Dean Barnett has some nice things to say about Huckabee in this morning's Weekly Standard. While still harboring some doubts, Mr. Barnett, an admitted Romney supporter, concedes that Huckabee may well be the strongest potential nominee for the Republican Party:
I underestimated Huckabee.
He's the best politician in the land. He connects with people in a scary way. He exudes decency. He doesn't fumble over answers. He prepares well, but he also ad-libs brilliantly.
In taking on a top tier of Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson, it's obvious where Mike Huckabee got the notion that he should be president. Being president has a great deal to do with being a skillful politician. It's easy to imagine Huckabee figuring that he could take these guys, even starting from way back in the pack and with no money.
SO WHAT WOULD a Huckabee nomination mean for the Republican party? First, the good news. Huckabee, as we've all discovered, is quite good at seeking office. As a Romney guy, it pains me to say this, but Huckabee may well be our strongest potential nominee. All of the others have well documented weaknesses as wholesale and retail politicians. Huckabee doesn't.
What's more, Huckabee is the one Republican with a chance of having some crossover appeal to people who are traditionally unlikely to vote for Republicans. As the nominee, he would rebrand a party badly in need of rebranding.
Right now, the Huckabee campaign is in the best shape. All of the other campaigns would gladly trade places with Huckabee. That doesn't mean he's going to win. There's a lot of time left. But it seems like a lifetime ago when the Romney and Giuliani campaigns thought tearing each other down was priority number one, doesn't it?
3 comments:
WORLD magazine had very good things to say about Huckabee also; in the issue for the week of December 8th (though it is only the 4th at present time) an article by Marvin Olasky (pg. 7)made mention of the November 28th debate and how Huckabee far exceeded the other candidates:
-(beginning at the second paragraph)- "Mike Huckabee answered questions brilliantly. He has the feeling of George W. Bush at his best but the speaking ability that Bush lacks. Huckabee's rise is despite evangelical leaders, not because of them--and some of the leaders are now racing to follow their followers."
The article gives a brief synopsis on the performance of the other GOP candidates [none of which were nearly as complimentary as that of Huckabee's], mentioning only Giuliani or Huckabee as the likely candidate who will probably win at next year's convention.
In His Service,
~Kirsten A.Gruber
Great post. We linked you over at HuckNews.com. (I hope you don't mind if I plug the Huckabee news round-up site, Hucknews.com.)
:-)
Thanks,
Lucas
I loved the weekly standard article because unlike most, I felt it really looked at Mike from without a bias toward a candidate.
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