Between Trump and Carson, There's Not Much Room for Huckabee
And if they stumble, it's Cruz who's best positioned to gain.
When Mike Huckabee showed up at Kim Davis' release from jail yesterday, the former Arkansas governor wanted the political spotlight for himself. So when rival presidential candidate Ted Cruz arrived at the scene and "a throng of journalists beckoned him toward their microphones," The New York Times reports, "an aide to Mr. Huckabee blocked the path."
I disapprove, but I understand. Hardly anyone expected Huckabee to be a major contender this time around, but he's had trouble even establishing himself as the voice of the tribes he was aiming to represent. There are two big reasons for that. One is named Donald Trump, and the other is named Ben Carson.
Trump, a twice-divorced New York celebrity, may not be a natural vessel for the megachurch crowd, but he's stolen Huckabee's thunder in a different way. It may be hard to remember this now, but back in April Huckabee was going to be the Republican Who Wouldn't Let Those Guys Take Your Social Security Check. His announcement speech stressed economic issues, aiming for blue-collar Republicans who were socially conservative but unimpressed with the Club for Growth's ideas about trade and entitlements. But that's the space Trump is occupying, more or less.
I say more or less because Trump appeals to a very different sort of social conservatism than Huckabee does—one built around resentment of outsiders, not Christian morality. Trump did lead among evangelical voters for a few weeks this summer, so clearly a lot of them like him, but he doesn't have a ton to say about abortion or gay marriage, and his persona probably turns off a lot of traditional Christians. But Ben Carson, as mild-mannered as Trump is self-aggrandizing, has been hoovering up those voters, surging to second place in the national polls and by one survey tying for the lead in Iowa. His campaign is probably even less sustainable in the long run than Trump's is, but for now he's soaking up SoCon support.
And the man in the best position to absorb Carson's voters when he fades—and for that matter Trump's voters, if he ever fades too? It's Ted Cruz. No wonder a Huckabee worker would want to block Cruz's path, even if it means entering a place as dangerous as the space separating a senator from a microphone.
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
Fuck Huck.
Awwww shucks!
He’s just down on his luck.
Can I have a buck?
It’s been ground into chuck.
By a rabid duck.
His campaign sucks.
This is topical. Damn, I wrecked it.
Wrecked it – ya nearly KILT it!
You are to blame; you can’t deflect it.
Would anyone like a peanut?
I will in a minute.
When Florida Man says “peanut” he does not mean what you want him to mean.
The Kwik-E-Mart is real…d’oh!
Not with Warty’s dick.
Hold the phones! I gleaned a particularly fascinating factoid about Trump’s wife from one of Kevin Williamson’s pieces but have so far been unable to corroborate it. HitandRuntariat ASSEMBLE!
What, she was born male? She is implicated in Serbian war crimes? What?
Is this gonna be ‘UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE?
Oops. Glenn Beck, not Kevin Williamson, wrote:
the First Lady would be the first to have posed nude in lesbian porno shots
What is Eleanor Roosevelt, chopped liver?
On a good day maybe.
It’s only because Hannah Hoes Van Buren died before MVB was elected!
God DAMN I fucking hate the Huckster. Like – even more than The Donald. The Donald is at least entertaining (if terminally frightening). The Huckster is a fucktarded dickbag of stupid wrapped in a shitty bass player that makes bass players look bad. Plus – punchable.
Fuck his dumb, Fox-News-talkin’ piece of shit fucking cocksucking fucking prick ass with The Donald’s dick.
I love the Huckster. He’s an eternal reminder of why I’ll never be a Republican.
I really, really do hate him this much. More than Sean Hannity, whom I literally cannot stand to listen to. That’s saying something…
Yeah it is. I have a physical reaction to Hannity’s voice. Makes me want to puke.
Hannity and Obama – literally turn the channel/turn it off when they start talking. It’s Pavlovian at this point.
You’re a great American.
+1 Bill Cunningham Radio Show
Omg, your remote is hawt!! Wish mine could do that.
Ann Coulter
Sean Hannity
Mike Huckabbe
Fuck, Marry, Kill?
Fuck huck.
Fuck Hannity.
Kill Coulter.
C
I
L
L
my landlord
That’s only because you’re not a Great American
He looks like a cheeky James Stewart
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..be51bc5f50
Peak Florida man?
I think they stopped him before he peaked.
HIYO!
We an never reach Peak Florida Man.
Extra mayo, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us!
My wife saw a man masterbating at a Steak & Shake once and I caught one jerkin’ it at the beach. Something about FL really makes you want to jerk it.
Geography?
“My wife saw a man masterbating at a Steak & Shake once”
I don’t like it when you talk in the 3rd person. It’s very confusing.
A Florida man faces indecent exposure charges after allegedly exposing his hot dog at the Home of the Whopper.
Now that is some awesome journalism.
Is Trump and Carson on God’s speeddial? Didn’t think so.
Perhaps if they stood further apart….
Excellent. All the clowns can have a big clown fight and kill each other off.
And then Jeb Bush can be Joffrey and get poisoned on his wedding night.
There needs to be an ugly dwarf around to take the blame. Robert Reich?
Hmmm, no the ugly dwarf has to be a good guy.
But Hillary Clinton is obviously Circe.
I imagine Rick Santorum as more of a Joffrey
It’s not hard to imagine Huckabee with his shirt tucked into his underwear, complaining about people touching his headphones.
The huckster is a fuckster, that pedals GoD, but spews theft by the state out of his big upchuckster.
Trump might take a dump, and Cruz remains a chump.
Carson wants to do surgery and just hump, while Paul is in a slump, and his poll numbers need a major jump.
No Room For Huckbee, a new sitcom from the producers of Cruisin’ With Cruz and Rand Paul Is Enough.
Stab me in the eyeballs with two ten-inch dragon cocks and fill my fucking brain with the hellacious smog therein and let me rot peacefully under the oaks. Is this too much to ask? Just a stabbing in the front of the skull in the cams- violently and repeatedly with not one but TWO motherfucking massive dragon cocks smashing multiple dimensional fluid dynamics into my fucking cerebral palace. This is preferable to what I am reading here. I have to bring the dog in. About to goddamn rain.
Huckabee is a giant douchebag. He and Santorum should go live on a houseboat together and film it for reality TV. Title it “Fucking No One Will Watch This Stupid Shit.”