JULY 27, 2015
Oh brother. No matter where you stand on the intricacies of the Iran nuclear deal, is bringing up the Holocaust the most presidential way of addressing the issue, Mike? Really?
The 2016 Mike Huckabee campaign feels so different than the 2008 version. Then, the former Arkansas governor was the happy warrior, putting an agreeable smiley face on conservative values with which I may disagree, but he was never disagreeable in selling them. However, he was a leading GOP candidate back then.
Today, not so much. While there’s little danger in Huckabee being left off the stage for the first GOP debate on August 6, he has been mired in 7th or 8th place in recent polls, a far cry from his 2008 standing. Which may be why there’s been a tone of desperation in some of Huckabee’s more recent pronouncements.
“I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch. We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.”
What traumatic event could have triggered this self-righteous foot-stomping? The Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. That’s all. OK, he doesn’t like the outcome, but “judicial tyranny”? Such a drama queen.
However the “oven” remark sinks this campaign to a whole new level. Second-tier candidates who are not getting the traction that they had expected to get may be tempted to take a page out of the Donald Trump playbook and lodge the most outrageous charge they can in hopes of getting some kind of press attention. After all, in a field of 16 candidates, to hurl some invective that might resonate with a sliver of the nutjob electorate could ensure their spot onstage for the Fox News debate.
I just expected more from Mike Huckabee.
