What's splitting the Reagan coalition?

How is it that a successful conservative governor who wants to eliminate the IRS, defend the sanctity of life and marriage, appoint judges like Scalia and Roberts, and fight Islamic fascism to the finish is running third in the Republican primaries?

Answer: Since mid-November of 2007, there has been a push by the conservative "new media" to destroy the Republican opponents of Mitt Romney.

The dominant conservative publication The National Review had set the tone for this by endorsing Mitt Romney. Around the same time, Rush Limbaugh was visiting his idol from childhood, William Buckley, the founder of The National Review and considered by many to be the founder of the modern conservative movement.
Within days, Rush Limbaugh and other "conservative" talk show hosts and columnists were excoriating Huckabee.

Instead of offering an honest analysis of Huckabee's political career, they sought to portray him as a hayseed born-againer who loved raising taxes and wanted to bring about an Orwellian Big Brother state.

In the meantime, Romney decided to go negative against Huckabee in Iowa, where Huckabee had grabbed the lead. Romney's attack ads were a blatantly dishonest attempt to portray Huckabee as a crime loving tax-raiser, and, coupled with the constant barrage of misinformation from the talk shows, alienated a core constituent group of social conservatives who correctly recognized the attacks on Huckabee as a slam against themselves and their values.

The rift that is now splitting the conservatives will not be healed during this election process. The Christian right and the FairTax activists now see that they are welcome just as long as they go along with the Republican establishment. To think that someone like Huckabee who represents these groups should be president is considered heresy by the elitists who want to control the nomination process.

The secular elitists who enjoy the posh lifestyle and rubbing elbows with political snobs are embarrassed that grass-roots activists like conservative Christians and FairTaxers are in their tent and are succeeding in driving them out, ensuring that a liberal, be it Romney, McCain, Clinton, or Obama will be in the White House next year.

Do we need another Reagan?

The folly of the Republican establishment in looking for a Ronald Reagan clone borders on cultism.

Reagan was a fine man who led the conservative movement to prominence, not a Reagan movement.

But the Republican establishment and elitists have determined that the only way for the conservative movement to make progress is to have a Reagan clone as the presidential nominee.

Would we want a Reagan clone today? No way!

Reagan turned tail and ran when the terrorists struck in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, killing 241 American soldiers. His lack of backbone in this situation became the default policy on terrorism until we were struck on 9/11.

In 1986, Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act, also known as Simpson-Mizzoli. This law gave amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and laid the groundwork for the invasion of our country by millions more that has happened since.

Reagan was great at battling liberalism and Communism, but his national security policies made America a soft target, and we are paying a heavy price for that today.

The Reagan purists of today slam Mike Huckabee because he's not Reaganesque. I say that's fine with me.

We need a conservative leader who can bring solutions for the problems we face in 2008, not 1980.

That leader is Mike Huckabee.

ConservativeKids.net

Florida teen's story touched Huckabee

from the Union Leader

Connie and Sarah Davis are with the bandwagon.

In town for a whirlwind weekend with their candidate of choice, the mother-daughter duo from Ormond Beach, Fla., found themselves screaming like a pair of political primary groupies Friday, watching as Republican Mike Huckabee rocked the campaign trail in Henniker.

"It was really cool," said Connie Davis. "I think they were playing 'Freebird,' or some Journey song. Anyway, at the end, Governor Huckabee was playing with the band and people were rushing the stage, and he looked over at us and nodded. He thanked us for coming."

Then the two tourists were whisked backstage to hang out with Huckabee and his roundhouse of roadies - most notably Chuck Norris and his wife, Gena.

"Oh, and a crew from 'Nightline' was interviewing him, too," said Davis, a conservative Christian who home-schools her four kids, including the oldest, 15-year-old Sarah.

She said their journey to New Hampshire for this pivotal moment in political history was an unexpected blessing.

"Sarah has been taking a government class this year and she has become more and more passionate about Huckabee," said Davis.

So much so, that the teen asked family members to contribute to Huckabee's campaign as her Christmas gift this year - a small request that triggered an unexpected chain of events

read the rest of the story...

Huckabee Wins Iowa, Expect More Attacks from Punditry

The Christian Right and the Fairtaxers came through for Huckabee last night in the Iowa Caucus, giving him a substantial 11 point victory over Mitt Romney.

Huckabee's success is truly amazing when you consider how hard the Republican machine was working against him. Novak, Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, Will, and about every conservative pundit with an audience was denouncing Huckabee as they bought into the Romney/Rudy/Thompson hysteria.

Expect the attacks on Huckabee to escalate. I fully expect Limbaugh to come out with a qualified official endorsement of Thompson or Romney before the New Hampshire primary, possibly even today.

The republican elites do not want to give up control of the party to the members, they are still feeling their oats after derailing the last amnesty bill and essentially killing the Harriet Myers nomination to the Supreme Court. They feel they are giving the Republican Party and even the president marching orders and they now have a huge problem with a strong Huckabee campaign that is not beholding to them.

But as Rush likes to say about the media: "If they don't make you, they can't break you".

Limbaugh, as the most powerful voice in the conservative movement, has been very disappointing.

He keeps saying "don't tell me Huckabee is a Reagan conservative". I don't know of anybody who is saying that Huckabee is a Reagan conservative. Maybe I'm just out of the loop.

Rush (and Hannity) also gives every Huckabee supporter on his show a raking over the coals, while giving Huckabee bashers a free pass.

One caller went unchallenged by Rush as he accused the Southern Baptists of being a religion that keeps women down and basically makes them slaves. Another female caller said she could never vote for an ex-minister, ex-rabbi, or ex-priest.

Both of these bigoted comments went unchallenged by Rush, yet he had no problem quoting Huckabee or Ed Rollins (Huckabee's campaign manager)out of context. You would think that Rush would have better sense than that after his "phony soldiers" controversy last fall!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sean Hannity basically became a Romney advertisement on Thursday afternoon before the caucus, as he sucked up to Mitt and attacked Huckabee. Mitt went unchallenged on Hannity's show, and Sean wonders why Huckabee didn't come on that afternoon.

Ann Coulter made fun of Huckabee's stretch marks and basically said we could expect more stained dresses in the Oval Office if Huckabee gets elected.

The rank-and-file republicans see through this BS coming from the conservative pundits, explaining Huckabee's success in Iowa.

Huckabee Rally in Orlando

Republican presidential front-runner Mike Huckabee was in Orlando December 27 at a rally attended by about 200 supporters from central Florida.

One of the highlights of the rally happened before Huckabee's arrival, when Florida state senator Dick Langley, a campaign chairman for Mitt Romney in Lake County, tore off his Romney lapel sticker and replaced it with a Huckabee sticker.

"I wanted a candidate who stood where I stood on the issues," Langley said later. "And I couldn't figure out where Mitt stood."

There was also a pre-event skirmish when a hoard of Ron Paul supporters tried to crash the Huckabee rally. After a confrontation between Huckabee supporters and the Paul supporters, airport security ran off the party crashers and peace and harmony was restored.

Huckabee and his wife Janet arrived later to an energetic crowd and Van Halen's "Right Now" blaring from some speakers. He spoke for about 20 minutes, took some questions from the press, and then hung out for several minutes before leaving on his jet to Destin, FL.

See the only pictures of the Orlando rally here

Another "Floating Cross"?

Someone call Matt Drudge, apparently there's another picture containing a floating cross on his website....

this picture was on Drudge's frontpage at 8PM Sunday Dec. 23...

TownHall Column: Huck Finned by USA Today

This is a great column by Ken Connor on TownHall.com:

In his newfound role as "front-runner", Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is the subject of increased scrutiny by the media. For many in the secular media, Huckabee's prior role as a minister is of far greater concern than his prior role as governor of the State of Arkansas. (A preacher as President? Heaven help us!) Consequently, Huckabee has been the candidate among the Republican wannabes who has had to field most of the tough "God questions" during their debates.

Without a doubt, the intersection of faith and politics is one that requires careful navigation. This is particularly true in America, where our founding fathers worked hard to ensure that religious freedom was preserved for their descendants. For many, religious liberty is the "first right" and liberty of conscience has always been highly prized in these United States. The Framers of the Constitution refused to establish a national church. Conscience was deemed to be a private domain where government had no right to intrude.

Read the rest of the article...

Robertson's Endorsement of Rudy Boosted Mike Huckabee

The best thing that Pat Robertson did for Mike Huckabee was to endorse Rudy Giuliani. Look at the poll numbers: Huckabee started a meteoric rise right after the Robertson endorsement.

Robertson's surprising move was so shocking to the evangelical community that they immediately looked for the candidate with the best Christian conservative values and settled on the only choice, Mike Huckabee.

Of course, the primary issue to most Christian conservatives is the abortion debate.

Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani shocked the religious right into realizing that their hard fought victories secured through Bush's two presidential terms and right-ward swing of the Supreme Court were now in danger.

Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, is the only viable candidate whose pro-life record is beyond impeachment.

Thus, the Christian conservatives responded with one of the greatest grass-roots efforts in political history and propelled Huckabee into the top tier of the Republican presidential hopefuls and eventually into a competitive position nationally.

Add to this a persuasive campaign to push the Fair Tax, a sterling record as a Second Amendment believer, and a commitment to win the war on Islamic terrorism, and you have the most natural candidate for not only the right wing, but also for those of the libertarian mindset.

Interestingly, the blue-blood Republicans are lashing back at Huckabee because they fear a Christian conservative take over of their party.

Robert Novak has been especially vicious, not only taking swipes at Huckabee, but at the Christian right also: "Huckabee's surge is driven by the evangelical Christian vote within the Republican Party -- highlighting the risk the party undertook by embracing this voting bloc that is not necessarily a limited-government constituency."

How someone who is a proponent of the Fair Tax and wants to abolish the IRS, as Huckabee does, can be a "big government" guy and opponent of the "free-market line" as Novak contends is beyond belief. Dick Morris even wrote a column soon after titled "Mike Huckabee Is A Fiscal Conservative" dispelling some of the smears being perpetrated by Huckabee's detractors such as Novak and Ann Coulter.

Fair Tax supporters know that the Fair Tax will inherently limit the power of the Federal government just by nature of it's structure. The true power of the free market will be unleashed in the most powerful way since this nation's founding when people get their full paycheck and decide how much they are going to pay in taxes.

The truth is that Novak and his ilk don't really trust the free market and relish the control the government has through tax legislation and the power of the lobbyists on K Street. Thus their opposition to the most important legislation sitting in Congress today.

Despite their efforts, Robertson and Novak prove to be part of the old guard that has lost it's vision and sense of proportion.

The Christian right and the Fair Taxers will continue to fight for their underdog candidate and leave dinosaurs like Pat Robertson and Robert Novak in the past where they belong.

Mike Huckabee Explains Position on Iraq and Terror

In this video, Mike Huckabee clearly spells out what the USA is up against in the war against Islamic fascism.

Yahoo News: Huckabee & Social Gospel

Yahoo News posted a great article about Mike Huckabee's passion for the Gospel and politics.

The author, Gail Russell Chaddock, goes into great detail how the young Baptist student eventually became the "dark-horse" presidential candidate that he is today.

The buzz surrounding Mike's campaign is especially note-worthy considering the hype surrounding Ron Paul's recent fund-raising record. Despite Ron Paul's daunting internet campaign, his campaign could best be described as a mile wide and an inch deep.

While Ron Paul's candidacy is only as sound as his supporters mental health, Huckabee is the genuine article in the grass-roots scene. The heightened interest of the main-stream media in this preacher-turned-governor is proof of the growing momentum in his message and campaign.

Dick Morris: Huckabee Can Win Iowa

Dick Morris' new column paints a rosy scenario for Mike Huckabee in the upcoming Iowa caucus.

He points out that Mike is trailing only Mitt Romney in Iowa while the rest of the "first-tier" candidates are losing ground. Of course, Romney is pouring millions into his Iowa campaign, while the Huckster is barely raising a million a month.

Huckabee is a consistent conservative and not a Johnny come-lately as Mitt is. Huckabee has great appeal and lacks the "plastic" quality that Romney exudes, and his truly grass-roots campaign is gaining momentum going into the most crucial period of the campaign.

While Mitt and Guiliani are getting some strong endorsements from the political and religious right, Huckabee continues to be the "dark-horse" that keeps surprising the experts.

The Huckabee Buzz

All the good political buzz seems to be about Mike Huckabee these days.

Dick Morris has had two articles in one week about Mike, the latest being The Huckabee Boomlet.

Tuesday, Newt Gingrich was singing Mike's praises on the Neal Boortz radio show.

You've got all the "dark horse" candidate talk going around also thanks to Bill Clinton.

Ann Coulter, WND, and other candidates starting to fire on Mike shows they are worried about his growing strength in the field and Mike's campaign is starting to gain momentum with October being the highest fund-raising month so far.

I would expect to see an increase in attacks on Huckabee this November as the bullseye on his back grows in proportion to his momentum.

Another Reason to Like Mike!

From Accuracy in Media...

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has seized on an issue―U.S. sovereignty―that could not only win him the Republican nomination for president but propel him into the White House.

The conventional wisdom is that the former Arkansas governor is starting to get traction because of his views on social issues. While that is undoubtedly a factor, it is also the case that Huckabee for several weeks has been hitting hard on the issue of restoring American sovereignty and resisting the advance of United Nations-led global government. Meantime, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Mitt Romney have been tiptoeing around the issue....

Huckabee’s success is due, in part, to adopting the Reagan approach to national security matters. As a candidate, Ronald Reagan had established himself with conservative voters by opposing Jimmy Carter’s Panama Canal Treaty and urging the roll-back of Soviet-style communism. As President, of course, Reagan prevailed in the confrontation with the former Soviet Union. But many forget that the Senate ignored his warnings about the Panama Canal giveaway and passed the treaty anyway, with the result being that the communist Chinese today control the ports at both ends of the canal. Our nation should have listened to Reagan earlier and often.

Showing similar vision, Huckabee sees the Law of the Sea Treaty as a massive giveaway of U.S. sovereignty and resources that must be stopped. This was Reagan’s position. Reagan refused to sign it as president.

Read more....