It was a beautiful thing to watch: A full half-hour of Tim Russert—you know, the guy who scored a Hillary knock-down with one straight question during a recent debate—throwing his hardest hardballs at Mike, who just kept hitting them out of the park on the full range of issues. You can find the whole interview on you tube, via the following link: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=1007
But the interview was especially extraordinary for pro-lifers.
It was certainly the first time in my life that I have seen or heard a genuine pro-lifer, through and through, who was actually in the running to be elected president and who has a real chance of winning; someone who gave Tim Russert the same answers one of us would have given. All the other candidates who claim to be pro-life have very nuanced and changeable prolife positions that make us wonder how much we can really trust them, so we often have to consult other people we do trust to make a tortured decision as to whether or not we can support them. With Mike Huckabee, whatever our differences on other issues, no pro-lifer could deny, seeing the Meet the Press interview, that he is the real deal on the life issues. Period.
For a brief synopsis on the pro-life segment of the Meet the Press interview, click this link to LifeNews.com: http://www.lifenews.com/nat3563.html
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2 comments:
Well said! I watched the interview with my wife and parents--none of whom were as firmly in the Huckabee camp as I prior to the appearance. Needless to say, all three were thoroughly impressed with the Governor's performace. I am concerned that Huckabee has not responded firmly to the malicious accusations being slung at him across the Web. Amazingly, despite the Clintons' long and colorful history of corruption, critics are lambasting Huckabee for everything from taking gifts to his prior position on AIDS to the Fair Tax to his supposed disdain of foreign policy. These insults are fair reasons to disagree but the never-ending torrent of personal jibes are unfair, unwarranted, and incredibly harsh considering how ridiculously mild all of these "sins" are in national politics. I know the Governor doesn't want to run a negative campaign but then maybe we can lead the counterattack? I remain committed but concerned that there may be larger forces working against our esteemed candidate.
Patrick,
I know even Mike was tempted enough to make negative counterrattack ads, but pulled them at the last minute.
He even mentioned Ronald Reagan's "11th Commandment": "Thou shalt not attack a fellow Republican."
The same applies to either side of the aisle: Negative ads do indeed work, but they also sow bitterness among those attacked, making it a very dangerous thing to do in a primary campaign. I have often seen the majority party (e.g., the Democrats, many times) lose a general election after a bitter primary battle. Romney's experience is mainly in business, and I believe he does not really understand this principle, and thus he could win the nomination and take the party down to defeat, with the crucial winning margin staying home because of his vicious attacks against Mike and against John McCain. (He and his supporters would probably, in that circumstance, try to blame it on anti-Mormon bigotry, but they will really have only themselves to blame.)
Of course, Reagan was hardly the first to articulate this universal principle: I'm sure Mike must have prayed about this last night, and perhaps he came across Proverbs 11:29 "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart." And he chose to be wise of heart.
I know it is difficult to sit still and endure this barrage, especially the vicious attacks of the right wing Huckicide bombers like Rich Lowry, Ann Coulter, et al. (One wonders what's gotten into them!) And absolutely, there needs to be a vigorous ongoing response.
But I think Mike has it right to take the high road, and along those lines, I also believe that Mike's brilliant interview on Meet the Press can be circulated very widely, with the campaign telling voters that before they make up their mind for sure, they should just watch that interview.
And just for good measure, you know that Mike is scheduled to appear on Jay Leno's Tonight Show the night before the Caucuses, and I'm sure he'll make a great impression.
As for me, I'm off to Iowa in the morning to talk to as many Iowa voters as I can from campaign headquarters in Des Moines.
Be of good cheer and stout heart, as we renew the calendar and our efforts in the new year.
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