Redstate

This whole incident would gall me a lot less if the GOPers hadn't attended the Univision debate. Before then, one could make a case that the GOP wasn't pandering to group politics (in particular, race/ethnicity/orientation), while the Democrats did pretty constantly.

Showing up at Univision pretty much clobbered that theory, though.
____________________________
"Hobbes, what do you think happens when we die?" "I believe we play saxophone in an all-girls cabaret in New Orleans." "So you believe in heaven?" "Call it what you like."

Gamecock, great blog. This was the point I was trying to make around Huckabee's rise post-Tavis. I have talked to other black Republicans who are migrating to Huckabee simply because of his outreach potential to the black community. Even moderate black Republicans that I know have been impressed by him and feel like he will be require less explaining away come time for the general election.

Personally, I'm still leaning McCain/Fred. However, I will tell you that the fact Huckabee showed up and seemed comfortable in front of a black audience while stating basic Republican principles would make him a very tempting candidate (if I could overlook my fiscal disagreements with him).

There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts

Huckabee is a shyster no matter what debate he attends.

His history of raising taxes, nanny state tactics, and pardoning criminals is the antithesis of all things conservative.

This Republican will never vote for the Huckster.

Let's also not forget the Values Voter debate that Thompson sat out and Huckabee went to. Thompson lost a quite few strawpoll voters who voted for him in the pre-debate poll, but not afterwards.

If the candidates were willing to do a spanish language debate, there's no reason they couldn't do this one. I think they all dropped the ball here, including my guy Fred.

==== 13 ====

The only thing more sinful than the GOP's neglect of Americans of African decent is the left's murderous policies. I looked up the top 10 cities for murder, poverty, and education and all are run by democrats. Many have been run by dems forever and those that have enjoyed GOP mayors haven't done so since the 70's.

Keep in mind that in 2005 around 8000 AA's were murdered in America. That accounts for nearly half of all the murders that year even though AA's make up only around 14% of the population. For further perspective compare that to the around 3800 US military deaths in the entire Iraqi war.

The cost of the GOP's neglect of AA's isn't just votes but lives. That does not discount the personal responsibility of those living in those cities. They did after all vote for liberals and have only reaped what had been sown. It is still the GOP's responsibility, however, to at least explain the advantages of conservative governance to urban voters.

This would seem like a natural for Rudy since he demonstrated how conservative principles improve lives. I hope he better explains how he made NY better down the road. Up until now it seems like he only points out how he made NY better, not how conservative principles did.

If our candidates aspire to be the President of all Americans, including those with whom they disagree, they need to be willing to speak to anyone who is willing to speak with them civilly. Tavis Smiley is a smart and decent man, and the candidates should have been delighted to have the opportunity to debate with his moderation.

"People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors." -Edmund Burke

Right now, I am taking off my "Huck supporter hat" and putting on my "objective political analyst hat". Speaking as an objective political analyst, I can say that I think that part of the reason that Huck is doing so well, is that he ALWAYS "shows up". What people can learn from Huck (no matter how he fares in this election), is that showing up is half the battle. I mean, the guy has never met a debate, straw poll, or television interview that he won't show up for. Whether it's the African American debate, the Iowa straw poll, the Values Voter debate, Real Time with Bill Maher, Hardball, or Stephen Colbert's show--Huck is there. In fact, Huck doesn't just show up--he enthusiastically shows up--he shows up "with bells on". In other words, Huck brings his A-game to every debate, speech, or television interview that he does. For example, contrast Huck's speech at the Values Voter's summit with Fred Thompson's speech--I rest my case.

Now, why is this important, you ask:

A.) Because it allows Huck to get his message out to as many people as possible--people who might not always vote Republican--people like me. I rarely watch Fox News, except for presidential debates. I watch MSNBC (Hardball and Tucker), the Sunday talk shows, a little CNN, and I occasionally watch Bill Maher and Colbert (not regularly, though). Anyway, outside of the debates (which I never miss), the only other show that I've seen Fred and Mitt on is Meet the Press. I've lost count of how many television shows that I've seen Huck appear on.

B.) Because like A Texan said, Huck creates the impression that he wants to be the president for all Americans--not just Rove's 51%--when he attends all these different types of forums, TV shows, debates, and straw polls. After the polarization that we, as a country, have had for the last seven years, many Americans (left and right) would welcome a candidate who presents himself as a "uniter" who speaks to all Americans--even the ones that he disagrees with.

C.) Because like Gamecock previously alluded to, Huck looks like he's not afraid to face anybody--be it Tavis Smiley or Bill O'Reilly. That's very appealing in a presidential candidate. People want their president to be unafraid to face anyone, and to want to talk to everyone.

D.) And finally, because if, as a presidential candidate, you're not going to "show up" for everything during the primaries, why do we think that you'll show up for everything during the general election? And, should we really be willing to take the risk that you might not?

One other thing--Last night, I was watching Anderson Cooper. Mitt Romney was in New Hampshire explaining to reporters why The National Review endorsed him. Huck, on the other hand, was hunting pheasants, with voters in Iowa, in the freezing cold. One of the voters that CNN interviewed said that he didn't totally line-up with Huck on immigration, but was starting to reconsider voting for him. Showing up is half the battle. Y'all have a good day. :-)

Mitt Romney showed up at Bob Jone's university, which is known for anti-Catholic bias. Personally, I could care less--and I was raised Catholic. Just because Bob Jones and Jim Hagee once made anti-Catholic remarks, it doesn't mean that all of their church members feel that way.

Yes, I am a Huckabee supporter, but in my previous post, I was trying my best to play objective political analyst. It is a fact that Huck has surged out of nowhere. I was just trying to explain why. There are many different theories. The "showing-up theory" is mine. By the way, I'd be willing to wager a large sum of money that, about now, Fred wishes that he'd "shown up" to more events, straw polls, and interviews.

Has President Bush been afraid of terrorists when he refuses to negotiate with them? Was he afraid of Arafat?

I maintain guys like Smiley are badly corrosive of our political discourse, and they have no business being granted the dignity of participating in Republican politics unless they apologize and turn a new path away from racism.

And I still think that way. If Huck benefited from working with a racist, then shame on him. If he wins the nomination for working with a racist,t hen shame on this party.

HTML Help for Red Staters