Huckabee Polls Best Against Clinton in Ohio Poll by Survey USA

Talking Points Memo has two polls up on its website. One is a national polls that shows Huckabee running second among Republicans for the nomination. The other one shows that Huckabee is the Republican polling best against Clinton in a Survey USA Poll. These polls are very fascinating.

One reason why Huckabee may have moved up is that his campaign is tapping into a circle of evangelical ministers that is helping his spread his message. Giuliani doesn't play well to evangelical Christians because of his support for gay rights, abortion, and his rather messy life with his three marriages. Romney doesn't play well because a lot of evangelical Christians don't regard Mormonism as a religion but regard it as a cult. Interestingly Huckabee is not stating his views on Mormonism being a cult.

That is a very smart political move. By not getting involved he doesn't get criticized for being intolerant of others' religion. Yet, since he is an ordained Baptist minister, he also doesn't risk offending conservative Christians as he might if he said that he thought it wasn't a cult.

In a earlier post, we wrote that Huckabee is the worst Republican nominee from a Democratic perspective, especially if Clinton is the nominee. He would bring out conservative evangelical Christians without the down side of either Giuliani or Romney. Warning to fellow Democrats: Keep your eyes on "County Boy Huck".

56% of Iowa Republicans & 86% of Iowa Democrats Want Troops Withdrawn Within 6 Months

Strategic Vision did a poll of Iowa voters and found this interesting result:

4. Do you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months? (Republicans Only)
Yes 53%
No 36%
Undecided 11%
What is interesting is that none of the Republican candidates for president are talking to this group of Republicans EXCEPT for Congressman Ron Paul. Congressman Paul, by the way, has raised over eight million of a 12 million dollar goal that his campaign has set for the fourth quarter of 2007.

By the way, when Democrats in Iowa were asked the same question, this is how they responded:

6. Do you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months? (Democrats Only)
Yes 86%
No 6%
Undecided 8%

Interestingly enough, no Democratic candidate is speaking to this group of Iowa Democratic voters, even though, according to this poll, they make up 86% of the Democratic vote in Iowa. The closest is New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who, according to his website is the only Democratic candidate calling for a withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq by the end of 2009. So here we have a majority of both Iowa Democrats and Republicans favoring a troop withdrawal from Iraq within six months, and the major candidates for both parties' nomination aren't reflecting their wishes.

Why is that? Because in politics name recognition trumps everything, including issues of war and peace, and name recognition can be bought with advertising. If Paul and Richardson were as well known as Giuliani and Clinton, this would be a much more interesting race. They are not, though, and more is the pity.

"Political Transvestite" to Push Race Based Campaign?

Thomas Edsall, the political editor for the Huffington Post, has an article out that makes the case that Rudy Giuliani is going to use a race based campaign strategy to win the Republican nomination. In the article, dated November 4, 2007, Edsall argues that Giuliani's political suceess in New York was based on racial appeals to white conservative voters. Here is a quote from the article:

The themes the campaign are lining up for renewed emphasis are those reflecting Giuliani's confrontational stance towards black New Yorkers and their white liberal allies, as well as his record of siding decisively with the police against minorities who launched protests alleging police brutality during the years he was mayor from 1994-2001.

Giuliani's eight years as New York's chief executive exemplified a Northern adaptation of the GOP's politically successful "Southern strategy" - the strategy playing on white resistance to and resentment of federal legislation passed in the 1960s mandating desegregation - resistance that produced a realignment in the South and fractured the Democratic loyalties of white working class voters in the urban North from 1968 to 2004.

"Race is at the heart of Rudy's story," according to Wayne Barrett, one of Giuliani's preeminent biographers. Giuliani ended race and gender preferences in New York's city contracting. He eliminated open admissions at City University and re-instituted testing requirements for the school -- requirements which disadvantaged black and Latino applicants seeking to complete the four-year curriculum. Also angering black leaders, Giuliani instituted tough law and order policies that were consistently cited by his administration as the driving force pushing crime rates down over 60 percent during his tenure as Mayor.

If Giuliani is the nominee, we are going to see a campaign based on fear that will rival anything we ever got from Karl Rove and George W. Bush. The question is whether Democrats are up for the fight.

The way to defeat a campaign based on social populist themes that are designed to appeal to white conservatives is to run a campaign based on economic populist themes. Issues such as healthcare, job security, making higher education more accessible, and union rights can counter the themes that Giuliani will be raising. What doesn't work, though, is to just act self-rightous and complain about Republican racism. That won't cut it.

Why Republicans Don't Like the Clintons

So why do Republicans hate the Clintons beyond rational thought? Well, no matter what they tell you, its not because of corruption, or because of her personality, or his sexual indiscretions, or the fact that she stay married to Bill. It's none of that. It's because they can win and what policies they advocate.

While Democrats in the netroots castigate Clinton for voting for the Iraq War or for not being sufficiently liberal, conservatives are afraid of her for a much more basic reason: she'll help those who conservatives don't want helped.

This if from an article by Ron Fournier of the Associated Press on how much conservatives can't stand HRC:

"Most of the people who haven't voted — women, the poor — are going to put Hillary Clinton in office," said Rick Morris, 60, while leaning on his white pickup truck outside the Waffle House, "and I'm just hoping that won't be the case."

This guy is typical of a lot of conservatives. They don't want those they consider unworthy running their government. In this guy's case it is women and poor people. Can you imagine it? A country actually led by a woman? Why, this guy might just have a stroke or a heart attack.

Every so often Democrats are reminded why we are Democrats and not Republicans. We don't think that the poor and women, as well as others such as Blacks, Gays, Latinos, and working class folk are somehow unworthy or not as good as we are and conservatives do. It really is that simple.

Fascinating Framshop Entry on Clinton Shaping Democratic Position on Iraq War

A person named Jeffery Feldman runs a blog called Frameship. In an entry dated September 26, 2007, entitled Frameshop: Field Swings To Clinton Frame On Iraq he argues that all top three Democratic candidates are adopting Senator Hillary Clinton's framing of American options for the war in Iraq. According to Feldman, those options include keeping American troops in Iraq for the entire next presidential term. As he points out, this leaves anti-war Democratic activists in the position of having no candidate in the top three who advocates getting all American troops out of Iraq in the relatively near future.

What's interesting about both Edwards and Obama basically accepting Clinton's position on Iraq is that, according to a CBS poll of the American public, it's not what most Americans want. This is a question asked in the poll and the response:
"From what you know about the U.S. involvement in Iraq, how much longer would you be willing to have large numbers of U.S. troops remain in Iraq: less than a year, one to two years, two to five years or longer than five years?" .

Less Than A Year 49%
One to Two Years 23%
Two to Five Years 12%
Longer Than Five Years 5%
Other/Unsure 11%

Take a look at those numbers. Seventy-two percent of the American public want withdrawal within two years and only 17% of the American pubic wants American troops longer than two years.

Assuming that both Guiliani and Clinton get their parties respective nomination, neither major party's presidential nominee will be articulating a position on Iraq that is in accordance with what most Americans want in Iraq. That is both remarkable and dangerous for both major political parties.

United States Ranks 41st In Life Expectancy

While Americans are living longer, they are not living as long as people in 40 other countries, according to a this article by the Associated Press. The article is based on statistics that are obtained from the Census Bureau. This quote is from the article:

For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles. Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands

There are several causes, but this one is particularly shocking: A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations.

It is also interesting what one expert sees as a reason for America's decline in international health rankings:

Murray, from the University of Washington, said improved access to health insurance could increase life expectancy. But, he predicted, the U.S. won't move up in the world rankings as long as the health care debate is limited to insurance.

So when a politician, like Rudy Giuliani, speaks out against the United States government providing access to health care for all Americans by calling it "socialized medicine" he is really advocating allowing babies to die at a higher rate in this country than in other countries. This coming from a member of a political party that presumes to lecture Democrats on "family values."

Village Voice Prints Article About Guiliani, aka, the Political Transvestite

Village Voice has an interesting article up on the PT and his the truth of his claims about his record on terrorism and 9-11. Click here to read it. Basically the author calls Rudy a liar.

Republicans Duck You Tube Debate on CNN

If you click on the link in this entry's title, you can read about how Rudy, the Political Transvestite and Mitt, the Dog Abuser, are trying to duck the You Tube debate on CNN. Why? Because they don't want to face ordinary Americans and answer their questions. They only want to answer questions from a corporate owned media and friendly GOP audiences. Well, if they are afraid to face ordinary Americans now, what will they do with the Islamist terrorists they are always talking about?

MCDAC's Free Advice to Rudy Giuliani on Divorced Parent Etiquette

Okay, so Rudy "The Political Transvestite" Giuliani shows up at his daughter's graduation with his new wife. He arrives right before the ceremony begins and leaves 10 minutes before it ends. In the process he manages to avoid talking to his daughter and apparently doesn't clap for her when she crosses the stage. Obviously the chill between the PT and his kids continues. So we are going to give the PT some unsolicited advice about kids and divorced parents.

1. Never, ever bring the woman you committed adultery with to an event for your kids when they know their Mom is going to be there. It puts them in a really uncomfortable situation.

2. When you have publicly humiliated their Mom, don't expect your kids to forgive you and embrace the new wife.

3. When you are the parent who is seen as causing the divorce, be prepared for your children to be mad at you for awhile. How long depends in part if you understand points one and two.

4. Do explain to your new wife, if she was the cause of the marriage breaking up, that you will be attending your children's events without her. If she doesn't understand why, then you are with the wrong person.

That's it. If Rudy would just follow our free advice, his life would be better but then we will be robbed of the opportunity to poke fun at GOP family values.

How to Answer the Political Transvestite and Other Republican Demagogues

If you click on the You Tube link below, you can hear the Rudy Giuliani, aka "The Political Transvestite" suggest that Democrats blame America for the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Here is the answer that Democrats need to give to that kind of talk: name one elected Democratic official who has ever blamed Americans for the events of 9-11. As opposed to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell who blamed his fellow Americans for 9-11 by being gay, a member of the ACLU, or a member of the People for the American Way and thereby brought God's punishment down on America.

Romney Distancing Himself from Bubble-Boy

First it was Sam Brownback, now it is Mitt Romney. With Bush's approval ratings in the low 30s or high 20s, the war in Iraq escalating, and the whole GOP in danger of getting slaughtered in '08, Mitt Romney is distancing himself from Bush. Both Romney and Brownback see an opportunity to become the "anti-Bush" in the race for the GOP nomination.

With his different views on abortion, Rudy Giuliani, the political transvestite, could also become the "anti-Bush" in '08 among Republicans, but he is wedding himself to the war. John McCain has already done so, although he keeps trying to have it both ways.

Romney and Brownback got the better idea. Start distancing youself from the Iraq War, hope that Hillary is the Dem nominee, and maybe you can avoid the fallout from BB's blunders. It is sure better for them than drinking more Bush Kool-Aid and getting killed.

NY Times Reports Giuliani to Embrace Abortion Rights

In what is seen as a direct challenge to the influence of the religious right in the Republican Party, the New York Times is reporting that Rudy Giuliani is going to announce for a woman's right to choose. Since 1980 Republican presidential candidates have announced their support for pro-life positions, regardless of their previous record or stated beliefs. This is about to turn the GOP primaries into a real battle between Rudy Giuliani and the people who supported George W. Bush and are credited with his re-election in 2004.

This will be fun to watch, although such a battle, if Giuliani wins the nomination could make him harder to beat in the 2008 election. This move will reinforce the media's desire to portray the political transvestite as some sort of "moderate" Republican without asking him where he stands on issues such as Bush's reckless tax cuts and the need to strengthen the social safety net.

One thing that could happen if Giuliani is nominated is the creation of a third party by right-to-lifers. Traditionally in America third parties are on the fringe unless they start to gain broader appeal. When that happens one of the two major parties co-opts the ideas of the third party and takes their supporters into its embrace.

That history, though, was created before the Internet. The Internet makes it possible to organize faster and link up people who have common beliefs but are physically far removed from each other. There is no reason why the Internet couldn't be used to create a third party.

The function of political parties was to bring groups of people together who shared a common belief system. Such people were spread out and needed an organization in order to combine their efforts to achieve political power. Once you have a very inexpensive way of finding out who people are that share your belief system, why do you necessarily need a political party?

Regent University Hypocrites?

One of our readers, OHDave, posted a comment on one of our entries about Regent University inviting Rudy Giuliani to speak on April 17, 2007. What he found interesting about this invitation is that Pat Robertson was very criticial of Bill Clinton for his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and for allegedly lying about it at a deposition for a civil lawsuit. He pointed out in his comments that it is pretty well documented that Rudy was carrying on an affair with his third wife while he was married to his second wife.

We searched and, sure enough, OhDave was right, Regent University has invited Rudy to speak on April 17, 2007. If you click on the entry in this title, you can read the press release. At the bottom of the press release is a email address and a phone number for the media relations officer at Regent University. Maybe someone wants to join OhDave in finding out why the double standard with respect to Clinton and Giuliani.

After all, Clinton is still married to his wife, didn't get a divorce, and is close to his daughter. On the other hand, Giuliani is on his third wife, went through a messy separation from the mother of his two children, and, consequently, his relationship with his children is strained.

Could it be that some conservative Christians only care about morality when it promotes their political agenda?

Hang Bernie Kerik Around Giuliani's Neck

The Washington Post has an article about how the Bush Administration, acting on the advice of Rudy Giuliani, rushed the appointment of Bernie Kerik as Secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik had been Police Commissioner on September 11, 2001 and had partners with Giuliani in a consulting business. Although red flags were raised about the nomination, the vetting process was taken over by Alberto Gonzales when he was White House counsel. After Gonzales cleared him, Bush went forward with the nomination, only to have it collapse about a week later.

Kerik is just another example of the incompetence of the Bush Administration, but its value to Democrats isn't what it says about Bush, its what it says about Giuliani. According to the article there was evidence that Kerik was "mobbed up" with a New Jersey organized crime family. It is hard to believe that Giuliani didn't have some clues about Kerik's associates. He was, after all, Mayor of New York which, the last time we looked, is right across the river from New Jersey.

America doesn't need another administration where people who are incompetent, unethical, or worse, are put in charge of Federal agencies and departments. We saw what happens when such people are in charge of the government during the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina: People needlessly die. Democrats need to make sure that the American people hear about "mobbed up" Bernie and the Mayor.

Religious Conservatives in Iowa's GOP are Searching for a President

One of the pillars of the Iowa Republican Party has been white evangelicals. According to this article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer they are feeling like they don't have a candidate in the 2008 presidential race. They find Giuliani too socially liberal, they don't trust McCain, Romney is a Mormon, Brownback and Huckabee are long-shots. If this was to hold up until the GOP nomination, it could lead to religious conservatives sitting out the 2008 election. That would have huge consequences for Republicans up and down the ballot.

People get in trouble in politics when they start believing their own bs. Since 2004 white evangelicals in the Republican Party have bragged about their power over their party. That has led to those voters who don't share their beliefs getting worried and becoming more active themselves. In the Ohio 2006 election the Republican Party learned that a candidate who just appeals to part of a political party's base gets beat. If you don't believe us, just look at the totals in the Strickland-Blackwell campaign for governor.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction of the religious right is to the fact that Romney is now leading in the "money" primary and Giuliani is leading in the polls. Will they redouble their efforts to try and come up with a person they see as more acceptable? Will they suck it up and back one of the three front-runners? Or will they take their marbles and go home? The 2008 election chances for the GOP may depend on their choice.

The Giuliani Advantage

If you click on the link in this entry's title, you will see that Rudy Giuliani is leading John McCain in every poll listed at www.pollingreport.com. Given his messy personal life and his willingness in the past to be tolerant of different lifestyles, a lot of commentators are surprised by his strength in the early polls. Backing Giuliani, however, is a smart move by Republicans, even conservatives.

Every campaign has to have a story line, a theme that voters can relate to and understand. McCain's problem is that the Democrats will hang the Iraq War around his neck and use that to beat him in the general election. With McCain as the candidate, any Democratic candidate will be able to use the theme that Republicans stand for reckless foreign adventures that are not in America's best interests. That theme works no matter who is the Democratic nominee.

If Giuliani is the nominee, however, that theme is much harder to establish because while Rudy says that he supports Bush on the Iraqi War, he is not nearly as identified with that war as McCain. Further, the added advantage is that he is associated in the public's mind with the heroism of September 11, 2001. Thus, backing Rudy works two ways. One is that he is not as closely identified with Iraq as McCain and the second is that he invokes positive images of 9-11.

This is not to say that Giuliani is going to be the nominee. His personal life and his flip-flops on social issues just may be too much for conservatives to handle. It is say, however, that the Republicans are looking for a candidate who will not be burdened by Bush's War.

Guiliani & Romney Believe WHAT?

In this excellent article by Glen Greenwald, posted on his blog, he points out that both Romney and Guiliani were asked by the Club for Growth if they thought that the President should have the power to imprison Americans without any review. Romney said he would have to consult a team of lawyers and Guiliani said that he would hope to use such power infrequently. As Greenwald points out that means that two of the three leading Republican candidates for their party's nomination seem to believe that it is not un-American for the President to imprison American citizens without any review by the courts.

The Republican Party is becoming the party of right-wing authoritarianism, although perhaps "becoming" is really not the right word. Perhaps the phrase should be "continuing to be". It is incomprehensible that a person who is running for an office that requires the holder to take an oath to protect the Constitution would believe in something that is clearly unconstitutional.

Such a belief is not at all "conservative". It is instead very radical. It is radical to suggest that the President has the power to detain American citizens without review by someone independent of the executive branch. Such review is one of the pillars of the rule of law in this country. Candidates who believe otherwise shouldn't be elected.

Giuliani's Private Life May Hurt His Chances

Just as the public is anointing Rudy, the Political Transvestite*, the front-runner, the media is starting to look at his messy personal life. His first marriage was a 14 year marriage that got annulled when he apparently realized he was married to his second cousin. At the time of that annulment he was already involved with the woman who became his second wife, by whom he had two children.

That marriage fell apart when he got involved with his third wife. It included such scenes as a judge issuing a temporary restraining order blocking the PT from having his mistress over at Gracie Mansion, the Mayor's residence, while his children and wife were there. When he left the marital residence, he resided with a gay couple and their dog.

Now, he is married for a third time and running for president. His son, Andrew, told the media this past week that he is too busy trying to become a professional golfer to campaign with his father and that he has some problems with his father's new wife. Apparently Andrew and his sis weren't too happy about how Dad trashed Mom during the whole divorce process. This revelation led to Rudy asking the media not to involve his family in this campaign. A wish, by the way that John McCain, who was involved with his heiress second wife during his first marriage, also voiced.

As the AP article linked to in this entry's title shows, that ain't going to happen. The media long ago gave up serious political journalism for political celebrity journalism. Political celebrity journalism means covering politicians like the entertainment media covers movie stars only with poll results. Political celebrity journalists are about to descend on the story of PT's marriages like seagulls on a dead fish at the beach. Which, by the time they get through with Rudy and his Three Wives, will be an apt analogy.
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*We call Giuliani the Political Transvestite because he is pretending to be something he isn't, a social conservative, to get the Republican nomination.

Conservative Blogger Calls Upon CPAC to Ban Coulter Next Year

In the past we have often stated our view that conservatives and Republicans apply one set of rules to others and another set of rules to themselves. An example of this is seen when Hillary Clinton is attacked as Machivallian for staying married to her husband while the double adulterer, Rudy Giuliani, is praised by the same conservatives. Another example is that perjury allegedly committed by Bill Clinton is a crime deserving of impeachment while Scooter Libby allegedly lying to a Federal Grand Jury is no big deal. We could go on, but you get the idea.

Therefore, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that a conservative blog, The American Mind, is leading a petition drive to have Ann Coulter banned for future events such as the Conservative Action Political Conference. This blogger has decided that calling John Edwards a "faggot" is not defensible and that her appearances at such events does more harm than good for the conservative cause. We compliment The American Mind for this position.

Giuliani: The Political Transvestite

If you click on this entry's title you will find a video clip of Rudy Giuliani in drag kissing Donald Trump. Being in drag is a very fitting metaphor for Rudy because he is a political transvestite. He takes on whatever outer garments that are necessary to win political power. When he was in New York, where liberals and progressives are a real force, he painted himself as a social liberal on issues such as abortion and gay rights. Now that he is trying to win the Republican nomination he portrays himself as a conservative. Once again he is taking on the garments necessary for political power.

Democrats may laugh at Rudy's pandering, but we shouldn't write him off. Movement conservatives like the kind that were at the Conservative Political Action Conference don't care about whether their candidates are hypocrites, they just care about obtaining political power. If they think that only Rudy can stop a Democrat from winning the White House, then they will get behind him. They are more terrified of a Democrat in the White House than they are that the political transvestite will once again change his clothes.