Submitter seems to be partly referring to Daniel Casse's bit, and I think Casse got it right: the far left loves to hate Huckabee. Just watch Fark to see. The other part (secular elitists) is Pat Toomey's description of what Huckabee is saying about his critics. Fortunately I have not been sufficiently exposed to political advertising and TV to know if that's accurate. (I have the BBC on now as my audio news source.)

John Hood: In reality, Huckabee and McCain are effectively operating as agents of Giuliani.

That's scary.

Anyone who thinks you could get the New York Times, secular elitists, the ACLU, and Air America into one room and have them emerge with a coherent plan capable of bringing down conservatism doesn't know a damn thing about the New York Times, secular elitists, the ACLU, and Air America.

Basically, round up the usual suspects.

ZAZ: ...the far left loves to hate Huckabee.

While that may be true (and I'm not so sure), the GOP power players aren't too enamored with him either.

John Hood: In reality, Huckabee and McCain are effectively operating as agents of Giuliani.

That's scary.

Very.

You reap what you sow. You handed the party over to the born again evangelicals, they're gonna elect god's special little children.

Wow, it really looks like it's starting to shape up into a neocons vs. paleocons vs. theocons vs. plutocrats battle royale. That should spice up primary season.

ZAZ: I think Casse got it right: the far left loves to hate Huckabee.

The funny thing about that Casse blurb is that you could replace "Huckabee" with "Hillary", and replace the NYT, the ACLU, etc. with their right wing ideological counterparts and it would get a lot of head nods and amens from the left.

The NRO has been engaging in the exact same thing Casse accuses the other side of doing. They've been gagging for Clinton to win the nomination for months. They were charter members of the "OMGZ!! Hitlery is inevitible!!!!11" club.

I heard Giuliani's reaction on NPR this morning. Oddly enough, he managed to mention 9/11. Who'd a thunk it?

DeadZone: You reap what you sow. You handed the party over to the born again evangelicals, they're gonna elect god's special little children.

This.

The GOP made their bed, now they can lay in it.

ZAZ: and I think Casse got it right: the far left loves to hate Huckabee.

Not so much... of all of the Republicans in the field for President he is the one that is easiest to stomach. This does not mean he is getting my vote... but I wouldn't be vehemently opposed to him as President. Why? Because he is a populist centrist with ties to labor (sorta like a Republican John Edwards).

I confess taking pleasure at the right's implosion and find TFA uplifting. Huckabee flows naturally from Reagan. Deal with it.

Dear dumbasses at the NRO: no, pandering to religious nutjobs by pretending you give a rat's ass about "social issues" led to Huckabee's primary win. You can't spend 28 years basically letting the religious right write your party platform, then blame "libs" when a candidate who appeals to that base wins.

It was a caucus win...not a primary win.

Big difference. Go learn it.

Damn it, they're using "secular elitist" as a perjorative again? I thought being elite was good!
/sigh

MorrisBird
I heard Giuliani's reaction on NPR this morning. Oddly enough, he managed to mention 9/11. Who'd a thunk it?

It's his super power. He can change any topic to 9/11 and Terror.

sailorman_glh: It was a caucus win...not a primary win.

Big difference. Go learn it.

You are right that it was a caucus win and not a primary win. There is a big difference between a primary win and the Democratic Iowa Caucus. Not so much for the Iowa Republican Caucus.

How does one write for NRO?

Think of a conclusion, and take away reason and accountability.

sailorman_glh
It was a caucus win...not a primary win.

Big difference. Go learn it.

Translation: ROOOON PAAAAAAAAAAAAULLLLLLLLL!

FTFA Black Protestants are Democrats now, and two of them have sought the Democratic nomination (Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton).

Ummm.....Isn't there another one? With some actual credibility? Who just WON the Iowa Caucus??

Huckabee is a Republican solidly in the mold of Reagan and Bush II and appeals completely to their constituencies.

It was kind of funny to see the usual left-leaning Farkers, who not only are not representative of the electorate but don't seem capable of understanding it, going batshiat crazy last night about how an Xtian who believes in sky monsters could never win an election against a Democrat. Let alone twice. Uh, might want to check electoral history on that. I don't even live in your country and I can see how this is going to play out from here.

Code_Archeologist

Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark. The militant atheists who secretly fear a conspiracy to drag them into church where the holy power of god will cause them to burst into flames. The single-issue voters who think the main job of the president is to preserve or expand abortion rights.

sigdiamond2000

If the election is Huckabee vs. Clinton I might have to turn off news and internet for a few months to escape all the negativity.

sailorman_glh: It was a caucus win...not a primary win.

The Republican caucus in Iowa is not very different from a primary... they do not follow the second choice and viability thresholds that the Democrats use. Its just a bunch of people getting together all at the same time and raising their hands for their candidate. A lot like a primary, just a bit more compressed in time.

I can understand why some conservatives are a bit steamed over Huckabee winning, he is after all a little too genuine for the standard GOP style.

TFA makes me smile. Dems would love to face Huckabee in the general election, just like the GOP would love to face Clinton.

It would be awesome if the paleocons turned on the neocons. I don't have as much of a problem with the fiscal conservatives as I do with the social conservatives. At least the paleocons just want to make money; they disregard everyone and everything else. The neocons want to micromanage other people's lives; everything is their business, and I fear good intentioned interference more than disdainful neglect.

ZAZ: Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark.

Yeah, I can see that. But then these are the same people who got uncomfortable when Obama and Clinton stumped at southern black churches last February.

Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark. The militant atheists who secretly fear a conspiracy to drag them into church where the holy power of god will cause them to burst into flames.

Yes, they do exist. But I disregard them as readily as those who think teh gheys are going to make them have the buttsecks and sodomize their children. A nut, by any other name....

But it all does bring up an interesting point. So what if Huckabee is a dyed-in-the-wool Christian, or that Ron Paul would like to eliminate the IRS, or that Richardson would pull the troops out the minute he moves into the Oval Office? Most of the candidates are going to have some extreme views, but how realistic is it for us to fear those ideas so much? The president is just one piece, one cog, in the machinery. That machinery is slow and inflexible. Once inserted into the machinery they have to work with all the other parts. Implementing extreme policies is not all that easy, especially when the policies interefere with the machinery itself.

The only thing that makes me think twice is the extraordinary amount of damage that the current president has managed to do. But, it was accomplished by pretty much busting up the machinery.

Code_Archeologist: ZAZ: and I think Casse got it right: the far left loves to hate Huckabee.

Not so much... of all of the Republicans in the field for President he is the one that is easiest to stomach. This does not mean he is getting my vote... but I wouldn't be vehemently opposed to him as President. Why? Because he is a populist centrist with ties to labor (sorta like a Republican John Edwards).

this. if he didn't believe that the earth was only 6,000 years old, i might even vote for him (over hillary, that is, not obama).

ZAZ: Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark. The militant atheists who secretly fear a conspiracy to drag them into church where the holy power of god will cause them to burst into flames. The single-issue voters who think the main job of the president is to preserve or expand abortion rights.

strawman much?

i think these "militant atheists" you speak of are actually common-sense americans, many of whom go to church and believe in god, who want religion to stay in the church and home and kept the fark out of government - as the founding fathers wanted.

Jubeebee: . I don't have as much of a problem with the fiscal conservatives as I do with the social conservatives.

I'm fine with fiscal conservatives; far too much of my tax money goes to pointless things when people in power aren't fiscally conservative.

Social conservatives, on the other hand? They're scary. Too concerned about things that in no way effect them, like what people do in their bedrooms, how women control their own bodies... they're a threat to personal freedoms.

ZAZ: Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark. The militant atheists who secretly fear a conspiracy to drag them into church where the holy power of god will cause them to burst into flames. The single-issue voters who think the main job of the president is to preserve or expand abortion rights.

I don't think anyone is going to drag me to a church... but I do think that someone like Huckabee would not do his part to uphold separation of church and state, which I think is important. He was a theocracy -- the man has said he wants to "reclaim this country for Jesus." Unless you're a fundamentalist Christian like he is, that should make you uncomfortable.

Abortion rights is a huge issue for me. I'd have a very hard time voting for someone dedicated to take that right from me, especially considering that it's so damned hard to get sterilized in this country and birth control isn't 100%. Abortion is my backup plan. Hopefully, I'll be sterilized in the next couple of months [I may have gotten lucky in the doctor lottery] but I won't forget the years of struggle I had to get to that point -- and all the other people being denied even in their 30s.

It's the American Midwest. Even the "conservatives" want the govt to take care of them.

serpent_sky:
I'm fine with fiscal conservatives; far too much of my tax money goes to pointless things when people in power aren't fiscally conservative.

Social conservatives, on the other hand? They're scary. Too concerned about things that in no way effect them, like what people do in their bedrooms, how women control their own bodies... they're a threat to personal freedoms.

Exactly. A candidate that could cut the wasteful spending, make a dent in the national debt, AND stay the fark out of my personal life and business would be ideal. Give me a SANE left-leaning libertarian and I'll quit my job to volunteer for his/her campaign.

But until a social liberal/fiscal conservative comes along, I'm backing Obama.

Jubeebee: Give me a SANE left-leaning libertarian and I'll quit my job to volunteer for his/her campaign.

Mike Gravel is sane, just not electable :)

what_now: Translation: ROOOON PAAAAAAAAAAAAULLLLLLLLL!


Code_Archeologist: I can understand why some conservatives are a bit steamed over Huckabee winning, he is after all a little too genuine for the standard GOP style.


I was correcting the headline. I am no whack-job Paulistinian, and I have no problem voting for Mike Huckabee. Any more sweeping generalizations y'all would like to be wrong about?

I love it. Their boys don't win, and they go nuts trying to blame everyone else.

The hardest Democrat to beat would have been Edwards, and while Barry is stronger than Hillary, he is the most left-leaning candidate they have. Now, although the Huckster wouldn't have been my first choice, this looks to be pretty good news for conservatives and centrists everywhere. Neocons look to be out of luck this election cycle.

On the upside, if it does finally come down to Barry vs. Mike, this could finally be a capaign about issues rather than mudslinging.

Jubeebee: It would be awesome if the paleocons turned on the neocons.

It would be awesome if both parties turned on themselves and the weakened, realigned parties no longer commanded obedience from their members in Congressional votes.

In the old days Southern politicians had to have the (D) after their names but would vote based on their more conservative politics. When Southern voters started getting over the Civil War in the 1980s and Republicans became electable the parties shifted and now there is a stronger sense that votes in Congress should be determined by party rather than the merits of the position. Greenspan has some observations on this trend in his book.

SilentStrider: I love it. Their boys don't win, and they go nuts trying to blame everyone else.

Sort of like Ron Paul supporters.

BobtheFascist: It's the American Midwest. Even the "conservatives" want the govt to take care of them.

Where do the "real" conservatives live?

sigdiamond2000: BobtheFascist: It's the American Midwest. Even the "conservatives" want the govt to take care of them.

Where do the "real" conservatives live?

On the Internet, apparently.

SilentStrider: I love it. Their boys don't win, and they go nuts trying to blame everyone else.

I was going to say, it sounds an awful lot like buyer's remorse.

This from the state of pig farmers and never ending corn fields.

Fart_Machine: SilentStrider: I love it. Their boys don't win, and they go nuts trying to blame everyone else.

Sort of like Ron Paul supporters.

RON PAUL

TheConvincingSavant: The hardest Democrat to beat would have been Edwards

You're kidding, right? He's a plaintiff's personal injury lawyer. The GOP would have untold support from big business and professional associations, and the public would just hate him and his "four hundred dollar haircuts."

Oddly enough, and this is admittedly 100% contrary to what I was saying a year ago at this time, I really think Hillary is going to end up being the hardest opponent for the GOP.

sleep with evangelicals and you'll awake with huckabees.

enjoy

ZAZ:
Maybe I should use a term other than "far left," but you've seen them on Fark. The militant atheists who secretly fear a conspiracy to drag them into church where the holy power of god will cause them to burst into flames. The single-issue voters who think the main job of the president is to preserve or expand abortion rights.

"Know your enemy" - Sun Tzu

Your post is full of fail -- and most conservatives believe this kind of clap trap. It will make for an easy defeat in the fall.

Fark is an incredibly poor place to judge the "far left" -- whoever they are. They're sure not in charge of the Democratic party that's for sure. But you keep on keepin' on!

hillbillypharmacist: Jubeebee: Give me a SANE left-leaning libertarian and I'll quit my job to volunteer for his/her campaign.

Mike Gravel is sane, just not electable :)

i did some ABC news political test and he was my number 1, Kucinich 2, and Ron Paul 3.

Anyone who thinks you could get the New York Times, secular elitists, the ACLU, and Air America into one room and have them emerge with a coherent plan capable of bringing down conservatism doesn't know a damn thing about the New York Times, secular elitists, the ACLU, and Air America.

They can't do it now, each by themselves. But when you put them together, they form Voltron (the lions, not the cars) and he can really lay some serious smack down with that sword.

TFA Unlike Robertson (and the host of tyro candidates who have run recently) he would know the way to the bathroom.



Approves!

FlashHarry
this. if he didn't believe that the earth was only 6,000 years old, i might even vote for him (over hillary, that is, not obama).

I wouldn't vote for him anyway, but the age of the earth thing really cements my opposition. I can't imagine wanting a President who's that irrational.

ZAZ: The single-issue voters who think the main job of the president is to preserve or expand abortion rights.

I would peg Evangelists as the ultimate single issue voters.

A Huckabee nomination would be the Democrats dream.