Thursday, November 08, 2007

Huckabee's Homefront Troubles

National observers watching Mike Huckabee's rise might assume that he has the Arkansas Republican Primary all wrapped up. He doesn't. The Huckabee campaign is having some trouble on the homefront, and it is getting embarrassing for him.

First, a U of A poll showed he and Rudy tied with 8% of the vote statewide, while Hillary! pulled in 35%. All of those are well-known names in the state without significant room for growth in support. Then, in an effort to counter efforts from conservatives in his own state (who are telling everyone who will listen that Huckabee is not a conservative and left the state party in a shambles), the Huckabee campaign issued a list of "prominent Republicans in Arkansas who Support Mike Huckabee".

The list had less than half the current sitting Republican legislators on it. True it had the names of the three former Republican federal legislators on it, but it was very telling that the guys from the state ledge, who actually had to work with Huckabee, are so reluctant to get on board.

Worse, the list seems padded with no-names and people who have not really endorsed Huckabee. Senator Shawn Womack (the list mistakenly listed him as "Shane". Ouch) said he was running for a judicial position and could not endorse anyone. Former Rep. Sarah Agee works for Mike Bebee now, and has asked that her name be removed from the list. Another fellow that was a state Rep. was listed as a Senator. Some held no political office at all, such as the widow of former Lt. Governor Winn Rockefeller.

The list was a response to the fact that many people were starting to notice that Huckabee did not have a lot of endorsements among the key group "Republican state legislators that served during his administration". So he releases this list, but the list was weak and filled with errors.

Competitor Fred Thompson, when asked about Huckabee, said he was a "pro-life liberal". In fairness, he is a fairly pro-life, and pro-marriage liberal, but the point is that Thompson got that message by listening to what conservatives in this state are saying. The word is getting out and Mike Huckabee will increasingly have to deal with it. His main advantage- most of the rest of them have their own problems.

*get the names from the list on the jump*

7 Comments:

Blogger Mark Moore (Moderator) said...

§ Bud Cummins – Former U.S. Attorney

§ John Paul Hammerschmidt – Former U.S. Congressman

§ Asa Hutchinson – Former U.S. Congressman

§ Tim Hutchinson – Former U.S. Senator

§ Jay Dickey – Former U.S. Congressman

§ Betty Dickey – Former Chief Justice of Ark. Supreme Court

§ John Boozman – U.S. Congressman

§Dennis Milligan – Arkansas Republican Party Chairman

§ Gay White – Former First Lady of Arkansas

Lisenne Rockefeller – Widow of the Late Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller

Jim Burnett – Republican National Committeeman & Former NTSB Chairman

Reta Hamilton – Republican National Committeewoman

Phyllis Kincannon – Arkansas Republican Party Activist

Prissy Hickerson – Former Arkansas HighwayCommissioner

Doyle Webb – Former State Senator

Barbara Webb – Former Saline County Prosecutor

Phil Wyrick – Former State Senator

Carolyn Pollen – Former State Representative

Gilbert Baker – State Senator

Ruth Whitaker – State Senator

Sharon Trusty – State Senator

Denny Altes – State Senator

Bill Pritchard – State Senator

Michael Lamoureux –State Representative and House Minority Leader

Mark Martin – State Representative

Jim Medley – State Representative

Frank Glidewell – State Representative

Bryan King – State Representative

Beverly Pyle – State Representative

Rick Green –Sate Representative

Mary Beth Green – Former State Representative

David Haak – Former State Representative

Doug Matayo – Former State Representative

Sarah Agee – Former State Representative

Hoyt Johnson – Former State Representative

Marvin Childers – Former State Representative

Andy Mayberry – Former U.S. Representative Candidate

Joyce Campbell – Former State Rep. Candidate

Chee Chee Tamburo – Former State Rep. Candidate

Wayne Bowen – Justice of the Peace

Carol Lester – Arkansas County Chairman

Mark Dye – Scott County GOP Chairman

Ladon Copelin – GOP Party Activist

Bernard Mize – Polk County Chair

Billie Sue Hoggard – Former State Representative Candidate

5:06 AM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Most of them are no surprise. Most are either hacks who would endorse satan to gain a better footing in the party, or they're non-partisans who don't really care one way or the other.

5:27 AM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anony,
Don't you think that you are painting with a little too broad of a brush there?
It's one thing if you don't support a candidate, that's fine, but there are several on that list that I know personally & even more that are well known by friends and I can tell you they don't deserve that kind of demonization.

5:54 AM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ha ha, the mud slinging has started. Goggles on!

8:23 AM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

c.b., I agree. I was too harsh in writing that. I don't like Huckabee, and a Huckabee president scares me, but it goes beyond the bounds of civility to personally attack his supporters.

9:05 AM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We've all done it..... When you're passionate about something it's easy to say something you don't mean or that sounds worse than you meant for it to.
Kudos for the retraction.

9:18 PM, November 08, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pLOC4krZI4

12:53 PM, November 12, 2007  

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