What’dya know, James Dobson Endorses Huckabee
February 8th, 2008 Posted in Endorsement, Endorsements, Evangelicals, James Dobson, Mike Huckabee
From The Associated Press
My question is…
What took you so long Mr. Dobson? I mean come on, Huck and you are a perfect match made in Heaven! Both of you are radically right leaning people…I can’t believe that you ever mentioned looking for a 3rd Party Candidate, when Huck was right there in front of your face with his same exact values.
Yawn…next…
February 8th, 2008 at 4:43 am
I think the answer is pretty obvious Ann, he really didn’t want to endorse Huck, but felt pressured not to endorse Mitt. Rather than endorse Huck while it still might hurt Mitt, he withheld his endorsement. Once Mitt dropped out, he was free to give it to Huckabee. Was it politically courageous? Not at all. Was it some disgusting betrayal? Not in my opinion. I don’t think his endorsement is going to change a lot of minds.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Any endorsement given 2 months outside a canditates entry into the race, I ignore, like the talk radio endorsements. Mitt Romney has been consistent in his view, ideas, comments - everything and yet, most of these late endorsers (i.e., Santorum) went around saying that Mitt changed and came to THEIR way of thinking. Sigh. The FACT is they just STARTED LISTENING. That’s their fault. Pathetic.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I have to admit, this one pissed me off. Please excuse my language.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am
According to an article…
Montana will still give Romney his 25 delegates even after he suspended his campaign, so it means he is not NOT out of the race, he simply stopped his campaign…
He has not given up his delegates, yet… so keep working for him as if he is still in the race!
So, technically he is still in it!
Vote for Mitt… give him delegates -keep him in the second place over the opportunist Huckster…
Please spread the word… just do it… and it would pay off in the end because Mitt will definitely be at the GOP convention this summer. He will be seen as one of the most respected Republicans ever!
Don’t split or give in or give up! VOTE for Mitt in your state if you have not yet…
February 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am
What a farce.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
CYuen,
I agree why else would he use the word “suspended” instead of “quitting” his campaign. I think he left the door a little open just in case.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Dobson came out with a scathing non-endorsement of McCain on Monday. It would have been a perfect time to endorse either Mitt or Huckabee. Why didn’t he endorse Huck? Becuase he KNEW he wasn’t the best candidate in the race and he would have looked foolish. And heaven forbid the leader of the evangelicals endorse a Mormon - that would be akin to blasphemy (sarcasm). He couldn’t move fast enough after Mitt got out to endorse the Huckster. My estimation of Dobson has rolled completely downhill. What a coward.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I suppose that Dobson has some long held attitudes that found themselves in conflict in Romney’s campaign.
I’m hopeful that by 2012 the novelty and the worry of a Mormon candidate will have disipated. Soon people will look back and think, “Isn’t it interesting that Mormonism was a factor.”
February 8th, 2008 at 10:50 am
What a minute…he voted for Romney though, didn’t he?
February 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Some key endorsements could have helped Mitt Romney sooner.
I believe being a mormon is one of the key factors that held Romney back in this race. The media was on his case right out of the gate and pretty soon Mike Huckabee picked up the religion card and the press set back and let Huckabee run with it. They did not care to point out Mike Huckabee was not a conservative. They just supported the sentiment that he was a good ole boy. When Romney felt it necessary to point out the differences between he and his opponents, the press touted GMR as the negative campaigner. The media clearly had an agenda to derail his campaign. Romney was a threat to the Obama/Hillary candidacy. Many republicans were fooled by the notion that John McCain is the only one who can beat Hillary. Once the media takes him apart there will be nothing left for President.
I just can’t watch the news anymore and I don’t feel like I can trust the media. I guess we have talk radio.
I am suffering from shock, trying to figure out what to do next. The thought of a democratic White House is so scary.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Mit 10,
Just keep doing what you’re doing now. Stay wired in and continue to be part of the political process. Mitt will be back in 2012. 2008 was just the down payment. MR has gone from close to zero in name recognition to 90 something in one year. Can you imagine what it will be like to rev up his campaign in 2012?
My guess is the Republican nomination and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee in 2008. The MSM will tear John McCain apart and he will provide most of the material.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Mit10:
I agree with you about the media, but everything will be pro-dem from now on. John McCain may have gotten a free pass, but it’s over for him too. If you have been paying any attention the last year, more negative stuff came out of the DNC against Mitt than any other candidate. They were determined to tear him down, because he would have been the biggest threat, and they did. Now Chris Matthews, who savaged Romney all year, is now going gleefully after McCain. It’s not just anti-Mitt anymore, now the media will have the slant of everything anti-republican, and how wonderful Obama is. Now even Hillary is being savaged. They are saying she can’t win, and when they say that, that means they will attempt to bring her down. The media wants an Obama/McCain match-up because Obama is completely new and refreshing, and it will be in stark contrast to McCain, the old fart. McCain’s base will never warm up to him — even with Huck on the ticket, they will lose too many Mitt supporters to win. With Mitt on the ticket, McCain will lose the I-luv-Huck/hate Mormons vote, so he is really in a bind right now. McCain was not embraced yesterday at CPAC, despite media reports to the contrary. If he can’t rally the base; he’s going down big-time in November. Maybe after 4 years of Obama, Republicans will be ready for Mitt.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Yes, keep up the charge. I don’t like it when others do this, but I would like you to read my other comment, so I’m reposting it here. Moral of the story, keep on fighting. Let’s give Governor Romney some more delegates at the National Convention so he will still wield influence for our cause. In addition, those of you that are already delegates from the previous caucus states, make sure you keep participating in your district and state conventions so we can promote and elevate all the delegates that he has already won. Unlike Huckabee and McCain supporters, we are not interchangeable in our support, as neither of them stand for all we hold dear.
Now, for McCain supporters, Huckabee still has a role to play. He’ll stay in the race for less than altruistic (e.g. personal) reasons, and not for the party or country. But his roll as continued foil will keep McCain in the headlines and will inadvertently help the party anyway. (Still not sure how I feel about that. I feel abandoned by my party today…)
Romney was right, McCain will be the nominee but he simply did not have the resources or the organization to slog out a protracted battle to the convention (he still doesn’t, by the way. Nothing has magically changed overnight). However, by suspending Romney’s campaign this early, McCain will now fade from the headlines (apparently that doesn’t matter, as most who have cast a ballot clearly have not thought about it anyway). So with no money, and now not having to campaign, McCain slips from public view to relative irrelevance and allows the Democrats to define the presidential debate for months to come. That is NOT good, but I can’t say I’m not just a little bit happy for that, as it hurts McCain’s chances. But that it Schadenfruede, and that is patently not Christian. I’ll have to repent. And I’ll have to repent of this too: it was gratifying to see McCain come crawling on his knees and humble himself before the CPAC yesterday. That is something we have not seen from him on the campaign trail, and one of the biggest reasons I personally object to the man. Time will tell if it is sincere (my inner cynic says no. It’s just another example of political gamesmanship from a Washington insider).
So if Huckabee stays on, don’t hold it all against him. I’m sure McCain’s machinations will have had something to do with it. They have been and continue to be an effective tag team. And to those that support either of them, I hope you realize that it really doesn’t matter who you’re for, because you are for the same goal. In other words, support for one or the other is now completely fungible and has been for some time. I can vouch for that by how those in my precinct voted. Huckabee supporters were gleefully proclaiming their support for Huckabee based on his Christian values but they were more than willing to cast their lots with McCain, who is the antithesis of most of those values.
So note to Huckabee: stay in, play McCain’s game, but don’t let your head get too big (if that is possible). You really don’t have a chance, but you still serve a purpose.
And note to Romney supporters (that is not past tense): YOU TOO STILL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY. Don’t hang your heads in despair when Huckabee goes on to pick up a few (undeserved) nods. It’s all part of their plan. I would also encourage all you Romney supporters that haven’t yet cast a vote to continue to vote your conscience (Romney). If he continues to have a showing in the upcoming primaries, what message will that send to Huckabee when Romney is spending $0. More importantly, it will send a CLEAR message to the party without actually hurting our chances in the general election, where the only outcome will be a Hillary/Obama presidency and ensuing Supreme court nominations that will further unravel the foundation of our society.
A Rally to Mitt is now a Rally to the Message. Send the message. Don’t vote for the fool or his foil in the PRIMARIES (we’ll deal with the general election later). That’s a message that the news outlets will not be able to ignore.
Rally to MITT!!
February 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Oh, and about the savaging of McCain, let the games begin. For anyone who thought otherwise, you were disabused of that notion last night. The coverage was not as much about Mitt’s suspended campaign as it was a scathing recapitulation of McCain’s past failures for the conservative cause, and how he has an uphill battle to win them over. Where was the “McCain is not a conservative” angle last week, when we needed it? Honestly, even I was shocked to hear an NPR reporter list in detail all of the talking points against McCain that Governor Romney has been pointing out (till he was blue in the face) all year long, to no avail.
It’s crazy. Send a message!
February 8th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
My previous post aside, we need to stop giving Huckabee free press (that’s all he can afford these days, and we can’t afford to pay his bills for him).
There is an affect that if you fixate on something or someone in a negative way, sometimes you achieve an opposite outcome than you desired. For all the fury with which talk radio hosts lambasted McCain the last couple of weeks, the result was a TON of free publicity for him that his bankrupt campaign wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. Think about it. Every time Rush, Laura, or Hannity went off on McCain, reporters scrambled to put a microphone in front of the man and gave him a free pass on center stage.
You win by sticking to your message, a positive message of a hopeful future, and not inadvertently giving the opposition free air time. Romney should have simply ignored Huckabee, and we should now as well so others will follow our lead in support of what Romney stood FOR, not against. And by all means don’t vent your fury against McCain. See it for what it is, and continue to support Governor Romney’s message and cause. The more shrill or vehement we become in our opposition to McCain, the more deranged we appear to other reasonable voters, which works to push them his way.
So, it’s Huckawho? Sounds vaguely familiar, but I forget…
A vote FOR Mitt is a vote FOR Mitt! Stand FOR something.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Wow, three posts in a row (now 4). I’m definitely in the denial stage
February 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
There is a post over at mymanmitt titled “Time to Close Ranks” by Jon. - More or less recruiting Mitt supporters to now vote McCain. I wrote a comment that that is not their only choice, but referred them to this site so that they could see that a vote for Mitt makes a statement and Mitt can still collect delegates. Funny, but Jon chose to not post my comment. I have now commented under Jason’s post and don’t know if it will get posted.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I think if Mitt might want to change anything in his strategy next time around it will be this:
1. Forget trying to appease the evangelical south. They don’t like your religion so anything that you say remotely religious or God-fearing will be taken the wrong way. Don’t shut the door on them, but realize that they may never be won over, so no pandering. And assume that Huck will have them won over already.
2. Appeal always on the economy, from day 1. That is your strength. People who don’t like you will like your ability to turn the economy around. It will be really bad by 2012.
3. Never attack your rivals, not even contrast adds. You need to be above that, and every attack you made just came right back at you. It was like a boomerang. The Reagan way is the right way.
4. New Hampshire liked you a lot in 2008, but John McCain was planted there waiting for you. He saw blood after Iowa, and then he went in for the kill. Don’t put as much emphasis on Iowa next time, because that will be Huck territory in 2012. But really, really, really focus on New Hampshire. That is and always will be your ticket to the presidency. New Hampshire is your second home, but it will need to be your first home for 2012.
February 10th, 2008 at 3:52 am
I don’t get it.
As one looks at the states that Romney won you can see that Huckabee was right behind him. And even in California if you added the conservative votes together, the conservative (anti McCain vote) beat McCain’s. It seems that by Romney (whom I voted for by the way) “suspending” his campaign, instead of just dropping out, he is really hurting the conservative voice.
Wouldn’t most of the delegates that Mitt won go to the second place winner in those states? It seems that the Republicans often split the conservative vote and only have one moderate run. It makes me crazy.
As far as the war goes. There is a war already being held inside our borders, and over 3,000 are dying under the attack daily. They are the most innocent of victims… the unborn. McCain thinks this is OK…Huckabee doesn’t. Mr. Romney, fully drop out and throw your support to Huckabee.
February 10th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Ronald Reagan told us not to speak ill of another Republican. Problem is that it isn’t
against the law to call yourself a Republican while you’re NOT a Republican.
Similarly, I cannot publicly say anything bad about Dobson. I just wish that he’d get
rid of the “Dr.” title, because he’s no smarter than the average Christian. He’d be
more accepted, I think, if he’d adopt some real humility by dropping said title in front
of his name.
Of course, not saying anything bad about him doesn’t mean that I agree with him:
in fact, I disagree with him a lot.
What the nation’s voters should focus on is primarily two things: competence and
character. There’s nobody that has as much of both as W. Mitt Romney - - - it’s
not even close.
I’m still praying for a miracle. And there’s lot of time for one. Don’t give up hope.
Jerry
February 11th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Huckabee, trying to appear to be the “good ole boy” Baptist minister, is a snake in the grass. He has links to “anti-Morman” websites. This is the elephant in the room. He and his evangelical (to include television ministries) have combined to smear the LDS church perpetuating lies and spins about the doctrine, preaching this stuff from the pulpit to the ignorant, lazy and fearful. It is justice that neither he nor McCain could claim the delegates in Louisiana and the almost 4 way split in Washington state was interesting to watch.
I, for one will be voting for Romney tomorrow in the Virginia primary. I hope enough people do to send a message.