Flash! Huck woos finger-lickin’ vote

4 comments January 28th, 2008

Food for thought:

Mike Huckabee, who tried to ingratiate himself with South Carolina voters by claiming to share their love for FRIED SQUIRREL, is now SAYING that Mitt Romney doesn’t know how to eat fried chicken.

Matters like these are said to be important to Southern voters.

What happens when Rudy drops out?

Add comment January 24th, 2008

It’s becoming INCREASINGLY LIKELY that Rudy Giuliani will come in third or fourth in the Republican primary in Florida next Tuesday and will be finished as a presidential hopeful.

So where will his supporters go?

I think most of them would be naturally inclined to go with John McCain, whose image as something of a maverick is closest to Rudy’s.

But if Mitt Romney wins in Florida, he’ll have a momentum — a seeming inevitability — that could draw a lot of erstwhile Giuliani people.

In short, the bulk of the Giuliani crowd will gravitate to the side of whoever wins in Florida.  (And that winner won’t be Mike Huckabee.  He’s history.)

As I said here last week, I  expect Romney to be the nominee.  McCain’s problem is that he needs independent voters to prevail.  But some of the upcoming primaries are open only to registered Republicans, many of whom aren’t too keen on McCain.

Moreover, in some of the states where independents will be allowed to participate in the Republican primaries, McCain will find himself in competition with Democrat Barack Obama for those voters.

Mitt and McCain hypocrites on abortion

3 comments January 21st, 2008

Say what you will about Mike Huckabee and his theocratic tendencies. At least the guy is more  consistent than the other Republican front-runners on the issue of abortion.

Huckabee is against all abortions, while Mitt Romney and John McCain would make exceptions in cases of rape and incest. But such exceptions make no sense.

If abortion is immoral because it’s the taking of innocent life, how does the morality change in a case of rape or incest? Is the fetus in such a case somehow not innocent?

The hypocrisy on this score arises, it seems to me, from purely political considerations. Most people shudder at the thought of a woman having to bring a fetus to full-term in a case of rape or incest. And most politicians are loathe to buck majority sentiment on the matter. So much for the sincerity of their pro-life positions.

Another question: If a fetus is a person, and abortion is the unwarranted killing of that innocent person, why don’t any of the pro-life candidates favor a law under which the mother would be charged with murder?

The answer to that question, of course, is that taking such a position likely would be political suicide. Most Americans don’t want women who get abortions to be prosecuted as murderers.

Nor is there any consistency of logic in making an exception for an abortion to save the life of the mother. In his book “Papal Sin,” author Garry Wills argues: “If the fetus and the mother have equal status as persons, the natural and not the inflicted death should be preferred,” if you’re going to be morally and logically consistent about it.

Then, too, the candidates should be required to square their anti-abortion positions with the belief among some folks — orthodox Catholics, for example — that the so-called morning-after pill is an abortifacient. Are any of these pols willing to call for a ban on morning-after pills? Are they willing to call for murder charges against women who take such pills? If not, why not?

The politicians should be required to explain in detail their opinions on just when life starts and when, if ever, it’s permissible to end such life and what penalties should be imposed for violations of any limits that are enacted into law. Questions like that would prompt the Republican candidates, I’m sure, to squirm and dance and tie themselves into ideological knots.

Mitt’s GOP rivals don’t much like him

Add comment January 21st, 2008

THIS GUY says Mitt Romney is not too popular among the other  Republican presidential candidates — especially Mike Huckabee.

‘Actor’ says McCain’s at death’s door

2 comments January 21st, 2008

Chuck Norris, the martial-arts “actor” who’s backing Mike Huckabee for president, SAYS John McCain is too old and feeble for the job and likely would die in office.

Best video clips of the week

Add comment January 18th, 2008

Josh Marshall is your genial host (and he asks for your help at the end):

Predictions for Saturday’s contests

Add comment January 18th, 2008

My record of prognostications is a little spotty this season, but here’s where I make my big comeback.

In the South Carolina Republican primary, John McCain will benefit from blowback against the crap the extremists are throwing at him (see HERE) and will edge out Mike Huckabee. Fred Thompson will finish a weak third.

Barack Obama will win the Democratic primary in the Palmetto State by a sizable margin over Hillary Clinton. John Edwards, a South Carolina native, will fare poorly.

It’ll be much closer in the Democratic caucuses in Nevada. I’m picking Obama to eke out a victory, but I wouldn’t make any big bets on it.

Mitt Romney will win in Nevada by a wide margin.

UPDATE: Upon further reflection, and in light of the latest polls, I’m changing my outlook on the Democratic caucuses in Nevada to “too close to call” between Clinton and Obama. Edwards remains out of it.

Huck is proud to be a Southerner

2 comments January 18th, 2008

Hungry for fried squirrel?

1 comment January 16th, 2008

My daughter, the apple(sauce) of my eye, is a great lover of squirrels. She’s not going to like this:

Ok, Now I get it (I think)

4 comments January 16th, 2008

So Mitt Romney won the Republican presidential primary in Michigan on Tuesday, the party’s third different victor in as many contests this month.

Does this just further muddle the GOP race? You’d think so, wouldn’t you? For me, it has the opposite effect.  It makes the picture more clear. Romney’s going to be the nominee.

Yes, I had predicted that John McCain would win in Michigan, and now I see the error in my calculations.

McCain won this primary handily eight years ago with a lot of crossover votes from Democrats and independents. I thought that would happen again this time, especially since there was no real contest on the Democratic side, but it didn’t.  For whatever reason, a far greater percentage of voters in this year’s GOP primary were actually regular Republicans.

Well, John McCain doesn’t do well among regular Republicans. I didn’t fully understand that until yesterday. And now I figure he can’t win the nomination. The party faithful just don’t cotton much to this guy.

What about Mike Huckabee? He’s going nowhere.  His third-place finish in Michigan was weak.  The party establishment is against him. His win in Iowa now appears to have been a fluke.

Rudy Giuliani? He probably was pleased to see Romney win on Tuesday, lest McCain’s surge gain irresistable momentum. But now the momentum is with Romney, and Rudy hasn’t got a chance of stopping it. Besides, how in the world is a thrice-married, pro-choice, pro-gay-rights former mayor of New York going to become the standard-bearer of the Republican Party? Hey, they might as well nominate me. Not gonna happen.

As for Fred Thompson, he peaked about a month before he announced his candidacy and has been sliding downward with every campaign appearance he makes.

So there it is.  The Republican race is over.  Move along, folks, nothing to see here.  The action is over on the Democratic side.

 In November, it’s going to be Romney vs. Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.