I’m not the only one out there thinking about the McCain/Huckabee lovefest, which translated yesterday into a bloodbath for Mitt Romney. The Super Tuesday team-up only confirms for me that the likely choice for VP will be the rapist/murderer-releasing, Christian Reconstructionist-supported, Man-On-Dog wannabe, former Arkansas governor, and Baptist minister-without-a-theology-degree Mike Huckabee. Sarah Posner at Tapped:
It will be interesting to watch and see, in the coming weeks, whether the religious right leaders start to coalesce around Huckabee, something many of them have resisted for months, in order to put pressure on McCain, who many of them still view with suspicion. Surely any rallying around McCain would be accompanied by pressure on him to pledge fealty to their core issues, especially a federal gay marriage amendment and judicial nominations. If McCain makes amends with the old guard — people like James Dobson and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Richard Land — and they also see Huckabee as a viable running mate, McCain could draw together different strands of the Republican-leaning evangelical vote.The man who wants to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards has performed exceeding well, snaring wins in AL, AR, GA, TN, and WV - the states populated by much of the GOP fundie Base that McCain will need if he has any hope of winning the general, since they can’t stand the Arizona senator.
By naming Huck as his VP, he ensures 1) there’s someone younger on the ticket, and 2) he’s got a “true believer” that would appease even Daddy D. My nightmare scenario? McCain somehow wins the general, he kicks it while in office, and we have Mike Huckabee, pastor-in-chief, a man who wrote this in his book Kids Who Kill” in 1998:
“It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations–from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia.”Is this who our country needs a heartbeat away from the presidency? That’s why either Obama or Clinton must be elected.and this:
“I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle. That’s millions of Americans.”
and…
“Lawrence v. Texas is an extreme example of judicial activism. It could, in fact, be inappropriately used to attack our marriage laws nationwide.”
plus…
“I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal.”
More reasons to fear a Huckabee VP are below the fold.
From Jon Perr of Perrspectives…The Top 20 Moments in Mike Huckabee’s Extremism:
- Huckabee Calls for the Quarantine of AIDS Victims
- Huckabee Enables the Politically-Motivated Parole of Repeat Rapist/Murderer
- Huckabee Offers Faith-Based Pardons
- Huckabee Undermines the Teaching of Evolution
- Huckabee Speaks for God
- Huckabee Speaks to God
- Huckabee Claims God Behind His Rise in the Polls
- Huckabee Proclaims His Theology Degree a Unique Qualification to Fight Terrorism
- Huckabee Flip-Flops, Calls for Federal Abortion Ban
- Huckabee Calls for Consumption Tax, Abolition of the IRS
- Huckabee Vows to Take Nation Back for Christ
- Huckabee Declares Culture War in 1998 Book
- Huckabee Declares Women Should Graciously Submit to Their Husbands
- Huckabee Predicts Victory over Islam at the End of Times
- Huckabee Boasts About Theology Degree He Doesn’t Have
- Huckabee Destroys His State Computer Records - and Church Sermons
- Huckabee Offers State Appointments in Exchange for Gifts
- Huckabee Uses Wedding Registries to Furnish New Home
- Huckabee Offers Clemency to Repeat DWI Offender (and GOP Donor)
- Huckabee Intervenes to Save Dog-Killing Son from Legal Jeopardy
52 Responses to “Our worst nightmare: Hucka-VP”
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That would be a nightmare, but I like our chances in the general election regardless. I just don’t see McCain beating out Obama or Clinton.
So much for the demise of the theocrats.
His speech last night freaked me the fuck out.
If I were strategizing for the Elephants, I wouldn’t put Huck in as VP. The Evangelicals will vote for whatever Republican the party puts up. Who else are they going to vote for? And yes, if the nominee is too centerist, perhaps they might vote third party, or not vote at all. But I’m thinking that number is less than the Nadar quotient. (Pure speculation on my part.)
Meanwhile, McCain stands to lose moderates by having a Fundie on the ticket. Some of them might defect to a less batshit crazy Dem, rather than see their party put a religious godbag into office.
Though who the hell knows. Who the HELL knows.
Huckabee as VP? Terrifying.
But the fact that McCain is doing so well - even as one of the most moderate Republican candidates - suggests that Republican America won’t back this degree of insanity. Having Huckabee on the ticket would probably hurt McCain a hell of a lot more than it would help him.
Not to mention that Huckabee would be SLAUGHTERED by the campaign ads, and the media would love a rapist-freeing VP candidate to sink its jaws into.
Um, not to nitpick, because Huckabee scares the crap out of me too — but I’m confused about where some of those quotes from. The one about Lawrence v. Texas can’t have been from a book published in 1998, because that’s five years before the decision was issued.
What a freakin’ train wreck that would be. GOP ascendancy to self immolation in eight years; who would have thought it possible?
Is this who our country needs a heartbeat away from the presidency?
Along these lines, one thing that should be noted is that McCain may not even seek a second term what with health/age concerns.
My nightmare? McCain wins the nomination, gets Huckabee as VP, and then declares the War In Iraq a mistake and that he will, as soon as he is elected, withdraw our troops from Iraq as quickly as possible.
With the media hallooing full-throatedly behind him, he wins in a (suspicious) squeaker.
We are still in Iraq in 2011, and have no healthcare, 20% unemployment, $7 a gallon gas, and…
I figure that Huckabee is running for the VP spot at this point. For all his rhetoric he must know he hasn’t a chance of an outright win but if he can get enough delegates to keep McCain from an outright win he can bargain himself into the VP spot. As VP he will be in position to craft a lot of really crappy rules and regulations even if McCain doesn’t drop dead in office.
Hopefully (I did not think I would be saying this) McCain will win the nomination outright. If he does Huckabee stands much less chnace of a VP nod I would think.
Mostly I agree with Pam, we must be sure Clinton or Obama gets elected this fall!
I have to admit: McCain is really the only Repug that doesn’t have me applying for jobs in Canada as a prospect.
I am seriously worried that the man is worn out and won’t last. Just try to read through the wiki on his “life” as a POW. I wanted to puke - it’s really that sickening.
That concern is compounded billionfold by a huckabubble veep. Why can’t he pick Romney, who would do as VP exactly what he did as MA governor exactly what he would do as President - NOTHING. At least that is far superior to some Kingdumb of Godiad!
I first realized that this scenario could become a reality a couple weeks ago. My worst nightmare, indeed.
My bf joked, “With Huckabee as president, before long I’d own you!”
This scenario has occurred to me as well. We must do our best to make sure no one who’d probably vote for a Democrat gets complacent and figures it’s in the bag!
Did you hear this guy’s victory speech in Arkansas last night? In the first two sentences, he made two Biblical allusions. Is he running for president or High Priest?
SarahMC,
don’t worry, Huckabee would never make you the property of a mere boyfriend. until you get married, your father will own you. (and when I say “get married” I mean “untill he sells you for an acceptable number of livestock”)
cause once the U.S. Constitution reflects biblical values, there will be no pesky 13th amendment
“Is he running for president or High Priest?”
Yes…
The fact that Huckabee did so well in the south for Super Tuesday shows there are still more than enough Christian zealots out there willing to blindly cast a vote, just as they did for Bush twice.
In CT we call that a ‘Lieberman’.
Hucklebee as VP?
McCain will kick it, being the oldest President ever. Huckster will believe that God did this on purpose–too many godless heathens in the US wouldn’t vote for him, so McCain won the election and then died for Mike.
The Deity will have selected the President, and he will have the godly authority to amend the constitution, especially since the courts are stacked and congress hasn’t tried to protect it’s equal pwers in years.
In other words, Gilead, in just a couple years.
Hey, it’s one way that the Bush Legacy ™ looks better through history. “Yeah, Dumbass was evil and he thought God talked to him, but he wasn’t THAT crazy.”
I don’t see Huckabee helping McCain much except for shoring up his support in the South…and if McCain needs shoring up in the South, he might as well pack it in. Huckabee does nothing at all to appease the Limbaugh/Malkin crowd. In fact, if it’s a McCain/Huckabee ticket, we just do targeted ad buys in heavily Republican areas of swing states quoting what Limbaugh said about both of them.
Don’t get me wrong–I do think McCain is our strongest opponent. I just don’t think putting Huckabee on the ticket buys him anything.
McCain keeps talking about how spry his mom is. Unfortunately, his dad died at seventy.
I think you’re right, Tom. We won’t get lucky enough for there to be an avowed theocon on the ticket. They’ll pick another Quayle, I’m betting–a blank slate on which to paint a sunny picture of the youngish conservative.
McCain is really the only Repug that doesn’t have me applying for jobs in Canada as a prospect.
Really? Because his rise from the Clown Car has scared me bad. ‘Race ya to the 49th parallel’ bad.
He has no soul. He embraced Bush after Rove attacked his child for political gain. My father-in-law, who has many good qualities, took that same hollow thousand-yard stare home from his war in Viet Nam; while neither is necessarily a bad guy, they share a complete lack of inner compass that is far more dangerous than Romney thinking he has it figured out.
We were talking about this exact combination here this morning…
Just found out that Bill Clinton is coming to Maine (Portland) tomorrow and Barack Obama to Bangor on Saturday; our Dem ccucus is Sunday. Both sides are gonna be scratching and clawing for every single delegate from here on out- we’ve only got 24 here and are due for snowstorms on both days!
Isn’t Huckabee the only candidate who supports pulling out of Iraq AND smoe kind of nationalised health care AND undoing some of the more crazy neo-liberal economic policies?
i think mccain oughto pick John Danforth.
He, like McCain, had his ambition crushed by Bush (actually cheney) in 2000…so the two of them offer a kind of “reboot” or “mindwipe”of the Bush administration years..And who doesn’t dig that!?!
Plus Danforth is a pseudo-centrist pseudo-maverick like McCain. And although he isn’t batshit crazy like Huck, he has helped spawn the likes of Ashcroft and Clarence Thomas. and i think he is also an ordained minister which means , if McCain picks him, Huck and dobby and all those kooks will just have to shut their pie holes and get in lock step because, ya know, Jesus is magic and all of that.
I actually think he’d make a formidable pairing with McCain, but since he probably won’t swear on a stack of Bibles that Cavemen rode dinosaurs its probably a non-starter
No, this is why we need OBAMA. If Clinton gets the nomination, we’re fucked, unfortunately. There’s self-proclaimed “liberals” who say they’ll vote for McCain over Clinton; hell, my math tutor’s a lifelong Democrat and says he’ll vote HUCKABEE before Clinton.
I think Huckabee as the Republican VP nominee is likely. Looking at the history of Republican presidential tickets they have always used the VP to either appeal to the crazy elements of their own party or act as some sort of life insurance policy on the top guy.
Cheney worse than Bush II
Quayle worse then Bush I
Bush I worse than Reagan
Agnew worse than Nixon
Nixon worse than Eisenhower.
The Republicans have lost when the top of the ticket is crazier than the VP.
Kemp less crazy than Dole.
Miller less crazy than Goldwater.
Lodge less crazy than Nixon.
The break in the pattern is 1976.
Dole worse than Ford.
1992 was also a break when Bush/Quayle lost reelection.
In light of this the concept of a McCain/Huckabee ticket scares the pants off me.
” Why can’t he pick Romney, who would do as VP exactly what he did as MA governor exactly what he would do as President - NOTHING.”
This is exactly why I would prefer Romney on the top of the Republican ticket. Great Ceiling Cat forbid they win or steal this election - at least things wouldnt get worse. I happen to think McCain is borderline insane, not to mention completely without an ethical compass.
I’ve had this discussion over and over with my 20 year old son - his politics if anything are to the left of mine (hard to imagine) - but he thinks McCain is all right…and in fact would prefer him to Hillary Clinton. Go figure.
Romney is a “safe” Republican in that I believe he’ll do exactly what he did in Massachusetts - damned little…and he’ll bend to the winds of change a bit if they blow in from Congress, because he’ll spend his first four years in office bucking for re-election. I dont think he would make things worse. McCain? That’s the one who’d have me dusting off my resume and thinking about departing for Canada or the UK
Hey, the country gets what it votes for–and this configuration would bring the rest of the Democratic voters out from under their rock (and scare the independents towards the Dems, as well). Plus, wouldn’t the Huckster as VP be eminently attackable by the Democratic candidates?
My bf joked, “With Huckabee as president, before long I’d own you!”
Ack! Must … stop … Gulf War I … flashbacks … (my male co-workers were constantly joking about who would get to be my “responsible male” when we shipped out to Kuwait - fortunately, it didn’t happen).
McCain keeps talking about how spry his mom is. Unfortunately, his dad died at seventy.
McCain’s mother didn’t survive a plane crash, followed by brutal torture, followed by a long recovery without much medical intervention, followed by five years of incarceration with more occasional torture.
He’s a tough bastard, but I’d say that these environmental factors mean that all bets are off for genetic prognostication.
Look at how old McCain is.
McCain’s VP will be America’s 45th President.
Not only is Bill coming today during a snowstorm, but now local news is saying HILLARY will be in Orono on Saturday (morning, I think)- Barack will be in Bangor later that same day.
Unbelievable. I don’t remember little states like Maine EVER mattering before! Esp after Super Tuesday!!
Colorado Dave - I think you might be onto something there… How was it Jello Biafra put it?
As an aside, I notice that Huckabee’s wins cover 3 out of the 4 states that just got wasted by monster tornados… Perhaps the Big Fella is trying to tell him something?
Well, a republican win (particularly involving Huckabee) would make my college choosing next year easier - Canada.
Huckabee isn’t a good fit for Vice Prsident on a ticket headed by McCain. McCain has problems with both the theocrats and the plutocrats. Huckabee is good with the theocrats, but hated by the plutocrats. McCain needs somebody more mainstream, not another insurgent lke Huckabee.
As of last week’s Savage Love column, Dan Savage intends to give Huckabee the Rick Santorum treatment by naming a sex act “The Huckabee”. This proved very effective in 2003 when Santorum became synonymous with “that frothy mix…” (just Google “Santorum”). Readers can send suggested definitions for The Huckabee to huckabee at savagelove dot net.
I don’t think Huck has raised enough money to supplement McCain’s war chest. He’s too much of an economic populist to appeal to big business conservatives. McCain needs someone who hates welfare and illegal immigrants, and can talk about the war as if it’s noble. Since he’s been taking heat from Romney and other conservative pundits lately about being “too liberal” (hah!) he’s also going to need a bona fide social conservative. I’d guess he’d go with somebody like Mike Pence or maybe pull Fred Thompson into a VP slot. Or somebody like J.D. Hayworth, who’s totally anti-illegal immigration and would reinstate some of McCain’s credibility with voters for whom that’s issue #1… though Hayworth is also from AZ, which is a tactical disadvantage for McCain.
And I predict Rudy! as secretary of state. Grover Norquist for FED secretary? That blackwater Prince guy for secretary of defense. Heck, and we thought that Bush and Cheney, et all, were bad…
“That blackwater Prince guy for secretary of defense.”
I figure that at the rate the US Military is contracting out its functions, some guy like Erik Prince will end up being the de facto Defense Secretary anyway…
Readers can send suggested definitions for The Huckabee to huckabee at savagelove dot net.
Hmmm … I think it would have to be an act producing some sort of fulminating hickey in a sensitive place. Such as Joe can’t sit down today, because John gave him such a Huckabee last night …
I’m thinking that a Huckabee should be this:
The sound created during intercourse when air is suddenly expelled (the “fart” or “queef” noise)
That Huckabee was so loud!
For what it’s worth, too - I think the post title “Hucka-VP” was just once step shy of a great neologism. C’mon, Huckaveep! What’s not to love?
It sucks that Romney dropped out. McCain is the only contender who stands a chance against the democrats. Now while Hillary and Barak tear at each other the republicans will have months to tear at the two of them as well.
Jeff, if you were making a tape of the fun event, you could “mic” your Huckabee!
Nope on that one, thank god. I think the one reliable positive in a McCain administration would be an end to US-supported torture; Rudy and other wannabe-waterboarders would be shit out of luck looking for cabinet jobs. Well, maybe not– that wouldn’t actually leave too many Republicans to choose from– but I still doubt we’ll see a role for Giuliani in that capacity, endorsment or no.
I am afraid that McCain will win (I think he has a good chance, especially against Clinton), but he would be far better than any of the other recent Republican contenders. Well, maybe not “far,” but better. When I think of a McCain cabinet, I can kind of see Senator Lindsey Graham (who, like McCain, from time to time has managed to find a conscience and speak up about it) doing something or other. Actually, if he had a slightly higher profile (and could shut up the rumors about his sexuality that have been going around his super-conservative state, SC, for years), I could see him as a VP candidate. I think McCain might, in fact, go for someone who’s been a little less in the spotlight– none of the other candidates have really inspired enthusiasm, or been able to substantively counter attacks against them. I understand that it’s hard not to worry about Hucka-VP, but honestly, I think there’s very little chance of that happening– as a few people have pointed out, there is little positive McCain could gain from having him on board, but a lot of negatives.
I can kind of see Senator Lindsey Graham (who, like McCain, from time to time has managed to find a conscience and speak up about it
Speaks up, maybe, but then buckles. Huckleberry, like the rest of the DC Repubs, is without conscience.
I hear you about the Graham buckling thing… every time I really hope he’ll stick to it, but like clockwork, he’s always soon back to denying that he supports reasonable measures, civil liberties, and all sorts of other things that buck the party line. I have seen him around a few times, and know a lot of people who are fairly close to him (confession: I am from his very small home town– my mother even went to high school with him) and every time I want to go up to him, shake him a little, and tell him to grow a spine. I know it’s hopeless if he wants to get reelected– as conservative as he and McCain seem to me, I know that most of their constituency don’t find them nearly conservative enough, and that they risk their votes every time they take a hesitant step away from the standard set by the rest of their party.
At least there’s a glimmer of hope with politicians like them– one can hope (even if it’s foolish to do so) that once someone like McCain or Graham secured the office he wanted, or felt politically safe, he would stop reversing all of his reasonable positions. There’s no way this hope would make me vote for him, but it might console me a tiny bit if everyone else does.
Hey, please let him pick Lindsey Graham or Charlie Crist. That should make it a very “family-oriented” race for sure.
At least there’s a glimmer of hope with politicians like them–
Still waiting for a backbone, reason, or reality from these politicians.
Until they demonstrate any reason- or justice-based thinking (instead of kissing the asses of ridiculous fuckwits like evolution-deniers, global warming deniers, torture apologtists and general bigots) they’re worthless.
And Huckelberry Graham is beyond worthless. He’s shown the occasional backbone on torture or whatever, but when it came to voting he’s as worthless as Mitch McConnel.
Fuck Huckelberry. He’s a DC Republican and therefore without scruples, values, honor or worth.
I’ve thrown my votes away, twice, without realizing it: first on Nader, then on Kerry. I don’t want to do that again. I think Clinton would be better, but Obama has a better chance at beating a McCain/Huckabee ticket (and it seems pretty clear that that’s gonna happen).
Americans are so, so, so, so stupid. We really could have Huckabee in the White House. I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do.
Imagine, should McCain / Huckabee be elected, a sufficiently deranged / fanatic Christian Right guy who doesn’t like McCain and views Huckabee as anointed by Christ. He gets his gun. stakes out a Presidential appearance, and settles the matter in Huckabee’s favor.
McCain should be VERY paranoid and get more Secret Service detail than Obama.
This scenario of course is hyper-hypothetical (hypo-hypothetical?). I would hope McCain would be prudent enough NOT to choose Huckabee as running mate.