A big announcement is coming our way from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on his Fox News show tonight at 7:00p (CST). Unlikely it is an announcement he’s starting a new company… been there, done that. Actually is has been confirmed that it is indeed an announcement about 2012 Some believe that it will be a no-go announcement. As David Shedlock, our blog’s biggest Huckabee fan, has mentioned – rightly – that none of us really knows what he will do until he makes the announcement. If he does run, I can assure him that Palin, Romney and Pawlenty fans will not leave the country. I do question the ethics of this, if he does intend to run, is it ethical to announce on his own show? It’s like Fox News giving him an infomercial. I mean look how quickly Fox News suspended Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
Huckabee’s former 2008 Iowa Campaign Chairman, Bob Vander Plaats, and the organization that Bob Vander Plaats leads – The FAMiLY Leader is taking some heat about the $3 Million in federal money that they had received in the past. This isn’t new news, I blogged about this a year ago. They didn’t do anything inappropriate with the money, but I think they are rightly taking criticism for suddenly trying to put themselves out there as a tea party organization and advocates for less federal spending. There is a twinge of hypocrisy present. I know Vander Plaats wasn’t on board at the time, but he’s representing them at TEA Party events. They have since stopped taking federal funds, and I commend them for that. While they can be involved in the push for less federal spending, they lack the credibility needed to lead on this issue.
What in the world is John Tomasic at The Iowa Independent smoking? Influence in Republican Primary Politics and Fred Karger do not belong in the same sentence. Now Herman Cain, he’s actually making some waves.
Doug over at Iowans 4 Palin points out a Rasmussen Poll that shows 52% of Americans say their values are more like former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s than President Barack Obama’s. Some people hate her, but the majority of Americans do resonate with her message (like with regulatory policy for instance) and that scares the left. Like Huckabee, we’re still waiting to see what she does with her 2012 decision. Perhaps we’ll see a run for U.S. Senate in Arizona? Josh Painter pointed out a PPP poll has her leading the Republican U.S. Senate potential primary field in Arizona with 35%… a state she doesn’t reside in. Strange, why was she even included in the poll? Speaking of polls, the AP’s latest poll on Obama’s approval rating wins the award for crappiest poll ever.
I agree with Art Smith. People who work for presidential campaigns should step down from the Iowa GOP State Central Committee. It’s nothing personal, but it does impact appearances. Personal appearances, however, are giving former Speaker Newt Gingrich all sorts of friendly fire problems however.
Unrelated, President George W. Bush in his first public comments about the death of Osama Bin Laden said that he was not “overjoyed,” He also said his campaign to go after him was not “out of hatred but to exact judgment.” This is a proper response from our former Commander-in-Chief. He gave credit to everybody, but himself. Compare that to President Obama who is already campaigning on the one good decision he has made.
Many people need a wake-up call, but should schools be providing them? Probably not. Perhaps Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) got a wake-up call from constituents prompting him to decide to retire rather than run for reelection. Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) got a wake-up call when National Review (who endorsed him in 2008) turned on him after his lousy health care speech. Ouch. Also Congress should receive wake-up call when they see that Americans overwhelmingly do not want the debt ceiling limit raised.
Time for another cup of coffee.