Huckabee Rising
Let the Chuck Norris jokes commence. Chuck Norris is the guy that, when he does push ups, he’s not really pushing his body weight up, he’s pushing the Earth down, or Chuck Norris is the only guy that is so fast that he can actually punch himself in the back of the head by running around the world(h/t The Palmetto Scoop).
And now, this unstoppable force of roundhouses and flying fists has put his considerable heft behind former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Luckily for the lower tiered Republican candidate, Chuck Norris isn’t the only heavyweight throwing his support behind the campaign.
If you’ll recall, when Sam Brownback left the presidential race, it would be important to take a look at who was scooping up the residual support he would leave behind. Given the nature of Brownback’s candidacy, former Brownback supporters could provide an early indication of the direction the Religious Right will take in the GOP primaries.
Elsewhere, at a recent “values voters” straw poll, despite some key leaders getting behind Thompson or Romney, Huckabee was able to whip up a great deal of enthusiasm and support, and ultimately came in as a very close second, and when the vote was broken up by attendees and online votes, Huckabee managed to stomp a mudhole in Romney’s chest with a forty point lead. Given the lack of integrity already discussed on this site ad nauseum when it comes to internet polling, I wouldn’t be surprised if the real story behind the internet votes, with spam voting and hacks taken out of the equation, would also show Huckabee a winner.
So let’s break this down. Already Huckabee is tied for second in Iowa, and he seems to be winning of the Religious Right, a disproportionately powerful voting bloc that is known for its ability to mobilize and energize the base, and there is still some time to go before voters actually head to the polls to choose a nominee.
Under these conditions, I think Huckabee may have found himself what is potentially a winning position. In other words, while Fred Thompson’s star is fading, Mitt’s still struggling for the GOP to take him seriously, McCain is still trying to climb his way back to where he believes he ought to be, and Giuliani is only holding at bay his social liberalism and the lack of integrity behind his Foreign Policy boasts, there’s is a slim, but ever increasing, shot that Huckabee just might sneak in right underneath all of their noses.
And then we’ll NEVER hear the end of David’s story… or… apparently, Chuck Norris jokes.
Here’s what Chuck says: “Part of our backward culture is reflected in the fact that we measure and value people by what they do, instead of first who they are. As a result, we nominate charisma, cast votes for articulation and repeatedly elect too many paper-thin corrupt politicians.”
Ironically, Norris and Huckabee apparently think celebrity endorsements is a good way to measure and value people.
out of fear that I meet up with Chuck’s third fist, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that he himself didn’t exactly articulate himself correctly. Of course you want to elect someone for what they do, it’s just a matter of what realms of their experience and ability you want to focus on. problem with Huckabee is, he’s a nice guy, and his little soundbite, “I’m conservative, I’m just not angry about it,” rings very true, but at the end of the day, here’s a guy who truly and seriously wouldn’t pander to the religious right only because he’s kinda already a part of it.
[...] First it was Chuck Norris, causing something of a stir among those of us who didn’t know he was still alive. And then there was Ted Nugent whose… um… style… of political discourse leaves something to be desired (I’m still waiting to hear about the proper legal action that should have been taken up against him for this). [...]