Huckabee rushes into the breach to defend McCain’s indefensible position

Jeremy G. writes:

Mike Huckabee was interviewed by Hannity and Colmes on April 25. Huckabee twists himself into knots trying to defend McCain’s attack on North Carolina Republicans. But Hannity and Colmes see right through it (as would any average person). Here is the salient portion of interview:

HANNITY: Now I’ve got to tell you something, Governor, Republicans are furious at Senator McCain that he’s critical of that ad, that he was critical of the president when he was in New Orleans. Why would he be critical of that ad?

HUCKABEE: Well, I think he’s trying to run a campaign that’s focused on the significant difference between his position on taxes, on spending, on dealing with terror, and those of the Democrats, either Hillary or Obama. He doesn’t want to get distracted into what Obama’s preacher said a few years ago. That’s going to be something the 527’s are going to do.

HANNITY: But wait a minute. He’s attacking—he’s bringing up the Hamas issue.

HUCKABEE: Sure.

HANNITY: He’s bringing up the Bill Ayers issue. North Carolina is bringing up the Jeremiah Wright issue. He attacks them for bringing up an issue they view as important. I’ve got to tell you something, I think it’s a big mistake if he’s going to dump on Republicans that have a different strategy than him.

HUCKABEE: Well, I think what Senator McCain is trying to do is focus on the fact he’s not running against Reverend Wright, he’s running against Obama. Obama has said enough things, there’s enough stuff about what Obama has done, what he has said and I think that’s where the senator wants to focus his campaign.

COLMES: Sounds to me, Governor, that the—that Senator McCain is being selective in his choice of when it’s OK to play the guilt by association game and when it isn’t. He doesn’t like the North Carolina ad but he’s willing to associate Obama as if he had anything to do with the guy from Hamas endorsing him, as if that somehow reflects on the views of Obama.

He’s willing to play the Ayers card but he’s upset at North Carolina. So he’s been pretty selective about when it’s OK to do that and when it isn’t.

HUCKABEE: Well, Alan, I have to take issue with you, I don’t think that’s what the senator is doing at all. I think what he’s simply doing is stating that when the leader in America of Hamas says he’d rather have Obama, that’s a significant indication that they know that with Obama’s willingness to sit down and have a little chat and a tea party with a terrorist, that’s just what they’d love to have.

LA replies:

But what will poor Huckabee do, now that McCain has reversed himself and said that, based on Obama’s go-ahead, criticism of Obama’s Wright connection is legitimate? I mean, it was bad enough that McCain took such a wildly off-base and ill-thought-out position that even McCain had to abandon it. But for Huckabee unnecessarily to rush to defend McCain’s ill-thought-out position suggests one of two things: Huckabee himself eschews any criticism of blacks and is eager to argue for that position himself; or Huckabee is still hoping that McCain will pick him as his running mate. Either way he looks both foolish and ultra liberal and provides further grounds for conservatives to have nothing to do with him.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 29, 2008 11:41 AM | Send