James Dobson Rejects John McCain

An excerpt from an article by Bob Unruh:

A prominent Christian leader whose radio and magazine outreaches are solidly in support of biblically-based marriages – and keeps in touch with millions of constituents daily – says he cannot consider Arizona Sen. John McCain a viable candidate for president.

"Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents.

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Giuliani & Clinton - Questions About $

One candidate is out of money, and one candidate wants to spend your money.

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Giuliani Running Out Of Money?

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Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Campaign Finance Case Regarding The Millionaire's Amendment

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Ron Paul Campaign's Dirty Tricks

Some Ron Paul supporters are now encouraging dirty tricks to sabotage the Huckabee campaign. Click Here for details.

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Ron Paul Raises $20 Million

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Huckabee's Unconventional Wisdom

An excerpt from a National Review article by Byron York:

So Huckabee went from show to show, and he came up with other attention-getting moves like devoting his first commercial to the now-famous “Chuck Norris” ad. “Any other campaign, that ad never gets shown,” Saltsman told me, “because you have a conference room full of consultants saying you can’t do it.” At the moment Saltsman was saying that in Des Moines, Huckabee himself was in California, sitting down to talk on The Tonight Show — perhaps the ultimate in free media. A number of commentators thought that was a blunder; Saltsman checked the number of Iowa homes tuned into the show on any given evening and thought it was a pretty good idea.

That disconnect between the conventional wisdom and Huckabee’s strategy worked time and again in the campaign’s favor. The most notable occasion was last week’s news conference in which Huckabee announced that he had created a television ad attacking Mitt Romney but had decided not air it. The national press corps laughed derisively. But Saltsman and Wickers believed that Iowans viewed it differently. What the press saw as too-clever-by-half opportunism, the voters saw as Huckabee saying, “I’ve been hit by lots of negative ads. There’s a temptation to hit back. But you know, I’m just not going to do it. It wouldn’t be right.” Huckabee came out fine.

[snipped text]

Before the event — one in which Romney’s appearance was jarringly preceded by a music system playing Garth Brooks drinking songs — Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman who had traveled with Romney all around Iowa, explained his view of the Huckabee campaign. “We’re going up against a loose confederation of fair taxers, and homeschoolers, and Bible study members, and so this will be a test to see who can generate the most bodies on caucus day,” Fehrnstrom said.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those groups?” I interrupted.

“Not that there’s anything wrong, but that’s just a fact,” Fehrnstrom continued. “That’s just where he has found his support. I have a theory about why Mike Huckabee holds public events in Iowa like getting a haircut or going jogging, or actually leaving Iowa and going to California to appear on the Jay Leno show. It’s because he doesn’t have the infrastructure to plan events for him. And when he does do events in Iowa, he goes to the Pizza Ranch, where you have a built-in crowd, so you don’t have to make calls to turn people out. We’re very proud of the organization we have built in Iowa.”

Fehrnstrom, like the rest of Romney’s team, was unfailingly professional. But his analysis pointed to a blind spot in the Romney campaign, a blind spot most likely shared by the candidate himself. For all his money, and all his energy, and all his organizational skills, Romney could not put to rest the doubts many Iowa Republicans felt about his genuineness, or lack of genuineness. As they paid more attention to politics in the days leading up to the caucuses, some of those voters came to believe that Huckabee had more of that indefinable something that they want in a candidate. In the end, the race wasn’t about infrastructure at all — something Romney never figured out but Huckabee knew all along.

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Huckabee Win At Bargain Price

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Politico: Mitt Fights His Own Words In New Hampshire

From an article by Jonathan Martin:

In 2003, the story noted, Romney told the Massachusetts congressional delegation that when it came to the Bush tax cuts, he wouldn’t “be a cheerleader” for proposals he didn’t support.

“But I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House,” Romney noted to his state’s representatives in Washington.

Similarly, when Romney raised McCain’s unpopular immigration views in a campaign appearance Wednesday, the Arizonan’s campaign was ready.

“Last Year, Romney Supported ‘Path Toward Citizenship’ for Illegal Immigrants, Said Republicans Breaking With President Bush on Immigration ‘Made a Big Mistake,'" McCain’s aides reminded in a press release over 2006 stories in the Lowell Sun and Associated Press.

Also included was the November 2005 story from the Boston Globe where Romney deemed McCain’s immigration approach “quite different” from amnesty and “reasonable.”

Romney and his campaign have at-the-ready answers to counter the counters.

But his challenge is that there are seemingly few issues where he has not been previously more moderate than he is now or where a rival can’t at least find a discrepancy sufficient to blur an attack.

Abortion is the one issue that he fesses up to having flat changed his mind on, but that the list only begins there.

On gay rights, campaign finance reform, gun control and even his own political identity, Romney has tonally, if not substantively, moved to the right.

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Kirk Humphreys Named Finance Chairman For Mike Huckabee's Oklahoma Campaign

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Huckabee Support Growing In Florida

Huckabee Picks Up Cash, Support In Florida
BY PHIL LONG

ORLANDO -- Bolstered by new poll numbers that now put Mike Huckabee in the tight cluster of top GOP candidates, the former Arkansas governor is trying to capitalize on the wave and Thursday wrapped up two days of private fund raising in Florida that brought him between $350,000 and $400,000.

Huckabee's supporters are hustling to marshal volunteers and raise enough advertising money to put him at the top of the Republican pack in Florida's Jan. 29 presidential primary.

He began a seven-minute stump speech in Orlando on a somber note: Thursday's assassination of former Pakistani primer minister Benazir Bhutto.

He called it, "A terrible incident for Pakistan a terrible incident for the world; a stark reminder of the transition in our country. When we change our leaders, we do so not with bullets but with ballots."

"But in many parts of the world violence is a way of life for the transition of power."

He asked for sympathy and prayers for Bhutto's family and nation. (Read more...)

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Mike Huckabee: What Are The Similarities Between Being A Governor And A Pastor

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Mitt Romney Calls For DisInvestment In Iran....(for everyone but himself)

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Rudy Giuliani's Failure In Choosing A Command Center

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No More Song And Dance

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Can Money Buy The Election?

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Rudy Giuliani's Ties To A Terror Sheikh

Click Here to read the Village Voice article on Rudy's ties to a terror sheikh.

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Where Did All Of Romney's Money Go?

An excerpt from an article at the Baltimore Sun;

Romney said he would leave it up to the "pundits" to explain why the GOP race in Iowa has tightened. With Romney spending millions of dollars in the state and Huckabee spending several hundred thousand dollars, the Massachusetts governor was asked by a reporter whether Huckabee was a better money manager. Romney at first looked befuddled before saying, "Sorry I don't have any particular comments on that."

But he did contest the viability of Giuliani, the former New York mayor, as a Republican in a general election contest against Clinton, a Democratic New York senator.

"I think it would be very difficult for our party to win the White House if our nominee was so similar to Hillary Clinton on abortion, on same-sex civil unions, on guns, on sanctuary cities and on a record of ethical lapses—and I'm referring to the Bernie Kerick matter."

As New York mayor, Giuliani supported abortion rights, gun control, extending rights to gay couples and not pursuing undocumented workers employed in the city. And Giuliani has said he made a mistake in not fully vetting the background of his long-time friend and police commissioner, Bernard Kerick, who he later recommended to President Bush for homeland security director. Kerick was recently indicted on federal corruption charges.

Romney, however, had little comment on whether Giuliani had sufficiently answered questions about whether the costs of his city security detail were improperly hidden throughout obscure offices in the municipal budget, particularly during a time when Giuliani was carrying on an extramarital affair. Giuliani has denied any fiscal wrongdoing occurred.

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Romney Spends Millions On Television Advertising, But His Support Is Soft In Iowa

Mitt Romney has spent more than $10 million on television advertising, most of it in Iowa. Yet he is in a virtual dead heat with Huckabee according to a recent poll of likely Iowa caucus voters.

One political analyst, when asked to speculate on why Romney had not been able to solidify more support in Iowa, shared his belief that Iowans see Romney as just a little to slick. Iowa wants a candidate who is authentic, not one who has enough money to buy lots of ads.

Huckabee has not yet run any television ads in Iowa, but has purchased about $60,000 worth to begin airing next week.

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Democrat Campaigns Receiving $ From The Wealthy

Nearly 100 campaign contributors are nearing the $108,200 limit.

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