Mike Huckabee
Monday April 7, 2008
Huck's Late-Breaking Support
A World Magazine recap of the Christian Right's stirringly ineffectual performance during the Republican presidential primaries reports that Paul Weyrich, cofounder of the Moral Majority, has admitted that he regrets backing Mitt Romney over Mike Huckabee. Huckabee could have really used such changes of hearts a couple months back, of course, but they could help improve his chances of becoming John McCain's running mate. World sets a dramatic scene for Weyrich's mea culpa:
NEW ORLEANS— Last month at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans, several dozen leaders of the "Christian right" met to strategize next steps—but the meeting inevitably included discussion of missteps in the GOP presidential campaign. Michael Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association, an early supporter of Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, chided the group for cold-shouldering his candidate until it was too late. Others, including Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, disagreed. The meeting quickly threatened to dissolve into accusations, rebuttals, and recriminations.Then, venerable Paul Weyrich—a founder of the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the Council for National Policy (CNP)—raised his hand to speak. Weyrich is a man whose mortality is plain to see. A freak accident several years ago left him with a spinal injury, which ultimately led to both his legs being amputated in 2005. He now gets around in a motorized wheelchair. He is visibly paler and grayer than he was just a few years ago, a fact not lost on many of his friends in the room, some of whom had fought in the political trenches with him since the 1960s.
The room—which had been taken over by argument and side-conversations—became suddenly quiet. Weyrich, a Romney supporter and one of those Farris had chastised for not supporting Huckabee, steered his wheelchair to the front of the room and slowly turned to face his compatriots. In a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Friends, before all of you and before almighty God, I want to say I was wrong."
In a quiet, brief, but passionate speech, Weyrich essentially confessed that he and the other leaders should have backed Huckabee, a candidate who shared their values more fully than any other candidate in a generation. He agreed with Farris that many conservative leaders had blown it. By chasing other candidates with greater visibility, they failed to see what many of their supporters in the trenches saw clearly: Huckabee was their guy.
Filed Under: Christian Right, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Paul Weyrich
posted by Dan Gilgoff @12:18am Permalink 
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Add to NewsvineWednesday March 5, 2008
God to Huck: Not Now
God-o-Meter just got off the phone with a prominent evangelical Mike Huckabee supporter who said Huck was telling friends last night that the message God was sending him with regards to his White House ambitions was, "not yet." Huck echoed the sentiment in the farewell email he just sent to supporters:
Throughout my life, I've found that there are sometimes three possible answers to our prayers--"Yes," "No," or "Not Now." I would like to think our prayers were answered with a "Not Now."
Filed Under: Mike Huckabee, withdrawing
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 3:53pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Monday February 25, 2008
Questions for Huck and Dobson
Both Huckabee and Dobson are staying mum on what the two spoke about when they sat down together in Colorado Springs this weekend.
Here's what God-o-Meter would like to ask them, if it could:
Did Dobson ask Huck about his support for a government mandated cap-and-trade program to limit carbon emissions and fight global warming, a cause that Dobson has vigorously opposed?
Did Dobson question Huckabee's support for robust investment in public schools, which helped win him the endorsement of the National Association Education's New Hampshire chapter, and for improving arts education, which depart wildly from Dobson's view of public education?
Did Huck ask Dobson why he didn't endorse him months ago, when the primaries were still competitive and Huckabee could've used the help?
Filed Under: Christian Right, Colorado Springs, evangelicals, James Dobson, Mike Huckabee
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 2:00pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Thursday February 21, 2008
Mrs. Huck Goes to Hooters
God-o-Meter is less sure than The San Francisco Chronicle that Janet Huckabee's stay at Las Vegas's Hooters Casino Hotel will scare of her husband's evangelical supporters--this is a couple that upgraded to a "covenant marriage" a few years back--but it's...Filed Under: evangelicals, Hooters, Janet Huckabee, Las Vegas, Mike Huckabee
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 1:55pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Tuesday February 19, 2008
What's Huck Thinking?
God-o-Meter caught up the other day with Charmaine Yoest, the Family Research Council VP of communications who left her post last year to become a senior advisor to Mike Huckabee. Yoest returned to FRC last month, when Huckabee’s cash flow...Filed Under: Charmaine Yoest, Mike Huckabee
posted by Dan Gilgoff @11:12pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Tuesday February 19, 2008
Pastor for Huck Strikes Back
God-o-Meter carried an item last week about the IRS investigating a California pastor who endorsed Mike Huckabee on church letterhead, an apparent violation of IRS rules against church politicking. Now that pastor, Wiley S. Drake, is striking back. He's calling...Filed Under: endorsements, IRS, Mike Huckabee
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 9:16pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Thursday February 14, 2008
IRS Investigates Pro-Huck Pastor
The Associated Press reports that the IRS is investigating a California-based Baptist pastor who is backing Mike Huckabee for possibly violating its rules against official church endorsements of candidates. God-o-Meter will give the pastor the benefit of the doubt, but...Filed Under: IRS, Mike Huckabee, pastors
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 3:08pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Wednesday February 13, 2008
Is it Huck's Fault?
The AP chimes in on John McCain's weak finish among Virginia values voters yesterday, with Fred Thompson's former communications director blaming it on Huckabee's refusal to leave the race: "McCain will be our nominee and he is starting to consolidate...Filed Under: evangelicals, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Todd Harris, values voters, Virginia
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 2:01pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Wednesday February 13, 2008
Anti-Huck Discrimination?
Is Mike Huckabee the victim of religious discrimination from the media? In an interview with radio host Dennis Prager, brought to God-o-Meter's attention by the Faith in Public Life blog, Huckabee accuses the press of displaying "soft bigotry" toward...Filed Under: Dennis Prager, discrimination, Faith in Public Life, Mike Huckabee, pastor
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 1:23pm Permalink Email This Add to:
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Weyrich Backs Huck
Moral Majority co-founder Paul Weyrich, a former Mitt Romney backer, has endorsed Mike Huckabee. God-o-Meter wants to know: are these protest endorsements or part of a campaign to get McCain to pick Huck as his running mate? Both scenarios seem...Filed Under: Christian Right, endorsements, Mike Huckabee, Moral Majority, Paul Weyrich
posted by Dan Gilgoff @ 4:08pm Permalink Email This Add to: