Thursday, February 14, 2008
Huckabee's problem is the GOP's problem
Mike Huckabee would be a great president. He has great charm and charisma. He is generally a likeable guy. I would vote for him any day of the week.
With that said, I cannot vote for him on Tuesday.
I just got back from his campaign rally and am very unimpressed. He discussed his fair tax plan, hammered on abortion, and talked about the economy in the scope of the loss of manufacturing jobs and jobs in general.
Mike Huckabee's problem is that he is still focusing on the wrong issues. The big elephant in the room is the Iraqi war and the war on Islamic fundamentalism. The slightly smaller elephant is the economy. Both points he takes a swing and a miss. This is why John Mc Cain will be the candidate of the Republican Party and this is also why Mitt Romney was the runner up.
It almost seems too simplistic really. McCain's strength is the security and war; Romney's strength is the economy; and Huckabee's is values and right to life. Each of these issues are what made the Reagan Coalition strong. Each group seemed to have co-equal power within the party. Each had their place and each felt good about their positions.
Today, it seems, that that coalition is on its way of breaking up. On talk radio, you hear the pundits taking preference to one of the viewpoints of what a conservative is. On TV, the pundits are discussion the dissatisfaction of the pool of candidates that we are presented with. And finally, friends and family are passionately taking sides in the primary vowing "never to vote for X, Y, or Z candidate."
This is absurd. Yes, we can choose our preferences. Yes, we can campaign hard and be passitonate. But at the end of the day, we have to unite and make our party and our ideas stronger. We have to remember the old saying, "united we stand, divided we fall." Going into convention, we need a united party, with a united platform, with a united message.
While I admire Huckabee's drive and determination, I don't think it is time for more campaigning. You've made your point...just like Romney, Guilliani, F. Thompson, T. Thompson, Brownback, Hunter, Tancredo, Keyes...and yes Ron Paul...and now it is time to take these ideas, these positions and defeat liberalism in November.
Labels: Election 2008, Strategery
