Huckabee’s last play
Liveblogging his speech right now in Irving, TX. Starting out with a folksy baseball anecdote about George Brett’s last play.
Ladies and gentlemen, I called John McCain several minutes ago…he’s achieved the 1,191 delegates for the nomination. I extended my commitment to him…Sen. McCain has run an honorable campaign because he is an honorable man.
Pats himself on the back (again) for running his honorable campaign….turn to a united party. Thanks his wife. She’s very emotional. Thanks his staff. “Fought the good fight and kept the faith.” That for me has been the most important of all. I’d rather lose the election than lose the principles that got me here in the first place.” Quotes prophet Isaiah:
“Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were dug.”
…It’s time to hit the reset button. We’re not going away completely…
Now, he’s going to go home and work on that VP slot.
And one more thing: DLTDHYOTWO.
***
10:06pm Eastern. Rove on Huck as VP– thumbs down. “It doubles your trouble.”
Next stop: Senate? Allah’s got the speech vid.
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Categories: Mike Huckabee
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And so it begins. Will the GOP carry him to the White House? McCain, will you please pick a strong, conservative running mate?
Please?
The featherweight finally bows out.
thanks, Mr. Huckabee, for splitting the conservative vote and torpedoing Mitt Romney.
You’re a great man for doing that.
Now we have an open-borders, free-speech killling friend of Ted Kennedy and all the liberals in the Congress as our nominee. And thanks so much MSM for your fine work in sinking Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter.
We’re so grateful that you shaped public opinion by your selective coverage and rammed our nominee down our throats.
Now, MSM folks, you can get on with disemboweling Mr. McCain.
Time to focus on winning! It’ll be a tough fight, but it’s doable.
Indeed, the MSM will turn on McCain visciously, as NYT has.
We need to win Congressional seats, too.
OK Senator, time to make a hugely smart pick for VP.
Now if only we could get Ron Paul with his MANDATE FROM THE PEOPLE (to quote his fans) of <5% to do the same…though the entertainment value of the Paulbots is almost worth keeping him in the “race”.
finally.. too bad he didn’t do the graceful exit back when Mitt did his. does he really believe his own baloney about running a good campaign. self-deception. he is a liar to himself and to others.. good riddance. and, please, stay gone and don’t come back ever.
With all due respect, Perfesser, I intend to stay home, for the first time since I can remember. The Republicans became just like the Democrats with their free-spending, big-government, outsourcing, open-borders, one-world government movement.
So, while I will not vote for Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama, neither will I vote for a man I do not either like or trust. I don’t have to do that.
Good luck to you conservatives who are going to fall in line with Mr. McCain. I just do not have the stomach to do it.
#3
I could not have said it better myself. Perfect.
McCain-Feingold.
McCain-Kennedy.
“Global warming.”
I cannot in good conscience shill for this guy. He is a political opportunist and does what is politically expedient, all while sticking to no actual ideology, beyond “which way is the wind blowing? I’ll do that.”
He may be the least ugly at the dance, but sometimes there’s something to be said for abstinence.
He may be the least ugly at the dance, but sometimes there’s something to be said for abstinence.
Yes, sir, Reggie, you said it better than I could have said it.
Thanks.
Heh.
The RNC had the audacity to call me and solicit donations. I proceeded to explain my deep dissatisfaction with the Republican stance on illegals, and, while yes, I don’t want to see Hillary or Hussein as president, McCain’s hiring of Juan Hernandez as his Hispanic outreach director reflected a position I was not prepared to support. I suggested (nicely) that she pass that message on to her superiors, and that they reconsider their pro illegal stance and support for the border fence.
She thanked me and said that she heard that a lot tonight.
I guess someone is listening!
Amen. The alternative is unacceptable.
Don’t worry about the sunshine patriots. They are unreliable.
Abstinence is great, but electoral politics isn’t consensual sex.
When Oh!b♥m♥/Clint♂n rape our armed forces and our economy, you won’t be spared because you’re sporting a purity ring.
Tex,
With all due respect, none of the remaining candidates from either party is acceptable. And I don’t vote for the lesser of evils.
This whole situation is just unimaginable. No one gets my vote here.
We had a lineup of a few true conservative men of principle as candidates. None of them lasted more than a few minutes, thanks to our great American press corps (including the great Fox News All Stars) acting as though they did not exist.
It’s time to sit back and watch the show.
My friends, it is now time to put on your seat belts and get ready for a bumpy ride. Now that McCain is a lock as the Republican nominee, we will see even more of what has already begun to happen over the past few weeks:
1. The MSM will pull out all stops to dig up dirt and print negative reports on McCain, especially the ones that endorsed him.
2. John McCain will now assume that conservatives have no other choice but him and will go back to agressively reaching across the aisle to pursue moderate Democrats and Independents by promising things they want to hear and virtually ignoring the conservative right.
Is this a great country or what? Mike Huckabee FINALLY bows out of the race after spending untold millions after Super Tuesday — and ending up with only 5 more delegates than Mitt Romney who has been long gone. But he’s not quitter, no sir, not our miracle-dreaming Mike. And oh, what a good campaign we waged, he says. How much more self-congratulation do we have to hear from this pretender?
We got the corruption triplets running for president. Obama and his Rezko thing; Hillary and her White Water and $1000 -> $100,000 investment in whatever it was, chicken futures or something; McCain and the Keating five; and all of them totally corrupt on illegal migration.
We’ll have to look to the VP picks to differentiate between the candidates at election time. Maybe we’ll get lucky and have of repeat of the William Henry Harrison presidency.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Sayonara to the slick talker from Hope.
I see the “rally round McCain” viewpoints, but here’s why it is imprudent to verbally flatter McCain so much.
Saying all this stuff without saying “here’s what he needs to do for US to rally to him” lets him think that we’ll put up with this garbage. So yeah, I’ll vote for this pretender, but it won’t be without me calling his lame campaign on a weekly basis to harp about immigration, the first amendment and global socialism, I mean warming.
Don’t forget your principles just because he’s the last one standing.
You can always be thinner, be better looking.
-Patrick Bateman
If I were a bettin’ man I’d bet McCain picks a “moderate” democrat for his running mate.
And like some others on this forum, this will probably be the first presidential election since I registered to vote in 1971 that I’ll stay home.
Again, and I have asked this question here many times, who gets to define who is or is not, a “true conservative”?
And for that matter, who gets to define who is or is not the “party base”?
When I see people on the party right (mainly Baptists and Evangelicals) proclaim that John McCain is not a “true conservative” I tend to think that what they mean is, “he does not represent MY brand of conservatism”.
When I see these same people demanding that he “listen to the party base” I tend to think that they are simply self-defining. They like to believe that they are “the base” because they’ve been taught that they are by their religious leaders. Statistics however, simply don’t support this elitist position.
And when I see these same people demanding that their flavor of conservatism be given some kind of special consideration, I understand that these folks believe that their flavor of conservatism is the ONLY one that deserves consideration. And I understand that it is pointless and fruitless to try and reason with such arrogance.
Look… there are many flavors of conservatism in the Republican party. And there are moderates in the Republican party as well. This is the reality, and Evangelicals in this country have to understand that. They may not accept it, but they still have to face reality. The Evangelical brand of elitist conservatism that has been on the table for the last 12+ years does not define the Republican party, any more than it represents “the party base”.
Stay home if you like this November, nobody is going to try and talk you out of your stubborn and thickheaded position. But remember this: even a non-vote is a vote. If you don’t cast a vote of support for the Republican candidate, you cast a vote for the socialist opposition.
And as Tiger stated above, you’re not going to escape the horrific fallout of a Socialist Democratic presidency just because you’re wearing a purity ring.
Irish Rose - well said, although I disagree that the center of the anti-McCain sentiment is Evangelicals. McCain has been roundly criticized by most of the Republican D. C. chattering class, and virtually none of those Republicans are part of the Robertson/TBN axis.
But, just imagine the anguish in the Democratic party if Hillary squeaks out the party nomination at the convention.
Then both parties will have “second choice” nominees. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the general election.
great question Irish Rose, who does define it? and if my definition doesn’t jive with yours, do we fight it out? my definition doesn’t ride on ‘evangelical’ issues unless immigration is an evangelical issue? or crazy free speech restricting campaign finance laws? perhaps you or some other non-evangelical-based “true conservative” can help we who aren’t ready to jump in with McCain with how these issues, and those like them, gel with “the base” and “True Conservatism”?
btw, i’m not asking for a fear based response of “not voting is a vote for socialism” but a direct response as to how McCain is the conservative that deserves a conservative’s vote.
So, Irish Rose, what’s your “flavor” of conservatism? Because if it’s a “flavor” that can support things like McCain-Feingold (stripping First Amendment rights), an open-borders policy, and the man-made global warming scam, then I’m sorry, there’s no way in the world it can fit any definition of conservatism as it relates to politics or government.
McCain = conservative? Not by any stretch of the imagination. And if this is the outcome of the struggle for control of the Republican party, it’s now time for genuine conservatives to bid a not so fond farewell to that party and get serious about forming a new political party. Or at least get serious about choosing our own candidates and refusing to let others shove someone down our throats.
And Irish Rose, lest you think I’m a member of the far-right kook fringe, I’ll say this: What should be the biggest non-factor in determining “conservatism” is the abortion debate. Both sides of this issue need to realize that our current situation is the law of the land, and is now so historically entrenched that it really doesn’t matter who is on the Supreme Court. It is going to stay the law, and both sides need to remove it from the debate and move on to issues of more substance and greater importance to our country.
To those of you who are going to “stay home” and not vote - remember that there are going to be more things on the ballot than just the race for President. You can cast a ballot and leave one or more races/issues un-voted on. I’m going to have a very hard time voting for ANY of the candidates for President, but my state’s Governorship is up for grabs and the Republicans are going to be fielding a good conservative candidate to go up against a very liberal, somewhat shady Democrat. In addition, the house seats are up for grabs, and I sure as heck don’t want to send a Dem. to Capitol Hill to represent me. Same goes for my state legislature and senate.
So stay home if you like, but if you do, don’t start whining when your state falls into the hands of the far left Democrats. Staying home has far deeper implications than just the office of President.
Huckabee really never appealed to me. He had that folksy charm (like Bubba Clinton) that I found cloying at best. He was a convenient conservative when he wanted to be. Some of his stances didn’t jive with what conservatives believe.
He did the race no favors by spoiling Romney’s run or pandering to Evangelicals. I found him just as disingenuous as the average politician. He just revealed some deep fissures that currently exist in the Republican party and won’t be remedied soon.
Sorry, Huckster, won’t miss ya… go to the Caymans and make some more speeches because there’s no way in hell you’ll get the VP nod.
IR:
Good “come to Jesus” points. Too bad they’ll be resoundly ignored. There are many disenchanted Republican and Democrat voters unhappy with the immigration and the job/trade picture this year. Unfortunately, both parties are appealing to the weak-minded in our country who want immediate solutions to long-term problems with an stick-on bandaid.
Evangelical conservatives may feel that arm-twisting defiance is the way to stick it to McCain but I feel otherwise. I think they’re driving people away who, like me, aren’t overly religious, and don’t look at things in puritanical terms. I appreciate the debate but I don’t agree with folks like Ombre or RIC shouting me down because I don’t subscribe to the Evangelical brand.
The Democrats aren’t the only ones experiencing bloodshed and internecine warfare right now…
Most all of you who leave comments here are people of principles, ethics, and morals. Like me I think everyone here believes that this is the greatest country on earth. Comparing America to the rest of the world is like comparing Shakespeare to the guy who wrote the Archie comic books. That being said I stand by what I have said here before.It is not the taxes or even new bills the democrats inflict on us that has the most dire consequences. It is the JUDGES!!!! that they appoint. It is true that John McCain has done a lot of things that upset me as a true conservative. Yet he is still head and shoulders better than Monica Lewinskys x-boyfriends wife or Obama who has been endorsed by Chavez, Ortega, Syria, and Iran. Not to mention the lovely chaps in Hamas who think that he is their kind of guy. Ronald Reagan is gone. I think Duncan Hunter or Tom Tancredo would have been the closest to his philosophies. Unfortunately we don’t have that choice.
To all Republicans…. please vote for John McCain. We want more Alito and Scalia type of judges on The Supreme Court. Not,God help us, more Ruth Bader Ginsburgs.
So he FINALLY gets out after he made sure all of the viable alternatives had to leave.
Well, as I said once before, I won’t vote for McShame, I’ll vote for the troops fighting the war on terror. That means I need to hold my nose and vote for McShame.
However, the USA survived a Revolutionary War, a Civil War, two World Wars, four Presidential asassinations, four years of Jimmy Carter, and eight years of Bill Clinton. It’ll survive whatever comes out of this.
What in McCain’s record leads you to believe that this is what he’ll do?
You have to look at what people have actually done in crunch time, rather than listen to what they are saying when they are trying to get elected. And McCain’s track record strongly indicates that his choices will be, at best, closer to the Ginsberg type than they will be to the Scalia type. McCain has built his career on “reaching across the aisle” to liberals.
What makes you think he won’t continue this pattern as President?
Irish it is AMAZING that you come on THIS thread to say this. Did you not READ the other comments on this thread? Most of the people claiming McCain is not a conservative are also blaming Huckabee for Romney not being a conservative. They have bashed Huckabee every chance they got.
I don’t see this as an ‘evangelical’ thing (again it is a stupid word that doesn’t define anything). Black baptists (evangelicals) think McCain is plenty conservative and they won’t vote for him because he is conservative.
I think the problem is that people are stupid. The media makes people be stupid.
The vitriol on this thread for a person who really didn’t do anything bad to anyone else is uncalled for. All you ‘rational’ ‘conservative’ ‘good people’ should really consider what you KNOW and what you SAY.
Huckabee is by all accounts a good man. There is no need to bash a guy who has won millions of votes in the Republican party. I wouldn’t vote for Huckabee either. . . but I REALLY don’t understand where this vitriol comes from.
He knows he won’t be VP, it is even stupid to ask the question. . . but hey, it’s important enough to ask Rove. . . you know the guy who actually destroyed the Republican conservative movement with his desire to ‘win hispanics’.
You people here need to mature a little bit. I swear this is more like grade school than informative debate.
Here in Texas I voted for Mike Huckabee.
Not because of his qualities, he has few. I was hoping that maybe instead of pandering to the left that McNassty might, just might move to his own party. Of all the points made a lot make no sense. McCain will not make any attempt to be conservative, he is a Maverick, remember? How anyone can think that he will alter anything is beyond me. I do detest the manipulating that has gone on in this election. I do not like the evs habit of jumping in bed with anyone because of his religion. Let us face it folks we were pushed just right. If I have to fault someone I would would fault my conservative talk and written leaders for not taking a stand. Instead of a Michael Med trying to cover for the illegal invasion, the rushes, Coulters, Ingrahams should have listed what a conservative is and how a Hunter, trancedo, Thompson come closest to these requirements. As that list thinned or as these candidates were weeded out they should have offered more and more exposure to the true conservatives. Instead they played “nice” with the slime and got shafted. Well, so much for fair play.
“Abstinence is great, but electoral politics isn’t consensual sex.
When Oh!b♥m♥/Clint♂n rape our armed forces and our economy, you won’t be spared because you’re sporting a purity ring.”
That’s a very sad but true sentiment. Let’s think out what do do, we have time. There is still the “coronation” in the August RNC convention. Things can happen then, or even before that. If this is still the situation in November, go by the dictates of your conscience. Just remember we need more conservative congressmen and women.
So, let me see if I have this straight.
Mike Huckabee is responsible for John McCain winning the nomination instead of Mitt, or Fred, or Duncan, or Rudy, or Ron. Or was it Duncan who took votes from Rudy? No….it was Rudy who took them from Fred….
By that logic, McCain’s obviously responsible for each of the others not getting nominated. He should pull out of the race now!
Or maybe we should just let candidates run, let voters vote, add it all up and see who wins?
I think it was a galliant effort of Mike Huckabee.
I really liked him.
As for John McStain- being a war hero does not mean that you have enough experience to run a country. Enough said.
I may just not vote this time around either, because I also- do not pick the lesser of the evils.
By not voting- I know I don’t have a say in what happens politically around me, but I do know that I’ll have none of it. Whatever happens good- bad- or indifferent will not be on my hands.
With these three boobs running for president, who needs North Korea or Al Qaeda? Any one of those remaining fools on either side, will terrorize us from within.
I feel like I get shafted in the electoral process on a regular basis.
So, how about a chasity belt?
chasitychastity…Doh!
In all seriousness, I am trying to convince myself that I should hold my nose and vote for McCain. I’m having a hard time convincing myself, so far. I keep telling myself it is either socialism with Obama or Clinton or socialism-lite with McCain.
My wife on the other hand is adamant that she will not vote for McCain.
Huckabee can’t even give a compliment without sticking a knife in someone’s back. The man is a vain self promoter, his “concession” speech was nothing more than another self-aggrandizing back patting self-love session. His “civil” campaign lie makes my blood boil.
McCain for all his faults is better than Huckabee. I will be going to our state Republican convention, my support for McCain is tepid at best, but in shaping the platform I intend to be vocal. People like Juan Hernandez working with the McCain campaign will be a reason for me to NOT give one penny to the RNC or the McCain campaign. I will give to other candidates, but not “Open Borders McCain”.
I hope Huckabee goes back to Arkansas so we never have to hear from this charlatan again. The MSM liked Huckabee probably because they knew there would be no problem finding skeletons in his closet. Ethics issues before, during and after his time as governor, his protection of his dog killing kid (and subsequent Eagle scout), his speaking for medical companies heavily involved in stem cell research (not adult stem cells), this man was a walking democrat dream.