Huckabee in GOP top tier

[Soldier4Christ]

Huckabee: Send Mrs. Clinton into space
'Maybe Hillary can be on the 1st rocket to Mars'

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee outlined one special plan he'd consider for NASA's exploration of space.

"Maybe Hillary can be on the first rocket to Mars," he said.

The Republican presidential candidate responded to a question asking if more money would be put into space exploration. His witty response about Clinton generated cheers from the St. Petersburg audience and followed his description of the earthly benefits of NASA's programs.

"Whether it's the medical technologies that saved many of our lives and the lives of our families, it's the direct result from the space program," he said. "We need to put more money into space and technology exploration."

The question, posed by Steve Nielson of Denver, Colorado, asked if the candidates would commit to sending Americans to Mars by the year 2020.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, an advocate for smaller government, disagreed with Huckabee's promise and would not commit to sending anyone to Mars because, "We can't afford some things, and going to Mars is one of them."

[Brother Jerry]

I would figure the Ron  would be all for going to Mars....get us to Mars as fast as we can so we can claim and it for the U.S. and move us all there and truly isolate ourselves from everyone else.

And Huckabee is either just so plain honest that it hurts or one of the slipperiest talkers out there...And with his background I tend to believe the honesty bit.  But I tell you what, I like the man.  Strait shooting and apparently honest and forthcoming. 

[Soldier4Christ]

I don't think Ron wants to go to Mars because he just came from there and didn't like it.

[Brother Jerry]

RORL...now that is funny.

[nChrist]

           ROFL!

If there is a trip to Mars, I request that both Clintons go, and I think that radical Dems should be the crew. If we need a larger craft, I think we should gladly pay for it.   

[Soldier4Christ]

One way to Mars with no return trip. Now that would work.

[Brother Jerry]

Bill would go only if he could take an intern with him....to take notes of course.

And do you think they would volunteer to fly on one of the rockets they sold to the Chinese?

[HisDaughter]

Hey DreamWeaver!  Did you see on O'Rielly (I think it was), Huckabee's new commercial with Chuck Norris!!  It was great! I thought of you as soon as I saw the clip...

[Soldier4Christ]

Frontrunners Get Passed Up in Latest Iowa Poll

Hey? What happened to the inevitability of it all coming down to Rudy vs. Hillary? Both frontrunners get passed up in Iowa. Hopefully a sign that people are waking up. Things get turned around. Or as Blue Crab Boulevard puts it, the world turned upside down. Well, at least Iowa has. The latest Iowa polls puts Huckabee ahead of Giuliani and Obama ahead of Hillary. If this trend were to continue, personally I would find it a much more interesting race.

    Huckabee wins the support of 29 percent of Iowans who say they definitely or probably will attend the Republican Party’s caucuses on Jan. 3. That’s a gain of 17 percentage points since the last Iowa Poll was taken in early October, when Huckabee trailed both Romney and Fred Thompson.

    Other poll findings indicate that the former Arkansas governor is making the most of a low-budget campaign by tapping into the support of Iowa’s social conservatives.

    Romney, who has invested more time and money campaigning in the state than any other GOP candidate, remains in the thick of the Iowa race with the backing of 24 percent of likely caucusgoers. But that’s a drop of 5 points since October for the former Massachusetts governor.

    (Obama story) Despite the movement, the race for 2008’s opening nominating contest remains very competitive about a month before the Jan. 3 caucuses, just over half of likely caucusgoers who favor a candidate saying they could change their minds.

    Obama, an Illinois senator, leads for the first time in the Register’s poll as the choice of 28 percent of likely caucusgoers, up from 22 percent in October. Clinton, a New York senator, was the preferred candidate of 25 percent, down from 29 percent in the previous poll.

    Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who led in the Register’s May poll, held steady with 23 percent, in third place, but part of the three-way battle.

[nChrist]

YEAH!

Mike Huckabee!

Frankly, I'm amazed but encouraged. A preacher with almost no money DOES have a chance to become the President of the United States!

   

[HisDaughter]

YEAH!

Mike Huckabee!

Frankly, I'm amazed but encouraged. A preacher with almost no money DOES have a chance to become the President of the United States!

  

I'm LOV'IN it!  Must be one of those "God things"!  Hallelujah!

[jgarden]

From 2000 to 2006, the Religious Right helped elected a Republican President, Republican House, Republican Senate and had the benefit of a conservative Supreme Court.

What great successes have the Religious Right have to show after those 6 years - are they any closer to overturning Roe vs Wade?

Both the Republicans and Democrats need the moderate swing vote from the center to win - and WINNING is the name of the game in politics.

Since the MODERATE CENTER is not commited to the Religious Right's agenda, and the Right always votes Republican, issues like ABORTION, GAY MARRIAGE, etc. are doomed to be put on the "backburner."

Any Republican Presidential candidate, including Huckabee, can only give "lip service" to the Religious Right's agenda if he's going to be president.

[nChrist]

Hello jgarden,

You might be right. However, we at least wouldn't have a push from the top for MUCH WORSE. There needs to be a balance somewhere. The sewer is overflowing, and things do stink. We at least need to slow down the effort to open all of the sewers and let them run waist deep. I, for one, don't plan to ignore the SEWER, and I'm tired of the stench.

If this is the end days of this Age of Grace, the Bible tells us that things will get much worse. However, NOTHING is implied that Christians will sit down and be quiet. We might not be able to fix the sewer, but we'll keep trying. That's part of a reasonable service to GOD and our families. Besides, there's nothing pretty in the sewer and it stinks.

[Soldier4Christ]

Huckabee would close Gitmo, ban waterboarding 
New Iowa front-runner met with generals lobbying against torture

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, for months cast as a "second-tier" candidate, now finds himself with another label he is not eager to have: "front-runner."

With a Des Moines Register poll released over the weekend showing him topping the GOP presidential field, Huckabee returned to Iowa Monday for his first visit as the front-runner in the state, sharing his mix of homespun jokes and socially conservative views on talk radio, in half a dozen television interviews, and in speeches at an energy plant and a financial services company in the Des Moines area.

The one thing he did not do: attend a traditional campaign town hall meeting or rally, as his top rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, has done for months. Unable to raise enough money earlier in the year to run a traditional campaign, Huckabee is employing an unprecedented and risky strategy to win the caucuses here: a campaign with almost no on-the-ground operation.

Without the money to hire field organizers around the state to ensure that voters will turn out, the campaign is instead relying on a network of pastors, parents who home-school their children, and other Christian conservatives. Monday night, he appeared at a closed-door meeting with Iowa pastors that was organized in part by some of his conservative religious backers.

Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, was introduced by Tim LaHaye, a conservative Christian activist. LaHaye is author of the "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic novels highly popular among Christian conservatives, who make up more than a third of Iowa GOP caucus-goers. While LaHaye has not officially endorsed Huckabee, he and his wife are listed on the program of events sponsored by a group of pastors, and Huckabee has been the only candidate invited to these forums.
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As he has risen in the polls, rivals are increasingly attacking his record as governor. How effectively he can respond remains an open question, as he has little money to flood the airwaves here with ads. And because Huckabee has a staff of only about a dozen in the state -- a fraction of the size of Romney's operation -- reporters frequently complain that they cannot get his increasingly overwhelmed spokesmen to return calls.

Asked whether Huckabee could win, Steve Scheffler, head of the Iowa Christian Alliance, said "maybe," and was quick to tick off the challenges he faces. "He doesn't have nearly the people or the staff to deliver the votes," said Scheffler, who has not endorsed a candidate.

As Huckabee made stops Monday, it was clear that while he has momentum, voters are also hearing the attacks on him. At a speech at Principal Financial Group in downtown Des Moines, a man asked Huckabee if he was a "tax raiser" and "soft on immigration." Huckabee backed some tax increases while in Arkansas and supported a bill that would have allowed the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, something Romney and other GOP candidates have lambasted.

He faced questions about taxes throughout the day, and he noted frequently that a conservative named Ronald Reagan had supported tax increases both as governor of California and later as president. "Does anyone in the Republican Party call Ronald Reagan a liberal?" Huckabee said.

Huckabee is no longer considered a long-shot candidate running a quixotic campaign. Even as he sought to lower expectations, saying he is "running second" and needs only to finish in the top three, he was introduced at each event as either the "front-runner" or the "leading candidate" among Republicans.

After the Iowa poll showed that Republican voters like him but found him much less "presidential" and "electable" than Romney, Huckabee sought to build his foreign policy credentials, meeting with a group of retired generals who are in Des Moines to urge the 2008 candidates to commit to opposing torture. After the meeting, Huckabee joined Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in declaring his opposition to the interrogation procedure known as "waterboarding," and said he would support closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a contrast with the other leading Republicans.

Huckabee also argues that the model he has employed here, with an emphasis on the candidate's message and personal appeal, not only can win here but also propel him toward the nomination.

"We're running second in a state where we don't have any structure," he said, attempting to suggest that Romney is still ahead. "Where we don't have offices or paid staff, we have something better: We have an army of ordinary people."

As he stumped in New Hampshire last weekend, some of those who saw him said they were proud that a candidate such as Huckabee can come back.

"That's what the New Hampshire primary is all about. Someone seen as a second-tier candidate a couple of weeks ago turns it on," said Robert Boyce, a state senator in the Granite State who is leaning toward Huckabee.

Before he can head to New Hampshire and South Carolina, though, Huckabee needs to a strong showing in Iowa.

"We can't build the staff, we don't have the resources," said Bob Vander Plaats, Huckabee's Iowa chairman. "It will be a great case study of the Iowa caucus. You have a candidate with a great staff, a lot of paid staff . . . versus a candidate with a great message, limited staff and relying on a lot of volunteers to carry his water on caucus night."

[nChrist]

The attacks against Huckabee might backfire and actually help him instead of hurt him. He can let the other candidates pay to put his name out in the media and let the people find out the truth for themselves. So, Mike Huckabee might appreciate some more personal attacks. Those who aren't getting attacked have no chance at all. That's just the way politics works, and Huckabee is making it work without any money. WHAT A NOVEL IDEA!