Is it wrong that I find Huckabee mildly likeable?

[redstate_democrat]

He was just on Rachel. I kind of find him mildly likeable. I don't think he'd ever get nominated by his party, though. He has a strong populist streak in him.

[creeksneakers2]

1. I like him too

He scolded the Republicans for the way they treated the Clintons. That took some guts.

[babylonsister]

2. He's already campaigning. Ugh. Yes, he's likable enough.

:P And he's honing his shtick.

[redstate_democrat]

11. lol He swore up and down he was just on his book tour.

The 2012 campaign started early.

[TwilightGardener]

86. If you find fucking psychos likeable. OK.

[elleng]

3. Hope its not wrong;

I like him, too!

Better than romne.

[EconomicLiberal]

4. He's likable, but don't let that fool you.

His wit and charm will fool many people, but it should fool smart progressives who realize he is your standard, run of the mill wingnut Republican.

[TheWraith]

5. He is likeable. He's also insane. But likeable.

He's almost charismatic, until you catch him talking to his base.

[liberalmuse]

6. He's very likable...

but wrong headed in some respects. I like him too, and I'm so ashamed. I must state that I hate his views on gays.

[Unsane]

7. He's likeable until he starts saying 'Democrat Party.'

[vanderBeth]

8. No, I think so to

Like the way I feel bad for Romney getting screwed by his party.

[camera obscura]

9. He has done a few half-decent things

He scolded Republicans for attacking Jeremiah Wright by saying that we need to account for our country's real racial problems. He said the lipstick on a pig brouhaha was silly and that Republicans had to prove they were a party of solutions. He wrote a very decent column after Obama won asking his fellow Republicans to treat the president-elect as they wanted Bush to be treated.

However, he has also praised the "convictions" of Jesse Helms and said that gays haven't undergone enough brutality to qualify as a civil rights movement. He may not be as vile as some Republicans, but he's still not a nice guy.

[iamjoy]

20. He's Still Nice

Saying gays haven't undergone enough brutality doesn't mean he isn't nice, he's just misguided or ignorant on that issue. Civil Rights is not (or shouldn't be) a matter of having undergone enough suffering. This is a "problem" when homosexuals start comparing their struggle for equal rights with that of African Americans. It leads to debates about who has faced more persecutions rather than making the argument that all people deserve basic civil rights.

If Civil Rights were a "reward" for prior mistreatment, we wouldn't allow male WASPs to vote.;)

[camera obscura]

24. I guess... I'll just go on pretending he's a liberal who got a screw knocked loose somewhere

All he needs is a good smack on the noggin and he'll come back to his senses.

[Foolacious]

43. Not allow male WASPs to vote???

That's... that's...

Hmmm....

You may be onto something there....

[iamjoy]

52. Republicans Would Never Win

If we took away male WASP's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Republican president.

:rofl:

[SoxFan]

80. The real reason he was upset about the Wright attacks? "Jay Cole".

Huckabee himself is a politically wired preacher. He was head of the Arkansas Baptist Convention before entering electoral politics in 1990.

It is inevtiable that Huckabee has, on some occasion, said something ludicrous from the pulpit. It's also inevitable that someone who is a political ally has pulled some kind of off the wall stunt. Trust me, Mike Huckabee doe not want the words "Jay Cole" to become part of the discussion on CNN and MSNBC.

[gravity]

10. He is one of the few republicans with actual integrity

His ideas are wacko, but I have respect for the man.

[redstate_democrat]

16. Yeah, he is just overly religulous or something

I think he's a Republican because of his religious views. Religion can make some people a wingnut. I'm sure the fiscal conservative and corporate Republicans hate his guts.

[lady raven]

77. Isn't he a Southern Baptist minister?

That would do it.

[iamjoy]

12. He Has A Congenial Manner

He really does come across like a nice guy. During the primary I said I wouldn't want him as President, but I'd like him as my neighbor. You sense he's the kind of guy that if you're sick or something he and his wife will come over with a casserole and he'll kind of watch your house if you go out of town. He'd never yell at your kids to get off of his lawn.

I respect him for working hard to lose weight and for at acknowledging (in an empathetic, non-derogatory way) that the lifestyles of many Americans is a major factor in our health care "crisis."

On the other hand, I would never want anyone who doesn't believe in evolution in a position of political power.

[democrattotheend]

13. I kind of do too

I would never vote for him, but I do have some respect for him. As Republicans go he's somewhat decent on labor issues, which are important to me.

[NewJeffCT]

14. The guy that thinks women should graciously submit

to their husband's sacrificial leadership?

but, I understand what you're saying - he is far more personable than Palin or McCain, or Romney, Thompson or Giuliani, too.

[JimGinPA]

15. Ted Bundy Was Likeable...

But he was dangerous too.

[baldguy]

18. bingo

Just another giggling killer.

[davidinalameda]

19. but Huckabee has the opportunity to kill more than Bundy ever dreamed of doing

if he's elected president

[IsItJustMe]

22. I was thinking along the same lines.

[political_Dem]

33. Just as I was thinking.

It didn't just take a broken arm to lure women into Bundy's car.

[JerseygirlCT]

17. Quite likeable. Just quite insane, too. nt

[JimWis]

21. I have to admit. I did like some of the things he said.

[bunkerbuster1]

68. He was the only prominent rational conservative during the Rev. Wright flare-up.

He's said a lot of stupid things about the evil left wing media and so forth since then, but I give Huckabee credit for taking a principled, clearly unpopular stand back in March.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/19/huckabee-defends-rev-jer_n_92346.html

[Mike Daniels]

85. He came to Wright's defense on some degree

He said something on the lines of that he (Huckabee) grew up in the south and Wright's views could be justified given the atmosphere of the time that Wright grew up in and Wright's personal experiences.

[bunkerbuster1]

91. yep. Money quote...

"As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say 'That's a terrible statement!' ... I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names..."

[gabby garcia]

23. I find it impossibla to like

much less trust someone who raised a son who tortured and killed a stray dog, and then covered it up for him.

[WildEyedLiberal]

25. He seems nice

I don't want him anywhere near the White House, but he does seem like a genuinely likable guy.

[AlinPA]

26. I don't see him as likeable. He is an ignorant fundamentalist who thinks the earth is 6000 years

old. He is an intolerant hateful fundamentalist.

[tularetom]

27. Remember he thinks the earth is 6000 years old

and Adam and Eve used to ride around on dinosaurs. And the Great Flood caused the Grand Canyon. And some big bearded guy up in the sky created all this shit out of dirt and rocks in 7 days.

Then go back and ask yourself if a guy who actually believes even an iota of that shit should be entrusted with any portion at all of the public treasury.

He's congenial enough but Jesus H Christ we're just now getting rid of an idiot that believed the same bullshit.

[Sebass1271]

28. AND who can't forget what he said about Obama during the

primaries? yes, he apologized later.. but guess what? he said it!

[LonelyLRLiberal]

29. He's a crook and a sham!!! Take it from an Arkansan.

He's a bullshitter.

[Sebass1271]

30. i know he did something against Clinton in Arkansas.. or

Clinton's brother or brother in law.. i am not sure what it was and i don't have the full story at hand...

[nosillies]

41. Seconded, from another Arkansan. He's a batshit crazy POS.

But I did admire him for losing all that weight, however he did it.

Hey Lonely, I'm here too! :hi:

[Art_from_Ark]

48. I still can't get over how he was installed by Ken Starr

Starr, in his witch hunt against Bill Clinton, was groping for a conviction of anyone who could be tied to Clinton. At that time (1996), Arkansas had a rather unusal situation in which Jim Guy Tucker, a Democrat, was governor, and Huckabee, a Republican, was lileutenant governor. Starr relied on the testimony of two known perjurers to oust Tucker from the governor's mansion and install the "likeable" Huckabee, who then occupied the governor's mansion (or the triplewide trailer behind it) for the next 10 years. Starr never would have hounded Tucker if the lieutenant governor had been a Democrat.

[pnorman]

31. I did a Google search on him one time.

I was hoping to find something "anti-union" by him, to show a pro-Huckabee friend (who's also in my union). To my surprise, it turned out that he was unambiguously PRO-union! Perhaps even more so than some Democrats!

I regard these theocrats as being a great danger to our democratic institutions. But when we heap mindless invective on them, we make a big mistake (become like Freek Republic!)

pnorman

[political_Dem]

32. I tend to think that he has to be likeable because it "mainstreams" his extreme RW views.

Huckabee (although smarter than Palin) is in the same camp as the Gov. from Alaska. He embraces rather abhorrent views, so the only way for people to "absorb" his message is to water it down and pretend it isn't so bad. In that way, it is put out into the general populace with few questions. By continuously repeating "his values", soon people won't be disturbed by their more nefarious qualities.

It doesn't surprise me that Huckabee has a talk show.

That's what makes people like Palin and Huckabee dangerous, imho. They're well liked.

[OhioBlue]

34. I find him kinda likeable too...

but I think it is b/c he reminds me of Kevin Spacey, he made me lol when I was watching him on C-Span and he started playing "Fortunate Son" and I have "I heart Huckabee" in my head whenever I see him...

I would never vote for him - he just has good marketing or something.

[mvd]

35. In a Reagan-type way

He'll try to make you feel good while he supports things that are bad for the country.

[davidpdx]

36. I agree with you, he is likeable

but some of his views are very scary. He ran a honorable campaign against Romney who is a slimeball. As someone else said, he'll never get nominated for his party for the presidency. I guess he always has a shot at senator if Lincoln steps aside at some point.

[Jennicut]

37. He is very likable actually but also certifiably nutty.

He has a nice personality though, seems easygoing. But the things he stands for and believes in are hard to stomach. Still, he makes a pleasant talk show host and plays a mean bass.

[chocolate ink]

38. Being Likeable

I find him mildly likeable also but not in any way qualified for president.(at this point is there any republican with a rounded philosophy to be president?) I remember hearing him say during the primaries that the Constitution should be changed to become more God centered..yeah that little oath of office thingy about upholding the Constitution apparently doesn't mean much to him. And that's pretty scary.

[Colobo]

39. He's a cool guy. That doesn't mean I want him to be my president.

[mmonk]

40. Yes.

[quakerboy]

42. No. Schmoozer Extreme

I thought he had a populist streak too, until I decided to actually learn about him

[Danger Mouse]

44. I find him likeable, and a few of his policies are decent...but those of his views that are bad?

They've very, very bad.
Therefore, I wouldn't even consider voting for him.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

45. no you wouldn't be wrong...I kinda like the huckie myself

[Neshanic]

46. Ewwwww.

[hulklogan]

47. Yes it is wrong. He is evil.

:patriot:

[BlooInBloo]

49. Yes....

This has been a special double episode of Simple Answers To Simple Questions.

[AlCzervik]

50. He is the worst kind of rw nutcase because he appears affable, he's not, he's bad news.

[Jade Fox]

51. I too found him mildly likable until.....

he repeated a particularly vile Republican talking point making the rounds during the height of the immigration debate that claimed the reason we have so many illegal immigrants in the U.S. is because of abortion. If not for abortion, there would be enough Americans to do the jobs the illegals are doing.

When I heard Huckabee repeat this, the idea that women should be forced to give birth to children they don't want in order to provide an exploitable labor force, I stopped liking him.

[MilesColtrane]

53. The kind of guy you can live next to for years and talk to about football,...

...until one day you find out he fed his family into a wood chipper.

[Starry Messenger]

54. Bingo. n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

55. There's lots of people I like that I think should not be anywhere near a position of power

Huckabee is one of those people. Although IMO he's a bit arrogant. He was actually under the impression that he could save Keith Richards. I don't think Jesus himself could save Keith Richards.

[Whisp]

56. yes, it's wrong and I'm wrong too.

looking at the cesspool they had, why McCain when Huck can actually talk like an intelligent person? well, maybe not so intelligent in his rw crap, but much more personalble and likeable than that taxidermy thing they had up.

[Indenturedebtor]

57. Yeah he seems like a great guy to have a beer with. Until...

He starts talking about his fascist social engineering ideas. Then I would want to hit him over the head with my beer bottle.

Jail sucks. No beer with Schmucklebee thanks.

[TheKentuckian]

58. Huckabee has that favorite Uncle who happens to be a wingnut vibe to him

You know he's misguided as hell but you want to hold out hope that he isn't evil.

[4lbs]

59. I would think that Huckabee and Obama would be able to sit down and have a nice civil debate on many

issues. They probably would disagree on 80% or 90% of them, but it would still be a healthy respectful disagreement.

I also believe that at no point would Huckabee try to paint Obama as some sort of scary Arab Muslim palling around terrorists.

[Robeson]

60. He's a con artist. From living in the South all my life, he's a dime-a-dozen...

...Southern Baptist preacher con-artist.

[Uzybone]

61. Yes, its wrong

Huckabee represents the worst of the republican party. The happy faced religious theocracy that Palin also represents.

Fuck Huck.

[Marrah_G]

62. He has a likable and charming personality

it's only knowing his view on certain subjects that I start finding him a bit scary.

But if I were to meet him without knowing anything else about him..... I am sure I would think he was a great guy.

[SoonerPride]

63. He's a used car salesmn

And he'll sell you a car that explodes 10 seconds you get it off the lot.

Yes. it's wrong to find him likeable because that means you'll start to buy his crap and that makes him dangerous.

His real self was revealed in speeches where he wants to destory the Constitution andreplace it with biblical law.

He is dangerous.

Very dangerous.

[saltpoint]

64. Getting folks to like him is one of his gifts, or one of his tricks,

depending on your political stripe.

I don't trust him as far as I could throw him, now or pre-diet. And I certainly don't want him appointing policy people and judicial people from the Oval Office.

It appears that Huckabee is at least as interested in the GOP nomination in 2012 as Romney, and Romney is slobbering all over himself for the job. I think both these two men represent an extremely formidable challenge for Sarah Palin's own ambitions.

[secondwind]

65. more likeable than the average Republican, and more honest too, a real

honest to God preacher with values. He is better than Palin for sure!

[No Elephants]

66. Very enjoyable a few minutes at a time, but he would be a disaster as a

President, IMO.

[Dawgs]

67. My Dad, who's been a Dem most of his life, probably would have voted for him.

I'm glad he didn't win the nomination.

[sufrommich]

69. I like Huckabee. I disagree with his politics,but he seems

genuine and honest.

[burythehatchet]

70. Sometimes I find poison ivy likeable, cuz the scratching feels so good.

[blindpig]

71. Since the Democratic Party has abandoned populism

Huck's got a wide opened field. Don't think he's going away, better watch out. That's what happens when you throw the people under the bus.

[bunkerbuster1]

72. Not wrong at all.

It's ok to like people.

Also, I think it's a mystery as to why McCain didn't pick him for his VP candidate; that would've been much tougher to defeat than McCain/Palin. That would've been my first question for the man, even though I'm sure I wouldn't/couldn't get a straight-up answer.

[Arkansas Granny]

73. Mike Huckabee is a likeable person. I don't agree with his politics and

can't imagine a scenario where I would consider voting for him, but overall I think he is a good man who believes he is doing the right thing. I didn't like his attempts to inject religion into Arkansas politics when he was Governor here, but I was really impressed by his actions and statements following Katrina.

[southpaw]

74. Fundie. Whack-Job Fundie.

Seems a nice guy on the surface, but a christian dominionist underneath.

[trayfoot]

75. Yeah, I think he is likeable, but..........................

I don't want him in the White House! Too fundie for my tastes!

[lady raven]

76. I do too, despite myself.

[SIMPLYB1980]

78. He is likable I will admit.

If only he didn't want to set up a theocracy I wouldn't really have a problem with him.

[SoxFan]

79. He's a world-champion bullshit artist

His administration in Arkansas was a sleaze-fest of Palinesque proportions. It was the willing complicity of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (a GOP mouthpiece) and the ineptitude of the Litte Rock broadcast media that allowed him to flourish.

A shady computer contract that screwed taxpayers out of millions of dollars; his connections with right wing lunatics like Jay Cole; his role in the Wayne Dumond catastrophe; trying to get his wife elected as Secretary of State; there's a lot of crap that the national MSM has not touched yet.

[LostinVA]

81. Yes -- he's quite an evil person

He plays that folksy facade to the HILT -- and, he does it very, very well.

[NikolaC]

82. I Disagree

I seem to remember a certain "joke" that he told in a speech that he gave in front of the NRA about Obama and ducking a bullet. So, no, not likeable.

[calmblueocean]

83. It's funny, because Huckabee seems so likeable but is actually the most extreme Repub candidate

He supports a "human life amendment", for instance, that would make all fertilized eggs "persons" under the Constitution. Besides being absurd, this would make even seeking an abortion attempted murder.

He supports mass seizures and deportation of millions of illegal immigrants. Can you imagine tractor-trailers being loaded with illegal immgrants at gunpoint? That's Huckabee-style immigration policy.

He supports the laughably-named "Fair Tax" which would destroy our economy by adding a 30% national sales tax to all goods and services sold in America. Even worse than that, though -- the real reason Huck supports the "Fair Tax" is because, once enacted, churches would no longer have to refrain from political speech in the pulpit, because there would be no more "tax exempt" status for them to claim.

I could go on.

The scary thing is that, in spite of all this... I find myself liking Huckabee, too. He was the only one at the Republican convention to show a note of grace toward Obama this year, for example. And he genuinely cares about people struggling to get by.

But we'd be better off with almost any other Republican in office than Huck.

[Libby2]

84. yes

[Clio the Leo]

87. He is, without question, the only likeable Republican on Earth...

.... and I hope he has a long and prosperous career as a TV personality. :)

[The Hope Mobile]

88. Definitely likeable but unelectable -

They won't allow him to win because he won't just "do their bidding". They want someone they can control more like W or McCain.

[happychatter]

89. That's why he's more dangerous than Palin - nt

[apnu]

90. He was doing OK until the very end when he showed his nasty, nutbar colors.

Really, I honestly thought I might change my mind about him, then in the closing seconds he reminded me why I think he's an asshat.