Mike Huckabee

Coulter and Huckabee Discuss Media, Palin and Conservatism

Conservative author Ann Coulter was Mike Huckabee's guest on Fox News Saturday, and the pair had a very interesting and entertaining discussion about the media's coverage of Sarah Palin as well as differences of opinion between the two of them during last year's Republican primaries.

As Coulter fans are aware, she was not a Huckabee supporter during the 2008 campaign. Far from it, she was one of his strongest critics as Hot Air's Allahpundit pointed out Sunday.

Despite this, Huckabee was quite the professional, and an exceedingly gracious host (video embedded below the fold, file photo):

No Media Fuss Over Obama's Overt Christian Cross Pamphlet in Ky.

Mollie at the Get Religion blog reports that the Obama campaign is circulating a pamphlet in Kentucky with Barack Obama standing in the pulpit with a gleaming cross behind him, and she wonders where all the media fuss is, compared to the hoots and hollers when Mike Huckabee put a slightly subliminal cross image in one ad and said he was a "Christian Leader" in another. On Thursday, the Washington Post ran a brief item:

The pamphlet has circulated in other primary states and is striking for its overt appeal on religion. The words across the top read “Faith. Hope. Change.” Obama is pictured at a church pulpit, with a large illuminated cross in the background. A quote at the bottom reads: “My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I go out and do the Lord’s work.”

Post reporter Shailagh Murray mentioned the campaign is seeking "to counteract the persistent and false belief held by some voters that Obama is Muslim," and to avoid a loss as wide as the one in West Virginia. But she makes no mention of Trinity United Church of Christ or Jeremiah Wright.

Did NBC Pull 'SNL' Videos From YouTube Because it Favors Obama?

If you haven't been asleep or out of the country the past seven days, you are fully aware of two rather controversial skits performed last Saturday on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."

In one, CNN Democrat debate moderators were depicted, "like nearly everyone in the news media," as being "totally in the tank for Senator Obama." Later, host Tina Fey basically gave a campaign speech for Hillary Clinton.

Videos of these skits began appearing at YouTube almost as soon as they were performed on the East Coast. Apparently for copyright infringement reasons, these unauthorized videos were pulled, sometimes within hours of them being posted.

Yet, as suggested by NewsBusters reader Myron Howard, there appears to be a political element at play for this clip from Saturday's show featuring Republican candidate Mike Huckabee was posted at YouTube on Sunday, and has not been removed:

Another Aging Rocker Tells a Republican to Stop Using Song

I guess hate is "More Than a Feeling" for aging rocker Tom Scholz, former member of the band Boston. Scholz, it appears, is none too happy that presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was using his old Boston tune,"More Than a Feeling" on the campaign trail and he wants him to stop it.

Like John Mellencamp -- who got his leather pants in a bunch over McCain's usage of one of his pop tunes -- Mr. Scholz is another musician who imagines that people are so stupid that when they hear a song at a campaign rally, they must automatically imagine that the producer of the song supports the candidate in question.

As reported by the AP, Scholz sent a letter to the Huckabee campaign telling Huckabee to dump the song and Don't Look Back.

Obama: Fixer of Souls?

Women faint around him, and his message of hope and change are moving the mountains of Clinton inevitability. Now his wife tells us that he is the only one that can "fix American souls".

We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.

Las Vegas Sun: Is Romney Calling Huckabee a Terrorist?

Sometimes a paper puts out an editorial that is so absurd that it makes your head spin. The Las Vegas Sun wins the prize this week for a surreal ability to read something into nothing. The Sun took Mitt Romney's CPAC concession speech and turned it from a gracious and inspiring address into a screed where the Sun amazingly heard Romney call Mike Huckabee a terrorist! It just makes ya go "HUH?"

In an unsigned editorial, the Sun gives us "Romney's twisted world," but it seems to me that what is twisted is the mind of the Sun editorial board. To have gotten the interpretation they got out of Romney's speech is one for the ages, but they are positive, it seems, that what Romney said is "dangerously irresponsible."

GMA's Maudlin Metaphor for Hillary's Hard Climb

The media loves campaign metaphors. Yesterday, some MSM wag delighted in pointing out that Mike Huckabee's campaign van had twice run out of gas. Today, it was Hillary Clinton's turn. In the wake of her devastating defeats in the Potomac primaries, Good Morning America rolled an extended clip of her struggling up an airplane stairway.

Speaking with Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos had just finished opining that if in Texas Obama cuts into Hillary's coalition of women and Hispanics the way he did last night, he will be the nominee.

Today's Unbalanced 'Real-People' Panel

Call it Today's homage to John Lennon: imagine there're no conservatives. The NBC show so much enjoyed the conservative-free citizens panel it hosted back in November that it brought it back this morning.

As I wrote about at the time, two timid Republicans were pitted against two partisan Dems. In November, one of the "Republicans," Susie O'Neil, claimed that the country is in decline due to the war "and because corporations are totally influencing our Members of Congress and the Senate." Call Susie a Michael Moore Republican.

The other Republican on the panel back then, Sarah Hungerford, said she was thinking of voting for . . . a Democrat. The pair were back this morning, again matched against two partisan Dems who both had apparently become Obama supporters.

View video here.

MSNBC Says 'Conservative' 10 Times as Much as 'Liberal' on Tuesday

Imagine campaign events happening in 22 states at the same time, and that at such contests, two liberals, two conservatives, and one moderate candidate are vying for the public's votes.

You would expect the words "liberal" and "conservative" to be equally interspersed in media coverage of these events if indeed press outlets were impartial, right?

Well, count MSNBC out of this logical calculus, for on Tuesday evening, the unabashedly left-leaning cable news network actually used the word "conservative" tens times as much as "liberal."

In fact, the actual tally for these descriptives during MSNBC's Super Tuesday primary coverage was (h/t NBer Gary Hall):

Will Mike Huckabee Exit the Republican Race on Saturday at CPAC?

Yes, because his real goal was to derail Romney for McCain.
39% (1219 votes)
Yes, because he can't possibly beat McCain.
9% (276 votes)
No, he'll wait to see how more primaries turn out.
53% (1671 votes)
Total votes: 3166

GMA Lets Huckabee Slide on Two-Man Race Claim

Mike Huckabee won five races last night. Mitt Romney won seven. Mike Huckabee has 190 delegates. Mitt Romney has 269 [see results here]. The only closed Deep South state left on the primary calendar is Mississippi. Romney has the message and money to compete across the USA.

So when Huckabee claims it's now a two-man race between McCain and himself, a journalist would surely challenge him on it, no? No. Not Robin Roberts, at least. To the contrary, she bought into his logic to the extent of asking only about his strategy going forward.

There were also some intriguing comments from Huckabee about allegations of backroom West Virginia deals and the importance of politesse . . .

View video here.

Huckabee Admits: He Will Accept Veep Spot

Well surprise, surprise!

He danced the complete Kabuki, right down to the mandatory move about considering John McCain for his VP slot. But at the end of the day, Mike Huckabee has admitted the obvious: he'll take the Veep nomination if John McCain offers it.

Huckabee was a guest on this morning's Today.

View video here.

Scarborough: MSM 'Blinded By Hatred' of Romney

Joe Scarborough has given away the MSM's dirty big secret: it hates Mitt Romney and is letting that animus distort its coverage of the Republican race. Joe went on an impassioned riff at the opening of today's Morning Joe.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: I want the media mavens in Manhattan and Washington, DC to listen what I'm about to tell you, because it goes against your narrative, but it is the truth. Look at the map; let's put the map back up there. Last night was a good night for John McCain, he won the big states . . . but starting at about 9 PM last night, before a lot of the Western states were closed, we heard over and over again that Mike Huckabee had now raced into second place, and once again friends that Mitt Romney should drop from the race . . . McCain had nine states won, Romney had seven states won, Huckabee had five states won. And yet, what did we hear time and time again, at this network and every other network: Mike Huckabee has now raced into second place.

View video here.

Liberal & Conservative CNN Analysts Hit Conservatives

During CNN's Super Tuesday election coverage, both liberal and conservative commentators took shots at conservatives as liberal Paul Begala declared that Mike Huckabee "don't believe in evolution or photosynthesis or gravity or anything," and liberal Carl Bernstein declared that Republican candidates were "trying to satisfy Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham rather than the people of the country." Conservative Bill Bennett quipped that conservative opposition to John McCain is a "kind of Trotskyism," and a "purification" of the Republican party. (Transcript follows)

Joy Behar: Republicans 'Never Mention Health Care'

None of the Republican presidential candidates have a health care plan, according to “The View’s” Joy Behar, known for putting ideology over facts. On the February 5 edition, where Super Tuesday was the dominant subject, Elisabeth Hasselbeck told her struggles voting as a Republican in New York City. First, Joy Behar charged that Republicans “never mention health care.” After Hasselbeck noted the media just does not promote their plan, Behar responded in a mocking tone.

BEHAR: Your party never mentions health care. The Republicans never bring up the subject. I’ve been watching them. I watched every single debate.

SHEPHERD: Because they’re more on the spending on the war.

BEHAR: Why not even bring it up as a possible solution? Come up with- Republicans have their own ideas. What is their idea on health care? Nothing! Zero!

McCain: Santorum, Cochran 'Not Most Respected Senators'

Sore winner?

You'd think a man who might be on the verge of taking a giant step toward winning the Republican nomination would go out of his way to be gracious. But John McCain couldn't suppress his spiteful streak on this morning's Today.

In the course of his interview by Matt Lauer, the Today co-anchor cited criticism of McCain by former and current Senate colleagues Rick Santorum and Thad Cochran. McCain retaliated with a personal swipe at their reputations, and later declined to describe Mitt Romney as a fine man.

View video here.

Couric Pushes GOP Candidates, Not Dems, to Denounce Each Other

On the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, CBS anchor Katie Couric displayed remarkably different approaches to Democratic versus Republican presidential candidates, simply asking Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about their poll standings while demanding that Mitt Romney, and John McCain himself, address whether McCain has the “temperament” to be President. She also pressed McCain to say something negative about Romney and Mike Huckabee: “What do you perceive as the biggest weakness of your opponents?” And: “What about Mike Huckabee? What do you think is his biggest weakness?”

Monday's CBS Evening News uniquely ran brief interviews with five presidential candidates, starting with Democrat Barack Obama. Couric wondered “how concerned” he was about CBS's poll showing him behind Clinton and then: “How critical is it for you to win the state of California?” Turning next to Clinton, Couric cited another aspect of the poll which “shows the two of you dead even. What happened?” With McCain, however, Couric raised former Senator Rick Santorum's charge that “I don't think he has the temperament and leadership ability to move the country in the right direction.” Couric was even more direct with Romney: “Do you believe John McCain has the temperament to be President of the United States?”

Huckabee Hints At Romney-Clear Channel Conspiracy

Speaking at a news conference in Oklahoma, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee floated the idea that the reason the vast majority of America's conservative talk radio hosts aren't endorsing him or John McCain is because Mitt Romney's investment firm owns a significant share of Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest radio syndication company.

"Some suggest that the fact that Bain Capital owns a major stake in Clear Channel is on Sean's network, maybe there's a correlation. I don't know."

The Sean he was referring to had to be none other than Sean Hannity, America's number-two talk radio host behind Rush Limbaugh.

Huckabee Tackles Romney for Team McCain

On this Super Sunday, it's fitting I suppose that Mike Huckabee would be out there blocking and tackling for Team McCain. Appearing on this morning's Today show, the former Arkansas governor made a pro forma claim that he's still running for president and not the veep slot. But Huckabee certainly seemed to be acting as what Mark Steyn described in a recent Hugh Hewitt interview as McCain's "wing man."

Consider Huckabee's reply to a question from Sunday co-host Jenna Wolfe [a resident, coincidentally, of Chappaqua, NY, home to Bill and Hillary.]

Sit, Roll Over, Speak

Tim Russert isn't practicing his Christmas tree-ornament hanging technique. The Meet the Press host is demonstrating how John McCain is dangling the VP slot to Mike Huckabee. And Huck seems as transfixed as a hound before a bone, judging by the way he's staying in the race against all odds and spending his time taking shots at Mitt Romney.

Russert was a guest during the 7 AM half-hour of Morning Joe.

View video here.