Rich Lowry: “Wouldn’t Mike Huckabee be just the right Republican for this particular moment”?
posted at 5:52 pm on June 11, 2008 by Allahpundit
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He duly qualifies it by calling it a “terrible thought” and dismissing Huck as “unserious” and ignorant about economics, but when the editor of National Review is willing to utter such heresies aloud you know there’s a little VP mo a-buildin’! We’ve been over the various merits and demerits of Huck on the ticket before so let’s try a different angle: Are there any other candidates who’d deliver more right off the bat than he would? It’s easy to imagine America warming up to Palin or Jindal over the course of the campaign, but it’s also easy to imagine a collective shrug. Maybe Palin siphons off some of Hillary’s girl power; maybe she doesn’t. Ultimately we simply don’t know how much they’d deliver. With Huck you know on day one you’re getting goodwill among evangelicals, a dynamite media presence, and the sort of (shiver) populist economic rhetoric Lowry thinks could help with gas at $4.50 a gallon. How badly do you want to win?
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I will stay at home before I vote for a McCain/Huckabee ticket.
Sue on June 11, 2008 at 5:55 PM
I think we need a huck heimlich to get the thought out of our system.
Nanny staters on the right of me, nanny staters on the left of me.
lorien1973 on June 11, 2008 at 5:55 PM
No.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on June 11, 2008 at 5:55 PM
Can we NOT have a crazy evangelical on the ticket. We should be trying to get their agenda out of our party, as they have nearly ruined us.
muyoso on June 11, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Huckabee would be very likely to call Barack a muslim, and wonder if Prophet Mo is the brother of Satan.
VolMagic on June 11, 2008 at 5:56 PM
There’s no stopping it.
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Not. Ever.
phronesis on June 11, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Aw C’mon! That’s not fair. How are we supposed to keep this thread going without Red Pill?
My collie says:
CyberCipher on June 11, 2008 at 5:58 PM
We need more evangelicals in the Republican Party, just not socialist, fluffy, nice feeling Evangelicals…
We need Reagan Evangelicals and Huck isn’t one….
Tim Burton on June 11, 2008 at 5:58 PM
New campaign slogan: A Squirrel in Every Pot.
RushBaby on June 11, 2008 at 5:59 PM
“dismissing Huck as “unserious” and ignorant about economics”
Lowery’s an establishment hack. Mike Huckabee ran Arkansas for ten and a half years leaving it with a surplus and is praised nationwide for his excellent work in the aftermath of 9/11.
Wat is truly a terrible thought is Republicans putting so much credence in a hack like Lowery.
Al-Ozarka on June 11, 2008 at 5:59 PM
Yeah. Palin would.
She would because she’d convince the likes of me that there’s a chance McCain will listen to reason about energy, and she’ll worsen Barry the Beta’s woman problem.
And while it’s true that Gomer would bring some support, he’ll come with a cost as well. Subtract the minuses, and he’s a net loser.
Typhoon on June 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
AP’s right. There’s no doubt that a McCain/Huckabee ticket would deliver votes. I don’t like either one, but what’s better? The socialist agenda of Obama or the center-left economics of McCain/Huckabee?
Tim on June 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
“I will stay at home before I vote for a McCain/Huckabee ticket.”
Me too!
Al-Ozarka on June 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
No.
Waits for the Hucker’s to show.
upinak on June 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
NOT
Kaptain Amerika on June 11, 2008 at 6:00 PM
I am hoping for it, because McCain will taint any conservative on the ticket…two birds one stone.
Romney on the ticket would be great on if McCain actually listened to Romney’s experience on economic matters, but since McCain wants to raise taxes via cap and trade, why bring down Romney?
Conservative Voice on June 11, 2008 at 6:02 PM
No.
Next question.
(and if the next question is “Bob Barr,” then the answer is .. again … “No.”
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 6:02 PM
No Huck, can I get a witness?!!
winemkr on June 11, 2008 at 6:02 PM
As a Christian Conservative, I’d vote for Romney before I’d vote for Huckabee
Vntnrse on June 11, 2008 at 6:02 PM
What do democrats think about a Mccain/Huckabee ticket?
Go quote mine HuffPo and see they know they will lose if Mac selects Huckabee.
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:03 PM
“I will stay at home before I vote for a McCain/Huckabee ticket.”
Me too!
Me three!
winemkr on June 11, 2008 at 6:03 PM
I’d give myself a root canal before I’d vote for a ticket with Huckabee on it. I’ll have enough trouble holding my nose for McCain.
ReubenJCogburn on June 11, 2008 at 6:05 PM
Can I also add that Fred Thompson punches hippies? That’s bound to be some votes.
VolMagic on June 11, 2008 at 6:06 PM
No.
liquidflorian on June 11, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Winning with Huck on the ticket is like being liberated from the Nazi’s by the Soviets. No thanks.
phronesis on June 11, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Good.
We can finally get rid of the few godless and immoral atheists that somehow ended up in the republican party.
Good riddance!
They only make up what 2% of the country and most of them are in the dem party anyway..they can go back there.. no loss to us.
In fact we gain more, because the disenfranchised Christians can come back to the republican party, now that we don’t have to pander to the heathens.
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:08 PM
We still have SaintOlaf, though his talent lies more in questioning someone’s Christianity, so it won’t be quite the same.
Esthier on June 11, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Not just no.
Not just Hell, no.
HELL NO!!
michaelo on June 11, 2008 at 6:08 PM
That’s rich, coming from a comment under one of Allah’s posts.
Esthier on June 11, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Mark Sanford, Bobby Jindal, Bob Riley (gov of AL), perhaps the spunky Gov Palin, and ME for heaven’s sake…
Allahpundit or Ace would be worth a look too, if they are thinking seriously of Huckabee.
Honestly, I think the NRA “joke” took him off the table.
funky chicken on June 11, 2008 at 6:09 PM
A tax-raising, nanny-stater, smoking ban-supporting, soft-on-crime hack? No thanks.
amerpundit on June 11, 2008 at 6:09 PM
I ain’t voting for Huck and his gay actions…no way am I voting for someone who approves and uses the hind lick maneuver….wait, I’m sorry did you say hind lick or Heimlich…never mind (bless you Gilda).
*
Huck is exactly where he should be…between then and now, right next to nowhere.
right2bright on June 11, 2008 at 6:09 PM
The logical choice for a doomed ticket. Just shows what McCain thinks about the future of the GOP.
Valiant on June 11, 2008 at 6:09 PM
…
amerpundit on June 11, 2008 at 6:10 PM
whatever happenned to lower taxes, smaller government, strong military? this politics is starting to confuse me
SoCalInfidel on June 11, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Oh, Kay Bailey Hutchison is better than Huckabee. She wasn’t against shamnesty, but she seems to grasp the domestic oil production issue.
funky chicken on June 11, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Huck on the ticket? Excuse me while I hurl.
You might motivate a few double-digit IQ types like Satan Olaf but you would lose the demographic of ‘people with at least a high-school diploma’.
Roger Waters on June 11, 2008 at 6:11 PM
I say Sen. Jim Demint for VP
SoCalInfidel on June 11, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Made me smile.
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Pat Robertson endorsed Giuliani. I think Rudy would bring that 700 Club audience, which is more than Huckabee delivers on the evangelical front.
funky chicken on June 11, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Just because he’s editor of NR doesn’t mean he is Buckley’s heir in thinking and analysis.
Ever since I read this post by Lowry in January I’ve been shaking my head. I couldn’t believe that the editor of NR sounded as if he was swayed by empty rhetoric and was on the verge of being caught up in Obamania.
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:13 PM
What McCain thinks? Why do you bring up McCain when this comes from Rich Lowry?
Did you just read the headline and not look at the link? Please tell me you have a logical reason for this.
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Do. Not. Want.
Hell, McC’s bad enough. Huckster as VP would drive me completely away. Huck reminds me of nothing so much as a sleazy televangelist. Been there. Done that. Never again.
McC’s courting the dems, and he’s gonna get a bunch of them. He’s the most centrist dem in the race.
techno_barbarian on June 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM
At that point could you really call it a win? Let me put it this way, I have gone back and forth and back again with regards to voting for McCain. In the last week, I have come to the conclusion that my decision will probably be based solely on who his VP is. If he goes for Huck, that will seal it for me, and I won’t vote the top of the ticket. And for my evangelical street cred: graduated from Liberty university with a BA in Religion, and attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for my M.Div. (which I have not completed). So don’t be too confident that evangelicals are going to “fall in line” with Huck. He makes me ill, yo.
Weight of Glory on June 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Gak.
Did Rich Lowry get a thrill up his leg while listening to Obama?
Good lord.
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Not that badly.
I’ll vote in November, but if it’s Mac/Huck on the ticket, I will leave my presidential slate blank.
Huck on the ticket would see Utah vote Democrat for the first time since FDR, and as close as November could be, that could be all it takes. He hasn’t stopped spitting on “SLC Olympics Hero” (and yeah, favorite son and fellow Mormon) Romney, even as recently as yesterday. His “I’m nice, unlike that Romney schmuck who my campaign manager would eagerly kick in the nuts” act is and has always been bogus.
sulla on June 11, 2008 at 6:16 PM
This is one evangelical you wouldn’t get with Huckabee, he reminds me of some slick televangelists and I DETEST them!
Fatal on June 11, 2008 at 6:16 PM
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:13 PM
That seems to have been spot on analysis. Whats the problem?
No one questions that the man gives a good speech.
VolMagic on June 11, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Fact of the matter is, the VP is a symbolic position that has no power. The real people that have power are the various Secretaries. The only nice thing about the VP spot is they tend to be the next nominee after the President serves two terms.
But like I said, let McCain take on Huck, it makes my decision to not vote for McCain easier.
Conservative Voice on June 11, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Sorry, Huck isn’t essential to win. In fact, a lot of people I know who are considering McCain would be turned off by the Huckster.
There are a lot better choices: Palin, Romney, Pawlenty, DeMint, Jindal — I’ll take anyone before that fraud, Huckabee.
irishspy on June 11, 2008 at 6:18 PM
Wow took one of the bunch long enough. LOL nice comment!
upinak on June 11, 2008 at 6:19 PM
Ah, there’s StainOlaf, GOP grand high inquisitor.
My day is complete.
sulla on June 11, 2008 at 6:19 PM
DO NOT WANT
We’re electing a politician, not a preacher. No matter how good he might be in the latter, he sucks horribly as the former.
Maybe he can be Obama’s VP. Their political philosophy doesn’t seem all that different.
Hollowpoint on June 11, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Wow. Got a lot of great zingers here today. Love this page!
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 6:22 PM
laura ingraham always has these nr young guns on her show and they always come off as arrogant elitists who don’t have a clue about what grassroots conservatives think. One of them called conservativism a trend the other day and compared it to bad music. I think these people go to washington and either forget or never even knew what it’s like out here in the real world. They are a little too overly impressed with their own intellect.
peacenprosperity on June 11, 2008 at 6:23 PM
I’m a broken glass republican. This year I will swallow broken glass before I vote for McCain/Huckster. Now if only we could convince Hillary to run as a third party candidate a McCain/Steele ticket looks pretty good.
meci on June 11, 2008 at 6:25 PM
How badly do I want Republicans to win?
Not that bad.
Splashman on June 11, 2008 at 6:26 PM
VolMagic,
I see it as a report, but not an analysis. A little clear thinking past the emotional rhetoric would have been welcome!
An analysis would have included remarks and thoughts on the content, the rhetoric used and why it was effective, as well as the composition of the audience. It would have been a just a bit more dispassionate!
This phrase especially, “there was a sense in the room that maybe, just maybe you were witnessing the beginning of something historic” made me raise my eyebrows. It sounded like TV hype from Chris Matthews.
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:27 PM
NO NO NO NO NO NO, a thousand times, N. O.
Purple Fury on June 11, 2008 at 6:27 PM
I’d vote for McCain and Huck over Obama.
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 6:27 PM
I think serious voters would stay home… McCain and Huck have got such terrible press in conservative circles separately that I really think the ticket would become a sum of flaws instead of a sum of strengths.
What pipe-smoking people hope comes out of this: Fiscal/Foreign Policy hawk at the top of the ticket, with a strong social/values conservative on the bottom.
What will actually happen: You’d have a social/(arguably) judicial liberal on top, with an foreign policy/Great Society/tax-n-spend liberal on bottom. And both ends of the ticket would be energy/immigration/environmental liberal.
Lehosh on June 11, 2008 at 6:29 PM
There goes the Western U.S.
WasatchMan on June 11, 2008 at 6:29 PM
While I don’t currently intend to vote for McCain I haven’t entirely ruled it out, but I would hold my nose and vote for Obama to keep McCain/Huckabee out of the White House. Similarly with a McCain/Graham ticket.
FloatingRock on June 11, 2008 at 6:29 PM
I agree. Do you remember who called “conservativism a trend the other day and compared it to bad music”?
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:29 PM
How do we stop the leftward drift of the republican party and an eventual one party system if we keep voting for republican liberals. If we do not take a stand at some point we are just being lead to the slaughter house. If mccain does not select a strong conservative that will right the direction of the party, I will not vote for him.
peacenprosperity on June 11, 2008 at 6:32 PM
St. Olaf, there seems to be be some sort of troll on this site using your name, masquerading as an incredibly ignorant bible-thumper. You ought to look into this.
WasatchMan on June 11, 2008 at 6:33 PM
It was an article on NRO. I may have even linked to it from here.
peacenprosperity on June 11, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Disenfranchised is a funny word for what happened in the last 15 years.
Lehosh on June 11, 2008 at 6:35 PM
You mean like this?:
peski on June 11, 2008 at 6:37 PM
There’s growing evidence that Obama will be incapable of leading. Forget about his liberal philosophy for a moment. He’s in way over his head. Who, in fact, would run the country under an Obama presidency?
You owe it to the country to pick someone competent, even if that person sucks.
ex. Hu Jintao is a damn competent autocrat.
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 6:38 PM
So that’s your idea of what grassroots conservatives think?
peacenprosperity on June 11, 2008 at 6:39 PM
I would have to slit my wrists if that happened.
And then I would kill myself, just to make sure.
SWLiP on June 11, 2008 at 6:40 PM
Nah, I think it’s more like being liberated from the Nazis by Barack Obama’s great uncle, only to be handed over to the Soviets shortly thereafter.
I know, I know, it’s not Barack’s great uncle’s fault that Buchenwald’s “liberation” was so short-lived. We have a different Democrat to thank for that.
Xrlq on June 11, 2008 at 6:42 PM
NO Huckabee.
gugga di ploddbeuy addhillyoo weesaaquaal bookoojuuloo.
(in tongues for any of you that need it said that way)
mattshu on June 11, 2008 at 6:43 PM
And I don’t owe it to my grandchildren to attempt to leave them a country even close to similar to the country I was born in?
Severe damage will be done no matter who is elected this time. America needs to understand it is liberal policies that have caused the damage. If it’s mccain, and he screws it up exactly the same way barry will, the leftists in the media and demofascist party will say, “See, more of Bush and the republicans.” in 2010 and they will solidify their hold on congress, maybe forever.
peacenprosperity on June 11, 2008 at 6:44 PM
“I will stay at home before I vote for a McCain/Huckabee ticket.”
“Me too!”
“Me three!”
Me four! And I’ll be over 80 come election time and have never ever missed an election since I was old enough to get a ballot.
ich dien on June 11, 2008 at 6:46 PM
Yeah me too. But then, I’d vote for my collie over Obama.
My collie says:
CyberCipher on June 11, 2008 at 6:46 PM
Get acquainted with Huck’s platform because he will be president very soon.
Pass human life amendment
Ban gay marriage
No amnesty for illegals/deport illegals
Stimulate economy by abolishing the income tax
Stimulate economy with infrastructure construction
Drill ANWAR and US offshore sites
enhanced interrogation of terrorists is ok
bomb iran’s nuke sites
finish the job in iraq
Yeah I can understand why some people here don’t like his platform
i/sarc
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:47 PM
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:27 PM
I mean, as much as you and I can despise Obama’s politics, he can create an atmosphere that is key to being politically sucessful when he is on point and has a good speech to deliver.
That’s why he is so dangerous. You don’t start a cult by being uncharismatic. Rich was just pointing out that Obama can do such a thing. I don’t find that especially troubling (on Rich’s part that is).
VolMagic on June 11, 2008 at 6:48 PM
I would agree with you except for the immediate external threats. There I see a difference, and that difference sways me.
I was trying to make the point that Hillary, for ex, is bad, but competent. Obama is bad, and incompetent. That makes it worse.
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 6:48 PM
LoL, that’s a very funny policy position for someone who called opposition to illegal immigration “Un-Christian” and “Anti Life”.
Lehosh on June 11, 2008 at 6:49 PM
Me too. Better a dog than a louse.
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 6:50 PM
The majority of the republican party have spoken…
WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR MCCAIN UNLESS HUCKABEE IS VP!
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:52 PM
So AP force fed Red Pill the blue pill. When is it Fred Phelps here’s turn?
TheUnrepentantGeek on June 11, 2008 at 6:52 PM
Huck will never be vice president, much less president.
Never. No matter what that voice in your and RP’s head tells you.
techno_barbarian on June 11, 2008 at 6:52 PM
GET USED TO IT FOLKS.
IT IS INEVITABLE.
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:52 PM
Huckabee is not the “right Republican” for any moment, let alone this one.
MikeZero on June 11, 2008 at 6:56 PM
As much as I strenuously dislike Huckabee, he’d at least be a viable (and entertaining) debate opponent for Obama, as opposed to the total massacre I foresee for McCain vs Obama.
As VP? Who cares?
Nichevo on June 11, 2008 at 6:57 PM
Is that factual? That a majority of the party shares your religious and political views? Or do you mean a lot of people?
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 6:57 PM
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 6:52 PM
lol, where do you get your material. After 90 posts here, only you are liking this idea, ( since red pill hasn’t posted yet ) so at most 2 people in our population here…yep it seems the “majority” of Republicans like the idea, lets go ahead and ignore the fact most people here are very opposed to the idea.
But since I am not a McCain fan, go ahead McCain take on Huckabee, it makes it easier for me to vote third party.
Conservative Voice on June 11, 2008 at 6:57 PM
peacenprosperity, thanks. If you remember the title or see the NR article again, could you link to it here.
VolMagic, we’ll just have to disagree. I don’t think there’s anything historic about swaying the masses with rhetoric devoid of substance–it’s been done many times. Lowry’s comment was a little too breathless for me. If he had no time on the road for analysis then a little dry and wry wit of a take down on Obama would have at least sounded as if he wasn’t caught up in Obama fever.
INC on June 11, 2008 at 6:58 PM
btw, I listen to what you and RP say. I don’t hear this point of view anywhere else. I just don’t have a good sense of how many people you likely speak for.
JiangxiDad on June 11, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Good. Good riddance.
Don’t let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya.
techno_barbarian on June 11, 2008 at 7:00 PM
This has been decided a long time ago.
Don’t worry..you’ll learn to love him.
SaintOlaf on June 11, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Nuts
FloatingRock on June 11, 2008 at 7:02 PM
WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR MCCAIN UNTIL EVERY PIZZA IS TOPPED WITH PINEAPPLE!
THE GOP HAS SPOKEN!
Weight of Glory on June 11, 2008 at 7:03 PM
How conservative and Christian of you.
Ronald Reagan and Jesus are indignant today.
Entelechy on June 11, 2008 at 7:04 PM
Well … if you count all of the imaginary friends …..
wise_man on June 11, 2008 at 7:04 PM
By whom? You and the other nutcases that think you’ve got every possible thing figured out.
I can’t wait for the election results to be determined. As I asked Red Pill, what will you do when your messiah doesn’t come through? What will that say about those voices in your head?
You’re getting some very bad advice, satan olaf. Very bad.
techno_barbarian on June 11, 2008 at 7:05 PM
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