Dobson to endorse Huckabee

My biggest question about this evangelical anointing is, “Why so late”?

It’s been clear for some time that, Bob Jones and a few other evangelical leaders’ laying on of hands aside, Mitt Romney wasn’t going anywhere with conservative evangelical voters, and that the only real options were either bless Huck or swallow hard and accept the Schmuck Talk Express™.

Dobson’s defenders might point out that he’s never before made an intra-Republican endorsement within a primary. Well, if that’s the case, then it means he’s that disliking of Big Bad John.

So, that puts me back to the original question: why this late?

In essence, Dobson has shown his political cluelessness, at least on timing and strategy issues. About a month from now, we’ll see just how politically impotent he actually is.

And THAT, in a nutshell, is why Dobson’s never done the laying on of hands inside the GOP primary races before — he’s always been afraid of the wizard’s curtain being pulled back, IMO.

Which, in turn, means Dobson is really desperate, and really does dislike Big John that much.

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At the end of the day

John Edwards campaigned in Dublin, GA. "Georgia Senate minority leader Robert Brown of Macon introduced Edwards at the farmer's market where an estimated crowd of at least 400 had gathered... 'Senator Edwards is the best candidate. He can win in November,' Brown said before rally. 'He's also very much in tune with what's going in in places like rural Georgia.'"

Also in GA, Obama visited a church in Macon where he spoke about his faith: "Poverty has no place in a world of plenty, and hate has no place in a world of believers."

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) plans to endorse Obama on Monday, according to the NYT. Steve Benen added more insights.

FISA tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. -- In an interview with McClatchy's Matt Stearn, "Clinton said she would break from the campaign trail to return to Washington Monday" in planning "to vote to block a bill to extend the expansion of electronic eavesdropping powers because it provides immunity for phone companies..." Per a FDL update, Obama will be there, too. Yee haw!

Mitt's up! -- Romney rose in FL polls via Chris Bowers: "Zogby now shows a 30%-30% tie, while yesterday McCain lead 31%-28%. Insider Advantage shows Romney ahead 26%-24%, whereas yesterday it was a 23% to 23% tie. Rasmussen shows Romney extending his lead to 33%--27%, whereas three days earlier Romney only led 27%-23%. In fact, the last four polls conducting Florida tracking show the state moving from McCain 25.5%--23.5% Romney, to Romney 29.3%--27.8% McCain." Looks like a Repub slugfest to the finish.

McCain's running mate -- Lemme imitate SNL's church lady: "Could it be... Condi?" Thus sayeth the Prince of Darkness, "...talk to ordinary people about [Condi] and they say, boy, that's terrific. The politicians don’t like it.” Video at TP.

Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday questioned Huckabee about evidence of Saddam's WMDs. The Huckster replied, "I don’t have any evidence.... ...My point was that, no, we didn’t find them. Did they get into Syria? Did they get into some remote area of Jordan? Did they go some other place? We don’t know. They may not have existed. But simply saying — we didn’t find them so therefore they didn’t exist — is a bit of an overreach." Shorter Huckster: "Eeeb, eeeb, eeeb, eeeb!"

Krugman series, Part I: "Why has the Bush economy been so lousy?" See also bmaz's recent post, "Our Collapsing Economy - How We Got Here."

U.S. military death toll reached 3,934. "The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EST."

Iraqi troops arrived in Mosul, "site of recent deadly insurgent attacks, in an effort to suppress militant groups." Iraq's Defense Ministry spokesman Askari said, "They are Iraqi army forces and include troops, mechanized troops and air force. The plan will be similar to the ones implemented in Baghdad and Diyala [province]." LATimes

So now Bush shifts the military's focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan. " 'The sense I get is that at least in military terms they are getting a response from Washington which they weren't getting all along,' said Schaffer, a career foreign service officer who was deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia in the administration of former President Bush."

"The Week Ahead" at SCOTUSblog -- "No oral arguments are scheduled and no non-capital orders are expected to be issued from the Court this week." Reply briefs due Friday by 2 p.m. on Dada v. Mukasey.

On personal note -- It's fundraising time and for a good cause. Blue Girl needs a computer. So if you can throw some bucks her way -- the goal is $750 -- she can get back online sooner than later. Purdy please?

[That's all...no more after the jump.]

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Anti-abortionists define zygote as person

In the Georgia legislature, H.R. 536 would amend the state constitution to codify that life begins the minute a sperm fertilizes an ovum:

A RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to provide that the paramount right to life is vested in each human being from the moment of fertilization without regard to age, race, sex, health, function, or condition of dependency; to provide for submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection; and for other purposes.

The AJC Political Insider reported (with emphasis):

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was brought to the Capitol on Tuesday to endorse the measure.

Perhaps more importantly, supporters of the bill — the Georgia Right to Life organization chief among them — have won the ear of the Georgia Baptist Convention, the state’s largest denomination. The Baptist organization recently sent out a pair of DVDs to every member church, outlining the details of the bill.

[House Speaker Glenn Richardson] hasn’t taken a position on H.R. 536, but many Republicans think it a bridge too far, likely to raise objections among suburban women for — among other things — the impact it might have on accepted forms of contraception.

[Keep reading... more after the jump.]

The Georgia Right to Life org (GRTL) billed the Tuesday rally as a "memorial service for the unborn." Jeepers! That's creepy. Beside Huck, other guests included Gary Bauer, President of American Values, and Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory.

Georgia House Speaker Richardson brought in an "unpaid" advisor, former president of Mercer University Kirby Godsey, a moderate, in whose positions Baptist fundamentalists disagree. "Godsey was at the center of a long-running schism among Georgia Baptists — over topics such as biblical literalism, homosexuality, abortion and the role of women in religious affairs." Let's hope the moderates prevail over the extremists.

The "right-to-life" extremists see an opportunity to tighten their stranglehold on Georgia politics. Maybe saner heads will overcome -- Georgia voters may reject any effort in reducing women into chattel held hostage by a zygote. NARAL provides a breakout of Georgia's anti-choice laws including notations on post-viability abortion restrictions, and lists politicians in Georgia -- Gov. Sonny Perdue (R), Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R), and the Georgia House -- who oppose choice.

The complete text of the Georgia resolution is here. Note that a zygote becomes defined as a "person" (with emphasis):

Paragraph XXIX. Paramount right to life. (a) The rights of every person shall be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. The right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person.

(b) With respect to the fundamental and inalienable rights of all persons guaranteed in this Constitution, the word 'person' applies to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, sex, health, function, or condition of dependency, including unborn children at every state of their biological development, including fertilization.

Words fail at the utter insanity of such a resolution. How will Georgia women react to lawfully being forced into becoming an incubator even if their lives, their financial well-being are threatened by a pregnancy? For that's the next step in the battle to ban abortion outright. The GRTL website's position clearly states:

GRTL opposes abortion at any point of gestation, as it destroys a living, growing human life. In the rare case that the mother's life is indeed endangered by a continuation of the pregnancy, sound medical practice would dictate that every effort be made to save both lives. GRTL supports an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would guarantee the right to life of all persons from the moment of fertilization until natural death.

Defining a zygote as a person goes beyond the pale. Could this also mean that a fertilized egg is automatically an American citizen if the, um, transaction occurs on Georgia or U.S. soil? Adds another wrinkle to immigration, doesn't it?

The RTL movement and every legislator who supports this measure deserves a swift kick in the ass for attempting to usurp Roe v. Wade and ignoring any provision for the mother's life, which always should take precedent over a fertilized egg. But banning all abortions for any reason has been their goal for years. Life is something they want to control and they don't give a damn who dies or struggles during their fight to be -- and I say this sarcastically -- right.

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At the end of the day

Take a deep breath and step away from the hyperventilating tent slung over "divisions" in the Democratic Party. History shows we've previously visited this scenario and survived. "The top three candidates agree on almost everything, they’ve each presented a progressive platform, and they each lead Republican candidates in hypothetical general-election match-ups." Check your pulse at The Carpetbagger.

Who's ahead in CT? According to the Hartford Courant, Clinton 41%, Obama 27%, Edwards 9%. On the other side: McCain 39%, Rudy 16%, Mitt 11%. Analysis at the link (h/t Josh).

Huckabee barbecues McCain in an "aged" sauce concocted by No. 1 Huckster fan, Chuck Norris.

AQ suicide bomber blows up in Fallujah -- Killed 3, wounded 8 among a US-supported tribal group in western Anbar province. "The explosion was one of the deadliest attacks in Anbar since the council drove most al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters out of the province last year." Monday's WaPo

"It's (Grandpa's) Economy, Stupid" -- "The press may think we're headed back to 1992, but the real worry is we may be headed for 1932, 21st Century style." Pachacutec

Paul Krugman distills Reaganomics. Bottom-line: It took a Clinton economy to correct the recession.

"The Week Ahead" for the Supremes via SCOTUSblog. No arguments.

Staying forever in Iraq -- The oblivious warmongering "liberal" media. Tsk, tsk. Scripting an Iraq war epic offers only one "Serious Option." Blood! Horror! Action! Glenn Greenwald

Peggy Noonan at O'Shilling's Tavern. Oh, me darlin', you also ain't got no soul. MTP video, transcript, and commentary by John Amato.

No! "McCain is the new Reagan." Clap harder, Tweety.

Remembering MLK -- "Let Justice Roll Down," by Martin Luther King, Jr., March 15, 1965, at The Nation.

[That's all...no more after the jump.]

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At the end of the day

Whistlin' Dixie with South Carolina conservatives in mind, the Huckster flapped the Confederate flag. An "independent group" sponsored a "flag issue" radio ad that smacked McCain and poured a heaping helping of praise on how Huckabee "understands the value of heritage." On Huck's values, Joe Conason at Salon wrote about his religious extremism and his ties to it. His face was sharp as a butcher’s cleaver... Look away!

None of the above -- 19% of SC GOP voters are undecided. Is that big? No, it's "HUGE."

What's a GOP code word for heartless bastard? In, SC, Fred Thompson dissed Bush's global AIDS initiative because "Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it... ...we need to keep firmly in mind the role of the government, and the role of us as individuals and as Christians on the other.” Countering Fred's criticism, Bush's former speechifier Michael Gerson said of Fred, "he clearly is playing to isolationist sentiments." TP offers more, um, insight.

Mr. and Mrs. Obama took a swipe at Hillary's voting record. When it comes to taking a stand on an issue, you're either fer it or agin it. Oh, wait...

Picking up from Manifesto Joe, the Bush-league economic stimulus plan refrains that one-hit wonder -- Tax cuts, baby! Via Sam Boyd at Campaign for America's Future, the CBO applauds the Democratic solution.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) "ain't buying" WH spokesman Tony Fratto's kooky denial, "We have no reason to believe that any e-mail at all are missing." Oh? Emptywheel explained why Tony should have kept his piehole shut and today connected a few dots to the Plame investigation. Way to go, Fratto! Fred Fielding must luv u.

The No. 3 U.S. diplomat -- R. Nicholas Burns -- will leave the State Department in March for personal reasons. Uh huh. He'll remain involved "as a special envoy on India." U.S. Ambassador to Moscow William J. Burns will replace Burns. The two are not related. Tomorrow's WaPo.

Bob Somerby aptly covered the truncated, bogus apology from Tweety. Transcript at Media Matters. Corpus Juris posted the video .

First, Lee Siegel called us blogofascists. Now he whines that we're Stalinists (h/t Avedon).

Passive-Aggressive: In today's NYT column, David Brooks compared presidential frontrunners, Democratic to GOP -- "...a daughter of the feminist movement, a beneficiary of the civil rights movement and a self-styled proletarian. These are powerful Democratic categories" vs. "a pastor, a businessman and a war hero. These are the three most evocative Republican leadership models." Is Bobo aware of his unconscious cognition? Doorknobs say maybe, maybe not.

[That's all...no more after the jump.]

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Campaign Video of the Day -- January 6, 2007

Today's Campaign Video is from John Edwards. "Your Time is Now" reflects John's core values and central message. Increasingly it is being repeated in a kinder gentler way by his fellow Democrat Barack Obama, and in a very confused Republican way by Mike Huckabee. I think John is on to something. I think Obama and Huckabee agree.



If you encounter a video in need of broader play, please email the link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject: Campaign Video of the Day.

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Times Are Changin

Obama and Huckabee won tonight. Imagine a black man and a baptist preacher both of whom are talking change. Both sounding a message aimed straight at us. Folks I thought you might want to listen to this old song. "Times are changin."

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Elmer Huckabee, or Is It Mike Fudd?

I know, I know, I spend lots of time dissing Mike Huckabee, but to be fair I live in Missouri and am a husband, the father of one young woman and the grandfather of three little girls. That SOB Huckabee turned a rapist loose in my state and I am still pissed that two Missouri women were raped and murdered. In addition, I think he is the most formidable Republican in the field.



Posted to youtube by Jared Cicon.

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Wurlitzer Prize of the Week for Wingnuttery™ - Special Yuletide Achievement

'Tis the season for a puzzling brouhaha over GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's holiday campaign ad that displayed an image of a white cross floating in the background behind the Huckster's head. Was it a bookcase or a window pane? Was the cross intentional, a subliminal seed to be planted in the minds of evangelical voters and religious conservatives to wonder, "Are you the one?" Serious News Organizations sucked on the story like a sugar plum dancing in their heads. WH contender Ron Paul (R-TX) jumped into the media frenzy to quote Sinclair Lewis' famous comment about "fascism... ...carrying a cross." Who could top that?

Enter Fox, er, Faux News, the dedicated propaganda network for the three R's -- radical, Republican and rightwing -- where the Huckster was criticized for wearing his religion on his sleeve. The lead attack dog and paragon of pious contradictions, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, said that Huck went too far. Really? Doesn't the self-appointed Flared Nostril repulsed by the alleged secular assault on God Almighty know there's a War on Christmas?!! That Christians in America suffer persecution in having been banished from the public square? Poor things have been forced to display nativity scenes in their own front yards and on church properties. Genuflect and gasp with us, "Oh, the injustice!"

But hark! During the yuletide season, comes God's candidate advertising a holiday message with the ubiquitous symbol that unites all Christianists. So why did Donohue kvetch?

More confusing still, when did rightwing pandering to religiosity become gauche? Unpopular? Verbotten? And fodder for another religious panderer like Donohue? His primary objection:

"The whole idea is to give the appearance of a cross," he said, "and this is just injecting religion into politics even too far for guys like me."

Asked if the ad was "too much," Donahue said it was.

"Because there's a pattern here," he added. "Every other word out of [Huckabee's] mouth is that 'I'm Christian.' He's calling into question Romney's Mormonism...let people talk about [their] faith, but don't sell it on your sleeve."

And with that, Donohue pronounced, "Sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is." Harumph-ity dump!

[Read on... video and more righteous wingnuttery after the jump.]


FOX & Friends discuss Huckabee ad with Bill Donohue via ThinkerHA

During the Faux News video, Donohue referred twice to anti-Catholic staffers at Huck's campaign, a legit complaint and what probably sharpened Bill's axe head. Corpus Juris raised the anti-Catholic issue earlier this week in remembering JFK and addressed the Donohue-Huckabee ad problem directly. Here's just a snip:

...it wasn't long ago when good Protestant Americans wouldn't vote for a "papist." The marriage between Catholics and evangelicals over pro-life issues is a shotgun marriage at best.... ...Some of Huckabee's fellow "Christians" deeply believe Catholics are also members of a dirty anti-Christian "cult."

Unlike Corpus Juris, the Catholic League president didn't express this troublesome Christianist relationship fairly or honestly. Au contraire! The Flared Nostril inhaled crazy snuff and accused Huck of the same tactic he himself has employed in the past -- "injecting religion into politics."

The record of Donohue's hypocrisy, partisan bias, and bullying are legion.

In February, Bill attacked the John Edwards campaign for hiring two bloggers whom he denounced as anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots. The AP, NYTimes, MSNBC, and CNN interviewed Donohue over the high-blown controversy or helped spread Bill's vitriol without once challenging his bigoted history or anti-Democratic motives. Yet, when Jerome Corsi, "one of the ringleaders of the smear campaign by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth against Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)," spewed anti-Catholic harangues in 2004, Donohue stayed conveniently quiet. He uttered not a word in defense of the character assassination of a fellow Catholic. In fact, he later piled on Kerry. Neither did he deride Corsi for his "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking" bigotry.

Over time, the mainstream press has permitted Donohue to advance a religious rightwing agenda never questioning his hypocritical double standard. In August last year, Bill responded to actor Mel Gibson's anti-Jewish rant with the excuse, "There's a lot of people who have made comments which are bigoted who are not necessarily bigots." Oh, but Mel is a strict Traditionalist Catholic and favorite son of conservatives. No tongue lashing for Gibson! See how Bill operates?

And there's Donohue's own vulgarities and religious bigotry jumbled in with politics:

* "People don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/9/06]

* "Name for me a book publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death style." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/27/04]

* "The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 4/11/05]

* Addressing former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) in a press release, Donohue said: "[W]hy didn't you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn't allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?" [10/4/06]

* "I'm saying if a Catholic votes for Kerry because they support him on abortion rights, that is to cooperate in evil." [MSNBC's Hardball, 10/21/04]

* "We've already won. Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? And I'm not afraid to say it. ... Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 12/8/04]

* "Well, look, there are people in Hollywood, not all of them, but there are some people who are nothing more than harlots. They will do anything for the buck. They wouldn't care. If you asked them to sodomize their own mother in a movie, they would do so, and they would do it with a smile on their face." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/9/06]

Are we to take the rants of Bill Donohue seriously? He's the same crackpot who besmirched a devout Catholic artist for sculpting a chocolate Jesus for Easter. Let's see... Easter, chocolate, Jesus... what's so out of the stratosphere about a sweet Jesus? Lucky for the artist, Donohue sarcastically consoled, the slightest puff of fire and brimstone streaming from his nose, "I'm not like the Taliban, because you would lose more than your head." Unfortunately, Bill pressured the exhibit venue to ban the sculptor's work by threatening to bankrupt them financially. Adding further injury during his interview on CNN, Donohue called sculptor Cosimo Cavallaro a "loser", "morally bankrupt", "disingenuous", and a liar. Insults offer a fine example of Christ-like behavior during Lent, don't they?

While the media has remained content to let Donohue strew his toxic aspersions -- to conjure controversy and lap the limelight with a flick of his tongue -- other Catholics have been paying attention:

Mark Silk, director of the Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College said, "He's a thug. He reverts to bullying because he thinks that's what the job entails."

Rev. Mark Massa, a Jesuit priest and co-director of the Curran Center for American Catholic Studies at Fordham University, accused Donohue of being unable to differentiate between healthy debate and real religious bigotry. "Not everyone who criticizes the church is anti-Catholic," he said.

The editors at the Catholic weekly magazine America seem to agree. In 2000, they chastised Donohue for denouncing movies he hadn't even watched. "While being first may increase one's chances of attracting media attention, there is a danger that the Catholic League reinforces the stereotype that the Catholic Church is at best unreflective and at worst unfairly biased and paranoid," wrote Rev. James Martin. "In the long run, this may do more harm to the church's reputation than a short-lived movie or play."

During this week's Donohue tirade over Huckabee's "subliminal cross" ad, Faux News Friend Alisyn Camerota, astonished at his grumbling, could only retort, "Bill, you are a complicated man! You don't like Huckabee's Christmas ad, yet though, you don't like the War on Christmas. Very interesting."

No, Alisyn, Donohue isn't complicated. He's deceitful, vain, and crass, and you've succumbed to Bill's gaslighting in not exposing his thuggery. Journalism much? It's simple. Donohue's hyperbolic media whoring and Judas act to progressives, Catholic Democrats, gays, Muslims, Wiccans, and Jews pleases him. He excoriates or discounts anyone who disturbs his unbridled wingnuttery. Big Media, having given him a bully pulpit, turn a blind eye to his hypocrisy. He's just another kazoo in the noise machine.

That's why the Flared Nostril, who can turn the Mighty Wurlitzer up with a single snort like Santa ascending a chimney, gets the award for this week's yuletide achievement.

Happy holidays, Bill Donohue.

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Presidential Primary Predictions

OK, slow news weekend, holiday coming up and all that, so since I'm finished my Christmas preparations, I'm going to get a jump on the presidential primary predications coming January 1 (since the Iowa caucus is Jan. 3) and make my own semi-baseless predictions:

Republicans:

Huckabee is peaking perfectly but broke. He'll win Iowa, drop to third in New Hampshire then disappear for lack of money.

McCain will turn up a surprising second in Iowa, rake in the dough from grateful Wall Street types terrified of Huckabee and win the nomination.

Romney and Giuliani will tie for third in Iowa, with Mitt coming a not-close-enough second in New Hampshire and disappearing in South Carolina. Giuliani will have a foam-at-the-mouth public freakout over losing to hick Huckabee, tank in New Hampshire, and spend the rest of 2008 tearing down McCain and whining about how he should be the nominee.

Democrats:

Edwards will win in Iowa, possibly drop to a close second in New Hampshire, rebound in South Carolina and win the nomination.

Obama will come in second in Iowa, a close first or second to Edwards in New Hampshire, a further-back second to Edwards in South Carolina, and end up the vice-presidential nominee.

Hillary will come in a close third to Edwards and Obama in Iowa, but tank in New Hampshire as her supporters reel from the shock and her money dries up.If Dodd's on the ballot in South Carolina, he might beat her.

A couple of notes on methodology, or rather the lack of any:

I've been predicting Iowa and New Hampshire would kill Hillary's campaign since last spring, about the same time I predicted Edwards/Obama would be the nominees. At the time I thought the desperate repug wingnut freakazoids would nominate Brownback. Although it seems that Huckabee has stepped into that darling-of-the-jayzus-humpers position, believers don't really choose the republican nominee; Wall Street does.

Yes, my prediction for Edwards has a little wishful thinking in it, as I'm a strong Edwards supporter, but I also think McCain is the strongest possible republican nominee and therefore hoped his summer-fall swoon would be permanent. No such luck. As Rudy, Mitt and Fred reveal their fatal flaws to the faithful, and as Huck's skeletons begin to spill out of the closet, politically rational republicans (the ones with the money and power) are realizing McCain is their only hope.

It's 12 days to the Iowa caucuses; 19 to the New Hampshire primary. At the speed this race is changing, that's plenty of time for Tom Tancredo and Joe Biden to leap out front.

But what's the fun in waiting until it's all over?

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.

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Yeah for Me! Iowa Impressions of the Candidates On the Way

I was trying to find another old post on the site and came across this post that I made after the Iowa Republican Straw Poll in August. I think my predictions have held up pretty well.

[By dumping big money into the state early, Romney] forced Giuliani and McCain to abandon the Straw Poll; he may well force them to abandon Iowa altogether, or simply put in token effort. If the other leaders--Fred Thompson, Giuliani, and McCain--effectively pull out of Iowa, conceding the state to Romney, they will also allow a space for Huckabee to finish prominently in the first caucus. If he were to finish a robust fifth place it would be no big deal. A second place finish could give him a big boost. But I think he has a shot at first, or a least a close second. He is an attractive candidate who typically appears thoughtful and comfortable in his skin. Romney comes across wooden and programmed. Maybe Iowa GOP voters will have a surprise in them come January.

Apparently the heavy lifting involved in making such prescient and weighty predictions left me so exhausted that I have only blogged once since August. So during the Christmas break (Yes, Mr. O'Reilly, I said Christmas), I will post a series on the Democratic Candidates, focusing on the ones I have heard in small-venue events. (I had to leave the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner early for a late-night meeting between my car and an eight-point buck. I made it just in time.) I will offer an Iowa perspective on their campaigns, their advertising, and the impact they seem to be having in the state.

Teaser: Bill Richardson thinks my daughter is a boy.

[That's All Folks]

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Campaign Video of the Day -- December 19, 2007

Out of all the videos distributed the last few days there can be only one that captures the potential ugliness of the season--Mike Huckabee's "What Really Matters."

During the last few weeks Mitt Romney has said, retracted, and winked that there isn't a Muslim in America qualified to be in his cabinet. I guess only good Christians, Mormons or Jews need apply.

Of course, there is a completely untrue, but persistent rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Hillary Clinton supporter Bob Kerrey, a man I used to respect, has recently tried to damn Obama with faint praise by mentioning that he attended elementary school in a Muslim country--which Kerrey wrongly called a Madrassa. Kerrey and Clinton should be ashamed.

Mike Huckabee, the "author" of today's video, recently, if indirectly, attacked Mitt Romney's Mormonism slyly alluding to a poorly understood feature Mormon doctrine. His attack was an efficient, if indirect, back stab that left lots of room for plausible denial.

Yesterday the Catholic League president slammed Huckabee for this 'subliminal' cross ad. Apparently the cross ad has reminded Catholic League's Bill Donahue of something from his childhood because he suddenly fears the re-introduction of overt religious tests in American politics. As Catholics old enough to remember John Kennedy know it wasn't long ago when good Protestant Americans wouldn't vote for a "papist." The marriage between Catholics and evangelicals over pro-life issues is a shotgun marriage at best.

Outside the pro-life debate modern Americans are not used to such a frothy mixing of politics with the old time religion. We better get used to it. The kind of America Huck seems to want is a "Christian" America. Historically, "Christian" America wasn't big enough for cultist Mormons. I live in Western Missouri. Our history is filled with ugly incidents involving riots and massacres. After Missouri's "Christian" governor issued a shoot on sight order, the good Christians ran the Mormans out of Missouri. As every Morman knows that ultimately led to the founding of Utah.

Some of Huckabee's fellow "Christians" deeply believe Catholics are also members of a dirty anti-Christian "cult." Donahue and American Catholics rightly fear that "Christian" belief might lead to a renewal of the ancient religious war that nearly destroyed Europe, and continued to rage in Northern Ireland until a few short years ago. If history is a guide I would guess Jews, who are definitely not Christian, are going to be next. Of course, the tolerant Episcopalians count gays in their number, so to some I am sure they aren't qualified to hold office. Pretty soon "Christian" America won't be big enough for Pentecostals or Lutherans.

Merry Christmas and welcome to what might be the end of America as the land of religious tolerance and freedom. Once religious tests are introduced into the public square the world quickly becomes a very dangerous place. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.



If you encounter a video worthy of sharing please email the link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject: Campaign Video of the Day.

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Huckabee's Appeal Broader Than Mere Evangelical Hot Buttons

This is just a little note for you to consider. Yesterday Kevin Drum posted Huck and the Moneycons examining the fear and loathing the Republican "establishment" has for Mike Huckabee. I think he is on to why the Republican "establishment" doesn't like Huck--clearly he is not part of the ruling elite. He truly represents the NASCAR dads and church going moms out in Red State America. As a Democratic activist friend of mine said the other day, when you look at Huckabee he is really a pro-life theocratic Democrat. He is very likely to use the levers of power to help people outside of the upper one percent achieve their goals. In many ways he is a Republican version of Bill Clinton and for that reason must be opposed at all costs by the elites who are actively trying to strip America of her greatness and future in support of their "new world order."

I don't support Huckabee. His actions in the Dumond case alone disqualify him, but the Republican establishment has every reason to be scared silly of Huckabee. Steve Benen calls it the Huckabee Panic. He probably represents the future of their party, a future where they are not going to be welcome.

What both Drum and Benen both overlook is just why Huckabee's support has grown so quickly. They are quick to ascribe it to his appeal to the evangelical base. Those dumb hicks are voting for one of their own. I think both Drum and Benen, both proud members of the Democratic establishment, are just as biased as the Republican establishment guys. If Huckabee's appeal to the evangelical hot buttons was his only appeal he would have lost the argument to one of the better funded but more establishment evangelical candidates. The junior Senator from Kansas comes to mind.

Huckabee's appeal is broader than the standard evangelical hot buttons. He is attractive to Republicans living outside the beltway elite because they are just as shocked as the rest of us at the utter incompetence of the Bush administration. People who go to church on Sunday aren't stupid. They realize that the Republican establishment has presided over the decline of the American middle class. They are middle class and are wondering just what those establishment candidates offer them. The truth is Romney, Giuliani, McCain et al offer nothing of substance to people who are worried about mortgage payments, college tuition, whether they are going to have a job next year and all the rest of the things that concern Democratic members of the middle class. They might not be sure what Huckabee offers, but they know he was a governor and that he was not afraid to raise taxes to improve Arkansas schools and provide child health care.

The other day Huckabee called the Bush foreign policy arrogant and representative of a bunker mentality. Today Romney attacked him for his comments. I have a hunch Huckabee isn't going to be hurt in either Iowa or South Carolina for telling the obvious truth. Those Iowa farmers and NASCAR dads aren't nearly as dumb as the establishment types think.

I've got to go now. My son is playing the trumpet at his Baptist church and Grandma and I want to hear him play.

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Campaign Video of the Day -- December 15, 2007

Today's campaign video, "Fight," is from the John Edwards campaign. Contrast this ad with the Hillary ad I posted yesterday. It is clear the Edwards campaign is in a very different place.

Today's ad is aimed directly at the feeling that corporate America and its beltway elite have let the middle class down. This ad is a call for a revolution to save the middle class from the greed of the corporate elite. Edwards claims to have been born to lead the revolution.



If you encounter a video in need of wider play, please email a link to proctoring.congress@gmail.com subject campaign video of the day.

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Lois Davidson Tells Story Mike Huckabee Doesn't Wan't You To Hear

This is the hottest video on the Internet. It is truly viral.

The folks over at TPM are working hard to find out who produced it. It is very well done and the mother of Carol Sue Shields participated. I can't place it for sure but the voice talent sounds familiar. It is possible that it was filmed right around here in Western Missouri. Could this be the work of our local Karl Rove wannabe Jeff Roe? Who is Jeff working for up in Iowa? Hummmm.



Strannix and DocLarry do you know anything about this video?

UPDATE: According to the ARKANSAS TIMES

An Arkansas Republican, Keith Emis, takes responsibility. (And there wasn't a deep secret. He's encouraged the mother to tell reporters who did the piece and his phone number appears on the registration for the website set up to carry the video.) Here's his e-mail to me:

Hello. This is Keith Emis. I organized the production of the attached video. Below is a statement regarding Mike Huckabee, Lois Davidson and Carol Sue Shields.

I saw Mrs. Davidson on CBS News last week talking about how Wayne Dumond murdered her daughter Carol Sue Shields. Shields was murdered because Mike Huckabee began pushing for Dumond's freedom when he became governor. Dumond was eventually released.

There is no doubt Mrs. Davidson has a powerful story to tell, but I wasn't sure she had an outlet to share it. I agreed with her that Mike Huckabee has no business being president.

I have always been a behind the scenes guy in Arkansas politics, working for Fay Boozman in 1998 and Senator Tim Hutchinson in 2002, so being out front on anything political is highly unusual for me, but this is different.

I contacted Mrs. Davidson and asked her if she would be willing to speak on camera about her daughter, her daughter's murderer, and the man who helped win his freedom. I got a camera crew to go with me to Missouri to Mrs. Davidson's home. We filmed a very kind lady who shouldn't have lost her daughter.

Mrs. Davidson's story is important. It's one that anyone voting in the Republican primaries should hear.

Sincerely,

Keith W. Emis

Emis claims he isn't working for anybody. I wonder? Emis really took a camera crew north through the worst ice storm of the winter to film Mrs. Davidson because her story made him sad? What a guy. What a film crew.

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When Republicans fight: don’t you love it?

So Mitt Romney is blowing a gasket because Mike Huckabee asks: “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
Of course, it’s a lie. Jesus and Joseph Smith are brothers, according to Mormons. (C’mon, we all know that.) And Jesus had multiple Mormon wives — Mary Magdalene, Salome, Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus. (C’mon, we all knew that, too.)

Given the, not rough edges, but more willing rough elbows of the Huckabee campaign, a claim this blunt doesn’t surprise me at all. Huck’s shown he’s willing to get the brass knuckles out. (Sidebar: doesn’t this say something about Arkansas politics and politicians?)

And, sure, Huck is speaking in “code words” to evangelicals. But, Mitt, did you audience-test your “JFK speech” in advance of giving it? I can’t believe you really thought that it would tamp down rank-and-file conservative evangelical skeptics, let alone outright critics, to give such a speech without actually talking about Mormonism. OK, so you didn’t see the Huckabee Surge™. But, if this was supposed to be a pre-emptive speech, you should have anticipated something like this.

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More muck on Huck

His 1992 words keep coming back to haunt him. Associated Press:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The U.S. shouldn't try to kill Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mike Huckabee declared when he first ran for office. No women in combat anywhere. No gays in the military. No contributions in politics to candidates more than a year before an election.

His statements are among 229 answers Huckabee offered as a 36-year-old Texarkana pastor during his first run for political office in 1992. In that unsuccessful race against Sen. Dale Bumpers, Huckabee offered himself as a social conservative and listed "moral decay" as one of the top problems facing the country.

Daily Kos exposed his views on women -- wives should submit to their husbands, so sayeth the Huckster:

In August of 1998, Huckabee was one of 131 signatories to a full page USA Today Ad which declared: "I affirm the statement on the family issued by the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention." What was in the family statement from the SBC? "A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ."

But more details from the 1992 questionnaire should raise some eyebrows of moderate voters and lead people to question his flip-flops on PACs and taxes.

[Keep reading...]

Huck called for...

...the elimination of political action committees and campaign contributions from lobbyists. He also said candidates should not be allowed to receive contributions until one year before an election and said there should be limits on the amount of out-of-state money they could accept.

As Arkansas governor, Huckabee formed a political action committee based in Virginia to raise money for non-federal candidates that allowed him to travel and raise his profile for a potential presidential run. The Hope for America PAC shut down earlier this year as Huckabee entered the White House race.

_ Said he would not support any tax increases if elected to the Senate. Huckabee's record of raising some taxes as Arkansas' governor has drawn fire from fiscal conservatives in the presidential race.

_ When asked whether the U.S. should take any action to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Huckabee replied: "The U.S. should not kill Saddam Hussein or anyone else." The U.S. military captured Saddam, an Iraqi court convicted him and he was hanged last December.

_ Rejected the idea of women in combat "because of my strong traditional view that women should be treated with respect and dignity and not subject to the kinds of abuses that could occur in combat."

_ Said living together out of wedlock "is demeaning to the highest expression of human love and commitment. I reject it as an alternate lifestyle, because it robs people of the highest possible relationship one can experience: marriage."

_ Said he believed no one has a constitutional right to an abortion and supported requiring minors to obtain parental consent. Huckabee also said he supported requiring doctors to discuss abortion alternatives and a waiting period.

Huckabee's vocal opposition to gay marriage and abortion have attracted evangelical Christians' support and vaulted him to the top of the field in Iowa.

But some of his earlier comments offer a harder-edged presentation of those stances than he has presented as he's tried to portray himself as a conservative who won't "scare the living daylights" out of moderates and independents.

God luck with that. There's more at the AP link -- his opposition to legislation that would "give workers time off to care for an ailing family member." He unsurprisingly supported Clarence Thomas. And he described the federal welfare system as "disgraceful." All standard fare for conservative hard-liners.

But watch out. He's learning to temper his extreme ideas by "successfully using language that expresses views without being hard-edged," said Jay Barth, political scientist from Hendrix College.

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Huck The Knife

Rarely in American politics has there been a politician better at putting a shiv in his opponent's back, making sure there is never a trace of red. Huck the Knife keeps his jackknife out of sight.

According to the AP Mike Huckabee

an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anybody who knows anything about the Latter Day Saints will tell you that the Mormon doctrine concerning Jesus is far more nuanced and mainline than Huckabee's implied slur. Again from the AP

A spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Huckabee's question is usually raised by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine.

"We believe, as other Christians believe and as Paul wrote, that God is the father of all," said the spokeswoman, Kim Farah. "That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind. Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."

Huckabee, an ordained minister with a degree in theology, is more than aware that he is slandering Romney and several million other Mormans, but he will get away with it because (1) the people he is targeting don't know any better, and (2) he is still in the middle of his honeymoon with the press so most reporters won't bother to find out what Mormans really think. By the time anybody notices, Romney will be history.

At least Romney had the decency to buy ad time for his negative attack on Huckabee.



I don't know what it is about Hope, Arkansas, but those folks sure know how to produce smooth political operators.

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Mike Huckabee's Message to Iowa

Tonight's funny was posted to Youtube by Lee Stranathan. Since he produced it and authorized embeds I suspect he approves my posting it here. I think it is one of the best parody ads I have watched all year. What do you think?

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Our rotting press corpse stinks again

They just can't help themselves (with emphasis):

On the December 6 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, during a discussion of former Arkansas Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's role in the 1999 release of convicted rapist Wayne DuMond, who was convicted of raping and murdering another woman after being released and was suspected in another rape and murder, host Joe Scarborough asked MSNBC correspondent David Shuster, "Do you think this is going to be a big issue?" Shuster responded: "No, I don't, because the reason -- the reason I think it was a big issue for [1988 Democratic presidential candidate] Mike Dukakis was because it played into the idea of a Massachusetts liberal soft on crime. Mike Huckabee has sentenced more people to death and carried out the death penalty more than anybody else, so it doesn't really fit that narrative."

Oh, I get it. We've come to expect a conservative to exemplify little compassion, to contradict a pro-life position by executing the death penalty more than anybody else, to accept that Republicans are a hard-hearted, blood-thirsty clan. And fallacious, too.

Later in the discussion, Shuster stated, "[T]here are a lot of ways that I think that Mike Huckabee can get out of this, and again, because he's a conservative guy from a conservative state, I just don't think it carries the same weight as Mike Dukakis in '88."

Follow Shuster's reasoning with me. Maybe I'm missing somethin' redemptive. Maybe not.

[Keep reading...]

A liberal pegged as soft on crime in liberal Massachusetts, who supported a weekend furlough system in which a felon raped, committed physical violence and armed robbery was a big story.

But, a conservative who went soft on crime in a conservative state, who -- against the objections of sexual assault victims -- made a bad and politically questionable decision that led to rape and murder is no big deal. Uh huh. IOKIYARIARS? The families of murder victims Sara Andrasek and Carol Shields probably wouldn't agree.

Reading my friend Blue Girl added a different and relevant perspective to Shuster's specious gaffe. Read her whole post. For now, a few snips:

If not for the family connection between the victim and Bill Clinton, Dumond would have rotted in an Arkansas prison and died, unknown and unmourned. That would have been justice.

Instead, the Arkansas GOP went into full-froth mode...Dumond was innocent! He was railroaded by that bastard Clinton! He must be freed!

Bullshit. He was a predator and a rapist and a murderer. That mattered not a whit...

...The Huckster pressured the parole board behind closed doors, and they granted the murdering monster parole - without Huck having to affix his signature to the release. When the victim pleaded with Huckabee to keep the man in prison, he dismissed her, telling her that he believed that the man was reformed and repentant, and would pose no future threat. (Haven't we heard that "looked into his soul" line of crap before?)

I do not believe for one second that anyone in Arkansas thought the bastard was reformed.

If they truly believed he was reformed, why was one of the conditions of his parole that he had to leave Arkansas???

Steve Benen also provided an excellent overview on Huckabee's involvement in the DuMond parole.

And what's this in today's Sunday NYTimes? Sho 'nuff, they finally caught up to the liberal bloggers.

Despite the Huckster's denials, "Two former parole board members in Arkansas said yesterday that as governor, Mr. Huckabee met with the board in 1996 to lobby them to release the convicted rapist, Wayne DuMond, whose case was championed by evangelical Christians." And... "The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that three of the seven members of the parole board said Mr. Huckabee had pressured them, echoing earlier reporting by The Arkansas Times and other local news media."

Yet, according to MSNBC's David Shuster, the DuMond case ain't nuthin' for Huck to sweat. If a complicit media covers Huckabee's behind, maybe he's got a point.

When Shuster defended his argument with the excuse that Huckabee is a conservative guy from a conservative state, I thought that dog won't hunt, bubba. That's plain conservatard punditry. Without thinking (our mainstream press unwittingly and sometimes willfully sneaks in rightwing talking points, they're so insidiously ingrained like shoe polish on their wingtips), Shuster revisited the myth, a Serious Idea, that liberals are soft on crime and conservatives aren't -- a favorite narrative of the GOP. Bless his pea-picking heart, his mouth ran away from his brain.

So few Molly Ivins and Lars Erik Nelsons remain alive to demonstrate to the pups how to think independent of an approved script. Tragic but true especially on tee-vee.

The next day on the Dec. 7 Morning Joe, Shuster almost -- almost! -- acted like a journalist asking pertinent questions before fumbling as he pressed the waterboarding debate with Joe Scarborough. (Crooks and Liars). When he suggested that the CIA torture tapes may have been disposed to "cover up war crimes, and that torture doesn’t work and is barbaric and wrong," Joe launched his best "Sean Hannity impersonation" and issued a forceful "torture apologia" that vented his wingnut spleen.

"Because...we live in a dangerous world!" Joe vehemently defended, all bowed up and thunderin' like Moses in a Cecil B. DeMille production.

Now if Shuster -- "naive" is what Joe called him -- could realize how a "conservative guy in a conservative state" contributed to a dangerous world, maybe he'd understand why northwest Missouri thinks Huck's "guilty of felony murder."

But, for the life of me, I can't figure out how soy lattés on the upper West Side of New York City factor in a clash over the depravity of torture.

Oh, the mysteries of our rotting press corpse.

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