Huck loves Rush

Isn't that sweet?

And you thought Huckabee used religion

Well, you know no one is gonna out do Hillary.

via Ace

The Real Hillary Christmas

McCain, I always believed....

I feel like the guy at the races who bet on the horse no one thought would win. Then in the last lap of the last race, he looks like he just might.

Just a reminder to all Republican primary voters.

The problem with Huckabee being the Christian Candidate

Growing up in a house that was all about politics, I never confused politics with faith. There are, after all, two completely different animals. In fact, as I was growing up and into the '80's, faith was never even a consideration regarding candidates and politics in my mind. Basically abortion and other social issues being forced upon us, forced Christians into the political process. We felt we couldn't be just voters anymore, we had to be activists.

I remember in the 80's thinking that the pro-life movement was handling the politics of abortion all wrong. They let the media paint them as radical protesters, instead of ones who help women in crisis pregnancies. For example, I bet most of you remember "Operation Rescue," but none of you know that during that time pro-lifers set up 3 times the number of pregnancy crisis centers than there are abortion clinics across the country. Crisis centers that not only provided for women during pregnancy, but after the baby was born as well. The negative is what will always be reported. And politics is ugly business, the pro-lifers were not up for that, the pro-abortionists certainly were, which is why they won the political battle.

This is the problem with Huckabee in my view. It's one thing for a candidate to claim to be a person of faith (as all of them do) and quite another to make it the hallmark of his campaign. We expect politicians to do negative campaigning against their opponents. That is a part of politics, but we don't like to see our "Christian leaders" involve themselves in the ugliness that is politics.

By Huckabee putting his Christianity front and center, he allows himself to be painted as a "Christian leader." Then when he is force to play the ugly political game, it makes us more than uncomfortable. It seems out of place, not right.

Huckabee has gained alot of ground touting his faith. Christians liked hearing the language of faith from a candidate, but I think he overplayed his hand. Once the mudslinging begins, he will look more like a Pharisee, claiming to be on the side of good, while acting in the opposite way.

It's impossible in the midst of the "fight club" that is Presidential politics, to portray yourself as the minister of the people, and on the other hand, be the pit bull candidate one has to be to win a political campaign.

It's like Mother Teresa trying to win a beauty pageant. It just doesn't work.

So Huckabee may shine with the light of Jesus now, but when the mud starts slinging, I'm afraid the light might get covered.

The perfect Christmas gift for your little girl!

And it's at the Dollar Store!

Yesterday, I stopped by the GAMA-GO world headquarters where co-founder Chris Edmundson presented me with this fine holiday gift. It's a set of fake breasts that he purchased, oddly enough, at a dollar store in San Francisco. Each breast is essentially a heavy-duty balloon with a built in compressed air cartridge. Squeezing the cartridge causes the breast to inflate. The back of the breast is outfitted with double-stick tape to secure it to your person. They're available, at least in our fair city, from Daiso, a large Japan-based chain of hyakkin (100 yen shops) with outlets in the United States. via Boing Boing

Does anything surprise us anymore? Btw, why does Japan make such weird things?

More McCain goodness...

No "floating cross" for McCain.

Seriously. This is a story McCain has been telling a long time. I was touched the first time I heard it and I'm touched now.

via HotAir

Tancredo endorses Romney!

Quite a coup. All that anti-illegal immigration street cred!

The way things are going, I feel like the girl being pursued by the two hottest guys at school. I'm a winner either way.

The McCain Train...

..is blowing past the competition. According to this ARG poll McCain is tied in New Hampshire. Not surprised? Well, how about this? McCain is 2nd in Iowa behind Huckabee,where he has hardly campaigned at all.

via NRO

Update: Even better? McCain is 2nd nationally according to this Fox poll.

via hotair

Don't worry guys, I'll be here to get through your anger issues with McCain.

John McCain's daughter's blog!

It's pretty cute with lots of pictures. She is very attractive with a youthful attitude (she is 23) Check it out.

Hugh Hewitt asks a good question

"Would it kill Time or Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi or any on the left to say: "Well done, American soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine?" The turnaround in Iraq in 2007 is remarkable. It will be the subject of study and praise a hundred years from now

My one and only Ron Paul Post

I've never known what to say about Ron Paul, but that he seems like a Ross Perot wannabe. But this is just too interesting not to take note of:


Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has received a $500 campaign donation from a white supremacist, and the Texas congressman doesn't plan to return it, an aide said Wednesday.
Don Black, of West Palm Beach, recently made the donation, according to campaign filings. He runs a Web site called Stormfront with the motto, “White Pride World Wide.” The site welcomes postings to the “Stormfront White Nationalist Community.”

This story was broken by LST over almost 2 months ago.

Today they have this interesting post they discovered over at VNN:

The “Commander” of the American National Socialist Workers Party (i.e., the “Nazis”) has posted the following statement over at VNN, another leading White Supremacist hate-site.

Comrades:

I have kept quiet about the Ron Paul campaign for a while, because I didn’t see any need to say anything that would cause any trouble. However, reading the latest release from his campaign spokesman, I am compelled to tell the truth about Ron Paul’s extensive involvement in white nationalism.
Both Congressman Paul and his aides regularly meet with members of the Stormfront set, American Renaissance, the Institute for Historic Review, and others at the Tara Thai restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, usually on Wednesdays. This is part of a dinner that was originally organized by Pat Buchanan, Sam Francis and Joe Sobran, and has since been mostly taken over by the Council of Conservative Citizens.
I have attended these dinners, seen Paul and his aides there, and been invited to his offices in Washington to discuss policy.
For his spokesman to call white racialism a “small ideology” and claim white activists are “wasting their money” trying to influence Paul is ridiculous. Paul is a white nationalist of the Stormfront type who has always kept his racial views and his views about world Judaism quiet because of his political position.
I don’t know that it is necessarily good for Paul to “expose” this. However, he really is someone with extensive ties to white nationalism and for him to deny that in the belief he will be more respectable by denying it is outrageous — and I hate seeing people in the press who denounce racialism merely because they think it is not fashionable.

Yikes.

Rudy admitted to hospital

They say with flu like symptons. The flu? I thought people who had has cancer are always encouraged to get a flu shot. This couldn't have come at a worse time.

Oh, well, prayers and good thoughts go out to him.

via Drudge

Moving on up...

Nationally. And it ain't Huckabee.

After holding a double-digit advantage over his nearest rivals just six weeks ago, the former New York City mayor now is tied nationally with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 20% among Republicans, just slightly ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 17% and Arizona Sen. John McCain at 14%. Other polls show Mr. Giuliani's lead shrinking in Florida, one of the states he has based his strategy around.

I don't think the Mormon thing matters in the general election. Good to know.

via Ace

A Liberal Christmas

That's right. Buy gifts for everyone with the taxpayers money and act like you are the generous one.
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As Bryan at HotAir says:

If that doesn’t typify liberal thinking, I don’t know what does.

Obama's ad. Much nicer and it even mentions Christmas!

The Experience of Hillary

Magic Johnson came out today to campaign for Hillary. Why?

"Only 30 years of experience right here," Johnson said, signaling to Clinton, who stood by his side in the sit-down eating area of the Hy-Vee. He stayed diligently on-message, repeating the campaign talking points. "I think this country right now needs a leader with experience because this is not going to be an easy job," Johnson said.

30 years of experience. Hillary keeps touting "35 years of experience" on all the news shows, but if counting everything one did since graduation from college is "experience," then who doesn't have experience?

I hardly call 15 years as a corporate lawyer experience to be President. Obama and Edwards were lawyers as well. This "35 years of experience" also includes her three years as a law school professor. (Obama was too) Then there is that oh so important experience as a first lady. First as first lady of Arkansas, then First Lady of the U.S.A. So, according to her biography 11 were spent being a First lady. That's experience for the Presidency? And the one policy issue that she attempted as First Lady was a health care fiasco. Then she has had 7 years in the Senate. Which really is the only experience that counts. Everyone running for President has a college degree or more. They have all worked either in the private sector or in political office to which they were elected.

Obama also claims to have been "fighting" for the little guy too. And he was a community organizer in Chicago after working in the private sector for a short time. He seems to have done as much "fighting" as Hillary did and he was a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. And he was a state legislator before that.

Edwards was also a lawyer supposedly 'fighting' for the little guy. Edwards has also been a Senator (for seven years) and if experience for doing anything counts, he was the vice Presidential nominee in 2004.

So how does Hillary have more experience than Obama and Edwards? Because Obama and Edwards haven't been a First Lady?

Looks that way.

Hillary is like Al Gore

Noemie Emery makes the case at NRO.

The similarities are striking. But one thing I cannot understand about Hillary in practical terms is why she insists on continuing this "cackle" that everyone, from the rightwing to the late night comedians, make fun of and makes her look contrived and ridiculous. I was pretty shocked when she cackled away again recently on the morning talk shows. What was she thinking? We all know she wasn't actually amused because the questions didn't warrant it, but surely she was aware of all the fun people made of her? Does she think that any publicity is good publicity?

I think if I were her I would stay away from what makes me look insincere. Al Gore learned from his eye rolling and sighs. He never did it again except to make fun of himself.

Maybe Hillary should take note.

Poor Pelosi

I'd almost feel sorry for her, except she deserves each and every defeat:

After a full year of partisan rancor and insubstantial political votes taken on the House floor, her Congress is crashing on several important deadlines this week as members prepare to leave for Christmas. And Pelosi is about to be owned by the Republican minority. That’s right: By the end of this week, she will likely have lost five major legislative battles, almost simultaneously.

The first and biggest Republican victory was the omnibus spending bill. Bush got the funding levels he wanted and got none of the so called “policy-riders” like the abolition of the government’s Mexico City policy. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't what we Republicans in the heartland would have wanted of course, but considering we are in the minority, it was quite a boon:

This summer, Republicans could not have imagined negotiating Democrats down to this funding level — $933 billion in regular discretionary spending, right at the level of President Bush’s request. “It’s probably better than anything we would have passed, if we were still the majority,” one conservative Republican Senate staffer remarked

It gets better:

The bill currently includes only funding for the Afghanistan war, but by the time it passes it will include full and unconditional Iraq supplemental funding, ending yet another legislative crisis in the Republicans’ favor. The Iraq money will be added by amendment in the Senate. This portion of the amended bill will then pass the House largely on Republican votes. In essence, Democrats are capitulating on the Iraq question for a second time this year...

Sweet.

On the Alternative Minimum Tax, Democrats have already lost this one through inaction. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Senate Democrats, who already agreed to fixing this broken portion of the tax code on Republicans’ terms (without raising taxes to compensate), are watching impatiently as their House colleagues refuse to acknowledge that they lost this issue weeks ago.

Then there was the Energy Bill. It included two environmentalist provisions — "the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which forces utilities to generate or purchase a certain percentage of their electricity from “renewable” sources (not including hydroelectric or nuclear), and tax hikes on domestic oil production. The revenues were expected to pay for promotion of “green” power (more corporate welfare):"

Then last Thursday, the Senate unexpectedly rejected both provisions and passed an energy bill consisting mostly of “non-green” corporate welfare. The bill is expected to pass today containing neither provision. Pelosi played her best cards and lost again.

What about the S-CHIP program we heard so much about earlier this year?

Republicans, who hoped merely to extend the current program beyond the next election, were pummeled rhetorically for their resistance to the change. Yet after last night’s negotiations, sources on the Hill say that they are about to get exactly what they wanted — another extension of the program, as it exists, through March 2009.
........

But the real story of the session of Congress now ending is how pathetic and rudderless the Democratic leadership has been. The last twelve months have been characterized by partisan rancor, endless committee investigations, and several dozen meaningless, symbolic Iraq votes designed only to pander to the Left without actually ending the war. Through it all, Pelosi and other leaders failed to make a serious effort to pass necessary legislation until now.

Why did this happen to Pelosi? Because she chose to make every fight a political issue where she got camera time instead of negotiating in good faith. It ticked off moderates and she lost support.

Democrats got what they asked for in Pelosi, a self absorbed women bent on power and little else.

Will they now elect another one as their nominee?

John Edwards STARS!!!

I actually think this is pretty effective and cute.

via HotAir

Update: Maybe so effective that the Hillary crew could be behind this?

Could someone make Bill Clinton shutup?

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (CNN) – Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that the first thing his wife Hillary will do when she reaches the White House is dispatch him and his predecessor, President George H.W. Bush, on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation by the current president — Bush's son, George W. Bush.

"Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again," Clinton said in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife's "number one priority" would be as president.

Yeah, because having a President who was "serviced" by a woman young enough to be his daughter in the oval office,lying about it and making the Presidency a porn joke around the world, didn't hurt our reputation at all.

I'm thinking former President H.W. Bush might not be on board with the whole "dispatch" thing.

Update: Yeah, it's like I thought. Former Pres. Bush isn't too keen on the idea:

...former President Bush’s chief of staff Jean Becker said that he “wholeheartedly supports the President of the United States, including his foreign policy. He has never discussed an ‘around-the-world-mission’ with either former President Bill Clinton or Sen. Clinton, nor does he think such a mission is warranted since he is proud of the role America continues to play around the world as the beacon of hope for freedom and democracy.

"The Unbelievable Tenacity of George W. Bush"

Dinesh D'Souza at Townhall.com sums up well why I am still a supporter of President George Bush.

Huckabee may have helped Romney

I totally agree with this assessment:

With the former Baptist minister prominently running on his Christian faith and with Romney's long held lead in Iowa gone, the Romney camp shrewdly hyped a speech on religious freedom four weeks before the first contest. The speech received prominent national media coverage for a full week, with the quiet insinuation from the campaign that Romney's electoral problems stemmed from anti-Mormon bigotry. This allowed Romney to be viewed sympathetically as a victim of religious intolerance, both by the Republican party and the nation as a whole. The rise of Huckabee (and more importantly the fear of Huckabee as the GOP nominee) coupled with the "Mormon" speech have been the catalysts that have allowed Romney to get a second look from many Republican voters. With Huckabee now solidly on Romney's right flank as the "religious" candidate and the socially liberal Giuliani with a closet full of personal baggage on his left flank, Romney ironically might be in a stronger position coming out of a New Hampshire win to get the nomination than the non-Huckabee scenario of three months ago where he won both Iowa and New Hampshire.

As the article also states, the wild card here is McCain. New Hampshire is full of those pesky independent voters who could make all the difference in the world for McCain and could deflate Romney. I am also interested to see how the anti-Mormon votes go. People won't say that's why they are not voting for Romney, but when it comes to voting, will they let their bias against Mormons keep them from supporting Romney? And don't underestimate Rudy or Fred either.

I find it wonderful and amazing that the field is still wide open. Even on the Democrats side, there is this slight ray of hope that maybe Obama can beat the political machine that is Hillary. Edwards is no quitter either and he may surprise us all.

Let's don't forget Ron Paul, whose supporters obviously have more money than sense.

The Success of Petraeus and the leadership of McCain

How Gen. Petraeus proved all the Democrats wrong.

But you have to cross the pond to read about it in the MSM.

By any measure, the US-led surge has been little short of a triumph. The number of American military fatalities is reduced sharply, as is the carnage of Iraqi civilians, Baghdad as a city is functioning again, oil output is above where it stood in March 2003 but at a far stronger price per barrel and, the acid test, many of those who fled to Syria and Jordan are today returning home.
......

The self-evident success of the surge has obliged the Democrats to start talking about almost anything else and the calls to cut and run have abated. If the US Army remains in Iraq in strength, continuing on its present path, then deals on a constitution and the division of oil revenues between provinces will be realised.
Secondly, the aspiration that Iraq could be some sort of “beacon” in the region is no longer ridiculous. It will never be Sweden with beards, but there has been the development of a vibrant capitalist class and a media of a diversity that is unique in the region. Were Iraq to emerge with a federal political structure, regular local and national elections and an economic dynamism in which the many, not the few, could share, then it would be a model.

And I couldn't let pass how this article ended:

The tragedy is that the approach of General David Petraeus could and should have been adopted four years ago in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's enforced departure. One prominent American politician alone has spent that time publicly demanding the extra soldiers which, in 2007, have been Iraq's salvation. That statesman is John McCain. Is it too much to hope (let alone predict) that he will reap his reward at the polls in 2008?

No one seems to focus on that fact. McCain was the lone voice in the wilderness demanding extra soldiers when Democrats were demanding defeat and Republicans weren't offering much else.

This is what leadership is all about my friends, just keep that in mind.

via RCP

In case your wondering....

Countdown to Iowa: 17 days
Countdown to New Hampshire: 22 days
Countdown to Michigan: 29 days
Countdown to Nevada and SC GOP primary: 33 days
Countdown to SC Dem primary: 40 days
Countdown to Florida: 43 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 50 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 323 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 400 days

via MSNBC

Hillary on Fox News?

She must be feeling the heat. I saw her early this morning on Fox and Friends and of course, they were perfectly nice to her. I almost felt sorry for her because she was trying so hard. Mike Doocey asked her about the Hill-o-copter and she just laughed and laughed. Which made no sense. And she laughed for too long, not just a "heh, heh," that might have seemed more appropriate for the question. I can't be objective here, but her goodwill seemed so forced. On top of that, her makeup was awful. Someone had put some kind of light blue eye shadow on her (although it might have been that concealer stuff that has a blue tinge) and she had far too much blush on. I admit that sometimes Hillary can look attractive, but not this morning.

I'm not the only one noticing that she is trying so hard to be liked Maybe she shouldn't have used this as an example though:

Taking steps to fix the problem, Clinton has brought her mother and daughter to Iowa and featured them in TV ads. One of Clinton's constituents, Shannon Mallozzi of East Northport, N.Y., was on her way there Sunday as part of the new campaign. Mallozzi has a 6-year-old daughter with an incurable brain disease called hydrocephalus. As she waited to catch a plane to Des Moines for two days of campaigning, she said she spent a half-hour with Clinton several years ago to describe the disease and ask how to encourage federal research.

"She made me feel like it was just two mothers" talking in her car, Mallozzi said, then worked with her to get action on the disease and checked up on her daughter's health.

What a joke!! Hydrocephalus is one of the main reasons for late term abortions, which Hillary heartily supports. So if a mother chooses to have their child destroyed because of hydrocephalus then as far as Hillary is concerned, it's goodbye. But if your mother chooses to have the child, then Hillary suddenly cares about the child?

But only with our taxpayer money of course.

Update: I just noticed that HotAir has the video of Hillary on Fox this morning.

Update 2: If you think I'm harsh, check out the picture of Hillary Drudge is putting front and center.

McCain on a roll.....

The Des MoinesRegister endorses Clinton and McCain.

The Boston Globe endorses Obama and McCain.


When it's all said and done, we can all come back here to discuss how right I was.

;-)

BIG UPDATE! Lieberman is endorsing McCain! Republicans tend to forget how the independents come out and vote too. This will also create all kinds of buzz and talk about McCain at a time where he needs the buzz.

I want to stop blogging about Huckabee, I really do

Victor David Hanson on Huckabee' forgeign policy:

I don't know much about Mike Huckabee, but found his aw-shucks Foreign Affairs essay strange to say the least (e.g., cf. "The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad." )
But what he offers inter alia is the rehashed plan of invading the nuclear, nominal ally Pakistan ("I prefer to cut to the chase by going after al Qaeda's safe havens in Pakistan." ) while reaching out to Iran, the de facto non-nuclear enemy, by offering normal diplomatic relations—of course, only after strengthening sanctions and declaring the Revolutionary Guards terrorists. He laments losing the good will once shown by Iran in its 2001 shared goal of defeating the Taliban-almost like lamenting the needless estrangement of the Soviet Union in 1946 after we once had been so close in working to defeat Hitler.

The Romney gets in a good right hook:

"[Huckabee] said the Bush administration is guilty of an 'arrogant bunker mentality' that has been counterproductive here and abroad. I simply can't believe that. I can't believe he'd say that. I'm afraid he's running for the wrong party. The truth of the matter is this president's kept us safe these last six years."

I went to a dinner party last night. All of these people were smart, educated, and interesting. They were not that into politics except in some general way. They know all the names and have general feelings about each of the candidates. Most who knew Huckabee thought he seemed like a real nice guy. They said he didn't seem phony like the rest. A few admitted they would never vote for a Mormon, which I just find so frustrating. They also admit they would never vote for Obama because he used to be Muslim and they think he still is.

I talked to one gentlemen from the Northeast who explained how he felt our soldiers had died for nothing in Iraq. I didn't get angry. I just explained that many of us feel that they did die for freedom and for turning a page in history where Americans and Muslims no longer fear each other, but understand each other, and on top of that we have rid the world of a brutal dictator and killed thousands upon thousands of al-Queda. I said to him that History will tell us which one of us is right, but this is my question to you? "Do hope that I am right?" And He said Yes, he hopes that I am right.

That's the difference to me. If you think this war was wrong. If you think our warrior's dying was for nothing. Fine. You have every right to think that, but if you hope that it was all for naught just to prove George Bush wrong, then I can't abide you. At least this gentlemen wants our victory in the Middle East, he just doesn't believe it will happen. I told him the story about the Catholic Church in Iraq that was rebuilt by Christians and Muslims and how I had a picture of Muslims climbing on the Church to place the cross there. And another picture of them worshipping together in that church, and he got tears in his eyes! He never hears the good stories!

Among the Democrats at the party there was alot of frustration that Joe Biden has not gotten enough recognition. They all agree that he had the most experience and should be a front runner. None of them seemed to thrilled with Obama or Hillary, but would vote for either if nominated.

Anyway, it was a fun party and I enjoyed the back an forth.