Huckabee closing in on 1st Place Nationally

[cool hand luke 22:36]

From the article below, it looks like Huckabee really has the momentum, due mostly to his debate performances.

It's telling that candidates with far more money such as Romney and Giuliani are sinking in the polls.

Monday, December 03, 2007

If the current round of Huck-a-mania is nothing more that Mike Huckabee’s fifteen minutes of fame, the former Arkansas Governor is certainly making the most of it. Today, in the first full round of national polling completed since last week’s “debate” among Republican Presidential hopefuls, Huckabee has pulled to within three points of the frontrunning Rudy Giuliani. Heading into the debate, Giuliani led Huckabee by twelve.

Not only that, new polling data released today shows that Huckabee has pulled to within a single percentage point of Hillary Clinton in a general election match-up. Huckabee is also a frontrunner in Iowa and essentially tied for second in New Hampshire. Some pundits believe Huckabee’s numbers will surely go down as fast as they’ve gone up while others are beginning to consider the possibility that the bass-guitar playing Governor may become a serious contender for the Republican nomination.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Giuliani with 20% support nationwide while Huckabee attracts 17%. Fred Thompson is at 14%, John McCain at 13% and Mitt Romney at 11%. Ron Paul attracts 7% of Likely Republican Primary voters nationwide and no other Republican candidate reaches 2% (see recent daily numbers). During the past week, three events—a debate, an endorsement, and Huck-a-mania—have created new challenges and uncertainties for the GOP frontrunners.

Rudy Giuliani is still seen as the most electable Republican. McCain, Romney, and Huckabee are essentially tied for second in this category.

Results for the Presidential Tracking Poll are obtained through nightly telephone interviews and reported on a four-day rolling average basis. Today is the first update for which all of the interviews were conducted following Wednesday’s Republican debate.

The Rasmussen Reports Election 2008 Presidential Tracking Poll is updated daily. Today is the first day of regular weekend updates.

Daily tracking results are from survey interviews conducted over four days ending last night. Each update includes approximately 750 Likely Democratic Primary Voters and 600 Likely Republican Primary Voters. Margin of sampling error for each is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Rasmussen Reports provides a weekly analysis of both the Republican and Democratic race each Monday.

Each Monday, full week results are released based upon a seven-day rolling average. While the daily tracking result are useful for measuring quick reaction to events in the news, the full week results provide an effective means for evaluating longer-term trends.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

This survey includes approximately 750-800 Likely Democratic Primary Voters and 600-650 Likely Republican Primary Voters. Margin of sampling error for each is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/pub...ial_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

 

[Unregistered]

I believe Huckabee might win the nomination. Unfortunately, he will get his ass kicked in the general election.

Probably though, his improvement in the polls just represents increased name recognition. People are not happy with the current candidates. When Thompson announced he was running, remember his poll numbers skyrocketed briefly, until people realized he wasn't much better than the other contenders. Huckabee has been in the race from the beginning, but nobody was paying attention to him until Chuck Norris came along. Now he has entered a honeymoon period. Whether this will last or not, I don't know. He certainly isnt the worse candidate running.

The main problems he will have are that he is pro-illegal immigration, and pro-tax increase. Also, the facts that he believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old, and that evolution does not occur are also going to be strikes for him.

 

[STAGE 2]

I believe Huckabee might win the nomination. Unfortunately, he will get his ass kicked in the general election.

Based on what? Assuming Hillary gets the nod, he beats her on the war as well as the experience card. Hes a much better speaker and he's not really extreme in any position. Plus his only dirt is that he had an affinity for fried food.

 

[cool hand luke 22:36]

The main problems he will have are that he is pro-illegal immigration, and pro-tax increase. Also, the facts that he believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old, and that evolution does not occur are also going to be strikes for him.

Huckabee seems to be one of the more articulate people in the race. I'd rank him with Edwards, Giuliani, and Romney in that regard. Huckabee will be able to clear up the misinformation out there regarding his stands on illegal immigration, tax reduction, etc.

As for intelligent design theory, if Huckabee gets the nod then his views on teaching intelligent design are going to get some serious air time from the mass media. They'll smear him by bringing up the Scopes trail every 20 minutes on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, etc. as the election approaches.

Personally, I have much less of a problem with Huckabee's religious mythology of creationism than I do with Obama-Clinton-Edwards' religious mythology of anthropogenic global warming, their religious mythology of the effectiveness of gun control, their faith-based belief in the attainability of a 35 mpg CAFE standard by 2020, etc.

I believe Huckabee might win the nomination. Unfortunately, he will get his ass kicked in the general election.

He seems to be doing quite well in head to head matchups with the Democratic Party candidates.

 

[Thumper]

Unfortunately, he will get his ass kicked in the general election.

In your opinion, who stands a better chance?

I thought that "within a single percentage point of Hillary" stuff was compelling.

 

[Fremmer]

Huckabee is pretty impressive. The more that Republicans learn about him, the better he does. He needs to further develop his face/name recognition. If he can do that, I think he'll have a good shot at winning over the conservative Republican base, and he'll win the nomination.

He sure did well in the last debate. I like the way he can provide a detailed, intellectual answer. And he has a good sense of humor.

And oh yeah, he's actually been a Governor, so he has experience in the executive branch of government. That's a good thing!

 

[GoSlash27]

More news covering the increased poll results generated by increased news coverage.
He's going to implode once the results come in from Iowa and he doesn't register. The media will blame the failure on him, but it's not really his fault.

 

[Waitone]

People have yet to focus on Huckabee's position on illegal immigration. It seems primary types have focused on general qualifications. He's had a number of impressive performances and his positions have generally been acceptable.

Illegal immigration as a make or break issue has not and will not go away. Hillary's campaign nosed over with the wrong answer to one very simple question and she has yet to recover. Huckabee will be shredded if he comes to South Carolina and tries to justify anything that smacks of pro-illegal immigration politics. McCain saw the light just before an appearance in the upstate. Huckabee gets one chance to offer a reasonable explanation for his stance. An appeal to Christian charity as the excuse for pro-illegal immigration policies simply will not flush.

Huck is riding high in the saddle now but his is riding into rough territory.

 

[Unregistered]

In your opinion, who stands a better chance?

Whatever Democrat runs will win against whatever Republican runs. I doubt the Dems will end up running Hillary. The Republicans are in a tough situation this go around. Everyone is tired of them. There is a lack of motivation on the part of the Republican base. This lack of motivation comes from a severe case of Bush fatigue coupled with the lackluster candidates running for the nomination. As long as the Democrats don't nominate Hillary, I think they will win. If the Dems are dumb enough to run Hillary, then the Republican base will have the necessary motivation to turn out in great numbers and vote.

The only hope any Republican nominee has is that his opponent will be Hillary. If they run Hillary, this election will become the mother of all "lesser of two evils" contests.

That said, I would vote for Huckabee in a general election, but I don't mind voting for losers (and intend to vote for a loser in the Republican primary also).

 

[STAGE 2]

He's going to implode once the results come in from Iowa and he doesn't register. The media will blame the failure on him, but it's not really his fault.

I'm not going to argue this point with you since thats one of the most fruitless exercises I''ve ever participated in.

However I do have a question. What if you're wrong. What if Huckabee wins iowa or comes real close.

 

[sdb777]

Huckabee.....not really a conservative. More like a liberal in a wolf suit!! I know, he was my governor for far too long. Beware.............



Scott (look at his voting record) B

 

[publius42]

At least he's not a northeastern gungrabber.

Hey, that's a pretty good campaign slogan!

There have been a couple of critical articles about Huckabee, in the American Spectator and in Salon, both worth reading no matter what you think of Huckabee.

 

[GoSlash27]

Stage2,
Then he gets press commensurate with it. But since he has no organization, no money, and no solid support I don't see it going that way.
I think he's gonna pull a Dean.

 

[Molson]

Huckabee.....not really a conservative. More like a liberal in a wolf suit!! I know, he was my governor for far too long. Beware.............



Scott (look at his voting record) B

thank you...ive been trying to warn people, but you can lead a horse to water and all that.

Personally, I have much less of a problem with Huckabee's religious mythology of creationism than I do with Obama-Clinton-Edwards' religious mythology of anthropogenic global warming, their religious mythology of the effectiveness of gun control, their faith-based belief in the attainability of a 35 mpg CAFE standard by 2020, etc.

umm contrary to what you may believe, huckabee believes that global warming is, in fact, a religious issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/u...ews/Science/Topics/Global Warming&oref=slogin

Likewise, Senator McCain and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, are the only Republican candidates to support mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases. Mr. Huckabee, who has positioned himself as a standard-bearer for social conservatives and Christian evangelicals, recently called action on climate change a “moral issue.”

with just a little bit of research, huckabee managed to go from my #2 choice to giuliani status.

 

[Fremmer]

He has not reached the Dean media hysteria point yet. But he's going to need money and more staff to get the nomination.

So far he seems to be doing pretty well. We'll have to see how things shake out. He's certainly an interesting candidate. He's a lot more likeable than Hillary.

 

[kaiserdog]

If he peters out after the first few state primaries, I think he'll still be an attractive VP candidate for the more socially liberal Rebublicans (i.e. Giuliani or Romney). They'll see someone like him or Thompson as a good balance to help them with the southerners, Christian conservastives, etc. Just a thought.........

 

[cool hand luke 22:36]

Molson wrote:

umm contrary to what you may believe, huckabee believes that global warming is, in fact, a religious issue:

I'm way ahead of you. I was disgusted with Huckabee's global warming positions :barf: long before it was popular. I'm generally a first adopter when it comes to disgust with politicians:

Posted by Cool Hand Luke 22:36 on 11-21-07

BTW - I am leaning more towards supporting Fred Thompson lately after hearing Huckabee's views on Global warming.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269096&page=2

 

[Thumper]

GoSlash27 wrote:

He's going to implode once the results come in from Iowa and he doesn't register.

I find this statement interesting, especially from someone on the ground in Iowa. Define "register" as you understand the meaning in this context, please?

 

[Molson]

I'm way ahead of you. I was disgusted with Huckabee's global warming positions long before it was popular. I'm generally a first adopter when it comes to disgust with politicians:

glad to hear it. this guy is a weasel, pure and simple, and it disgusts me how many are falling for his lines. as far as thompson, im not gonna support him in the primary, but unless i find anything like i have to huckabee, he is the only other candidate i think i can support in the general. 2/7 isnt exactly good odds...

one of the big things that bugs me about huckabee, is that the media are really pushing him now, just like they pushed/are pushing mccain, romney, and giuliani. why do i feel they are pushing those three? because they are the most liberal, and they know that if they make them look conservative in the primaries, they can get them the nomination, then point out their actual liberal/statist views and former positions making all the true conservatives in this country apathetic about voting. what happens when conservatives become apathetic towards voting? dems win, and even if they dont, the r is still a liberal lol. its a win win. this is why i think huckabee is getting more attention. they realize they can draw in the conservatives with his pro-life etc views, then after the nomination, they can show how liberal/big government/nanny state/statist he is.

 

[pitz96]

There have been a couple of critical articles about Huckabee, in the American Spectator and in Salon, both worth reading no matter what you think of Huckabee.

Thanks for posting those links. Sheesh, it seems that most of the frontrunners have some unsavory traits! Huckabee doesn't seem to be as nice as he appears, but then, Rudi doesn't even appear nice, and is far from squeaky-clean. Maybe we'll end up with Mitt after all, but at this point, I wouldn't want to bet.

Still, IMO, if the Dems nominate Hillary, any Republican could have a good chance against her.

I still like Ron Paul, but am not kidding myself about him ever being president.