Mike Huckabee wants one more debate before Tuesday's primaries, and it's one of those instances where there's little risk for anyone involved — except, possibly, viewers.
Huckabee has asked John McCain for a one-on-one Lincoln-Douglas style debate, but has also accepted an invitation to a Values Voter debate in Texas on Monday, saying he'll show up if McCain does, too.
McCain has yet to respond.
But there's plenty of reasons why he should say yes. With the debate coming Monday, it's unlikely Huckabee could sway enough voters to erase McCain's apparent leads in Texas, Ohio and the other states that hold primaries the following day.
And as the McCain camp has noted, Huckabee's presence earns McCain front-page coverage in newspapers and keeps him on the television newscasts even as Democrats dominate. In other words, without Huckabee, McCain would be pushed off the front pages in favor of coverage of the hot Democrat primary fight.
There is some risk. Huckabee could try to out-conservative McCain, which would keep alive the story line that McCain has a problem with his party's base. And Ron Paul, the other candidate in the race, could land a zinger. But the former is unlikely given how Huckabee has handled himself so far, and in the case of Paul there's little ground that hasn't been covered between him and McCain.
So the more likely danger is to viewers, who might tune in expecting a dust-up and instead get one of those affairs where the candidates compete to be nice to each other — which usually means we don't learn much about anyone.
— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (6)
Dump McCain
By Adam Graham on Feb 28, 08
John McCain's condemnation of Bill Cunningham for his vigorous attack on the ability of Barack Obama to be Commander in Chief and for mentioning Obama's middle name is the latest step in John McCain's career of appeasing his enemies and attacking his friends.
I received a call from a reporter in rock-rib-Republican Idaho Falls asking me to comment on the discontent with John McCain. Republicans in that area of the state are down. John McCain should still win Idaho, but GOP turnout will most likely be down. The result: many good people will lose legislative races, maybe even Congressional races, thanks to John McCain.
It's this way across America. A friend in Tennessee told me of a Congressman trying hard to get people at a Lincoln Day Dinner psyched up about supporting John McCain, but had little success. The Republican base is set to stay home in droves this year and the only motivator John McCain can provide is fear: fear of Obama, fear of Hillary. That will not be enough. There are enough people on the right for whom politics is a take it or leave it proposition. If you cannot speak to their dreams, hopes, and highest principles they will not show up. And John McCain cannot do that. Alan Keyes said it best, "There's not a single constituency of true conservatives that doesn't have one of John McCain's knives stickin' out of our backs."
It isn't happening. Yes, the Democratic candidates are frightful, but that's not enough. Bill Clinton's liberal record in Arkansas, nor the fact that he protested his own country overseas in a time of war, nor his various unpatriotic acts were enough to stop his campaign.
Let us be objective for a moment. America is fed up with government. It is fed up with its President and gives him approval ratings in the 30s, it is fed up with its Congress and gives them approval ratings in the 20s. In a time of discontent, that empty rhetoric of change can, as it did in 1976 and 1992, overcome the fact that the Democratic Candidate is wholly unfit to be President of the United States.
If I'm wrong and McCain wins, then what do we win? Do you think after four years of John McCain, conservatives will be happier or more discontented? Will the liberal and moderate voters who John McCain is counting on elect a Republican Majority in Congress, or will they more likely vote for liberal Democrats? Whether McCain wins or loses, conservatives lose.
Some choose to sit helpless in this malaise. Some try to make a mockery of our political process by crossing over to the Democrats to cast a sabotage vote for Hillary to stop the Barack Obama train. I say, it's time to stop the John McCain train.
Those who are finding John McCain unpalatable often conclude there is no alternative. We're told that Governor Mike Huckabee has been eliminated from this process and that it's mathematically impossible, and the math is clear. Yet, as Governor Huckabee pointed out recently in Ohio, if the math is so clear, why does every news site have different numbers?
The math is only "clear" if you count unpledged delegates. Only pledged delegates are required to vote for a candidate on the convention floor. According to the Green Papers, John McCain has 874 delegates, Mike Huckabee has 210, Ron Paul has 5. What remains are many states with primaries ahead, as well as a large slate of delegates that are not pledged to any candidate. There will be several hundred delegates that could be free agents at a convention should John McCain not reach magic 1191.
Voters in states such as Ohio, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Idaho, South Dakota, and New Mexico could hit back at states that thought their voice and their vote shouldn't matter by supporting Huckabee and forcing a vote on the convention floor. Maybe, his inability to seal the deal will convince delegates who may be leaning McCain right now to change their mind.
Many people say Huckabee is even worse than McCain. This analysis is incorrect. Huckabee is not a perfect conservative. However, he can be trusted on several issues on which John McCain cannot be.
John McCain supports handing our sovereignty off to the International Criminal Court and the Law of the Sea Treaty; Mike Huckabee doesn't.
Mike Huckabee has a consistent record of supporting the Second Amendment; John McCain doesn?t.
John McCain supports using your tax dollars to destroy human embryos; Mike Huckabee doesn't.
Those concerned with securing the borders may not believe Huckabee on the issue because of some proposals he made while Governor of Arkansas, however, Governor Huckabee has made ironclad commitments by signing pledges by Numbers USA and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to not have amnesty. I trust Duncan Hunter and Jim Gilchrist on the border, and they trust Huckabee. Meanwhile, John McCain has not pledged to oppose amnesty and he has convinced no major figure on border security that he is serious about protecting our nation's borders.
Finally, while Huckabee has had his differences with many conservatives, he's not made his career antagonizing every part of the Conservative base.
At this point in the race, John McCain is taking the tact of Bob Dole. Dole, in the waning days of the 1996 campaign after he won South Carolina, quit debating because he knew that appearing in a debate beside other candidates could only hurt him. It's a sign of weakness and an inability to defend your ideas. If McCain is afraid to take on Mike Huckabee, what's Barack Obama going to do to him in the fall?
I'm under no allusions that Huckabee has a great shot of winning. The odds are against him.
However, I remember him being in single digits and facing the end of his campaign in August when he finished second in the Iowa straw poll. I remember us being told the Huckaboom went bust in late December, and then he won the Iowa caucuses. I remember reading his political obituary after the Florida primary and within eleven days, voters in eight states gave him victories. Governor Huckabee has the type of character and determination to beat the odds that I refuse to underestimate him.
However, whether he wins or loses, I will not be on the sidelines moping as the GOP heads for defeat in November. I have given funds, and I've made calls into Texas. I will expend every effort I can, and if that fails, I can rest in the knowledge that I didn't roll over and accept the coronation of a man who will lead the GOP to defeat this Fall.
What about you?
Posted by Chris Taylor | February 28, 2008 12:19 PM
John McCain is not an honorable man! He is a CFR member that is trying to give our country away to foreign interests. In the past history of the United States such a treasonous act would be a reason for execution by firing squad! McCain is a RINO, calling him conservative is an insult to the Republican Party! We need a president that is as conservative with our money, and will not buckle under pressure but stand up for his convictions as Mike Huckabee has demonstrated in his bid for to White House!
Posted by Ronald W. Sprague | February 28, 2008 1:45 PM
http://www.whudat.com/newsblurbs/more/hillary_clinton_circulates_photo_of_muslim_barack_obama_1680225082/
Posted by john, Denver/USA | February 28, 2008 4:12 PM
Great article! This is one of the better ones I've read in some time. Thank you.
Posted by Ken Proctor | February 28, 2008 5:33 PM
NO ACTION is the MCCAIN TRADEMARK. If he doesn't debate that is telling us just how little he cares about the GOP. The GOP is just as stepping stool toe MCCAIN who is quite content to hand this whole thing over to the Democrats. Why doesn't he debate? Because to him, the PEOPLE don't matter.
If MCCAIN doesn't debate, then the whole GOP should vote for NADER in the fall.
signed: Just one person who apparently doesn't count for the likes of McCain.
PS - MCCAIN - RELEASE THE POW RECORDS SO THEIR FAMILIES CAN HAVE PEACE! How two-faced can you be?
Posted by klb in Ohio | February 28, 2008 5:43 PM
Ronald, I hate to burst your bubble but Huckabee is a CFR member as well.
The GOP blew it when they let the neoconservatives turn the party into one fitting for RINO McCain. Republicans have forgotten what their party is supposed to stand for. That's why they didn't support Ron Paul (not a CFR member, and more "Republican" than any of the others who sought the GOP nomination). Their failure to do so will ensure a victory for the Democrats. One glance at the Dem vs. Repub voter turnout thus far proves this. Their failure to support Paul at a time when the country is facing an economic crisis (for which Paul is uniquely qualified) will ensure hard times ahead.
In the end, people get the government that they deserve. Too bad they are so apathetic and so willing to swallow the main stream media's and the GOP's propaganda.
Posted by USAF Vet Dan | February 28, 2008 7:48 PM