November 28, 2007

Mike Taxabee

Just a quick rant:

According the latest Rasmussen poll, Mike Huckabee now leads the field in Iowa.

For better or for worse, I am a registered Republican and as I see it, this election is a watershed moment in the history of the party. Mike Huckabee represents a direction I will not follow and the support that he has received from not only prospective voters, but also so-called conservative pundits is a great source of frustration. The Republican party has always been a source of frustration (as is any given party), but increasingly conservatives are becoming a source of frustration.

Huckabee will not win the presidential nomination, but should he receive the vice presidential nomination, I will not vote for the Republican candidate. Period.

The party needs to return to its days of limited government and lower taxes, not kowtow to social conservatives...

2008 Race Posted by Harrison Bergeron at November 28, 2007 1:23 PM

Dick Morris disagrees.

Most impressively, when he had to pass an income tax surcharge amid the drop in revenues after Sept. 11, 2001, he repealed it three years later when he didn't need it any longer.

He raised the sales tax one cent in 11 years and did that only after the courts ordered him to do so. (He also got voter approval for a one-eighth-of-one-cent hike for parks and recreation.)
He wants to repeal the income tax, abolish the IRS and institute a "fair tax" based on consumption, and opposes any tax increase for Social Security.
Of course Morris is a Democrat, so maybe he's trying to tank the GOP. Posted by: AlexC at November 28, 2007 2:10 PM

Amen, hb. I was asked early on if I could imagine a pairing where I would vote Democratic. I thought of Gov. Richardson vs. Rep. Tancredo or Rep. Hunter. Then Richardson went so far to the left, I couldn't see that. Now my pair is Sen. Obama vs. Gov. Huckabee; I think I might pull the D lever if that's the choice.

However, I am still optimistic. Huckabee has done an impressive job in Iowa, I will not take that away. But I do not think he has the money or organization to play in the bigger states.

Being a Giuliani supporter, I look for Huckabee to take some support away from Gov. Romney who is far down my list and is far more of a threat to win. Huckabee's numbers come out of Romney's.

Posted by: jk at November 28, 2007 2:10 PM

AC, I have heard both sides on a lot of the taxes, but when a Republican makes enemies of both the Club for Growth and the Cato Institute, something is wrong.

Governor Huckabee, whatever his record, talks too much of using government to help the middle class. I'd probably prefer his plans to Senator Clinton's but worry that they share the same belief in government.

Posted by: jk at November 28, 2007 2:14 PM | What do you think? [3]