Third Post of the Day: Better Make It IMPORTANT

[snurri]

I was both encouraged and disturbed by the caucus results. Encouraged because I like Obama very much. (Anyone know where I can find video of his speech? I had to go to bed . . .) He's not as far left as I'd like, but the reality is that no one on the American political scene is or is ever likely to be. I also like Edwards--I stayed up to watch his speech, and he said all the right things--although I think perhaps the stink of failure in '04 may be following him.

Huckabee, on the other hand? Kinda scary. That's quite a trench between the two "winners" last night.

Comments

[silk-noir.livejournal.com]

Go Obama....

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Amen!

[rnb.livejournal.com]

Huckabee is the only candidate in the entire field that actually frightens me. I loathe Giuliani and Clinton, but neither of them is as scary as Huck.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Same here. He's so mild-mannered and personable that I think a lot of people aren't looking at his actual positions, ya know? He's an evolutionary throwback.

[bondgwendabond.livejournal.com]

One word: Evangelicals. That's what makes him so scary.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Agree.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

What exactly is the deal with Huckabee? I feel like I've heard the name a lot lately, but I haven't bothered to read up yet. (Mea culpa, I know, but I like my terror specific, so I figured I wouldn't go out of my way to worry about the candidates until they've been narrowed down a bit.)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

He's a former evangelist with a history of statements denying evolution, a woman's right to choose, etc. He believes the Bible is infallible, that homosexuality is abberant, and in 1992 he was advocating that AIDS patients should be separated from the general population; he's since backed off on that, but that gives you an idea of his mindset . . .

[despotliz.livejournal.com]

He's a former Southern Baptist minister, former Governor of Arkansas, and general crazy crazy guy. He opposes abortion, same-sex marriage and civil unions, gun control, and supports the Iraq war and the death penalty. He's a creationist. Here are his top 10 crazy moments, and here are another ten.

I don't know why I find the US presidential elections so fascinating, but maybe it's because Huckabee is a serious candidate and he's so far to the right of any mainstream political candidates in the UK. I can't find a citation, but I believe in a matchup against basically any of the Democratic front runners he crashes and burns and loses by 20 points, and I would really like to see that happen.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Oh, he's the speaks-for-god guy! I saw a reference to that, but no names were named. Batshit.

[sarah-prineas.livejournal.com]

Huckabee's irrelevant. He got 30-some percent of 100,000 Republican caucusers. 40K votes, about. He brought out the evangelical whackos, but he can't sustain it.

The Obama win was exciting! Boy, was the campaign organized, from the moment I stepped into the caucus. Good stuff. Inspiring.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right. History would suggest you are; I guess we'll find out more on Tuesday.

I'm kind of jealous of your experience, although I also think that me at a caucus would probably = some kind of social freakout.

[sarah-prineas.livejournal.com]

It's very fun and social. I spent most of it, when I wasn't holding up my number and counting off, chatting with my neighbors. There can be some wrangling if you're undecided or if you're one of the people who is supposed to go schmooze the undecideds or "unviables," but mostly it's just hanging out. As an Obaman, you would've been sitting in a HUGE group (bigger than Edwards and Clinton combined), cheering when the numbers were announced and feeling pretty hopeful about the process and the results.

[10yroldwhizkid.livejournal.com]

I thought Edwards had a good speech, but I kept thinking "Can anyone do anything about these problems anymore?" The reason I like Obama so much is he smacks the jaded out of me, which is a raaaaare quality.

Huckabee FREAKS ME OUT. My mom said she had a premonition that he'd win back when she first saw him. Then I read his wikipedia entry to her and she changed her mind. I also do not understand Ron Paul and all the hype over him.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on Edwards; he said the right things. I'm just not sure he has the will or the skill to get them done.

Thanks for the video! I'm at work now, but I'm going to watch it later.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Damn that man can speak. That was beautiful.

I so hope he does well on Tuesday.

[10yroldwhizkid.livejournal.com]

It was an incredible speech for sure. I am going to be so so nervous until Tuesday (eh, and probably well after). I'm trying not to watch all these political scrutiny shows because I hate seeing him torn apart by analysts and loud people, but I'm so curious to see how everything will turn out.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

The thing with Huckabee is, he's (admittedly) a know-nothing. You can get away with being a know-nothing early in a campaign, but eventually people realize it.

And, in any other presidential election, a charming know-nothing has a good chance of being elected. But even republicans are getting kinda sick of being represented by somebody who stumbles around being clueless. (See also, "You, sir, are no Jack Kennedy" and other assorted Dan Quayle buffoonery.)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

One thing that Chris Matthews said in the coverage last night was that until the caucus we didn't know who "the Huckabee" was. Like, we didn't know who was the guy who would either get knocked down in the primaries or defeat all comers until after Iowa--and, having recently read a few books about the '68 and '72 election cycles, the former is definitely a pattern. So, yeah, I think you're right that this is likely to turn around quickly. I think the contrast between the two "winners" last night is still pretty amazing, though.

[timakers.livejournal.com]

Huckabee interests me, because his entire platform seems to be *ahem*

"Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! The baby Jesus, in his manger, right here! Jesus! H! Christ!"

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Hee. That seems about right, yeah.

I know -- I'm behind the times

[rsheslin.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, the overall numbers and percentages appear to be in our favor.

Re: I know -- I'm behind the times

[snurri.livejournal.com]

That's encouraging. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Repub base is pretty uninspired by the candidates, and one can hardly blame them. They're a pretty sorry bunch.