What the Huck?
Obviously, it's
far, far too early to be speculating on who might end up as the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee. You'd have to be some sort of deranged, Beltway fanatic to even want to think about such a thing at this point.
But can you really label it "speculation" when you have actual polling data? Rassmussen reports on how the Republican party's pre-pre-pre-game is shaping up:
Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
At this early date, these numbers tell us about as much what we'll see from the GOP in 2012 as a Variety story about a studio optioning the rights to a novel tells us about the eventual movie that may or may not get made from it. But it's interesting to me in that it suggests that, despite talk of the Republican party prioritizing economic concerns over social policy, their current top candidate is the one who's most squishy on economic policy and most known for his social conservatism.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Tell me again about how I'm wasting my vote on the Libertarian.
It says nothing about the Republican attitude towards social versus economic issues. Right now there is only one candidate who appeals to the religious right, Huckabe. So, logically he got the whole 29% of them. Meanwhile, the non-religous right is either non committed or voting for someone else. Yeah, about 1/3 of the Republican Party are evangelicals. And if you can dominate that vote, you can get around 30%. That is not news. Unless and until Huckabe can attract someone who didn't vote for him last time, he isn't going to win anything.
It isn't just SocCons! Some of Mike Huckabee's positions are quite libertarian!
(Note that that's from over two years ago, and if even one person had pressed him on that he might have not had as much success as he did. And, it would have sent a message to McCain and a similar tactic could have been used against him, resulting in a stronger GOP candidate and possibly resulting in BHO not being elected.)
P.S. In case anyone replies to this, their responses will almost assuredly be ad homs, thereby conceding my points and showing the childish, anti-intellectual nature of libertarians. Dozens of comments here have shown that the phrase "fascist libertarian" isn't an oxymoron.
Vee are coming for your Johnson, Lonewacko!
Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos.
Sweet, my Huckabee-Palin nightmare may actually come true. I can't wait to see the nightmarish quips and sound bites that come out of that campaign. "Weapons of Mass Instruction" meets "You betcha!".
I wouldn't get my hopes up. The deficit and the economy are probably going to be the number 1 issue in 2012 unless we have a terrorist attack. Either way, Huckabee and his Christian do-gooder compasionate conservatism isn't going to sell outside his base. He is not going to win.
Is Vegas running odds on a Wag the Dog situation coming up in 2012?
Hah! I would take that bet.
"Obviously, it's far, far too early to be speculating on who might end up as the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee. You'd have to be some sort of deranged, Beltway fanatic to even want to think about such a thing at this point."
Admitting you have a problem is the first step, Peter. Good luck on your recovery.
What percentage wants a trained chimp? Oh wait...
I'd vote for an untrained chimp over Obama.
And the difference between the two?
one is trained
The untrained chimp was voted in under Obama - as Vice President.
That's racist, Jim, and you know it.
I'm offended.
Huckabee is getting tubby again, I think they need an updated pic.
Good. It couldn't hurt him. Nothing worse than a reformed fat man or drunk.
What's not to like about Huckabee?
Cradle to grave welfare state and the Book of leviticus adopted as the Federal Criminal Code.
Leviticus is a hell of a lot shorter.
And far more tolerant.
Unless you like goats boiled in their mothers' milk.
Personally, I prefer Jeff Flake as the republican nominee. We have always had Flakes in the presidency, and this would legitimize the whole concept.
What's not to like about Huckabee?
Cradle to grave welfare state and the Book of Leviticus adopted as the Federal Criminal Code.
Sounds like a winning combination for today's electorate.
Ok, can we do something about this Imprimis ad? Stossel, Thatcher, Reagan and PALIN together as some sort of authority on liberty and thought is just a sick joke.
Better than the kitten wearing an orange peel on it's head
The ignorant hillbilly whackjob preacher?.
The man without convictions.
The Not Ready For Prime Time hockey mom.
Since the GOP seems determined to lose big I'm wondering why they don't just go courting Dukakis to switch parties.
They just like to give you a reason to bitch. Don't worry though. Another three years of the Obamasiah and you will be voting for Satan himself as the alternative. At least Satan can probably give a good speech without a telepromter.
Gee, someone even more duplicitous than The Zero? John, again you have failed to assuage my disquietude.
Unlikely. Obama will easily beat any of these three. In fact, I can not think of a single Republican Obama wouldn't beat. The power of incumbency is strong, Obama will almost certainly be more popular than Bush was in 2004 when he won re-election, and the Republican field overall is extremely weak.
The real question is Congress in 2010 (Obama being on the ballot will prevent significant congressional GOP gains in 2012). I think that depends almost solely on the unemployment rate on election day.
Hence the stimulus spending avalanche planned for the summer of 2010.
Of course.
Incombancy is not strong when you have a 10% unemployment rate, stagnent growth and a trillion and a half dollar deficit. That is what Obama is going to face in 2012. Unless the economy turns around or it somehow becomes a three way race, he has no chance of winning no matter who the Republicans run.
Bush, had a very good economy in 2004 and the IRaq war appeared to be won. It wasn't until 2005 that things had gotten bad. Bush's numbers were quite good until 2005 when Iraq went south and Katrina happened. Right now only 42% of the country would vote to re-elect Obama. That is a devistating and terrible number to have so early in his term.
I doubt that the unemployment rate will be anywhere near 10% in Nov. 2012.
Do you have a source for that 42% number?
You got that wrong John, give us eight years of Bush and we'll vote for Satan. 😉
Touche. What comes after Satan?
Super Satan?
I vote for Turd Sandwich.
Giant Douche is clearly the savior of the Republican Party while Turd Sandwich will only lead to another round of defeat.
I always preferred vinegar and water on my salads.
I take my vinegar neat.
If you bothered to vote last time, you already have.
Voted for the Turd Sandwich??
What's the problem, your team won.
Yeah, Turd Sandwich won - and that would be true even if McCaine had won.
I'll say it again, Mitch Daniels is being recruited by the sane Republicans. He takes the nomination in 2012. None of the participants in that stupid poll is anywhere near electable.
Who the hell is Mitch Daniels?
Gov of Indiana. He's rather polarizing around here, but I've seen his name tossed around quite a few places concerning 2012. I can't comment too much on his policies, despite living in Indiana, but I will say he's probably a better option than those 3.
Joe Shit the rag man is a better option than those three.
My guess is that it will probably be a governor. Hopefully not Patawley. It will have to be someone who has real no kidding small government credentials but has them in a way that doesn't offend the delicate sensibilities of the beltway media and cosmotarians. A real bomb thrower from outside the mainstream would be immediately branded a lunatic moron by all right thinking people.
I hate the belway media so much, part of me hopes Palin wins as nothing but a big fuck you to the whole lot of them. Seriously, what is she going to do, run a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit, socialize medicine and take over half of the economy?
Regardless, I would love to see someone who is absoltely loathed and despised by the political and media establishment. That combined with a complete turnover in Congress in 2010 couldn't hurt.
I would suggest Sen. Tom Coburn, noted anti-pork crusader, one of the authors of Patient's Choice Act, a conservative alternative to Obummercare and who voluntarily did not run after two terms as Rep. of District 8 in OK. He is a man of principle and a an excellent physician.
Small problem though: He voted for TARP.
I think you are right John, the next Repub candidate will be a governor.
The Repub senators who didn;t vote for TARP are probably unelectable as well, even DeMint.
We need Ron Paul; I think he is the most pragmatic and sane out of the lot of 'em.
One of these years I'll use preview.
This is not a small problem. It's a very big problem, because it flies in the face of everything else he supposedly stands for.
Coburn is my senator, and I sent him an e-mail before the TARP vote telling him to vote against it. He didn't, and several weeks after the vote I received a form e-mail from him explaining why he voted for TARP that was pretty much the same talking points about the problems with the economy as you would get anywhere else. It infuriated me.
He is my Senator too. Though I never worked with him personally (Not an OB/GYN; not family medicine).
He was also my Rep.
I was being understated and yes, I was plenty pissed when he voted for TARP.
Why do you dislike Patawley? (assuming you mean Pawlenty)
Who the hell is Mitch Daniels?
I smell a bumpersticker.
If you participate in iWATCH better report that sucker. 😉
I'm going to get a Sharpie and write "Who the hell is Mitch Daniels?" on one of my T-shirts.
I mean, if anyone notices and asks me "so who is Mitch Daniels?", I won't really have an answer for them, but it just sounds so cool.
This sounds like a tactic that would be great for the ULTIMATE political insurgency campaign.
It's crass, funny, and thoroughly American.
I've been thinking about this, and I think you're right. The question also calls to mind the immortal refrain "Who is John Galt?".
Daniels is a former budget director and has been a fiscally sound governor, except for a one time surtax when he first took office. Unfortunately his 18% black support in his last election won't result in many black votes if he's running against Obama. Still, he's the best chance for the GOP.
I'm still pulling for Mark Sanford. Dude's like a conservative Bill Clinton.
It's all just so sad......
The Republican base must be fantasizing about the Rapture again. That's the only explanation I have for their seemingly insistent wish to destroy their own party.
Were you asleep from 2000 to 2008? Republicans have already destroyed their party.
Typical big-l libertarian partisan thinking. The GOP base, had nothing to do with the party's political decline. That was the fault of Republican politicians who campaigned as small-government conservatives and governed as Democrat-lite.
Who elected those democrat-lite republicans? I'm pretty sure that's Craig's point.
Liberals (such as myself) love it when conservatives state the reason they lost was because they weren't right-wing enough.
We elected a black guy with a Muslim name that is one letter away from "Osama". If America was a "center-right" nation, that would not have happened, no matter who the Republican opponent was. The thought that McCain lost because he wasn't right wing enough is bat shit crazy. A more conservative opponent just would have caused Obama to win in a Reagan-style landslide.
I'm looking at this wrong-why am I bothering to try to convince you you are wrong? The more Republicans who think like you do, the better the Democrats do. I should be loudly agreeing with you so you continue down this path, leading towards to complete domination of the government by the Democrats.
Daniels has had a couple of editorials published in the WDSJ recently; they read like campaign literature, to me.
Daniels leased the Indiana Toll Road (I-80) to a bunch of furriners, because the State of Indiana basically said, "We have to do this, because we're too fucking stupid to operate this toll road on our own."
He also came swooping in, in the late stages of the Colts Stadium boondoggle, and tried to take the "credit".
And this turned out to be freakin' brilliant, first because the State of Indiana was too stupid to operate the toll road (it was actually costing them more to operate the toll booths than they were collecting), and second because they got paid upfront (and saved the money) and traffic immediately plunged as gas prices went up, so the foreign company is losing a ton of money on the transaction.
He is getting hammered by people who don't like foreigners and/or don't understand discount rates.
"WDSJ"
stupid keyboard
Oh. I thought you meant "War and Depression Street Journal".
Huckabee has a pretty strong lock on his base. I don't see him expanding beyond it, though.
Still, it would be nice to see some competing candidates steal away part of his bloc to weaken it.
Wow. Obama might get two terms after all.
Butters Xeones I hate you with every inch of my body.
+1
To Clarify:
Toll Road: good
Colts Stadium Boondoggle: bad
Daniels would be vastly better suck less than Huckleberry.
OT
Slate is usually readable for a bunch of liberals, but they've gone out of their fucking minds.
OMG. Maybe insanity in one area causes insanity in another area. You spend a few months thinking that well maybe it is different when Obama runs huge deficits, spys on people, and runs GUITMO than when Bush did it or it is really a good idea for the Whitehouse to go after media outlets by name and if Rush Limbaugh didn't really say those things he could have said them and that is good enough. And before you know it, you are thinking Creed is a really good band. Wow.
Either that or it's rather bald-faced Clinton nostalgia.
ARGH. Just reading that article left me with the sour taste of that douchebag's voice in my mouth.
If you have to describe a genre with "nu-" in front of it, it probably sucks.
Slate have this one right. "My Own Prison" was a very strong single, as was the second one off that album, which I can't remember.
Creed were, however, forerunners of the most terrible genre of rock yet to grace the Earth, which is why they're so ill-remembered. But they're not to blame.
Who in heck should small-l libertarians be starting to support and publicize as future potential candidates for the GOP presidential nomination? Ryan, Flake, Cantor???
Conservatives picked out Barry Goldwater years before Goldwater won the '64 nomination. Is there a future libertarian Goldwater out there?
If there is, it probably isn't Ryan and certainly isn't Cantor.
Cantor, like Mitt, is a bland, pro-corporate centrist. That might mean that he has more in common with libertarians than Huck or Palin does, but it's nothing worth wasting a vote over.
I live in Massachusetts. I live to waste my vote in every fucking election.
"I gotta get out of this state -- it it's the last thing I ever do...."
if there is, i hope he has better luck than the first one did.
Gary Johnson is the only one I currently see.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_E._Johnson
See, I dunno. Yeah, he opposes the drug war and everything, but it seems to be out of pragmatism than principle.
Still, he kind of looks like Jeff Goldblum. So that's neat.
Well, Sanford was a possibility until that whole run off to Argentina thing.... Ron Paul has gained some respect, but is still too far from the Republican mainstream and even older than last time. Gary Johnson was a governor, but not exactly a household name, and also too libertarian for the base.
Mike Pence? He has somewhat of a national profile, and I could see limited government types rallying around him. Jeb Hensarling? RLC member from Texas with a voting record similar to Flake's, but unfortunately he supported the whole War on Terra program....
If Rand wins his Senate race, he will have 2 years of experience before 2012. Only slightly less than our current Prez.
🙂
the huck got strong support here in upstate SC. (that was not as depressing as the rest of the damn state voting for mccain.) i hope he gets rich on TV and stays there.
Huckabee is just another populist know-nothing in the vein of Pat Buchanan. The amount of viciousness he exhibited in trying to tear down his opponents in the 2008 nomination race (especially Romney) was breathtaking, and a pretty clear sign that he is a man who would be prone to abusing state power.
Slate is usually readable for a bunch of liberals, but they've gone out of their fucking minds.
I tried reading it as satire, but it's just too earnest. Now my stomach hurts.
I read the headline and bailed. I get enough apologias for suck reading hard news.
Obama vs Huckabee in 2012?
I think we Camucks better reinforce the 49th parallel now.
that's ok. the idiot governor of AZ cuntwhistle DHS sec knows Canada is the source of terrorists. the border will be boarded up soon.
Until the Shat assumes power as the Prime Minister, that is.
What's even scarier than that would be a bipartisan Obama-Huckabee nightmare ticket.
What a frightening totalitarian combo that would be.
Butters Xeones I hate you with every inch of my body.
Don't hate me. Hate the Democrats for being tyrants and the Republicans for being retards and the system itself for making damn sure most Americans can't see any other choices.
Trust you me, I do.
I suppose your astute observation is like a date with Steve Smith.
Painful, depressing and guaranteed to be screwed.
"Wow. Obama might get two terms after all."
This is the scary part. Obama has done plenty to make people not vote for him a second time, but the GOP has to find someone who will give people a good alternative.
Huckabee isn't the guy. I've heard talk about Newt, but I don't know enough about him. He might have too much baggage from the 90's.
Ethically bankrupt.
What about the little brown fella' from Louisiana?
Huckabee is far from "squishy" on economic issues. He is to the right of Romney == Romney endorsed TARP, while Huckabee was against all the bailouts, including TARP, right from the start. In a head to head with Romney, Huckabee beats him 44% to 39%. That 44% isn't just evangelicals.
I forget where I first read this, but there's an argument that if you want to actually be elected, you have to be moderate enough.
Yes, the libertarian philosophy may be the right one, but there's not enough voters that actually identify with that philosophy.
Huckabee might have been right about the bailouts and TARP, but to get elected you have to get voters to agree with you.
This is why democracy is a bad idea when half the population is retarded.
Unless you check out his fiscal record/disaster in Arkansas, or consider his plan to destroy the economy with a 29% national sales tax.
Or his nannyism.
I find it funny that the republican front runner is one of the biggest red team nannys, well, next to Bloomberg.
Which would be inconjuction with repealing the income taxes, corporate taxes, social security taxes which actually are strangling the US economy.
I want whatever the guys at Slate are on. They also think Miley Cyrus is healing the red/blue divide with her bipartisan new single.
...so many filthy directions I can go with this...
Don't exert yourself. I know you must be feeling a little raw after your special night with Steve Smith.
Fuck it, I'm voting for LaRouche.
Fortunately, Huckabee's ceiling is also 29%.
Oh Jesus, I can't believe we are talking about this crap already. Can't we just wain until,...say... summer of 2011?
Republican voters will flock to Huckabee BECAUSE of the economy. Most Republicans voters are not libertarians, and a lot of them would like nothing better than to see Goldman Sachs smacked around. Economic crises always favor populists. In the current environment Romney's private equity background will be a huge liability. Obama's economic policy has basically been do whatever the establishment tells him to do. He's vulnerable to an anti-Wall Street candidate, especially one who will talk simultaneously about lowering taxes and reducing the deficit. Huckabee's economics may be completely incoherent, but most voters won't realize that or won't care. Huckabee's other strength is that his populist rhetoric can potentially siphon off a lot of the Democratic voters who think Obama is a sell-out. I don't see a Romney type pulling that off, and Palin is far too visible as a social conservative.
It is interesting. Palin isn't a social conservative. She has never claimed to be an evangelical and has never advocated much on social issues. People just assume she is because she didn't kill her autistic child in the womb.
Actions (particularly noble ones) speak louder than words.
Actually, she made her shoice while not rubbing others' faces in it. I seem to remember she was excoriated by feminists for bring damaged goods into the world.
No, they think she is because of her church attendence and speeches she's made at churches.
While I would agree that it doesn't make you an evangelical per se, I can understand why some people might think so.
What do Obama's speeches at churches make him?
ummm - I get your point, John, but the boy has Down Syndrome (which can be diagnosed before birth), not autism (which so far cannot be).
Enjoy your permanent minority status, Republicans...
I'll be voting for Ron Paul, and I'm not even an "American".
You weren't born American, that is.
My defining moment for the Huckabeeste was the woman who told me she was voting for him in the primary because "America needs a spiritual godfather". I was done with him and the people who support him right there.
But it doesn't matter. It's like Obama. The Huckabeeste is an engaging and charming package so you don't worry about the creepy contents inside. Most people don't care, so charming fuckers like Obama and Kennedy get elected.
I have this sinking feeling that Huckabee will be the Republican nominee in 2012. And once again, just as when voting for McCain, I will have to hold my nose as I vote.
Vote for a third-party and give them wider ballot access.
And the polls this far in advance of the 2008 election showed....
Talk to me later. I know the Dems can fuck up a two car funeral; maybe the GOPers can fuck up a one car funeral. We'll see.
Leave it to a pol to fuck up a funeral, two, one, or no car.
Yet more proof that the tea party movement is full of crap and that all their "limited government" blather will disappear the second the Republicans get control of something again.
For the republican wing of the tea party people? Prolly.
There is no non-Republican wing of the tea party people. Just people who aren't bright enough to realize they're being used by the Republicans.
Actually, after watching how Congress acts when either party is in control and how presidents of both parties have acted and how various combinations have worked, I have comre to the conclusion that a Dem President and Republican Congress is the best combination.
But maybe only if the Democrat is Bill Clinton. Curse the 22nd Amendment. 🙂
So, I guess part of the point of that is that I think I'm a little more concerned with whether the Republicans can get their act together for 2010.
I'm pretty sure that quite a few districts that went Democratic in '08 are fairly sure to return to Republican control in '10.
Again, depends on the unemployment rate on election day. A lot of the stimulus funding should have kicked in by Nov. 2010, plus the economy should be recovering anyways due to the normal economic cycle.
Because Congress spending months trying to undermine if not impeach the president is such a valuable use of taxpayer time.
From a libertarian point of view, a stupid deadlock such as that is good thing. If the President and Congress hate each other's guts, it's unlikely any major new government programs or taxes will be enacted.
Uhm, you do know what thread you're on, don't you? I can't think of a better use of Congress' time than impeaching a president. We had surpluses under Clinton, remember? You think we got those surpluses by Clinton and congress "doing stuff"? No, they were completely deadlocked.
Huckabee's popularity continues to shatter new records.
There is now a Huckabee Fan in 13% (408 counties) of all the counties in America. That is a gigantic number of grassroots involvement at such an early stage in the 2012 Presidential Elections.
Huckabee Fans just keep on multiplying left and right, non-stop 24/7.
Check it out for yourself, just google: Huckabee Fan Club
Just like the fact that Ron Paul was so super popular on the internet that he is now president. Oh wait, he's not. Don't confuse the two types of volume-loudness and numbers. If there are a few people who really like somebody and shout loudly, it looks like there are lot of them, even if there aren't. People who barely give a shit, but manage to get their butt into a polling booth, have their vote count just as much as the president of Huckabee's fan club.
Don't forget the backlash factor. I'm sure a number of people who would have voted for Paul were so annoyed by his online supporters they made a different choice out of spite.
Always remember Howard Dean's campaign.
As a very not-Republican, I must say I like Huck. He is smart, educated, well-spoken, and funny. I disagree with him most of the time, but he would be a decent president.
The people who would prefer the silver-spoon phoney and the dimwitted Barbie wannabe just baffle me.
Again showing your idiocy, Chad.
A statist with a religious streak. Cool.
Huchabee was owned and operated by Tyson Foods when he was governor of Arkansas. And he never once saw an illegal alien but what he bent over and kissed his a*s. He is not a very nice man.
I think there is something missing to this equation. In Nevada and Colorado, the Republicans lost a sizable percentage of their base. The Ron Paul/Libertarian Coalition didn't rock the vote. In Colorado the Republicans have to Carry El Paso County by 70% to carry the state. The Ron Paul voters were double digits in that county alone and represented 10% of it's Delegates to State. I think there is a substantial block of voters that will cost the GOP a few states that weren't previously in play. I would even guess there will have to be another Contract w/ America post 1992 deal in order to make the GOP viable on the national scale.
I guess as a Correction I should clarify that most of the ones I knew voted for their local state offices but not the presidency. I for one, didn't send my ballot from Afghanistan at all.
It's going to take a whole lot of prayer for Huckabee to get my vote. I hoping Romney will decide to try again. He's by far the brightest of the lot.
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is a proud libertarian Republican, and certainly has the credentials and experience to be very competitive in 2012. I think he has great potential to win New Hampshire in the Republican primaries. Romney ended up bombing there in 2008, NH won't go for religious zealots like Huck or Palin, and I think NH's infamous independent voters will find Johnson far more interesting than Pawlenty, Pence, or anyone else. Ron Paul was just a few points away from making a top three showing in Iowa in 2008. If Johnson can improve upon that by scoring third place or higher in Iowa, and taking NH, he might have a real shot at the Republican nomination.