Funny–Huck’s phenomenon is the exact opposite of Paul’s. Paul’s support seems to be almost entirely online, while Huck’s is almost entirely offline.

aero on December 14, 2007 at 2:05 PM

Imagine a Paul/Huckabee ticket. Juggernaut!

I think I just frightened myself.

“…but what if he wins and we end up with a religious liberal as president whom Christians can tolerate just fine and the rest of us can’t?”

Pretty much the same thing that would happen if he lost. Republicans from the Republican wing of the Republican party will finally have to face the fact that most social conservatives are not actually political conservatives at all.

The problem for social cons isn’t big government or even intrusive government per se. The problem is the direction American culture has been heading, and social conservatives are just as willing to use government to reverse the flow as their liberal counterparts have been to accelerate it. It’s the only institution that’s potentially powerful enough to stem the tide.

Republicans been making downpayments on the social con/religious right vote for years, but the real asking price has always been a Huckbee in the White House. If not for the war in Iraq, that fundamental faultline in the GOP woud already have cracked wide open by now. A Huckabee nomination is all it will take, win or lose. Better to fracture sooner than later, while the Democratic party is in a shambles too and opportunities for creative realignments abound.

IMO, however, the Huckabee surge is a Democratic black op which will fade as fast as it appeared when serious folks start paying attention some time after the holidays. Social cons seem to be just trying not to jinx a good thing — hence the almost complete, eerie absence of anyone proactively supporting Huckabee on sites like this one where you’d certainly expect to hear from them. They might defend or explain his religious beliefs, but If Huckabee’s your guy, alas, you’ve got zero conservative talking points to work with.

“Bad news: Among voters who say religion isn’t important at all, he actually trails Mitt by six points.”

Bad for Giuliani, yes, but for different reasons. Don’t forget that a bunch of the folks who think religion is important also think Mitt is a brother of Satan. Mitt’s natural constituency has always been more corporate than religious. If he’s gaining ground there, he’s carving off real turf from Giuliani.

So Jim Gilchrist, who supports The High Reverend Huckster, is basically a phony Minuteman.

MB4 on December 14, 2007 at 1:49 PM

Exactly. As I pointed out on an earlier thread …

Here’s what’s going on:

The Minuteman Project’s board of directors removed Gilchrist as head of the Minuteman Project amid allegations of fraud and financial mismanagement.[2] In a May 2007 interview, Gilchrist claimed: “I’m the President and always was. I got the corporation back. I have the right to the web site, the bank account, everything. We are back in the same position as we were prior to the hijacking.”[3] These claims by Gilchrist, though, do not appear to match the judge’s ruling. Judge “Wilkinson issued an interim ruling barring the board members from spending Minuteman Project donations until Gilchrist’s lawsuit is resolved. Wilkinson also rejected Gilchrist’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have restored Gilchrist to power until the case is decided.”[4] In April of 2007, Gilchrist announced the formation of a new non-profit corporation, named Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project, Inc.
It will be interesting to see how Gilchrist’s “official endorsement” of a Presidential candidate will effect the non-profit status of his “new” group.

Also, it’s important to note that Gilchrist DROPPED the lawsuit.

SANTA ANA, Calif. — mMinuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist is forming a new anti-illegal immigrant group.

Its name: the Jim Gilchrist Minuteman Project Incorporated.

Gilchrist announced the new group’s formation as he dropped his lawsuit against the leadership of the original Minuteman Project.

He had sued its board of directors for control after he was fired and accused of embezzling $400,000 dollars in donations.

He denied the allegation and claimed in his lawsuit that the firing was illegal.

He now says he’s dropping the lawsuit and forming the new group to avoid spending activists’ contributions on attorney fees and so he can focus illegal immigration.

But an attorney who represents three directors who fired Gilchrist said the dropped suit constitutes a victory for his clients.

Gilchrist has never accounted for that $400,000 that he says he was concerned about. As far as anyone knows … he’s already spent it.

Jim Gilchrist still pretends to be the leader of the Minuteman Project and still takes donations on his website, misleading citizens into believing that the funds are going to the original Minuteman Project.

The original and legitimate group is now headed by Marvin Stewart and it’s website can be found here.

Funny–Huck’s phenomenon is the exact opposite of Paul’s. Paul’s support seems to be almost entirely online, while Huck’s is almost entirely offline.

As a Floridian, I don’t buy it… but then I don’t attend a church where Imam Billy Bob tells me whom to support, so maybe I’m missing Huck’s primary vehicle. He’s definitely losing the bumper sticker war — and the hyper-religious sure do love their bumper stickers.

Mark Jaquith on December 14, 2007 at 1:10 PM

Yeah, I was pretty shocked down here in Tampa, Mark. I “see” the usual Paul support with signs, and actually feel and hear the Rudy support. I’ve said before that I don’t think Huck could win Florida from the Dems in a million years, but this level of support surprised me. This tells me he is getting near unaminous support from the evangelicals who know nothing about his record yet. Hopefully as the attacks keep coming his evangelical support will erode. If it doesn’t, I am pulling my registration as a Republican, and switching to independent.

The real Mike Huckabee

Gregor on December 14, 2007 at 1:21 PM

So Jim Gilchrist, who supports The High Reverend Huckster, is basically a phony Minuteman.

Seems like there are a lot of other phonies around now too.

Study faults charities for veterans
Watchdog finds major groups paid little of cash raised to injured vets, but plenty to their own execs.

Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation’s largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed.

The philanthropy institute gave F’s to 12 of the 29 military charities reviewed and D’s to eight. Five were awarded A-pluses, one group received an A, and one received an A-minus.

…support for Huckabee is turning into a yardstick of how faithful a believer you are.

Well then whoever is holding that yardstick – quite frankly – wouldn’t know a Christian if one came up and bit him in the ass!

Huckabee’s record is not CHRISTIAN.

jp on December 14, 2007 at 1:11 PM

Yeah, I have been to that site in the past when I was wrestling with, “would Greg Bahnsen support the Federal Vision crowd?”

ColtsFan on December 14, 2007 at 1:10 PM

one thing I noticed on DLB’s site, is he refuses to call himself a theonmist, just that he beleives in “God’s Law”. He claims what his dad stood for has been twisted, he’s not a big fan at all of Chalcedon guys….who have some/alot of ron paul supporters.

I think they come back with, “God’s law pressuposes natural law” or something with that vs. the “Two kingdom” view. I don’t know alot about all this stuff, just a working knowledge though it is interesting. I think some of them get too full of themselves with it.

“so-conserv” Thompson

ALL of the media foment the sensational religiosity for profiteering and manipulative power over the outcome.

MSM motivation: sink the GOP

Non-MSM motivation: to keep up with the MSM Jones’ as though begging for credibility

Blog following motivation: self justification

Nasea and exhaustion are the inevitable result of over consumption. Enough.

The rationale that the two “most faithful” would of themselves negate each other is our only hope, obiwan.

Faith precedes the miracle: we can promote and VOTE the conservative Republican party platform.

If this was political brinkmanship (which I don’t think it is) designed to anoint Mitt or Fred and exile Rudy, I would be impressed.

JiangxiDad on December 14, 2007 at 12:33 PM

Agreed. If only the two sides could climb down, find some middle ground and shake hands with Fred or Mitt.

My comment was specifically addressed to “Huckabee supporters who are blind to everything but someone’s religion”, so I was not calling you names. As for anyone else, “If the shoe fits…

I was speaking of those same Huckabee supporters who were calling me names, not you. Apologies for the lack of clarity.

ColtsFan on December 14, 2007 at 1:03 PM

that link I posted is to Greg Bahnsen’s son’s site, he is pragmatically supporting Rudy. I found his site about his review of “America Alone”, I found myself agreeing with him alot.

jp on December 14, 2007 at 12:56 PM

I reject theonomy as biblically flawed, though I find insights in Greg Bahnsen’s apologetical strategies.

I also think it is important to distinguish between a system of thought and the issue of “consistency” on the part of those who subscribe to the system itself. The system may be “true”, but the supporters may be guilty of inconsistency at several points. And it is not logical to reject the system for the flaws of the supporters, similar to “it is wrong to judge the message in terms of the messenger.”

Still, the article was very helpful as I try to wrestle over some issues.

My comment was specifically addressed to “Huckabee supporters who are blind to everything but someone’s religion”,
cool breeze on December 14, 2007 at 1:07 PM

I don’t think I have seen anyone like that posting here.

crosspatch on December 14, 2007 at 1:04 PM

This is one poll: Rasmussen, and he polled likely Republican voters.

Slublog on December 14, 2007 at 12:33 PM

My comment was specifically addressed to “Huckabee supporters who are blind to everything but someone’s religion”, so I was not calling you names. As for anyone else, “If the shoe fits…”.

Yes, the comparison is somewhat overdrawn at this point in time, but aren’t we always told that it is just “a few” Muslim extremists causing trouble, not the “vast majority” who are moderates? Nevertheless, by the time you have a few “more committed supporters” bombing things and a huge swath of the “moderates” taking leave of their senses in an election (think Ahmadinejad), you can fairly conclude that you’ve got a serious problem with religious nut jobs.

crosspatch on December 14, 2007 at 1:04 PM

Interesting point. We all know some polls are RESULTS oriented.

bnelson44 on December 14, 2007 at 12:59 PM

It is called honesty, would you prefer “inexperienced” “mis-guided”, I am not trying to influence anyone here. I expressed an opinion. That opinion is that Huck is telling Evangelicals what he knows they want to hear. And, they are foolish enough to eat it up.