Mother of Dumond victim: If not for Huckabee, she’d be here for Christmas; Update: Source of ad identified
posted at 9:36 am on December 13, 2007 by Allahpundit
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You know how most campaign ads have a shelf life of a day or two? Yeah, um … this one may be around for awhile.
She said she’d do whatever it takes to defeat him, and now here she is. I checked the domain registration for the “Huckabee Facts” URL listed in the clip, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s private. Note the conspicuously bipartisan blogroll too. Hmmmmm.
Update: A good question from “RW Wacko” in the comments. Why didn’t they mention Huck’s overall clemency numbers? It’s a lot easier to watch this and shrug it off as one bad decision if you don’t know his record.
Update: Who’s behind the ad? Keith Emis, a 29-year-old political aide from Arkansas. He’s a Republican, says he’s not supporting anyone in the campaign.
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It won’t work.
BJ* on December 13, 2007 at 9:40 AM
Politicizing your daughter’s death. Real classy.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 9:40 AM
Huck’s director of research just emailed to say “No, no, no. You got it all wrong. Here’s what Mike really meant. You see, the governor has no role in paro—-aww screw it. We’re toast. I got nuthin.”
Cuffy Meigs on December 13, 2007 at 9:41 AM
What’s wrong with it? If she thinks the guy is responsible, why shouldn’t she say so?
Allahpundit on December 13, 2007 at 9:42 AM
Well, we know it’s a Republican. I hate the ad, btw. Should’ve mentioned the total # of murderers he actually paroled, too, perhaps, and the Christmas tree thing was pretty cringe-worthy.
RW Wacko on December 13, 2007 at 9:43 AM
It’s not politicizing her daughter’s death unless she is doing it to boost her candidate, which I don’t think she is doing here. She is trying to hirt Huckabee, and this is her first real chance to do so, I imagine, and in a REAL big way at that. She probably feels like putting a bullet in his head; this is eminently more classy. She also sees it as performing a public service, I imagine.
RW Wacko on December 13, 2007 at 9:47 AM
This sort of thing has sunk other presidential hopefuls. It is powerful stuff if used correctly.
bnelson44 on December 13, 2007 at 9:50 AM
If a guy did that to my daughter and then wanted to be my C in C, I’d do it too.
a capella on December 13, 2007 at 9:54 AM
It would be my lifes work until I took my last breath.
sweeper on December 13, 2007 at 9:55 AM
Ouch! I think you should have put the nuke graphic on this one AP.
BKennedy on December 13, 2007 at 9:55 AM
Well, BJ Clinton gave about a gazzillion pardons on his last day in Office, and he is still the most popular Democrat in the world right now.
AlexB on December 13, 2007 at 9:56 AM
This won’t be the last ad. A slow trickle is more effective than pushing all of the info out there at once, and can magnify the effect. Look what happened to Rudy with the billing records story. Every couple of days for a week or two, some story came out with “Police provided security to Rudy’s mistress earlier than we previously thought!” By doing so, the story got dragged out over a long period of time, and kept it in the news. To play this game, you line up a bunch of attacks, so once the “shelf life” of one is up, you can trot out the next, slightly different one, keeping your opponent back on his heels for a sustained period of time.
Big S on December 13, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Well I guess that makes it OK then.
sweeper on December 13, 2007 at 9:57 AM
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
BKennedy on December 13, 2007 at 9:58 AM
And this is the same in what way? I’m not defending Clinton, but I fail to see how this matters.
SouthernDem on December 13, 2007 at 9:59 AM
Tough stuff. And if it was my daughter, I’d do it too.
Just like when Monica blew Clinton about 27 times in the white House. If I was Mr. Lewinsky, I’d be outside the White House grounds calling for that fat hillbilly to come out so I could beat his a-s (yeah, I know it would never happen). So what does he do? Writes a book.
LtE126 on December 13, 2007 at 10:06 AM
It’s similar because, if BJ’s case gives any indication, it won’t change peoples’ minds about the person.
AlexB on December 13, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Yeah, a “drip…drip…drip” is much more effective than a torrent. And this is that type of story - they have the statements from the other women who asked Huckabee not to intervene, the other criminals paroled and the reaction of Democrats in Arkansas who were appalled at his high rate of clemency/pardon.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 10:12 AM
Fair enough, but did anyone Clinton pardoned go on to rape and murder someone?
SouthernDem on December 13, 2007 at 10:13 AM
As we’ve seen, nothing changes the minds of Democrats about Bill Clinton. The man is, was and always will be perfect to many of them.
This is pointed at a different audience and target. Most people don’t really know Mike Huckabee yet, and this extremely simple ad helps define him before he can define himself. Like Allah’s headline shows, the takeaway message is brutally effective.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 10:15 AM
The “well they did it too” defense is dangerous path. One of the reasons that I don’t vote for Democrats is because of their hypocrisy. If Republicans start using this defense it will just turn off everyone who wants to believe that Republicans are different.
BTW, I know what Clinton’s reasons for handing out pardons were. Why on Earth was Huckabee so adamant about this sleeze ball’s freedom?
sweeper on December 13, 2007 at 10:16 AM
Only problem is you are working on the assumption that this is part of a coordinated campaign, with more ads to follow, drippity drip drip style. Also, if it is indeed a campaign, but a Republican one, I have no confidence that they will mount an effective coordinated anti-Huck attack. Hope I’m wrong, but given Huck’s momentum, would prefer to see drizzle drizzle rather than drip drip.
RW Wacko on December 13, 2007 at 10:23 AM
From the needlessly harmed mom who until now was powerless to strike back at the unaccountable one who created the opportunity for the killing to occur. He second guessed and overrode the judge and/or jury who was/were much closer to the case facts. His ego demanded this. This killing of an innocent was preventable, unforgettable, unforgivable.
Politicizing? No. REVENGE.
AmericanDad on December 13, 2007 at 10:26 AM
Should have mentioned all his pardons first. THEN individual ads with all the murderers and their victims. THEN an ad mentioning, “And there are still 30(or whatever) murderers prowling our streets today, thanks to Mike Huckabee and his pardons. Who will be their next victim?”. Grainy black and white shot of Huckabee on the screen with scary music. Maybe have a couple of horns grow out of his head or something.
RW Wacko on December 13, 2007 at 10:26 AM
exactly
thebrokenchair on December 13, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Lest not forget, it was Clintons camp that commuted his life without parole sentence. They made him ELIGIBLE for parole.
broker1 on December 13, 2007 at 10:29 AM
Great, now I won’t vote for Clinton either.
sweeper on December 13, 2007 at 10:30 AM
Doesn’t matter. The final decision came down to Huckabee.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 10:37 AM
The decision to intervene, that is.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 10:37 AM
The man was responsible for putting a criminal back into society, who went on to kill her daughter. She’s got every damn right in the world to bring it up. Has she endorsed another candidate? A political stance? Or is she fighting Huckabee?
Ah, the “That guy did it too!” defense. Tell me, Alex, how many of Billy Jeff’s sleezy pardons went on to rape and murder an innocent young woman?
I’m already not voting for Clinton. And, as Slublog said, the decision to release this man back into society was Huckabee’s.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Good point.
I hereby take thhe pledge to not support BJ Clinton for the 2008 Republican nomination for President.
MB4 on December 13, 2007 at 11:10 AM
I think this: http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/Image/correctgauldin.jpg
Sums it up nicely
Canadian Imperialist Running Dog on December 13, 2007 at 11:15 AM
I don’t care if this was his only pardon, (or his only attempt at one) anyone who thinks that way about someone who’s raped or murdered is an idiot and doesn’t deserve the time of day.
Excusing someones horrific brutality against an innocent, helpless girl because of their childhood experience is wrong and lame. Bleeding heart libs do this sort of crap all the damned time and it makes me ill. Whatever credibility Huckabee might have been able to build with me is gone. Period.
4shoes on December 13, 2007 at 11:17 AM
You guys are completely misreading AlexB. He’s not defending former President Clinton, he’s disputing the claim that these advertisements will have much effect. His description of Clinton’s pardons is descriptive, not normative. It doesn’t matter if Clinton was right, wrong, whatever, to do the pardons. What matters is he did it and suffered little political damage[1]. Therefore, one can reasonably expect the same thing to happen with Huckabee.
[1] One notes that Bill Clinton is still considered a political asset for Senator Clinton’s campaign.
Annoying Old Guy on December 13, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Amen.
This issue is not just about Huckabee freeing this brutal murderer or that brutal murderer. It speaks to a ridiculous, fantastical way of looking at the world that is, quite frankly, appalling and dangerous.
Lehosh on December 13, 2007 at 11:42 AM
No one can’t. Hence the meaning of the “Clinton Machine” and the fact the media covers Clinton in a different light. Once they get to the gen, you can expect this to be part of the nightly news.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 11:43 AM
I did, initially. I thought “oh, they’re playing ‘gotcha’ with this one case.” It’s so much more damning when they show his overall record. It’s hard to see him as anything but soft on criminals when you look at that entire record. And that’s poison to a Republican campaign — even one based on compassionate Christianity.
Mark Jaquith on December 13, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Huck is not responsible for this murderer. Huck did not kill the girl.
infidel on December 13, 2007 at 12:22 PM
Non-drug related murderers are in the main remorseful for their actions, with the striking exception of rapist-murderers. Even in 1996 we knew that sex offender recidivism was excruciatingly high. By taking Dumond out of the system with a pardon, Huckabee accepted a higher responsibility for his behavior.
This looks a lot like a buzz-kill to me. Saying “Well, goolllee Sarge!” isn’t going to cover this one.
Patrick_Lasswell on December 13, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Wayne Dumond already had a record of repeated criminal offenses before the rape for which he was jailed - one was a violent crime, one was a sexual crime.
Huckabee knew this, and pressed to have Dumond freed regardless.
So no, Huckabee didn’t kill Carol Sue Shields. But the man who did would have been in jail had Huckabee not intervened on his behalf. So he is responsible.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 12:30 PM
True, but at the time his parole was being considered, Dumond was serving a life sentence for the non-fatal rape of Bill Clinton’s cousin, having been convicted with no evidence but the girl’s identification of him. Now, I’d love to see all rapists get life, but unfortunately that’s pretty unusual, so I can’t blame Huck for wondering about the circumstances. I have more problems with his trying to dance around the blame once his decision proved tragically wrong. He’s shown himself to be incapable of taking responsibility in a crisis.
Quisp on December 13, 2007 at 12:43 PM
I would assume laws were followed by Huck for the parole, maybe some laws need to be reevaluted. No one can tell the future, hindsight is 20/20, no one knew when where or if this guy would kill someone, plenty have been paroled to leave law abiding lives. Blaming Huck is like Cindy Sheehan blaming Bush. It just dont compute.
infidel on December 13, 2007 at 12:48 PM
says a small prayer that I don’t have to come down and choose between Huckabee and Clinton (cringe)
MarkB on December 13, 2007 at 12:49 PM
I think there need to be more posts on Huckabee.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 12:51 PM
I would lend much more credence to this if the whole letter to Dumond was published instead of snippets. Is it possible that this was a response to Dumond’s request for clemency in which Huckabee is trying to tell him that NO he will not commute his sentence and if he wants out he has to go through the parole board?
Cut and paste politics FTW?
dvldog1142 on December 13, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Yes, dvldog, it’s the same letter.
Pathetic that people fall for this stuff.
Ah, well. That’s politics.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Nope. Prosecutors and law enforcement were upset at Huckabee.
His response? You’re wrong, and I’m going to push a law limiting your ability to make plea agreements.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Maybe if Mary Jo Kopechne’s parents had politicized her death we wouldn’t have had all these years of the Cape Cod Orca.
ctmom on December 13, 2007 at 1:01 PM
I know, all of this coverage of the record of the front runner is so gosh darn inconvenient.
He already had several criminal offenses, a violent crime and rape to his name. I’d say that’s a pretty good indicator he wasn’t going to be Good Citizen Wayne.
If not for him, Dumond would’ve been sitting in jail instead of having been able to rape and murder her. He bears responsibility.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:02 PM
Was this perp granted clemency or pardoned? Or did he go through parole boards, etc? Lets try to keep the semantics straight.
infidel on December 13, 2007 at 1:04 PM
Read this. Huckabee wanted him free.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:07 PM
Huckabee worked behind the scenes, lobbying extensively for, the parole board to release Dumond. He apparently requested on a personal level, too.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:09 PM
Jim Guy Tucker commuted his sentence which made him parole eligible.
Huck refused to pardon him.
The parole board eventually decided to parole him.
There is some debate as to whether or not Huckabee encouraged the board to parole him. Several years after the parole they did claim to have been pushed into it.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 1:10 PM
Please tell me, which Governor was it that lobbied extensively, pushing the parole board to release Dumond? Which Governor therefore bears responsibility for getting this guy back out onto the streets?
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:12 PM
On the day of the vote, Huckabee released a statement in support of the board’s action: “I concur with the board’s action and hope the lives of all those involved can move forward. The action of the board accomplishes what I sought to do in considering an earlier request for commutation …
“In light of the action of the board, my original intent to commute the sentence to time served is no longer relevant.”
Commuting the sentence to time served = release. Huckabee just got the parole board to do it for him.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:15 PM
If you believe the board memebers who spoke up about it 6 years after the fact and after Huckabee didn’t reappoint them, then yes…Huckabee did lobby for his release.
However, if Huckabee did want him released, why did he refuse the 2nd commutation of his sentence? Also, why didn’t he just pardon him?
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 1:15 PM
On the day of the vote, Huckabee released a statement in support of the board’s action: “I concur with the board’s action and hope the lives of all those involved can move forward. The action of the board accomplishes what I sought to do in considering an earlier request for commutation …
“In light of the action of the board, my original intent to commute the sentence to time served is no longer relevant.”
Commuting the sentence to time served = release. Huckabee just got the parole board to do it for him.
(Fixed the formatting)
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:16 PM
Slublog, you are correct. He had initially indicated he did want to commute based on his record as an inmate, his job already set up for when he’d get out, and due to his sponsor…..oh, and the fact that his balls were on the Warden’s desk.
But, he denied the commutation because ultimately he came to the conclusion that he needed supervision.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 1:18 PM
How about an adviser to Huck? Let’s not believe several board members, media sources and accounts from others, right?
See Slublog at 1:16.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:19 PM
Sheriff, not Warden.
His statement clearly shows his intent was to have Dumond freed. And he has yet to explain why he and the parole board met in executive session, contrary to Arkansas state law.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:19 PM
There was a 4-1 vote to parole. This was not a unilateral decision by Huck.
Pardon, clemency and commutation are all moot subjects.
infidel on December 13, 2007 at 1:20 PM
Indeed, from the Arkansas Times:
One of the sources? A former Huck Aide.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:23 PM
Never claimed it was. However, his “intent” was to have Dumond free. Since he has not explained exactly what went on in that executive session, and rarely explained his decisions to law enforcement and victims, we’ll have to go with his statement at the time.
How, exactly?
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:23 PM
Just in case anybody is keeping track there are 14 open threads on HA with the word Huck or Huckabee in the title.
Number with Rudy in the title: zero.
This has got to be borderline cyberstalking. I’m surprised that Huckabee’s name wasn’t thrown up there as one of those MLB players who used performance-enhancing drugs.
highhopes on December 13, 2007 at 1:27 PM
amerpundit, you’re bringing up the ‘adviser’ thing that’s already been discounted?
Sheesh.
Let me know when having a rational discussion with you guys is possible.
Some of the HotAir crowd has gotten out of control. It reminds me of the Democratic Underground where people will belive anything if it makes a candidate look bad.
Look, I know Michelle doesn’t want you guys to consider Huckabee. I’m not even sure if I want him as my choice as nominee. But, the way some of you are letting your perceptions be skewed by the crap that’s been distorted about his record is mindboggling.
Clearly, I’ll be knocked for calling it like I see it, and that’s fine. But hey, to each their own.
EduardoOTI on December 13, 2007 at 1:28 PM
Frontrunner: Huck. Not frontrunner: Rudy.
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:28 PM
Discounted? Because Huckabee denied it?
There’s no need to distort his record. It’s bad enough on its own merits.
Slublog on December 13, 2007 at 1:31 PM
I’m not the guy defending a governor who pushed for the release of a rapist with an extensive record, who went on to rape and murder a young woman.
Uh, don’t know how to tell you this, but Michelle doesn’t sway my vote. Rudy has been extensively scrutinized on here, too.
How was it discounted?
amerpundit on December 13, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Nominee mike”jimmy carter”huckabee=President hillary clinton.
peacenprosperity on December 13, 2007 at 1:32 PM
The parole board met and voted. They “could” have just let Huck commute the sentence in four days, or Huck could have pardoned him, and did not. They parole board decided to act. The guy was “eligible” for parole. They paroled him. Do the crime do the time. All of us are capable of heinous acts, your potential should not be punished. Yes in hindsight, this guy should not have been paroled, yet why is it all blamed on Huck when there was a whole board involved.
infidel on December 13, 2007 at 1:33 PM
Except the parole board previously voted 5-0 against granting parole… only after Huckster announced his desire to see him go free and had a closed door meeting with the parole authorities did they grant parole- in other words, they wanted to keep their jobs.
There’s no way around it- he was paroled ONLY because Huckabee intervened, and a girl is dead because of it.
You could write it off as a one-time lapse in judgement, except he has a long history of granting clemency and pardons to violent criminals- usually after a jailhouse coversion or they had some personal connection to Huckster.
Hollowpoint on December 13, 2007 at 1:36 PM
I could be wrong but wasn’t it this very issue that sank Dukakis re; Willie Horton?
captbill98 on December 13, 2007 at 1:41 PM
It would be my lifes work until I took my last breath.
sweeper on December 13, 2007 at 9:55 AM
I couldn’t agree more, even before my daughter was born, I felt in certain cases, the disgusting crime of rape(a heinous act, not all of us are capable of) should be a capitol offense.
I find the ad very telling, and d*mning.
christophercube on December 13, 2007 at 1:50 PM
Why don’t you just not read the threads that bother you? But, if you know something about Huck using illegal drugs,…why not share? :)
a capella on December 13, 2007 at 2:02 PM
I read that Dumond died in prison before they could charge him with a second murder which occured a week before the one they caught him for.
davod on December 13, 2007 at 2:08 PM
Having “Mother” and “Huckabee” in such close proximity in the headline plays tricks on me.
Mother
……Huckabee.
DaveS on December 13, 2007 at 5:17 PM
the way they just come out and show dumonde’s face and say his name…it’s so, so very racist.
this is the racistest dogwhistle the bushies have evar runned.
jummy on December 13, 2007 at 6:21 PM
HAYMAKER!
Vizzini on December 13, 2007 at 7:04 PM
Like Rush says, there’s a price to pay for ignorance.
Mojave Mark on December 13, 2007 at 7:27 PM
Don’t know how that whole rape ‘n’ murder thing could’ve happened.
I mean, Hucklebee’s friends told him the guy’d been saved!
It’s a stumper…
Tzetzes on December 13, 2007 at 10:03 PM
I’m sorry for this woman’s loss but the only perfect man died on a cross. Everyone makes mistakes and in this case he thought he was doing the right thing, he didn’t make the decision alone and he had good intentions. It turned out to be a mistake but who hasn’t this happened to? His overall record is good.
CCRWM on December 13, 2007 at 11:32 PM
Don’t forget this:
“The worst example of that syndrome, chronicled in detail by the crusading journalists at Arkansas’ The Leader newspaper, concerned a killer named Glen Green, sentenced to prison for life after confessing to the savage rape and murder of a teenage girl. An Air Force sergeant, Green had bludgeoned the woman with nunchucks, violated her almost lifeless body, run over her with his car and dumped her in a bayou. A preacher friend of Mr. Huckabee convinced him that the girl’s murder had been an “accident,” and that the convict had repented, come to Jesus and therefore should be freed.
Mr. Huckabee seems to have known very little about the horrifying case beyond what his preacher pal told him. He didn’t bother to seek the opinions of the prosecutor or the victim’s family, and he ignored the dissent of his own parole board. But when the governor announced that Green would be released, a furious public eventually forced him to reverse his decision. Still, he insisted on releasing a number of murderers and other violent criminals despite protests from prosecutors.”
http://www.observer.com/2007/mercy-mike-huckabee
Huckabee is effing trash.
muyoso on December 14, 2007 at 12:11 AM
it’s impossible to dismiss this ad. straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
Huckabee is not good for America.
madmonkphotog on December 14, 2007 at 11:21 AM
If I were her, I would hate Mike too. You always look for someone to blame. But, that’s the chance you take as Governor and it cost him. I bet he doesn’t feel too good about the situation. Thing is, this is not going to affect my voting for him. I’m not interested in electing someone who has made no mistakes to learn from.
Vaporman87 on December 14, 2007 at 2:49 PM
THAT, is exactly what I’m talking about.
4shoes on December 15, 2007 at 11:10 PM