I just saw him talking to a crowd in
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I just saw him talking to a crowd in
Posted by Ken at 1:11 PM 4 comments
Labels: Huckabee, mitt romney, romney
So we got together and decided that what good was a canadian supporting mitt romney site if we didn't win the Iowa caucus, the proverbial catalyst for the Romney strategy. So we pooled our resources and had enough to buy me hitchhikers pass all the way to Iowa. I sit here in my plush condo (ummm) after a day of working out of Romney HQ Iowa, making phone calls, knocking doors, eating lunch, making more phone calls, etc. Let me tell you, it doesn't get any better than this.
The great thing about being here is the urgency in the air. Working side by side with some of these people who have been here for weeks and knowing that the big dance is in less than 24 hours, it's pretty exciting.
So I phone called and worked the beat, seeking out all republicans worth their american flag patch that should be sewn on a backpack to try and convince them of the joys that are Mitt Romney. His wife Ann came in about midway through the day to buoy up the supporters which had grown about 250 strong.
But then things got good, when we hit the jackpot, a Romney Rally right here in Des Moines. We got the hoopla from all the intro folks, some guy talked about how he changed his life, delivered his baby, and cured cancer, or something along those lines, and then the big boy himself, the genesis of hope this side of the border, the breast milk of politics, Mitt Romney comes out. It was pretty great, I mean politics and speeches mixing normally makes for mediocre fun, or in the case of Huckabee, hilarity ensues, but dang diggity, this guy secured every vote in the room all over again. Made us all proud to be supporting a candidate that we can trust to actually fix some washington blunders and put ole USA back on track.
All was not well however, we found some trouble in the crowd, but he was quickly dealt with.
Can you blame him though, I mean someone had to keep an eye on things while Huckabee was playing hollywood wannabe (see leno?)
Anyway, that's the update for now, 2am, Des Moines, working straight through till the Iowa Caucus tomorrow at 7. Next post will be during the victory party tomorrow night. Ahhh yeah.
Posted by Al at 2:32 AM 1 comments
sometimes life throws you fast balls, and then sometimes it throws you a curve ball, but then there are times when you get a nice slow pitch softball lob, a pitch that just hangs there and doesn't seem to go anywhere and begs you to hit it. Enter Mike Huckabee.
So we've bagged on the guy and frankly the horse is dead, so why beat it? Well cause the moment is priceless.
Yesterday Mike calls a press conference to address both an ad he'd made and the general disgust with mud slinging politics. So it begins, Huckabee brings in all the reporters, talks about taking the noble approach to politics with all the inuendo of a banana stand advertising their banana that WON'T poison and kill you, of course implying that their competitors banana will. Huckabee notes that he has taken a hit from Romney's direct attacks in his advertising campaign and lets us all in on the fact that he almost went that route... he EVEN went so far as to make an ad against Romney, but because he is so full of integrity and so full of....it (whatever it may be), he has chosen not to air it. Pausing for cheers and realizing he was being received like the Dixie Chicks in the Bush family home, he quickly proceeds and then tells us that even though he's not going to show it, he will show the press gathered because... well since he told them they would be curious and demand to see it anyway. At which point the room erupts in laughter, laughing at him, loudly at him, and over him as he tried to regain control. He never really does.
So the moral of the story, the high road only works when you stay on it.
You shouldn't be surprised though, it isn't easy to play the two faced with a face like that. I mean, the fox news guy was even making fun of him.
As a professional journalist though, I did do some investigating and you will all be happy to know his mother still loves him. Not only that, his mom thinks he'd be a dandy president, though she wished he had clinton's foreign 'expertise'.
Huckabee, we were hoping for a supernova, but a fizzle of a campaign is equally entertaining. Thanks for the fish big fella.
Video of the event in question after the jump -
Posted by Al at 3:05 AM 0 comments
With the Iowa primary tomorrow there will be a storm of last minute decisions regarding who to vote for. Voters will come by the thousands to choose their favourite candidates. Many voters will change their minds at the last second and the pre-polls will likely be proven to be 7-10% off on average. Delegates will be sent to conventions and ultimately one candidate will prevail. Unlike the Democrats' complex primary voting system, the Republican primary is very straight forward and performed by a secret ballot. When it comes to Republicans, the winner of the most votes in a state receives all the Republican party's delegates for that state to represent him in the national convention.
The result in Iowa is probably the most important of all the states for Mitt Romney. If he wins, he will almost surely go on to take New Hampshire and possibly South Carolina. If he loses, he will have a much tougher road ahead of him. The bottom line is that Mitt Romney needs every vote possible in Iowa.
Fortunately, Mitt Romney has a disciplined campaign strategy and an efficient and large ground team in Iowa. Even his son Josh and his family visited all 99 Iowa counties (an impressive feat). Still, Mitt needs as much help as he can get. So if you are from Iowa, or know someone to whom your can e-mail or send this link in Iowa, consider this:
Mitt Romney is the ONLY candidate who represents the three types of conservatives, namely social, economic, and defense conservatives. Furthermore, not only does he represent these three groups, but he is the best man for the job in each of these three areas.
Economic - Mitt has turned many companies around including Staples. He saved the Salt Lake Olympics and left them with an impressive surplus. He turned debt-ridden Massachusetts into a state with a multi-billion dollar surplus and provided more social programs without raising taxes. He supported the Bush tax cuts. Furthermore, the US economy is in massive debt and is experiencing its first major rival in years (China). What other candidate out there has even half the economic experience that Mitt does? Not one.
Defense - Mitt Romney wants to spend more on military (around 4% of the GDP). He wants to do this without raising taxes. He wants to finish what was started in Iraq and believes strongly in the war against terror. He wants to make safer borders and beef up security against illegal immigration. He wants to keep a close eye on Iran and other threats to peace in the world.
Social - Mitt is against abortion and gay-marriage. Some say that he flip-flopped on these issues but they need to get their facts straight. For example, Mitt was for gay-rights, but not gay-marriage (two TOTALLY different issues). Mitt is for strong families and is a living example of what he believes. He boasts a large family with a beautiful wife (never divorced), five upstanding sons and daughters-in-law, and a troop of grandchildren. Mitt's family is a shining example of strong families and Mitt wishes the same family ties that he enjoys for all Americans.
Make your vote count. Remember, the Iowa Republican primary is a secret ballot. If you vote for one of the candidates who has little support (Thompson, McCain, Giuliani), you are basically wasting your vote, as the winner of Iowa takes ALL its delegates. If you vote Huckabee, you are only doing one of two things. You are either handing the nomination over to Rudy Giuliani, or you are ensuring a democratic victory (as Huckabee would lose big in the national election). If either of these things happen, the issues that Republicans hold dear will not be represented. Mitt is the only candidate who provides the full-package and who has the broad appeal and funding to beat the Democrats.
Vote Mitt Romney for a better America (and in my case, a better Canada, as we are greatly affected by what goes on south of the border).
Posted by Suds at 12:21 AM 0 comments
Labels: iowa, mitt romney, republican
Yes, the title is a pretty bold statement. You might be thinking to yourself "well gee, that's a pretty strong/quasi-sac religious statement....who would be POMPOUS enough to say that?" Well actually, Mike Huckabee would be 'that guy'.
During this election, Huck has eluded many times to the fact that he is God's "chosen" candidate and attributes his recent surge in Iowa and in other states to God's pure love for him and dislike for the other candidates who aren't worthy enough to unloose the latchet of Huck's shoes (Luke 3:16). Here are just a FEW quotes chosen from MANY that Huck has said:
When Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. introduced Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee at Wednesday’s convocation, he said Huckabee told university leaders during a visit here last year that “if this candidacy really took off it would have to be a God thing.”
In a brief question-and-answer period after his talk, one student asked Huckabee what he can attribute the surge in success to. Huckabee replied: “There’s only one explanation for it and it’s not a human one. It’s the same power that felt that … two fish and five loaves could feed a crowd of 5,000 people. … There literally are thousands of people across this country who are praying that little would become much and it has.” Here is the video after the jump:
So now that Romney has vaulted past Huck in the polls, by Huck's own logic, God must love the Mormon Mitt more than him. I wonder what Mikey did to lose all his Luckabee? The point is that Mike Huckabee never gives us a reason to vote for him. The crux of his whole campaign is that he is God's candidate, supported by arguably funny one-liners, meaningless ads with no substance (just jokes), and dodging the discussion of almost any important issue that he's asked about. Mike Huckabee is NOT God's candidate. God does not bow to the will of the Great Huck. If this guy hasn't yet scared off the majority of genuine God fearing and loving people, there is a disturbing level of religious bias and bigotry in America and the constitution and very foundation of why America was created is being completely mocked. The site Red State put it best when they said:
"If God is helping and has chosen Huckabee, does that mean by supporting another candidate I am fighting against God? And what if Huckabee loses to Romney, does that mean God changed his mind and now supports Mormon candidates over Baptist ones? Or does it mean that whoever outperforms Huckabee is actually stronger than God?"
Honestly, I don't believe that God loves any one candidate more than the other. We are all his children and he loves us all. It just never ceases to amaze me that Mike Huckabee will say ANYTHING to get a vote.
Posted by Suds at 12:39 PM 0 comments
Labels: Huckabee, huckabee falling, mitt romney
Marketwatch did a write up this morning entitled "Romney vaults Huckabee in Iowa polls" which made me chuckle a bit. The reason this is so fantastic is not only because Mitt is finally getting his moment in the sun (well snow if I know Iowa) but it's more Huckabee's reaction that I love.
What would you do if the person you'd been leading all of the sudden is in front of you? Do you step up your campaigning, do you try to highlight the topics that you feel are your strong points and his weak points, do you out smart your opponent with cunning strategies of the likes Iowa ain't nevah seen? Nope, not if your Huckabee, you just call your opponent dumb and tell him he can't read good. Well, so to speak.
Huckabee has blamed his falling on Romney being "dishonest" and "desperate", also popular is the if I was rich as you, then this would be different plea that we all know and love from the days of poor hockey performance being blamed on the rental skates and not the fact that the guy doesn't have a wristshot.
So "Huckabee, who claims Romney is outspending him 20-1 in Iowa, is relying on an informal network of evangelicals, home-schoolers, hunters and economic conservatives who, like him, want to replace the income tax with a national sales tax." Now a few things stand out to me. First, there's an underground network of home-schoolers!? That's amazing in its own right but the idea that they, along with the underground hunter scene will sway the election is something I hadn't anticipated.
Pretty much, if Huckabee's reaction to the poll changes doesn't save him, his only chance is to signal the Chuck Norris..../cue the bat-esque sign Ed, it's time for a roundhouse kick in the 8th dimension. Huckabee's is probably ahead in that dimension.
Quotes from -
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.iowa31dec31,0,5847918.story
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/romney-too-rich-for-me-huckabee-wails/2007/12/31/1198949742016.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-campaign31dec31,1,5301685.story?coll=la-politics-campaign
Posted by Al at 11:16 AM 0 comments
Labels: anyone is better than huckabee, huckabee falling, mitt romney, romney owns all yer basen, Romney rising
Just a few short weeks ago, Mike Huckabee came out of nowhere and rocketed to the top of the polls in Iowa. He implied on many occasions that the reason for his success is that God wanted him to win. He kept this lead for a while, until now, when the latest polls are showing Mitt Romney with as much as a 9 point lead in Iowa (but an overall average of a 0.6% lead).
Poll | Date | Romney | Huckabee | McCain | Thompson | Giuliani | Paul | Spread |
RCP Average | 12/26 - 12/29 | 28.2 | 27.6 | 11.4 | 11.0 | 6.2 | 6.2 | Romney +0.6 |
Zogby | 12/26 - 12/29 | 28 | 29 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Huckabee +1.0 |
American Res. Group | 12/26 - 12/28 | 32 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | Romney +9.0 |
Mason-Dixon | 12/26 - 12/28 | 27 | 23 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 5 | Romney +4.0 |
Strategic Vision (R) | 12/26 - 12/27 | 27 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 4 | Huckabee +2.0 |
Quad City Times | 12/26 - 12/27 | 27 | 34 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 8 | Huckabee +7.0 |
Posted by Suds at 11:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: McCain, Romney rising