How Obama is Working Hard for President Huckabee or Romney

When President Obama was elected he had several key things going for him:

1. He wasn’t the Republican heir to George W Bush
2. He represented a party that stood for economic issues near and dear to the vast majority of the voting public
3. He promised to cut down on lobbying and corruption
4. He was a brilliant public speaker
5. He promised to fight bipartisan bickering and give us a functioning government

Based on the combination of his anti-lobbying anti-partisan approach, he framed himself successfully as a new kind of politician.  He was able to excite his party base with his oratory, his youthful energy, and the fact that he wasn’t George W Bush in a nation decidedly sick of the man.  He didn’t just win, Obama enjoyed a telling victory in 2008.

Let’s look at those same points now.

Obama isn’t the Republican heir to George W Bush

Still true, but only because he has become the Democratic heir to George W Bush, and Dick Cheney (Glenn Greenwald @ Salon):

But the crux of Bush/Cheney radicalism — the mindset and policies that caused much of the controversy — continues and has even been strengthened.  Gen. Hayden put it best, as quoted by The Washington Times:

“You’ve got state secrets, targeted killings, indefinite detention, renditions, the opposition to extending the right of habeas corpus to prisoners at Bagram [in Afghanistan],” Mr. Hayden said, listing the continuities. “And although it is slightly different, Obama has been as aggressive as President Bush in defending prerogatives about who he has to inform in Congress for executive covert action.”

And that list, impressive though it is, doesn’t even include the due-process-free assassination hit lists of American citizens, the sweeping executive power and secrecy theories used to justify it, the multi-tiered, “state-always-wins” justice system the Obama DOJ concocted for detainees, the vastly more aggressive war on whistleblowers and press freedoms, or the new presidential immunity doctrines his DOJ has invented.  Critically, this continuity extends beyond specific policies into the underlying sloganeering mentality in which they’re based:  we’re in a Global War; the whole Earth is the Battlefield; the Terrorists want to kill us because they’re intrinsically Evil (not in reaction to anything we do); we’re justified in doing anything and everything to eradicate Them; the President’s overarching obligation (contrary to his Constitutional oath) is to keep us Safe; this should all be kept secret from us; we can’t be bothered with obsolete dogma like Due Process and Warrants, etc. etc.

He’s extended the same Bush Tax cuts he campaigned against.  In fact his rush to compromise and fiscal conservatism masquerading as bipartisan centrism has been so severe that it has crushed the second key thing he had going for him.

Obama represents a party that defends the economic interests of working people

With revenue cut and war/terror spending increasing, there was bound to be a collision.  Couple that with the President’s obsessive need to appear as the bi-partisan philosopher-king, and you get negotiation tactics so inviting to the opposition it makes John Boehner look like a teary Jack Donaghy.

The quaint term “austerity measures” doesn’t capture the human cost of paying for tax cuts and tax evasions for wealthy individuals and large corporations.  Those cuts are already being felt, and will be even more severe when 2012 rolls around.  They aren’t just budget cuts, they are deep cuts into the voting base for Democrats across the country, and those cuts are going to badly injure Obama’s re-election chances.  (John Amato @ Crooks and Liars):

Every poll shows quite clearly that even Republican voters do not want a cut in these benefits.

If Sperling’s argument is about reforming Social Security and Medicare without taking away from them, then OK, but that’s not what I’m reading here. Do these creatures only listen to Villager gasbags who want working-class Americans to be the only people to “share” the sacrifice and suffer in America after Wall Streeters and their partners caused the Great Recession?

Obama is casting himself as the friend of the wealthy and the enemy of the working class at a time he needs to do the opposite.  His hands are tied by his bipartisan image at a time he desperately needs to break free.  But you get the sense he likes it that way.  Obama has become the willing prisoner of a small aspect of his election campaign – unable and unwilling to break free and become true to what he ran for.  This is especially clear when one considers lobbying.

Obama promised to cut down the influence of lobbyists and K-Street

Obama has

• Given away concessions to the pharmaceutical lobby before the health care fight began
• Hired RIAA lawyers for the Justice Department
• Publicly attacked lobbyists, then turned around and gave them access
• Hired the chief executive of GE – a company that attacks unions and paid nothing in taxes
• Hired a Raytheon lobbyist for Deputy Defense Secretary
• Hired a number of lobbyists throughout his administration
  

All of this casts his much touted ethics reform in such a harsh light the reform isn’t even visible to the voting public anymore.

Where does this leave us?

Obama is still fighting the supposedly good fight on being bipartisan.  As Digby has observed over and over, this is a one sided battle.  The Republicans – down to their votes – don’t give a damn about being bipartisan and compromising.  They care about winning.  That imbalance will surely lead to the Democrats losing.  Obama is still an amazing public speaker but with the way he’s been running things you have to ask – who is going to go hear him speak?

Regardless of whether the religious right, the corporations, or the tea party are able to exert enough influence to secure the Republican nomination in 2012 one thing is clear.  If Obama doesn’t change course they will secure more than just the primary.

Huckabee – Jesus in Every Home

If Huckabee does end up running again – in 2012 or 2016 – remember this guy is going to use his position of power to push Christianity into our legal system, into our policy, and onto our citizens.  He consistently “jokes” about forcing Christianity on citizens in the same way Bush used to joke about wanting to be a dictator.

Police Abuse: Candidate Silence

When will it be enough?  When will police abuse of power be recognized as an issue by the candidates, and addressed in a serious and systemic way?

Recently there seems to be a spate of such abuse, from the highly disturbing to the infuriating:

In case the YouTube video is removed, download the video file HERE. It can be played with VLC Player.

The best part is when he says, “You got that camera on? If I find myself on…” I can only assume he was going to say YouTube. And what if he had discovered he was being filmed? He probably would have erased the video or “lost” the phone, beaten the kids, and arrested them on trumped up charges. Of course, once they turned 18, their records would be expunged, and they would probably vote liberal/anti-cop the rest of their lives. This authoritarianism often backfires in the long run, and these videos are helping to speed up that process.

This is what a police state looks like.  Will anyone speak up? (Via Pandagon):

Hat tip to The Dark Wraith, who said:

When you’re finished watching the video of the strip search, go ask your favorite candidate of “hope” and “change” and all those other lies just exactly what he or she is going to do to end this rising nightmare of an authoritarian state.No, seriously. Don’t find some reason why your choice for Heir to Empire is not responsible. He or she is. They all want to lead this country? Then let them explain precisely how they plan to lead it away from this mess.

Ask those Democrats and Republicans running for office when enough will be enough. Ask them when they plan to stop spewing their sweet little nothings. Ask them if they will vow to their very God or perhaps even to that piece of paper we call the Constitution of the United States of America to take upon themselves the enormous task of putting every monster of this spreading blackness of sovereign violence—from George W. Bush and Dick V. Cheney all the way down to the very last, badge-wearing jackboot on the beat—into prison to rot.

Its hard watching videos like these, to keep from putting your fist right through the monitor.  At one point the officer-bully scolds his victim, telling the child he is disrespecting the officer’s badge and department.  Any officer of the law, charged with serving and protecting the public, who behaves this way…  That officer is disrespecting his badge, indicting his department and undermining the trust his profession needs to function.  Officer Salvatore Rivieri should have been fired, and his department investigated to determine how such an officer so unfit to serve remained in duty, and how widespread abuse like this was, both in his own service and in his department.

So how about it.  Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton.  Mike Huckabee.  John McCain.  What is your stance on our Police State?

Huckabee’s Two Man Race With Reality

Reality is beating the pants off Huckabee in a two man race (NYTimes):

“You know, over the past few days a lot of people have been trying to say that this is a two-man race,” he told his supporters in a suburb of Little Rock, Ark. “Well, you know what? It is. And we’re in it!”

Don’t get me wrong.  That’s a great quote.  The problem is it doesn’t even come close to the reality of the race.  Romney is still ahead of Huckabee, having pulled off wins in more states, and garnering more delegates.  McCain’s startling lead makes Huckabee’s position seem almost nonexistent by comparison.  So who does Huckabee fancy himself in a two man race with?  Mitt Romney for the honor of runner up?

Super Divided Tuesday

Results! (Via ODIM)

Delegates:

Huckabee is back in, meeting Romney at a tie for second place.  McCain has a dominating majority, but not enough to avoid a brokered convention.

McCain: 485

Romney: 192

Huckabee: 130

Clinton has a lead over Obama, but not enough to avoid a brokered convention.  It is a lead, but not a commanding one.

Clinton: 506

Obama: 420

Its interesting to look at the number of states each candidate won:

McCain: 9

Romney: 6

Huckabee: 5

Clinton: 8

Obama: 13

Both parties heading into a brokered convention is both historic and telling.  One has to wonder to what extent people are fed up with their choices, and to what extent people are genuinely split.  This country wants to go in some pretty divergent directions.  The man who ran on being a “uniter, not a divider” has left this country beyond the polarization of party lines.  He has left each great house of American politics a house divided.

Politics: Who Will God Listen To?

So I saw this (Pray for Ron Paul), and immediately my thoughts leapt to Huckabee.  Surely he has people praying for his success.

Yet these prayers directly contradict each other.  So who will the all seeing father in heaven ignore?  Looking at the delegates, it doesn’t seem to be helping either candidate.

Some questions: if God is the type of being that directly intervenes in Human affairs:

1. Where has he #*@*in been all these years?
2. Is he registered to vote in all 50 states?

Just curious.

Democrats United: Pre-Existing Conditions

Right now, you can be as hard working as you like. Got a pre-existing condition? Health Care denied.

One thing all of the Democrats share in common, from Obama to Clinton to Edwards, is the desire to pass a law outlawing discrimination based on previous conditions. (Edwards is the only candidate to support universal health care coverage).

Neither McCain, Romney, Ron Paul, Giuliani or Huckabee have a plan to deal with this. The Republicans as a whole are loathe to regulate the insurance industry on this vital matter.

This is a practical issue that effects many of us. It is an issue on which the Democrats present a united front, and stand firmly on the side of ethics.

White Supremacist Elephants

Who is going to get that coveted racist vote?  There’s no shortage of Republicans trying for the honor.  If we restrict ourselves to the three top candidates in the race, McCain, Romney and Huckabee, we’ve got ourselves a bit of fun.

Top of the pack is probably Huckabee, who (it is emerging) has some ties to white supremacist groups:

Making coded appeals to white racism is nothing new for Huckabee. Indeed, well before he was a nationally known political star, Huckabee nurtured a relationship with America’s largest white supremacist group, the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Next we have John McCain, who has a long and confused history on such matters:

McCain’s push to cozy up to far right extremists is not surprising, given his contradictions in the past. In the 2000 presidential campaign, McCain reversed himself on the confederate flag first calling it “a symbol of racism and slavery” but then pandering the very next day by calling it a “symbol of heritage.” In past efforts to pander to a far right base that doesn’t trust him, McCain campaigned in Alabama for George Wallace Jr., a popular speaker at a white supremacist hate group, continues to employ a strategist who denounced the creation of a Federal holiday honoring Dr. King as “vicious” and “profane,” and even hired the man responsible for the racist ads against Harold Ford in the Senate race in Tennessee in 2006. [New York Times, 4/20/00, San Diego Union Tribune, 1/18/00; Associated Press, 11/17/05, Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Summer 2005; AP, 6/6/05; New York Times, 10/27/06; New York Times, 10/26/06; Union Leader, 12/8/06]

That leaves Mitt Romney, the corporate candidate par excellence.  From what I could find, he seems clean on the matter.

That’s 2 out of 3 candidates with a troubled history, and ties to hate groups in this country.  Both McCain and Huckabee seem willing to play dirty, and throw wink-nudge racism into their bag of tricks for the campaign trail.  This should make the general election all the more interesting and vital.

Presidential Race: By Delegates

Remember, the race is all about the delegates.  So here’s the count:

On the Democrats side, Obama and Clinton are effectively tied, with Obama having a bit of an edge.  He won Iowa, which has more votes than Nevada or New Hampshire, and won more delegates in Nevada, meaning he is slightly edging out Clinton, despite her having “won” New Hampshire and Nevada.

On the Republican side, its really looking like Republicans are turning out for McCain in a big way as their compromise candidate, with Romney in striking distance and Huckabee looking on from a mournful and distant third.  (Have Kucinich and Ron Paul dropped out?  Because they aren’t even listed on the NYTimes site, but the NYTimes still find space to list non candidates like Fred Thompson).

We are looking at some very different races.  Clinton vs McCain, Obama vs Romney.  This could get interesting.  Especially if either crop of candidates yield VP selections.

Huckabee Bible Constitution Jamboree

Hooooooooooo-eeeeeee!

Pam Spaulding at Pandagon writes:

This man doesn’t need to be anywhere near the White House. His Christian Reconstructionism slip shows again, this time in Michigan.

“[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards,” Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Huckabee often refers to the need to amend the constitution on these grounds, but he has never so specifically called for the Constitution to be brought within “God’s standards,” which are themselves debated amongst religious scholars. As a closing statement he asked the room of nearly 500 supporters to “pray and then work hard, and in that order,” to help him secure a victory in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

Mike Huckabee is running as a Theocrat:

Jon Perr of Perrspectives had this to say:

In case there was any remaining doubt, that astounding statement eviscerated Huckabee’s pretense of upholding the separation of church and state. In December, Governor Huckabee offered this charade on Meet the Press, words which obviously are no longer operative:

“The key issue of real faith is that it never can be forced on someone. And never would I want to use the government institutions to impose mine or anybody else’s faith or to restrict.”

As it turns out, using the institutions of government to impose his faith is exactly what Mike Huckabee has in mind. Quick to denounce sharia law and “Islamofascism,” Huckabee is seems quite eager to embrace a Christian version of God’s law here at home.

The core of his campaign is making this a Christian Nation run by Christian law.  And at every opportunity in front of the press he denies it, he lies about it.  But at every opportunity he hints at it.

What frightens me, badly, is that this guy won Iowa, and hasn’t gotten less than 1% in every primary since.  His sympathetic coverage in the media angers me.

Here’s a fun thought experiment.  Inspired by Sara Robinson’s translation of sexist Chris Matthews statements into racist ones.  Imagine Huckabee was running as a Muslim.  (Warning, do not attempt if you are a Republican wingnut, and you use words like “islamofascist” on a daily basis.  Your head may form a black hole).

A Mike Huckabee Presidency would be a disaster, and the constitution would be just one of many victims.

Texas: Making Education a Joke

These days we expect the anti-intellectual movement known as creationism to rear its head wearing “Intelligent Design” as a flimsy disguise.  Not in Texas!  Tony’s curricublog:

Would Texas state approval of the creationists’ masters degree program in “Science Education” jeopardize its satisfaction of the NCLB requirement for a “Highly Qualified Teacher” in every classroom, and its reciprocity arrangements for teacher qualification in other states?

In an editorial for the Edmond (OK) Sun, with the headline Knowing difference between science, religion important in schools, Dennis Weigand warns against the danger of Oklahoma being plagued by the kind of anti-science-education efforts seen now and recently in the neighboring states of Kansas and Texas.

This will have serious and lasting impact on Texans, and unfortunately, the rest of us when they move to other states and start doing things like voting or speaking out loud.

what if it’s not just Texas students, but the science teachers in that state who are not well enough educated in the sciences that they can tell the “the difference between science and religion”?

What we have here is an attempt to kill the ability of some students to reason.  Reason, in the view of some religious proponents, must be restricted so as not to approach the pearly gates of faith.  “Keep your Reason off my Bible” might as well become the new slogan for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  To see specifically what the approved program will be:

to get a good overview of the program without clicking through the pages on their site, you can visit this post on Ed Darrell’s blog.

This is ridiculous.  It is an assault on the quality of education provided by the state, separation of church and state, and the ability of Texas students to live and flourish in a world that runs on science.

I wonder what Mike Huckabee’s or Ron Paul’s take on this would be?  (For more on creationism, evolution, and the candidates: the Carpetbagger Report).

Our Religious Litmus Test

The myths we tell ourselves shape our world.

So let’s take a look at one man and his problematic relationship with reality, and the politics that surround it. Aside from Mitt Romney, Huckabee has generated the most enthusiastic press coverage concerning his religion. This in itself isn’t bad. A preacher turned politician could make a formidable ticket, but such is not the case with Huckabee. Nonetheless he knows his strengths and plays to him. Thus when he recently went to South Carolina to campaign, he took his message straight to the Pews. (AP):

Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn’t enough to get into heaven.

Ah, but preachers are politicians. And Huckabee was spinning furiously (emphasis mine):

On Sunday in South Carolina, Huckabee avoided politics entirely, instead preaching about humility and trusting in Jesus to open the gates of heaven.

“The criteria to get into heaven is you have to be not good, but perfect. That’s the real challenge in it,” he said at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a megachurch with 2,500 members.

“On that day, when I pull up, I’ll be asked, `Do you have what it takes to get in?'” Huckabee said. “And if I ask, `Well, what does it take to get in?’ ‘Gotta be perfect.‘”

“Well, I’m afraid I don’t have that, but you know what, I won’t be there alone that day. Somebody is going to be with me. His name is Jesus, and he’s promised that he would never leave me or forsake me,” he said.

Asked by reporters later if he thinks only Christians will go to heaven, Huckabee refused to say. He often says that as a minister, he joked that he doesn’t even believe all Baptists are going to heaven.

Let’s be clear on what game Mike is playing here:

He argued that the Constitution forbids a political candidate from being subjected to a religious litmus test.

In South Carolina, Huckabee didn’t ask for votes or discuss the campaign, but senior pastor Michael S. Hamlet encouraged the congregation to vote according to how they try to live their lives, by the principles of Bible scripture.

“I’m going to tell you something, when you go vote, you ought to follow those principles,” Hamlet said.

Outwardly he is sticking to a script of a uniter and a reformer, a conservative with a slight hint of moderate. Outwardly he is saying religion should not move voters in the polls. But beneath every word his forked tongue carves is a world of life, and its no reflection of the words that conceal it. Huckabee is mobilizing Christians to vote for him based upon his willingness to govern this nation as a Christian nation. Mike Huckabee is just fine with a religious litmus test as long as his own results are positive, and Mitt Romney’s come up negative:

However, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has also been asked about his Mormon faith. In fact, Romney got questions about his faith after Huckabee, in The New York Times, asked whether Mormons believe Jesus and the devil were brothers. Huckabee quickly apologized to Romney and said the quotes were taken out of context.

He isn’t fooling anyone. His political positions on creationism, reproductive rights, and gay rights all show that he will cross the line when it comes to Church and State, no matter how feverishly his campaign tries to sedate voter concerns. Which brings us back to his sermon. Am I the only one who wonders what other beliefs will find their way into public policy? If we allow this country to slide into a Dominionist Theocracy, what will become of non Christians? What rights have the damned, and what privileges the saved?

Huckabee’s Lies on Marriage and Submission

Ladies and Gentlemen!  We have a wonderful treat for you tonight, a sparkling example of a man covering his bible beater with a rhetorical flourish.  An attempt, ladies and gentlemen, to hide the kind of President he will be.

The show begins with Huckabee’s masterful performance during the debate.  When asked (Sanctification) about his endorsement of a Southern Baptist Convention mandate on marriage, he responds with three main points.

1. I’m proud of my faith, and every little piece of it, and will practice it no matter what.
2. My faith will not inform how I govern.
3. We were actually saying men and women are equal, and must submit themselves to each other (awwwwww).

Where shall we begin ladies and gentlemen?  I’m raring to tear into the fleshy parts of these arguments.  Let’s start by taking a look at the actual mandate Huckabee was asked about (Majikthise):

Here’s what Huckabee said the SBC was right about:

XVIII. The Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society.

It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. [The Baptist Faith and Message]

Am I the only one disturbed from the segue from “the family” to “sexual expression” to “submission”?  If family the forum for Christian sexual expression, and wives are supposed to submit to men on “family” matters…

Frankly this piece “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.” really took me aback.  But this text is plainly not about the equality of men and women in a relationship.  When Huckabee stood up and said his religion views men and women as equals, he was bearing false witness.  It is about a woman’s place in a marriage, and the unbreakable nature of that marriage.  Which leads me to the lifetime aspect of marriage endorsed here.

Having scratched out point #3, let’s take a stab at point #1.  I will argue passionately that any religious belief that hurts people is something to be ashamed of, and more, something to stop practicing immediately.  We got beyond sacrifice people, why not other harmful practices?  Where, in that view of the lifelong covenant supported by God, is there room for divorce?  What about in the case of spousal abuse?  And then there’s Linday’s observation about the linking of sex to submission to the husband, and suddenly issues of spousal rape crop up.  This is not a life affirming aspect of the Christian religion.  It is the controlling and patriarchal dark underbelly.

Finally there is point #2:

I’m not the least bit ashamaed of my faith, or the doctrines of it.  I don’t try to impose that as a governor, and I wouldn’t impose it as a President.

Mike Huckabee opposes a woman’s right to choose, and gay rights.  He wants to introduce creationism into the schools.  The above statement, transcribed from his answer during the debate, is demonstrably false.  Huckabee is flat out lying.  His brand of Christianity will drive his Presidency, and he will most certainly work to impose his beliefs on the American public.

Iowa: Youth vs Christianists

Voter turnout was stupendous for both Democrats and increased for Republicans.

Obama’s victory was a youth vote victory.  New voters, young voters, turned out and spoke brilliantly for change and authenticity.

Huckabee’s victory came largely from evangelicals coming out in droves.

Right now on MSNBC, Buchanan is calling Hickabbe a centrist.  Some Republicans are desperate to turn their religious extremist candidate into a viable option come the general.

The battle for the Presidency in 2008 is turning into a battle between those who would challenge lobbyists and start to heal the bloody divisions sowed by Bush, and those who would exploit those divisions to move us towards a theocracy.

This is going to be quite a fight.

The Iowa Primary Reader

Kos sums it all up perfectly with a post titled The Triumph of our Democratic Field:

Ezra:

Barack Obama won tonight, but, in a sense, John Edwards’ campaign also triumphed. The progressivism of the race, the focus on ideas, the courage of the Democrats — all were products of his early example. He began the campaign by talking about poverty, announced his candidacy in the mud of New Orleans, set the agenda with the first universal health care bill, and closed Iowa speaking of the uninsured. This is Barack Obama’s victory, and it’s richly deserved. But Edwards, running as a full-throated populist, set the agenda and finished second, ahead of the Clinton juggernaut. He said his role was to speak for the voiceless. He now barrels towards New Hampshire with ever more volume. And while his shot at the nomination is long at best, his candidacy, even if it fails, will have been far more successful than most.

I have to admit a bit of sentimentality. I loved all the speeches tonight — from Edwards’, to Clintons’, to Obama’s. I’m proud of my party. I’m hopeful for the future.

Melissa (Shakes) has hilariously telling pictures of the winners.  And also a line we might see again come the general:

Well, I think between this good Southern Baptist Preacher,
and this Muslim terrorist, the choice for America is clear.

Obama’s win, specifically, is a call for change and represents a real beacon of hope for the Democrats.  Not because of his policies,  but because even more than Edwards Obama has the ability to get out the vote.  Obama on the ticket means new and excited voters in the booth.

On the Republican side the results are dire.  The head far and away is religious nut Huckabee, and there’s a palpable sense of discomfort and itching coming from the conservative camp.  Tristero at Hullabaloo has some sobering thoughts:

Which brings us to the genuinely repellent topic of Michael Huckabee. The fact that he won the Iowa caucus chills me to the bone. This is a ruthless, ignorant, and dangerously opportunistic fanatic who is so unqualified for the presidency that no one in the media should have returned his calls. And they still shouldn’t.

His decisive victory is a bitter pill,  a two edged sword.  He’ll brings a few great weaknesses to the general.  From the right his spending and record on crime.  From the left his theocratic tendencies.  But at the same time it is frightening to see someone like that do so well.  It says a lot about far too many Americans.

The picture gets clearer when we look at the rest of the candidates.  A second place finish for Edwards means he is now a contender, and will head into NH with some serious momentum.  Hillary is running in deflated, facing numerous independents and Republicans who will cross party lines to vote against her.  The months of being propped up by the media as the front runner have met with a brick wall of a reality check, and rather than her last hope, NH is going to be a crushing defeat.  Frankly, whether Obama or Edwards take NH, they ought to get together and have that VP conversation.  An Obama Edwards ticket would present a strong and unified Democratic choice in 2008.

Republicans have a more complicated picture.  Romney’s finish at second is confusing.  He’s a compromise candidate, and his inability to pull in first in Iowa is going to hurt in NH, where familiarity is breeding some powerful contempt.  McCain came in third, but he didn’t even break 20 percent.  He isn’t really going into NH with momentum so much as positioning, but it might be enough.  Huckabee is in the opposite position, lacking in positioning, but bringing in some serious momentum.

The only candidate who did horribly who still has a shot at staying in the game isn’t even focusing on NH.  He’s aiming for Florida.  We can’t count out everyone’s favorite fascist, Rudy Giuliani.  But if he loses Florida in the face of a consensus candidate, he’s out.

All in all, the Republican are in for a rough  and divided ride.  While the Democrats are enjoying the rising winds of change.  I’d like to close with these words from Kos:

But tonight, seeing what transpired in Iowa, I can’t help but be hopeful for our party’s long-term future. The youth vote is turning out big, and turning out for us. Independents have had enough of Republicans and are trending our way. The center is moving leftward for the first time in a generation.

Tonight’s message was one of hope.