. Bush's eloquence with VP Quayle's quick-thinking skills.
Heath
Remember, Huckabee went from a second tier candidate to the last one standing before McCain received the nomination on a shoe-string budget last time. Romney outspent him 10 to 1. I think Huckabee is more popular in the general population than he is in the blogosphere or with establishment Republicans. Also, there is this interesting statistic:
In Public Policy Polling's most recent survey, Huck's favorables among all female respondents are +11% among women.
Romney? -3%.
Palin: -22%.
chukmaty
Frankly I think most of the Palin comments were WAY overblown by everyone in the blogosphere. Especially the "attractive" comment.
Really I would be able to vote for either, they both seem to be lacking foreign policy credentials as they did not deal with foreign policy via confronting protest like Reagan did in California with the Berkley crowd. However this is going to be a problem with most Governors, both of them have their ideology in the right place.
chukmaty
Frankly I think most of the Palin comments were WAY overblown by everyone in the blogosphere. Especially the "attractive" comment.
Really I would be able to vote for either, they both seem to be lacking foreign policy credentials as they did not deal with foreign policy via confronting protest like Reagan did in California with the Berkley crowd. However this is going to be a problem with most Governors, both of them have their ideology in the right place.
