Justin Wax from the Tennessean supported Huckabee, even to the point of sending him an early campaign contribution. But then he started learning the facts:
I was completely shocked when I read an Arkansas Leader article stating Huckabee issued more than 700 commutations and pardons during his tenure, more than Arkansas' six neighboring states combined. I was even more repulsed when I learned the list of pardons and commutations included convicted murderers and rapists.
As a fiscal conservative, I was annoyed with Huckabee's protectionist-sounding rhetoric and particularly his name-calling, labeling the conservative group Club for Growth, the "Club for Greed." His immigration policies as governor also gave me cause for concern, but I pushed all of Huckabee's faults to the back of my mind, instead choosing to dwell on his pro-life record and position on the war. However, when I studied the Wayne Dumond story and Huckabee's "desire" to see the convicted rapist released into society, alarm bells went off. After reading the Arkansas Leader article on Huckabee's shocking propensity to side with convicted murderers and rapists over victims, I meekly pulled off my Huckabee bumper stickers.
Wax then lists his problems with the rest of the "conservative" candidates:
As nice a summation as I have seen, although I have problems with McCain that aren't listed, primarily the fact that he hates both the First and Second amendments.
Now go read Wax's excellent reasoning as to why Thompson is his choice for president. Money quote:
Thompson "hands down" possesses excellent judgment, and he will win because he is the most reliable, consistent, principled conservative in this race. Unleash the Fredmentum.
Nice.
The Washington Post addresses some of the tales that politicians tell:
Mitt Romney says he "saw" his father "march" with Martin Luther King Jr. Rudolph W. Giuliani claims that he is one of the "five best-known Americans in the world." According to John McCain, the Constitution established the United States as a "Christian nation." Ron Paul believes that a "NAFTA superhighway" is being planned to link Mexico with Canada and undermine U.S. sovereignty.
On the other side of the political divide, Sen. Barrack Obama says there are more young black males in prison than in college. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton claims she has a "definitive timetable" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. John Edwards insists that NAFTA -- the North American Free Trade Agreement -- has cost Americans "millions of jobs." Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. boasts about his experience negotiating an arms-control treaty with Leonid Brezhnev.
All those claims, made over the past four months as part of the presidential campaign, are demonstrably false. . . .
When a candidate is caught making a clearly false statement, embarrassment or ridicule often ensues -- and over time a reputation can form. But the electoral rewards derived from stretching the truth or distorting a rival's record just as frequently outweigh the fleeting political costs.
One would hope that the political cost of telling a lie would be long term and the electoral rewards would be fleeting.
On the good side, however, WaPo also says that blogs, YouTube, information databases such as LexisNexis, and the 24-hour news cycle has resulted in mistakes and inaccuracies (and outright lies) are being identified quicker than ever. The most recent example is Huckabee's claim that "we have more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities except those immediately south of the border."
Jack Kelly, writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, believes that the Huckaboom is going to be a short term event. In which case:
Mr. Thompson's liability is a lot easier to fix than those of his rivals. Mitt Romney can't change the fact that he's a Mormon (which shouldn't be an issue but it is), or a recent convert to social conservatism. Rudy Giuliani is stuck with his views on abortion, his extramarital affairs and his friendship with disgraced cop Bernard Kerik. Conservatives remember how much Mr. McCain has enjoyed sticking his finger in their eye. But all Mr. Thompson has to do to dispel concerns he's lazy is to campaign hard, as he did last week in Iowa.
In a campaign marked more by who voters are against than by who they are for, Fred Thompson is a safe choice. His views -- which he articulates well -- offend none of the core constituencies in the GOP. The more Mitt and Huck fight, the better he looks to Iowa voters.
If Mike Huckabee's been the hare in this race, Fred Thompson is the tortoise. In Aesop's fable, it was the tortoise who eventually won.
I disagree with one point: Thompson is not the "safe" choice, he is the conservative choice.
As far as I can tell, it's mostly secular liberals swooning over Huckabee. Liberals adore Huckabee because he fits their image of what an evangelical should be: stupid and easily led.
From Ann Coulter's latest column, There’s a Huckabee Born Every Minute.
Journalist Deroy Murdock observes that:
Murdock, of course, is trying to make the case for Giuliani.
Rumor has it that the thought of raising taxes once lingered in Rudy's mind overnight. When Rudy finally noticed what his brain was doing, he got so mad that he thimply thlapped himthelf thilly. Which explains why he supports other notions like taking away our guns.