Romney vs. Huckabee

On September 3rd, 2008 at 3:13 am, ritwingr said:

ITookTheRedPill,

I was a Fred Thompson guy, with no real reason to dislike Huckabee. I disagreed with him on Global Warming and borders, but had no real animus toward him. I must admit, though, that I really did aquire a disdain for him as the race went on for one reason only: his persistent belittling of Mitt Romney.

Again, I was NOT a Romney guy, but Huckabee’s ongoing vendetta really made him seem like a petulant guy to me.

Maybe you can enlighten, what, exactly does he have against Romney? Did Romney once steal a girfriend of his or something? Seriously, it was obviously very personal and I never saw Romney – who seems like a quite decent, if boring, guy – reciprocate.

I was a Fred Thompson guy initially, too.  I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t start paying attention to this Presidential race until late December 2007.  Fred was my initial preference because he seemed like the most conservative guy running, and one media soundbite of Huckabee (saying that President Bush’s foreign policy could be considered “arrogant”) made me angry that Huckabee was going along with what I consider a Democrat[ic Socialist] Party talking point.

When Fred dropped out, I started looking at other candidates.  I didn’t make a firm decision, but Romney was high on my list.  When Romney quit at CPAC, less than 48 hours after promising to fight all the way to the convention, and with the lamest excuse I have ever heard (“Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror”), I knew in my spirit that something was wrong.  Nothing had changed on the terror front between February 5th and February 7th.   Something else had changed.   I believe that the meeting with “prominent Republicans” on February 6th is what changed.  I believe that these “prominent Republicans” promised to get the VP slot for Romney in return for Romney quitting the race.  That, not terrorism, is the logical explanation of why Romney quit.

Romney’s excuse of “I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror” was designed to paint Mike Huckabee into a corner.  Because, if Romney were to be believed, if Mike Huckabee didn’t quit and hand the nomination to John McCain on a silver platter, then Mike Huckabee would be “letting his campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror”.

Huckabee responded in his CPAC speech on February 9th:

I also was handed a book by Haskell Jones when I was a teenager. It was a book that was called “It’s a Choice, not an Echo,” written by Phyllis Schlafly. (Applause.) And that book had a tremendous impact on me as a teenager. Quite frankly, that book reminded me that in all of our lives, we should not simply be echoing the sentiments of others, but making deep personal choices about what we believe and, most importantly, why we believe it.

I realize that it is not politically correct to say what I’m about to say, but I’ve believed it since I was a teenager, and I will not recant it now. The reason that America is a great nation is because America is a special nation. And the reason America is a special nation is because it was founded by people who were first on their knees before they were on their feet. We are a nation rooted in our faith. (Cheers, applause.)

I’ve had the incredible privilege and joy to have visited almost 40 countries across the world. I’ve seen some magnificent things, experienced some dramatic and exotic cultures, tasted some delicious foods, experienced the hospitality and the warmth of many peoples, of many nations. I’ve sat and visited with heads of state, with heads of companies, and with ordinary people in virtually every part of this world, whether Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, nine times to Israel, to Russia, to all parts of Asia, Europe, Central America.

But in all of my travels and all of the ways in which I’ve touched other parts of the world, I’ve yet to find any country, as enchanted as I was with it, for which I would even consider for a moment giving up my citizenship in the United States of America to trade it for residence anywhere else on earth. (Applause.)

We are a special nation. (Applause.) And we are a special nation because, throughout our history, we have been people who have made choices rather than simply echo the voices of others. I know that there was some speculation that I might come here today to announce that I would be getting out of the race. But I want to make sure you understand. Am I quitting? Well, let’s get that settled right now. No, I’m not. (Cheers, applause.)

And the reason is simple — because I go back to that which helped crystallize in me a conservative viewpoint as a teenager when it wasn’t easy or popular to be a Republican or a conservative in my hometown, because I do believe that America is about making choices, not simply echoing that of others. Let others join the “Me, too” crowd.

But I didn’t get where I am today and I didn’t fight the battles in a state that, when I became its governor, was 90 percent Democrat, by simply echoing the voices of others. I did it by staking out a choice, stating that choice, making that choice and fighting for that choice, to believe that some things were right, some things were wrong, and it’s better to be right and even to not win than it is to be wrong and to be a part of the crowd. (Cheers, applause.)

I am ashamed to admit that I had no idea who Phyllis Schlafly was prior to that speech.  Where have I been that I could have missed her enormous contributions to conservatism? 

After that speech, I ordered a used copy of her 1964 book “A Choice Not an Echo: The inside story of how American Presidents are chosen“. 

Reading that book changed my understanding of politics.  It opened my eyes to what goes on behind the scenes to select our party’s nominee, so that we really don’t get much of a “choice” in November.    And the same things that were going on in decades leading up to when that book was written are still going on now, 44 years after that book was written. (Does “We’re Screwed ‘08” sound familiar?)  It’s really quite shocking. 

Did you know that Mitt Romney’s father was actively involved in the “Back Room Deal” crowd in 1960?

Even after the book was written, did you know that Mitt Romney’s father ran for President (in 1968) when he was not Constitutionally eligible?  George Wilcken Romney was born in Mexico and was not a “Natural Born Citizen” of the United States of America.  Did that stop him from running for President?  No.

Forty years later, his son met behind closed doors with “prominent Republicans”, quit the race the next day, and pressured another candidate to quit the race.

Mike Huckabee didn’t quit in response to the McCain-Romney back-room deal.  In fact, the day of Huckabee’s CPAC speech, he won the Kansas primary with 60% of the vote.

The McCain camp started to panic.  They were running out of public financing money and, as Michelle Malkin said, McCain was about to be hoisted by his own campaign finance reform petard.  McCain had to find a way to make Huckabee quit before McCain ran out of money.  I believe they stole Washington state.  Huckabee was leading in the returns, and then all of a sudden McCain took a small lead and the vote was called with only 87% of the votes counted.  That is highly “irregular”.

One could make the argument that Romney quit for financial reasons…that he didn’t want to throw good money after bad.  My response to that argument is that Romney should have been honest about his reasons for quitting, and also explain why a full week later he took the additional step of “releasing” his delegates to McCain.  That move on February 14th had one and only one purpose: to put additional pressure on Mike Huckabee to quit.  I think that was highly unethical of Mitt Romney.

Huckabee fought the good fight against his own party’s leadership, just as Sarah Palin did in Alaska.

Huckabee fought the good fight against a biased MSM that rightly considered him their greatest threat since Ronald Reagan.

Huckabee fought the good fight against John McCain when McCain backed out of the originally scheduled February 28th CNN debate.  McCain did not want to debate Huckabee before the crucial Texas primary.

You said:

…with no real reason to dislike Huckabee. I disagreed with him on Global Warming and borders, but had no real animus toward him. I must admit, though, that I really did aquire a disdain for him as the race went on for one reason only: his persistent belittling of Mitt Romney.

Again, I was NOT a Romney guy, but Huckabee’s ongoing vendetta really made him seem like a petulant guy to me.

Maybe you can enlighten, what, exactly does he have against Romney? Did Romney once steal a girfriend of his or something? Seriously, it was obviously very personal and I never saw Romney – who seems like a quite decent, if boring, guy – reciprocate.

Huckabee’s Global Warming stance was against Socialist AGW taxes, but in favor of being a good steward of the environment.  He struck the right balance of doing the right thing without driving away potential voters who believe in AGW.

Huckabee’s immigration stance was right.

Now, in regards to Romney, Huckabee got blamed for “persistent belittling of Mitt Romney”.   Have you stopped to honestly evaluate Romney’s role in that battle?  Romney spent millions of dollars attacking Mike Huckabee.  Romney quit the race dishonestly and did everything in his power to try to get Huckabee to quit.

Mitt Romney gave “Values Voters” the finger when he refused to show up for the Values Voter Debate.

Huckabee was fighting the “Values Voter” fight against a corrupt Republican machine.  Mike Huckabee is a “choice”, while John McCain is an “echo“.  Huckabee was the “point man” who took every shot fired at him and kept going.  The shots from Mormons against Huckabee (and now Palin) haven’t stopped. 

I believe Mike Huckabee played a huge role in pressuring McCain to pick Sarah Palin.  Mike Huckabee deserves our respect and gratitude. 

You know what I’d love to see?  I’d love to see McCain’s corruption exposed, have him step aside, and let us have a Palin/Huckabee or Huckabee/Palin ticket. 

That would be change I can really believe in.