Huckabee: If KSM gets off, the Democratic Party is finished

I was saying this myself last week, but the more I think about it, the more I doubt it.

Huckabee wouldn’t say if he plans to run for the White House again. But he has a lot to say about President Obama’s plan to try 9-11 terror suspects in the United States.

“Well, I think it’s absurd, and I think the Obama administration will be as much on trail as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” said Huckabee…

“And God help us if they get off on a technicality because of the way the evidence was gathered,” said Huckabee. “I would tell you not only is the Obama administration finished, I think the Democratic Party is finished.”

They’d be hammered in the short term for sure. In fact, looking at this new CNN poll, I might think Obama’s already suffered some damage if not for the fact that voters are overwhelmingly focused on the economy:

The poll indicates that 64 percent believe Mohammed should be tried in military court, with 34 percent suggesting that he face trial in civilian court. Six in 10 people questioned say Mohammed should be tried stateside, with 37 percent calling for the trial to take place at a U.S. facility in another country.

“The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in front of a civilian court is universally unpopular – even a majority of Democrats and liberals say that he should be tried by military authorities,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Despite that, most Americans say that he will get a fair trial in the U.S.”

Nearly eight in 10 favor execution if he’s convicted, but no word on the all-important question of what to do if he isn’t. I think Huck’s right that the Dems would take heavy damage for a single election cycle, but much depends on (a) how long or shortly before election day the verdict was rendered, (b) how the economy’s doing at the time, and (c) what The One chooses to do with KSM in the unlikely event that he’s acquitted. Would voters really go berserk if a jury found him not guilty and he was promptly re-arrested to stand trial in a military court for the attack on the Pentagon? As Patterico reminds us, Obama’s own words earlier this year were practically an admission that this will be a show trial. As long as KSM doesn’t end up back on the streets of Kandahar or wherever, I think you’d likely see highly motivated conservative turnout during the next election (especially if the trial turned into the jihadist soapbox that many expect) but no huge falloff among Democrats. Tell me I’m wrong. Please!

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