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Dec 14, 2007
Romney Week in Review - 12.14.07
Check Debate Central for highlights from the debate and the focus group's reaction.
The Left Attacks
Huckabee and criminals: It's worse than just Wayne DuMond
Convicted rapist Wayne DuMond, right, is released from prison on parole in Tucker, Ark., Oct. 22, 1999.
Huckabee and criminals: It's worse than just Wayne DuMond
The former governor's feckless, faith -based clemency policies in Arkansas continued for years after the convicted rapist was released.
By Joe Conason
Dec. 14, 2007 | Responding to accusations that he caused a rapist and killer named Wayne DuMond to be set loose from the Arkansas prison system -- leading ultimately to the murder of at least one and probably two women in Missouri -- Mike Huckabee has long denied any personal responsibility for that profoundly stupid decision. In the past he has tried to blame DuMond's parole on both Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker, who preceded him as governor. More recently, he has denounced the charge that he pressured the Arkansas parole board into freeing DuMond, who has since died, as "nonsense."
And now Huckabee, who plainly hoped to please the prisoner's deranged right-wing advocates back when he promised to commute DuMond's sentence, says that he laments the politicization of a tragedy.
"There are families who are truly, understandably and reasonably, grief-stricken," he told CNN, referring to the relatives of DuMond's victims, including the mother of a Missouri woman he raped and murdered who has vowed to campaign against Huckabee. "And for people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret politics is reduced to that."
According to good old Huck, the fault still lies elsewhere, presumably with that nebulous "system." How could anyone believe that he would let a vicious killer and rapist walk free? It is all too believable, if only because Huckabee continued to exercise his powers of clemency and commutation just as foolishly and frivolously for years after he should have learned better from the DuMond mistake. He bestowed those favors on prisoners he happened to meet, on prisoners with personal connections to him or his [family], and especially on prisoners recommended to him by pastors whom he happened to know from his own previous career as a Baptist minister and denominational leader. As with DuMond, whose case was pleaded by a preacher named Jay Cole, prisoners guilty of heinous crimes could be washed clean in Huckabee's estimation if a pastor of his acquaintance importuned him. Among the thugs to whom he granted clemency was a robber who had beaten a man to death with a lead pipe.
For several years after 1996, when he first considered parole for DuMond (he was released in 1999), the Arkansas governor freed as many as 1,000 prisoners. Some were undoubtedly deserving of release (?), but others were dangerous and violent felons like DuMond who should have been kept behind bars. Huckabee's questionable methods and motivations never changed until prosecutors, the media, his fellow Republicans and virtually the entire state of Arkansas rose up in protest against his idiocy.
The case that sparked the citizen revolt against Huckabee came to public attention in 2004, when he announced his intention to release a murderer and rapist named Glen Green. What seems to have impressed him was the endorsement of Green provided by one Rev. Johnny Jackson, a Baptist minister in the town of Jacksonville and friend of the governor's. Observers doubted that Huckabee had bothered to glance at the case file before he decided to release Green, because he could not have helped being chilled by the harrowing confession it contained.
In 1974, Green was serving as a sergeant at Little Rock Air Force Base, located in a suburban county outside the state capital. On a certain evening, he seized Helen Lynnette Spencer, 18, and brought her to a quiet spot on the base where he assaulted and tried to rape her. She briefly escaped from Green, who then caught her and beat her brutally with nunchaku sticks. He stuffed her into the trunk of his car and drove her off the base to another county, where he pulled her into the front seat and violated her. Since she wasn't dead, he ran over her several times with his car, and finally dumped her corpse in a bayou. When Spencer's body was found, her hand was reaching up from the swampy waters.
This was the series of events that Green and his gullible minister -- who reportedly described the perp as "a humble Christian man" -- later insisted had been "accidental," an explanation that Huckabee inexplicably accepted. The prosecutors who put Green away for life in 1974 believed that he was capable of killing again, and they were stunned when the governor ignored their advice, along with the unanimous opinion of the Arkansas parole authorities. Only the anguished protests of the victim's family, amplified by the local media, eventually forced Huckabee to rescind the commutation of Green's sentence, which he had already announced(!)
The pattern could not have been clearer, as described by Arkansas columnist Garrick Feldman, who crusaded against Huckabee's feckless, faith-based clemency and pardon policies. Killers and rapists need not express remorse, as the Green case showed. They need only profess their salvation, "especially if a minister from Huckabee's circle vouches for their jailhouse conversion."
Whatever Huckabee now says about the DuMond case, he continued to misuse his authority for several years after the fatal consequences of that fiasco became all too obvious. Behind his pattern of error and misconduct is a troubling arrogance that is not unfamiliar in a certain kind of evangelical politician. He would not be the first elected official who did something stupid and destructive because he had convinced himself that he was fulfilling the will of God. The question is why the rest of us should want to risk our safety and security by entertaining such delusions again.
-- By Joe Conason
Rich Lowry
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Rich Lowry (born 1968 in Arlington, Virginia) is editor of the conservative biweekly magazine, National Review.
Lowry regularly appears on the Fox News Channel, including on The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and Colmes, and has guest hosted in place of Sean Hannity in the latter program. Lowry, a 1990 graduate of the University of Virginia, where he edited The Virginia Advocate, is known as one of the youngest and most influential conservative commentators and analysts in the country. He joined William F. Buckley's brainchild, National Review, in 1992 and has been the magazine's editor since 1997.
His first book, Legacy, Paying the Price for the Clinton Years (ISBN 0-89526-129-4) was published in 2003 and is a critical account of President Bill Clinton, his character, and his tenure in office. He also has a syndicated column with King Features and sometimes appears as a guest host on the Fox News show, Fox & Friends, usually the weekend edition. He is also a guest panellist on Fox News Watch.
External links
 | This article about an American journalist born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article related to politics in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it . |
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Best book on Clinton yet, November 4, 2003 | By | Eric D Christ (Sun City, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews |
Think Clinton was responsible for the booming economy of the 1990s? Nope - the recover was underway before he even was elected. Think he erased the deficit? Wrong - gushing tax revenues did that, and a Republican Congress that imposed a slim veneer of fiscal discipline. Think he was serious about "reforming welfare as we know it?" Think again - he signed that bill only because he thought it was necessary for his reelection, and then he vowed to supporters that he'd fix it, though he never did. Think he was an innocent victim of a vast right-wing conspiracy? Hah - he brought all his troubles on himself and has no one else to blame. Think he was tough on crime? Hardly - he nominated a clueless Janet Reno attorney general, the Queen of the Bunny Planet. Think he helped bring peace to the Middle East? Not even close - he strengthened Arafat, whose refusal to accept generous concessions from Israel led to the current bloodshed. Think he cared about the people of Africa? Not so fast - he not only did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda, his administration actively opposed any UN effort to send more troops there.
Rich Lowry: Huckacide
"Like Dean, Huckabee is an under-vetted former governor who is manifestly unprepared to be president of the United States. Like Dean, he is rising toward the top of polls in a crowded field based on his appeal to a particular niche of his party. As with Dean, his vulnerabilities in a general election are so screamingly obvious that it's hard to believe that primary voters, once they focus seriously on their choice, will nominate him."
And here’s the link and further excerpts:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RichLowry/2007/12/13/huckacide
"Huckacide"
Townhall
By Rich Lowry
December 13, 2007
"The ghost of Howard Dean haunts the pundit class. As soon as a candidate of either party spikes up in the polls, he is compared with Dean, who had a spectacular boomlet in the second half of 2003 only to deflate as soon as people began to vote in early 2004.
"After many false prophecies, Dean circa 2008 has finally arrived. He is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee."
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"Like Dean, Huckabee is an under-vetted former governor who is manifestly unprepared to be president of the United States. Like Dean, he is rising toward the top of polls in a crowded field based on his appeal to a particular niche of his party. As with Dean, his vulnerabilities in a general election are so screamingly obvious that it's hard to believe that primary voters, once they focus seriously on their choice, will nominate him."
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"In general, the public tends to support Democratic proposals for bigger government, which Republicans counter by saying that the proposals will require higher taxes. Huckabee will be equipped poorly to make this traditional Republican comeback, given his tax-raising history in Arkansas. Huckabee tries to compensate with a sales-tax scheme that allows him to say he supports eliminating the IRS, but is so wildly implausible that it would be a liability in a general election.
"Then, there's national security, the Republican trump card during the Cold War and after 9/11. Huckabee not only has zero national-security credentials, he basically has no foreign-policy advisers either, as a New York Times Magazine piece this Sunday makes clear. In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in September, Huckabee struck notes seemingly borrowed from Barack Obama, hitting the Bush administration for its 'bunker mentality' and strongly supporting direct talks with Iran."
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"Democrats have to be looking at Huckabee the way Republicans once regarded Dean – as a shiny Christmas present that is too good to be true."
SANCTUARY STATE OF MIND: "Quite Tolerant Of Undocumented Immigration"
You'll want to watch this YouTube clip of Mayor Giuliani from 2001 (and to compare this footage to the Mayor's current rhetoric calling for leadership to solve the problem he exacerbated).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhS-Ic9JohM
" The city of New York, quite frankly, is quite tolerant of undocumented immigration and this shouldn't surprise you because I've been the Mayor for a long time and outspoken on this issue, even nationally, I happen to agree with that. I think New York City should not deal with undocumented immigrants in a harsh way, I think they make a big contribution to the life of the city and were much better off being sensible and practical about it. And the reality is that restaurants are going to have a certain number of people who are undocumented, you know people that come here to make a living trying to help them selves and their families." – Mayor Rudy Giuliani (WABC Radio's "Live From City Hall…With Rudy Giuliani," 9/7/01)
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"QUITE TOLERANT OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRATION" |
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To watch Mayor Giuliani's comments on tolerating illegals, click here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhS-Ic9JohM A New Giuliani Campaign Ad Discusses The Issue Of Illegal Immigration: The Giuliani Campaign Has Released A New Ad Complaining About Illegal Immigration. MAYOR GIULIANI "People are frustrated over immigration because the government has been talking about solving this for twenty or twenty-five years, and it's just gotten worse. What we need here is leadership." (Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee, "Rudy Giuliani Campaign Launches New Television Ad in New Hampshire," Press Release, 12/13/07) But As Mayor, Giuliani Was "Quite Tolerant" Of Illegal Immigration: In 2001, Mayor Giuliani Boasted That New York City Was "Quite Tolerant Of Undocumented Immigration." GIULIANI: "The city of New York, quite frankly, is quite tolerant of undocumented immigration and this shouldn't surprise you because I've been the Mayor for a long time and outspoken on this issue, even nationally, I happen to agree with that. I think New York City should not deal with undocumented immigrants in a harsh way, I think they make a big contribution to the life of the city and were much better off being sensible and practical about it. And the reality is that restaurants are going to have a certain number of people who are undocumented, you know people that come here to make a living trying to help them selves and their families." (WABC Radio's "Live From City Hall…With Rudy Giuliani," 9/7/01, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhS-Ic9JohM) Mayor Giuliani Welcomed Illegal Immigrants To New York City: Mayor Giuliani Actually Invited More Illegal Immigrants To Come To New York City. "[Mr. Giuliani said,] 'If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair.'" (Deborah Sontag, "New York Officials Welcome Immigrants, Legal Or Illegal," The New York Times, 6/10/94) Mayor Giuliani Ran New York City With A Sanctuary State Of Mind: ABC News: "Giuliani Inherited The [Sanctuary] Policy, He Reissued It And Seemed To Embrace It." "New York became a sanctuary city, where illegal immigrants enjoy some measure of protection, through an executive order signed by Mayor Ed Koch in 1989, five years before Giuliani became mayor in January 1994. But if Giuliani inherited the policy, he reissued it and seemed to embrace it." (Jake Tapper and Ron Claiborne, "Romney: Giuliani's NYC 'Sanctuary' For Illegal Immigrants," ABC News, 8/8/07) A 1997 New York Daily News Editorial Blasted Mayor Giuliani For Not Supporting Federal Immigration Laws. "Mayor Giuliani is actually suing the federal government to be relieved of the requirement that city workers turn over information about illegal immigrants to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. At City University, undocumented aliens qualify for the low resident tuition if they've lived here for a year. And just last week, the mayor announced that immigrants applying for marriage licenses couldn't be turned away even if their visas had expired." (Editorial, "Not All Immigrants Are Equal," [New York] Daily News , 3/23/97)
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Dec 13, 2007
Andrew Stuttaford: "The idea that Gov. Huckabee could conceivably be the GOP’s presidential nominee is simply appalling"
Huckabee's Record [Andrew Stuttaford]
There's still no sign that Mike Huckabee is going to release the text of the sermons he gave as a pastor — curious behavior, to say the least, from a candidate who has chosen to make his religious beliefs a central part of his campaign. Other aspects of the governor's record, are however, more easy to ferret out. Here's Cato's Michael Tanner on some of them:
On its annual governor's report card, Cato gave Huckabee an "F" for fiscal policy during his final term, and an overall two-term grade of "D." Only four governors had worse scores, and 15 Democratic governors got higher grades, including well-known liberals like Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. But Huckabee doesn't just embrace big government in the form of big taxes. He truly appears to believe that if something is a good idea it should be a federal government program. For example, having become health conscious while losing more than 120 pounds (a remarkable feat), he now calls for a national smoking ban. Because he believes that "art and music are as important as math and science" in public schools, he wants these programs funded — and thus, directed and administered — federally. Huckabee is, incidentally, the only Republican candidate for president who opposes school choice.
Ugh. The idea that Gov. Huckabee could conceivably be the GOP's presidential nominee is simply appalling, and so, while I'm on the topic, is the notion (that I've seen floated around here and there) that he could be a vice-presidential pick. Just say no.
No Laughing Matter
“Mike Huckabee is known as someone who is very witty, but his record of using taxpayer dollars to provide tuition breaks to illegal immigrants is no laughing matter. At a time when the American people are looking for leadership that will deliver stronger border security, it is clear that Mike Huckabee’s weak posture towards illegal immigration is entirely at odds with many grassroots Republicans who want stronger enforcement.”
-Kevin Madden, Romney for President campaign spokesman
NO LAUGHING MATTER: GOV. HUCKABEE'S TUITION BREAKS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS "A DISASTER"
The No Laughing Matter!: A serious look at Governor Mike Huckabee's record and policy beyond the one-liners. As in:
· Governor Mike Huckabee: "And the ultimate thing is, I may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night." ("Imus In The Morning," 12/4/07)
· National Review: "The Holiday Inn Express Candidate." "In sum, conservatives should have worries about the depth and soundness of Mike Huckabee’s foreign-policy views. And staying at a Holiday Inn Express is not going to be enough to allay them." (Editorial, "The Holiday Inn Express Candidate, National Review, 12/10/07)
Today, Gov. Huckabee Says The Jim Gilchrist Endorsement Shows That He Was Not "Soft On Immigration":
Gov. Huckabee: "You know, clearly Iraq we've been through, and I think there could have been questions on immigration, in part, because some major developments. Even though I'm being attacked on it, it was our campaign who got the endorsement of Jim Gilchrest, the founder of the Minutemen Project. So I think the issue of soft on immigration is taken off the table for me." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 12/13/07)
To watch Governor Huckabee, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=favuJq2i-jg
However, Yesterday, Huckabee Supporter And Minutemen Founder Jim Gilchrist Calls Gov. Huckabee's Tuition Breaks For Illegal Immigrants "A Disaster":
Lars Larson: "But I want to ask you a couple of questions. I've looked at Huckabee's record. I've actually interviewed the Governor and I think he's a nice guy, but on illegal aliens, he's a train wreck."
Jim Gilchrist: "On a couple of issues. Offering the illegal aliens in-state tuition, that's a disaster. And I've talked to him about that." ("Lars Larson Show," 12/12/07)
To listen to Jim Gilchrist, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1lWTNua5xY
CITIZENS UNITED FILES SUIT OVER LIMITS FOR ISSUE ADS
Washington, D.C. — As it prepares to release its hard-hitting political documentary, Hillary: The Movie, Citizens United, a grassroots advocacy organization, led by election law attorney James Bopp, Jr., today filed suit against the Federal Election Commission, arguing that issue-oriented television ads are protected by the First Amendment and should not be subject to disclosure requirements under McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.
At issue are sections of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act ("McCain-Feingold") that imposed a blackout period before elections on television advertisements that mentioned the name of a federal candidate -- "electioneering communications." Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court, in Federal Election Commission vs. Wisconsin Right to Life, ruled that groups could not be prohibited from running "genuine issue ads" during the blackout period, but the FEC has insisted that such groups must still put disclaimers on the ads and file reports about the ads, including naming their contributors. Citizens United is challenging these disclosure requirements, arguing the ads for the film Hillary: The Movie, is a commercial ad, exempted in recent FEC rulemaking, and that disclosure requirements cannot be applied to such ads consistent with the First Amendment.
Citizens United has retained James Bopp, Jr., the Indiana attorney who successfully argued the Wisconsin Right to Life case.
In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court today, Bopp asserts that Citizens United "intends to publish advertisements that will meet the statutory definition of electioneering communications…but are not properly considered electioneering communications for any purpose, including disclosure, because the 'ads may reasonably be interpreted as something other than as an appeal to vote for our against a specific candidate, …are not the functional equivalent of express advocacy and therefore fall outside the scope of McConnell's holding.'"
Citizens United has asked for a injunction so that it may begin running its ads by the first of the year.
Citizens United is a national 500,000 member, conservative grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to restoring government to citizens' control and reasserting the traditional American values of limited government, free enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens United Productions is dedicated to producing thoughtful documentaries to educate citizens about significant public policy issues. Its most recent production, Rediscovering God in America, is available on DVD. Other films include "Celsius 41.11," "Border War" and "Broken Promises: The United Nations at 60.
Dec 12, 2007
Michael Novak: "Why I Decided to Support Mitt Romney"
By Michael Novak
National Review beat me to it, alas, but I have been deciding to come out publicly for Mitt Romney for some days now. I have been supporting him privately for weeks, though I was trying to avoid supporting anybody publicly.
But the attacks upon Romney's religion have been a last straw. They are just not fair. I remember his father's campaigns and what an upright man he was — and no one even breathed a word against him because of his religion.
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Over two public generations now, the Romney family has given us examples of upright, decent, warm lives, given to public commitment even though they did not have to be.
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Someone has to protest, in the name of Christianity itself, that spreading bigotry and hatred for the sake of winning a political campaign is wrong. I for one don't want to let this issue of bigotry and suspicion pass by without protest — and without open support for its victim. The least Americans can do is speak up for each other on matters of religious liberty.
Romney is a good, executive-keen man, and without this mud he would earn the respect and love of the American people on his own.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTc5NjdiNWVhNThmZDJhZWYwMzM4ZmIyNjgxM2MwODI
MITT ROMNEY AT THE DES MOINES, IA GOP DEBATE
· Luntz: "When Mitt Romney talked about education, it was an absolute home run. Romney's communication of education talked about his background and it was very effective in his presentation." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07)
· Luntz: "[Romney] united both elements of the Republican Party. And not only was his language effective, but they thought that the job that he did was very well-communicated." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07)
· Luntz: "It was a very good day for Mitt Romney – very effective." (FOX News' Post-Debate Coverage, 12/12/07)
National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Mitt won – sounded presidential, competent, made a case for himself, and was optimistic but realistic about the threats we face. He's hit his stride." (Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Romney, the Manager," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
· Lopez: "…he seems to be focusing on his managerial skills in a big way this debate. Strikes me as a smart idea." (Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Romney, the Manager," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Mitt Romney had a hell of a good afternoon." (Marc Ambinder, "First Take: The Final Republican Debate," The Atlantic, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com, Posted 12/12/07)
· Ambinder: [Romney] seemed more sinewy than usual, less programmed, quite (dare we say) presidential, and even-tempered." (Marc Ambinder, "First Take: The Final Republican Debate," The Atlantic, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com, Posted 12/12/07)
National Review's Rich Lowry: "Romney wins in a romp. Positive and substantive." (Rich Lowry, "Luntz Focus Group," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/=, Posted 12/12/07)
· Lowry: "Romney nails his answer to the tax question." (Rich Lowry, "Middle Income Families," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/=, Posted 12/12/07)
· Lowry: "I think Romney's tax answer was so good with its emphasis on 'middle class families' is that so far the only candidate to try to address the anxieties of the middle class is Huckabee. Romney needs to get on that territory, but provide better policy answers than Huckabee. Which is exactly what he did." (Rich Lowry, "Off The Charts," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/=, Posted 12/12/07)
· Lowry: "Another plug for 'middle class families' from Mitt. It's important for him to keep hitting on it." (Rich Lowry, "Another Plug For 'Middle Class Families'," National Review's "The Corner," http://corner.nationalreview.com/=, Posted 12/12/07)
Commentary's John Podhoretz: "Romney says it's incredibly important that the next president should be a conservative. We need to follow Ronald Reagan's model: social conservatives, economic conservatives and foreign policy conservatives. I want to draw on those strengths. Very strong answer." (John Podhoretz, "LIVE: Blogging the Republican Debate Part Two," Commentary's "Contentions" www.commentarymagazine.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
· Podhoretz: "Quick call on the debate: Romney is very good." (John Podhoretz, "LIVE: Blogging the Republican Debate Part Two," Commentary's "Contentions" www.commentarymagazine.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
The Weekly Standard's Richelieu: "Romney on his game." (Richelieu, "Richelieu: The Iowa Debate," The Weekly Standard's "Campaign Standard," www.weeklystandard.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
National Review's Jim Geraghty: "The issues – education, the budget – played to [Gov. Romney's] strengths." (Jim Geraghty, "Iowa PBS and the Des Moines Register: Making CNN Look Good," National Review's "The Campaign Spot," http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/, Posted 12/12/07)
an absolute home run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AchGxcvPbQ4
FRANK LUNTZ: When Mitt Romney talked about education, it was an absolute home run. He united both elements of the Republican party, and not only was his language effective, but they thought that the job he did was very well communicated. Let's take a look:
GOV. MITT ROMNEY: We've made the same effort in our state, actually before No Child Left Behind was passed. We test our kids. We have high standards. We teach them in English, English immersion. We say to be successful in America, you've got to speak the language of America. We also put in place incentives for kids to do well. For those that take the graduation exam, which you have to take to get out of high school, we say that you're going to get, if you score in the top 25 percent of the test, a four-year tuition-free scholarship to a Massachusetts institution of higher learning. The federal government insists on those tests and those standards and it's key. Let me continue: I think we also have to have higher pay for better teachers and people who are not good teachers ought to find a different career.
LUNTZ: Not good pay for not good teachers. Romney's communication of education talked about his background, and he was very effective in his presentation.
Those who know him best.. DESCRIBE HUCKABEE'S RECORD ON EDUCATION
DESCRIBE HUCKABEE'S RECORD ON EDUCATION
RHETORIC:
Huckabee Claimed To Have The Most Impressive Education Record. HUCKABEE: "I had also the most, I think, impressive education record." (Iowa Public Television/The Des Moines Register, Republican Presidential Candidate Debate, Des Moines, IA, 12/12/07)
REALITY:
According To The National Assessment Of Educational Progress, Arkansas Ranked Below Average In All Four Major Criteria In 2007 – Mathematics And Reading In Both Grade 4 And In Grade 8. (U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 252 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 33rd With An Average Score Of 238 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 298 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 43rd With An Average Score Of 274 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Mathematics Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 1st With An Average Score Of 236 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 38th With An Average Score Of 217 By Fourth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
In 2007, Massachusetts Ranked 2nd With An Average Score Of 273 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
· In 2007, Arkansas Ranked 41st With An Average Score Of 258 By Eighth Graders On The National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Exam. ( U.S. Department Of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, http://nationsreportcard.gov, Accessed 11/23/07)
For 2006-2007, Arkansas Was Ranked As The 32nd Smartest State. (Morgan Quinto Press Website, "Results Of The 2006 Smartest State Award," www.morganquitno.com, Accessed 11/23/07)
· For 2006-2007, Massachusetts Was Ranked As The 2nd Smartest State. (Morgan Quinto Press Website, "Results Of The 2006 Smartest State Award," www.morganquitno.com, Accessed 11/23/07)
Hitting Huckbottom
Huck asks in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"
No word yet on whether the former Arkansas governor asked if the Jews killed Jesus or if Catholics pray to Mary as a god.
When your campaign is in trouble, it is better to focus on the trouble and fix, not set it ablaze.
If asked about this I hope Governor Romney responds that "It is unfortunate that Governor Huckabee wants to turn a Republican primary into a theological shout down, but I won't be participating. Questions about Mormon doctrine can be addressed to Church officials. I'm not sure what kind of endorsement he is seeking with that sort of remark, but I am content to get the endorsement of the editors of The National Review."
Dec 11, 2007
THE WASHINGTON TIMES TAKES A LOOK AT GOVERNOR HUCKABEE'S RECORD
THE WASHINGTON TIMES TAKES A LOOK
AT GOVERNOR HUCKABEE'S RECORD
"Mike Huckabee"
The Washington Times
Editorial
December 11, 2007
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"Now that Mr. Huckabee has reached first place in Iowa polls, those days are over. His 10 ½ years as Arkansas governor and his conservative credentials are now relentlessly scrutinized, and Mr. Huckabee is under fire for substantial increases in taxes and spending by the Club for Growth and the CATO Institute. Numbers USA, a research and advocacy organization which opposes illegal immigration and monitors politicians' records on the issue, is sharply critical of his record as governor."
...
"But the overall thrust of his record appears to be big-government liberalism. As governor, this included such things as: signing a sales-tax increase; supporting an Internet sales tax; opposing repeal of a sales tax on groceries and medicine; signing bills raising taxes on gasoline and cigarettes; and opposing a congressional ban on Internet taxes.
"On Mr. Huckabee's watch, state spending increased by 65.3 percent, three times the rate of inflation, and the number of state government workers increased 20 percent during his tenure.
"As for his positions on economic issues, Mr. Huckabee is a mixed bag."
...
"Mr. Huckabee has come under withering fire from critics of illegal immigration. Asked last month about complaints that he is 'soft' on illegals, the former Arkansas governor said he opposed sanctuary cities and opposes amnesty, although he contradicted himself somewhat by adding that he believes illegal aliens can be put on a path to citizenship.
"Asked on ABC Television's 'This Week' about his Arkansas record on the issue, Mr. Huckabee replied: 'You don't punish a child because a parent committed a crime, or committed a sin, you just don't do it.' He didn't rule out extending this principle to the federal level, but suggested that he might view state and federal benefits differently."
...
"With no experience conducting or voting on foreign policy issues, Mr. Huckabee's comments and writings are closely scrutinized. Within the past week, he has decried waterboarding of captured terrorists, called for shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and suggested that America could bolster its standing in the world by treating other nations with more 'respect.' You can bet that if Mr. Huckabee continues his surge in the polls, his opponents will go to great lengths to try to force him to give more structured, coherent explanations of his world view."
To read the full editorial, please click here .
National Review editor Rich Lowry on the magazine's endorsement today of Mitt Romney
HH: We lead off with a newsmaker today, National Review endorsing Mitt Romney on a cover story that has sent shock waves across the Republican national primary electorate. Joined now by the editor of National Review, Rich Lowry. Rich, good to have you, thanks for joining me. RL: Hey, Hugh, thanks for having me. HH: Take me inside first the process by which National Review arrived at its endorsement. RL: (laughing) I don't know, Hugh. It's a really tightly held process here. It's like selecting the Pope. We can't reveal too much, but… HH: How many people got a say in this? RL: Well, it's our senior editors, our publisher, our president and our Washington editor and myself. And we've been talking about it the last two weeks or so, just because this is our, through the quirks of our publication schedule, this is our last issue before people vote in Iowa and New Hampshire. So if we were going to have a say, this had to be it. So it really forced us to think about this seriously, as I hope other conservatives now are thinking about it seriously. And I think once you really consider it closely, Mitt Romney is the best choice. HH: Now tell me, was there division among the senior members of the board who made this decision? RL: You know, there was some. We have a couple of Rudy supporters, most prominently Rick Brookhiser, you know, who's going to, he is for Rudy, has been for Rudy for two years or so, or more, ever since 9/11, and that's where he is, and that's where he's going to stay. But outside of that, we coalesced around a pretty good consensus, because as I said, once you really consider it closely, I think the merits of Mitt Romney become pretty evident. HH: And we'll get to those in just a couple more questions. William F. Buckley, does he participate in this? RL: Well, you know, technically, he doesn't have a role anymore, because he no longer edits the magazine, obviously, or owns it. But you know, he obviously was clued in on this, and signed off on it. HH: And does he approve of Romney as well? RL: Yeah, I haven't talked to him in depth, you know, about his feelings about the candidates, but he was certainly on board National Review endorsing Romney. HH: Now let's talk a little bit about why. Give us sort of the big three reasons why Romney over everyone else. RL: Well, there are a couple of things, Hugh. One, as I think you know very well, the primary vehicle of conservative public policy success in the United States the last thirty, forty years has been this coalition that we have, and that National Review had a big, historic role in helping form, of free market conservatives, social conservatives, and national security hawks. You need all three. If we don't have all three, the Republicans aren't going to win elections, and we're not going to achieve any conservative goals. So I think that immediately takes off the table, even though they have their virtues and merits, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, who have problems at sort of opposite ends of that coalition. Rudy, obviously, the social conservatives, Huckabee with economic, and maybe even foreign policy conservatives. So then you're down to three, and I think between McCain, Thompson and Romney, I think Romney is the stand out there. He agrees with us on pretty much everything now. Now of course, he changed on some issues, and that's been very emphasized in this campaign, I think somewhat unfairly. Everyone has moved to the right in this race, and that's a good thing. Mike Huckabee, as we speak, is scrambling to the right in this race. So the question is, one, if you look at Romney's record in 1994, when he was running against Ted Kennedy, that was a pretty conservative campaign, certainly in the context of Massachusetts, where he was in favor of welfare reform, and a whole host of other conservative initiatives. The big thing where he changed is abortion. And I think he's very up front about that. And the question conservatives have to have is do you believe him? Do you trust him? And I do. I don't think he's going to switch back. I think he's one of us on that issue now. And if you put that all together, together with his record as a businessman, a family man, a governor in a liberal state, I think he's got a very good package there. HH: Now last week, Romney gave a speech, Faith In America. I thought it was objectively a great speech, given who liked it. And the people who he touched with it are the people he needed to reach. Was the speech part of the conversation at National Review? I can't imagine it was, but I want to check, given your deadlines, et cetera. RL: Oh, it was. I mean, it wasn't the hugest consideration, but look, that was a big moment for Romney. And you know, if he had stumbled and fallen flat, we, you know, some of us might have said uh, do we really want to pull the trigger on this? But it was a big occasion, and he rose to it. So that did play a role. It wasn't the biggest, but it was a consideration. HH: Now what about management experience? A lot of people think technocratic and not connecting with people. RL: Yeah. HH: How did you guys overcome that concern? RL: Well, you know, he obviously does have that technocratic edge to him. I think it's good, because people are looking for competence this time around. And I think when it comes to executive experience, you know, Mitt and Rudy have the most impressive records there, and for reasons we already talked about, I think Mitt is preferable to Rudy, and a better general election candidate than Rudy. But we do, you know, we do have some advice for Mitt in this editorial. And it really is, he has to show people there is a there there. He is not just a hollow robot of a candidate. I believe he does have a political soul, we saw it in that College Station speech where he showed some passion and emotion. And I think he needs to let loose a little bit more. I don't know whether he's over-coached, or whether he's over-cautious, just given we live in a YouTube era, and what happened to his Dad. In this presidential race, he needs to let people see his core a little bit more, because he does care about this country with a passion. And I just think people need to see that. HH: Rich Lowry, let's talk about the electoral map. Obviously, to win in '08, Republicans either need to keep everything that Bush won in '04, or they have to add some states. Where does Romney expand the map for Republicans? RL: I'm not sure he expands the map much. And you know, I don't know whether there's much map expanding to be had from any of these guys. And that's part of Rudy's argument, of course, is that they can expand the map, or at least make Democrats expend resources in states where they wouldn't otherwise. But if you look at those polls in those kind of states that the Rudy people tout they'll be competitive in, like California, he still loses. It just that he loses by less of a margin than another more traditional conservative might. And at the end of the day, that doesn't get you anything. HH: That's right. RL: That doesn't get you any electoral votes. So I think Mitt, I'm not sure he expands the map, but he has a much better chance of holding the map. HH: I think he does take Michigan and make it competitive. I think he can take Minnesota that extra step that it needs, and Wisconsin the same way, that that Upper Midwestern roots… RL: It could be. Yeah, they talk about the Upper Midwest, and that he could have some appeal to that vote, those sort of folks. I haven't thought about that much, whether that's the case. HH: Let's talk about Mike Huckabee for a moment. Does…obviously, National Review is going to be delivered by the Romney people to every doorstep in Iowa, I think, over the next couple of weeks, and that will matter to Iowa conservatives. But Mike Huckabee's boomlet, we've got to talk about it. To what do you attribute it? RL: Well, it's a couple of things. One, there's obviously a kind of a built-in constituency in Iowa for a real social conservative purist with a religious edge, you know? It's why Pat Robertson got about 25% there, it's why Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer, if you add up their vote in 2000, you know, running against George W. Bush, a social conservative Evangelical himself, they got about, you know, 25% of the vote. So there's a built-in Huck vote there. Now the thing is, is that he's obviously expanded well beyond that at the moment. And I think it's because he's likable, he's a good campaigner, and he is filling this vacuum that has always been in this race, you know, the Bill Frist, George Allen, Fred Thompson vacuum, you know, that seemed like Fred was going to fill for a while, until he disappointed once he got in. Now the thing is, if he holds that vacuum, he's going to be a real formidable candidate. But it could be, and we've had these boomlets for various candidates as we've gone through, and when people really focus on them, like they did with Fred, it's like oh, maybe I'm not so excited about him after all. I believe, I can't guarantee, but I believe that process will also take place with Huckabee. We just need to see where he hits his plateau, and I think he's going to come off of that. HH: Now obviously, there's a Des Moines Register debate tomorrow, and there's also a Meet the Press date for Mitt Romney with Tim Russert on Sunday. After that, given that we're into the two weeks before Christmas and New Year's, does anyone pay any attention to anything after this? RL: Yeah, you know, I think people will. I just think people will be doing some multi-tasking, obviously. That's preparing for the holidays, and shopping, and all the rest of it. So I don't think it goes totally dark. And I do think people will still be paying attention. But we're in uncharted territory. And I don't think anyone really knows the answer to your question. HH: And in terms of the economic instability we have around us, the Dow plunged 300 points today, because they wanted a half basis point, not a quarter basis point. And people are, the Wall Street Journal wrote a big story yesterday about this could be another S&L situation, or a tech boom bubble bust sort of thing. Does that play to Romney… RL: It does. HH: …and to his economic experience? RL: I think it does, and that's something that people haven't talked a lot about. The war on terror was obviously, and it deserves to be, a huge issue in this campaign, but it dominated the…and until a couple of weeks ago, it dominated this race. Now we're in kind of this sort of religious war, social conservative fight. But the thing that may be animating the average voter more when we get into next year is those kind of economic issues. And this is, you know, this is, I think, one of Romney's strengths, not just because he was an effective businessman, but you know, he was an effective manager of the Olympics. This is something he cares a lot about, economic growth, that he has very strong views on, and I think he has much more credibility than some of the other candidates on this stuff. HH: Quick last question, Rich Lowry, did Romney have a tough time selling the National Review editorial board on his chops on the war on terror? RL: Well, we were a little concerned about some of the wiggle he demonstrated every now and then on Iraq. But at the end of the day, I think his views on foreign policy, on the war on terror, are right in the conservative mainstream. I think that's true of the three other major candidates. I might except Mike Huckabee. And the question then becomes how do you execute? Do you have skills to do this job? HH: And obviously, you think National Review thinks he does. Thank you very much, Rich Lowry. End of interview.
Huckabee's 1992 words get new attention
By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer
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.
Now that he's a front-runner for the Republican presidential
nomination, he's being asked anew about some of the views and comments
he expressed in the survey by The Associated Press. Over the weekend,
he said he wouldn't retract answers in which he advocated isolating
AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased funding for
finding a cure and said homosexuality could pose a public health risk
-- though he said today he might phrase his answers "a little
differently."
Some of the words in his answers to the questionnaire are indeed
strong.
Asked about gays in the military, for example, he didn't just reject
the idea but added: "I believe to try to legitimize that which is
inherently illegitimate would be a disgraceful act of government. I
feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and
we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."
Earlier this year, Huckabee said, "Nobody's going to find some YouTube
moments of me saying something radically different than what I'm
saying today."
The full questionnaire offers in written form a chance for voters to
see what he was saying as he began his political career.
In the questionnaire, he:
* 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., however 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.
traditional view that women should be treated with respect and dignity
and not subject to the kinds of abuses that could occur in combat."
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.
"I think the model he saw that had been successful in other Southern
states was this very hard right message and that's what seemed to be
the most natural for him," Hendrix College Political Scientist Jay
Barth said when asked about the AP questionnaire.
"He's become much smarter about successfully using language that
expresses views without being hard-edged," Barth said.
Now that he's a front-runner, Huckabee himself said Tuesday he
expected more attention to be paid to his years in Arkansas.
"When you're a governor for ten and half years you make thousands of
decisions every year," he said. "In office that long you're going to
have a lot of decisions people can pore through. The good thing for me
is a lot of campaigns instead of spending money on advertising or even
campaigning, since they don't seem to have a lot of activity, are
spending an enormous amount of money hiring researchers to dig through
every piece of paper that was filed in Arkansas."
Huckabee's 1992 comments on isolating AIDS patients run counter to a
statement he released last month calling for increased federal funds
to find a cure. Huckabee says the earlier remarks came at a time when
there was confusion about how AIDS could be transmitted.
He said Tuesday he would be willing to speak with the family of Ryan
White, an Indiana teenager who died of AIDS in the 1980s and whose
mother has objected to the 1992 Huckabee comments.
"It's so alarming to me," Jeanne White-Ginder said in an interview
with the AP.
...
On other subjects in the questionnaire, Huckabee:
* Opposed passing a law that would give workers time off to care for
an ailing family member. In 1993, Congress passed the Family and
Medical Leave Act, which entitles eligible employees to take up to 12
weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, to care
for a close relative with a serious health condition or if the
employee could not work due to health problems.