Redstate

on Hannity and Colmes last night and as I still do not have a horse in this race my husband and I agree he is interesting. I hope he stays on track against amnesty and protecting the borders and really loved the Guantanamo remarks because of course we do not want a Khalid Sheik Mohammad on US soil. I also appreciated that he accepted questions from Bob Beckel because you will not see a Democrat accept questions from Sean Hannity and the American people will not accept a candidate who is afraid to engage the other side.

Great post, but don't be surprised to receive a lot of hostile comments. Redstate isn't called Fredstate for nothing.

I was glad to see Romney win in Iowa even though, paradoxically, if it had been my call I would have abstained from the straw poll. But I think he's our best candidate and I'm nevertheless glad to see him make such a good showing in Iowa.

People are focusing on the money, of course, but you raise something else important: the money was accompanied with a lot of hard work on the part of Team Mitt and I know from the email dispatches I get just how hard you folks and Governor Romney worked to successfully introduce him to Iowans.

I think you're doing a fantastic job thusfar and I'm proud to have been an early Romney supporter. Husband your resources carefully and make me proud.

The most important thing for the Governor going forward is to make people understand that his conservative speeches and positions are going to be something more than campaign rhetoric when he wins. That requires perseverance, candor, and more straight talk of the kind Mitt is so good at when he speaks from the heart. He's a tough sell to some people coming out of Massachusetts but I know where a lot of the "opposition" is really coming from.

The more people meet Mitt Romney, the more they hear him talk about his plans and the more he gets a chance to be heard over his detractors, the more people like him. There's a lot of upside left in the Romney advance. We're just getting started, and it's exciting!

Since I have you as a captive audience ;) here, I want to emphasize something else that I think Mitt Romney needs to do: he needs to explain his views on the 2nd Amendment more clearly. He particularly needs to address the Assault Weapons Ban and talk about (in *detail*) what he meant during one of the recent debates when he said he *supported* it.

Mitt should not be afraid of talking about this issue. As an NRA member I will feel much more comfortable with Romney once I hear him explain himself more thoroughly on this issue, even if I don't agree with everything.

That goes for *every other Republican and Democrat candidate as well.* The NRA and all of the people who count themselves as proud members of the NRA are not going to vote next fall without hearing a lot more from every one of them on this issue. I'd like to see Governor Romney take the lead on this issue and hold it.

For your first question: Do you feel that your campaign might have been too successful at Ames? The (as it turns out, fully justified) assumption that Gov. Romney would win the straw poll* caused much of the right-blogosphere to highlight Huckabee's second-place showing as the primary news story.

I know that this is a sort of on-the-griddle question to ask, but you're here, and I'm genuinely curious about the answer.

Moe

PS: I have not made a final decision of whom I am supporting in the Maryland primary election: but I have no reservations [against] voting for your candidate in the general, should he get the GOP nomination.

The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!

*And, of course, congratulations for doing so.

I appreciate the fact that he wants to get everone covered through private insurance, but he does nothing to address how our current system of private insurance is broken. Health care costs are making our business uncompetitive with the rest of the world. We need to eliminate the employer-based health care plans, and return that responsibility to the individual. The same tax incentives given to corporations should be applied to individuals to purchase their own plans. Rudy Guiliani, so far, has the best health care proposal. I'm on the fence between Rudy and Romney right now, and health care is one area where I definitely lean towards Rudy.

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

I'm proud to say that I am on one of the Romney For President steering committees, and congratulations on the Ames win.

Here's something I've noticed; amongst both the media and the other GOP candidates, Romney is the one who is attacked the most.

I still think that it is a mistake when he attacks other GOP candidates like Rudy.

The contrast of Romney staying positive, at least in context of the GOP field, when he is getting attacked by desperate candidates like Brownback over and over makes him look that much stronger and more attractive, especially come general time Vs. Hillary.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

... and he'll tell you anything!

Huckabee is an adroit public speaker. He communicates his message in life-like, cogent terms, with compelling examples like the story he told (at the Ames Straw Poll) of what his then-11-yo daughter entered into the "Comments" section of a Visitors Book after visiting the Yad Vashem holocaust museum: “Why didn't somebody do something?”

Very effective. Huckabee is all about calling his listeners to "do something," to awaken them to their own empowerment, and summon them to action in order that "Main Street," and not "Wall Street," will prevail in guarding the values and beliefs upon which the Republic was founded.

Huckabee puts his listeners at ease, and reassures them, articulating clear concepts in a natural, easy style (no doubt something well-cultivated as a pastor). He’s not angry or demanding, like a Ron Paul, nor is he as “rigidly-scripted” as Romney, and his large brown eyes peer through a humble demeanor, drawing a striking contrast to a somewhat mechanical-squinty Brownback. One can easily imagine sitting comfortably with this man over a cup of coffee at the Main Street Cafe.

Most importantly, perhaps, Huckabee convinces many that he is ONE with the FairTax grassroots movement. While many - like Romney, and others, who are invested in the current income tax system - seek to demagog the well-researched FairTax plan, its acceptance in the professional / academic community continues to grow. Renown economist Laurence Kotlikoff believes that failure to enact the FairTax - choosing instead to try to "flatten" what he deems to be a non-flattenable income tax system - will eventuate into an irrevocable economic meltdown because of the hidden aspects of the current system that make political accountability impossible.

Romney's recent WEAK response to FairTax questioning on “This Week with Geo. Stephanopoulos” drew a sharper contrast between Huckabee and all other presidential front-runners who will not embrace it. Huckabee understands that what's wrong with the income tax can't be fixed with "a tap of the hammer, nor a twist of the screwdriver." That his opponents cling to the destructive Tax Code, the IRS, preserving political power of granting tax favors at continued cost to - and misery of - American families, invigorates his campaign's raison d'etre.

Of the FairTax, Huckabee asserts that it's...

• SIMPLE, easy to understand
• EFFICIENT, inexpensive to comply with and doesn't cause less-than-optimal business decisions for tax minimization purposes
• FAIR, FLAT, and FAMILY FRIENDLY, loophole-free, and everyone pays their share
• LOW TAX RATE is achieved by broad base with no exclusions
• PREDICTABLE, doesn't change, so financial planning is possible
• UNINTRUSIVE, doesn't intrude into our personal affairs or limit our liberty
• VISIBLE, not hidden from the public in tax-inflated prices or otherwise
• PRODUCTIVE, rewards - rather than penalizes - work and productivity

A detailed benefits analysis of the plan (from The FairTax Book) explains Huckabee's ardent advocacy:

FOR INDIVIDUALS:
• No more tax on income - make as much as you wish
• You receive your full paycheck - no more deductions
• You pay the tax when you buy "at retail" - not "used"
• No more double taxation (e.g. like on current Capital Gains)
• Reduction of "pre-FairTaxed" retail prices by 20%-30%
• Adding back 29.9% FairTax maintains current price levels
• FairTax would constitute 23% portion of new prices
• Every household receives a monthly check, or "pre-bate"
• "Prebate" is "advance payback" for monthly consumption to poverty level
• FairTax's "prebate" ensures progressivity, poverty protection
• Finally, citizens are knowledgeable of what their tax IS
• Elimination of "parasitic" Income Tax industry
• NO MORE IRS. NO MORE FILING OF TAX RETURNS by individuals
• Those possessing illicit forms of income will ALSO pay the FairTax
• Households have more disposable income to purchase goods
• Savings is bolstered with reduction of interest rates

FOR BUSINESSES:
• Corporate income and payroll taxes revoked under FairTax
• Business compensated for collecting tax at "cash register"
• No more tax-related lawyers, lobbyists on company payrolls
• No more embedded (hidden) income/payroll taxes in prices
• Reduced costs. Competition - not tax policy - drives prices
• Off-shore "tax haven" headquarters can now return to U.S
• No more "favors" from politicians at expense of taxpayers
• Resources go to R&D and study of competition - not taxes
• Marketplace distortions eliminated for fair competition
• US exports increase their share of foreign markets

FOR THE COUNTRY:
• 7% - 13% economic growth projected in the first year of the FairTax
• Jobs return to the U.S.
• Foreign corporations "set up shop" in the U.S.
• Tax system trends are corrected to "enlarge the pie"
• Larger economic "pie," means thinner tax rate "slices"
• Initial 23% portion of price is pressured downward as "pie"
increases
• No more "closed door" tax deals by politicians and business
• FairTax sets new global standard. Other countries will follow

While passionately supporting FairTax, Huckabee understands that, if elected President, Congress will have to present the bill for his signature. His call to action goes beyond his candidacy, Main Street will have to demand that their legislators deliver the bill.

Will not be the Republican Nominee.
He is a perfectly fine man and I am proud he is a member of the Republican party. (I can't say either about Rudy Giuliani)

Huckabee has two problems he cannot overcome.
1. He is a tax and spender
2. He is very soft on illegal immigration and supports benefits for illegal aliens. He also offered to have a Mexican Consulate in Little Rock.

Number 2 has killed John McCain's campaign and it will keep Huckabee from ever gaining traction.