John Podhoretz Plays Dr. Frankenstein

John Podhoretz plays Dr. Frankenstein and builds a candidate for president in 2008. "Let me build the perfect 2008 Republican candidate for you," he says in today's New York Post (Our comments in red):

1. He would be a governor because recent history demonstrates the nearly insuperable advantage governors have when it comes to running for president -- We agree wholeheartedly. Nominating a Senator is insanity.

2. He would be from a populous state, because his success there statewide might win him 10% of the of the Electoral College votes he would need on Election Day--We agree, sort of. While it would obviously be a tremendous advantage for any presidential candidate to wrap up 10% of the 270 Electoral College votes needed from his or her own state, it is by no means required. Neither Carter (GA) nor Clinton (AR) came from large states.

3. He would have to be acceptable to social conservatives with resolute stands on social issues like abortion because the Bush victory in 2004 demonstrated the importance of being able to bring evangelical churchgoers to the polls. But in manner and style he should be easygoing, in order to undercut the ability of Democrats and the MSM to paint him as an extremist -- Again, we agree wholeheartedly.

4. He should have particular appeal to Hispanics, because the Bush 2004 victory was built in part on pulling Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party -- This is true, but we would argue that much of the Hispanic population's preference for Bush in 2004 was based upon similar conservative views, rather than Bush manufacturing some "particular" appeal. Hispanic families tend to be strong Catholics with conservative values.

5. He should have Southern credentials, because the GOP has to be able to rely on the votes of the solid South to prevail in the Electoral College --Again, we agree completely. Keeping the South together is an absolute must for the GOP (and breaking it up is a must for the Democrats).

These are the five measures of the perfect GOP candidate for 2008, according to Podhoretz.

We'll add an obvious sixth:

6. In order to win, he must actually run --Podhoretz was attempting to build a scenario in which only Jeb Bush could be considered the perfect candidate. Unfortunately, Jeb has all but taken an oath that he is not running.

Despite this, we believe most of Podhoretz' measures of "the perfect candidate" hold true for any GOP candidate in 2008. Let's see how Mike Huckabee measures up.

1. He would be a governor --Mike Huckabee is a governor (AR), currently one of the longest-serving and most successful governors in the nation and incoming Chairman of the National Governor's Association.

2. He would be from a populous state --Arkansas, with only 6 electoral votes, certainly does not qualify as a populous state, but we've established that isn't necessarily required in order to be successful.

3. He would have to be acceptable to social conservatives with resolute stands on social issues like abortion, but "easy-going" in manner and style --We can think of few sentences that better describe Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist preacher and compassionate conservative.

4. He should have particular appeal to Hispanics --We've already established that we believe Republicans' conservative family values are enough to appeal to Hispanic families, but if more is needed, Gov. Mike Huckabee has taken very public stands on advocating vital services be made available to the children of illegal immigrants including prenatal care and college scholarships. Huckabee has demonstrated leadership by taking these stands despite their unpopularity among some conservatives because: a) he believes every child deserves a chance to be born healthy, and b) he believes children should not be punished for the crimes of their parents.

5. He should have Southern credentials, because the GOP has to be able to rely on the "solid South" to prevail in the Electoral College --Absolutely true. In fact, recent presidential campaign history proves that while being from a populous state is NOT required, being able to win the South IS required. In other words, risking one or two Southern states in order to shore up support in a larger state would be extremely foolish for the GOP and would likely result in losing the election. Not only that, but it would be tantamount to throwing the Democrats a life preserver in a region they desperately need to recover. Who better than Mike Huckabee, a born and bred Southern Governor, former Baptist minister, and truly compassionate conservative to carry the South and bridge the gap between evangelicals and moderates? By the way, the "solid South" equates to 64 electoral votes, almost one quarter of the total needed to win.


BSR

Special thanks to Ryan James for posting the Podhoretz article.

News & Views

Here's our first post-Memorial Day News & Views. Let's get to it.

Justin Ready at 2008 Political Perspective thinks Senator Sam Brownback (KS) could become the evangelical candidate in 2008 ... if he can keep Huckabee out of the race.

While you're visiting 2008 Political Perpective, don't forget to vote in Justin's online candidate preference poll.

Ryan James at RyanJames.tv found a great piece about Huckabee and links to it here. Thanks, Ryan!

Seamus at 3Martini speculates about the 2008 GOP field and puts Huckabee as his number 5 pick.

Wikipedia links to our Mike Huckabee President 2008 blog on their U.S. Presidential Election 2008 page.

McCain's White House hopes are dead, says Brendan Miniter of the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Decision 08 for the link.

Right Wing News' John Hawkins provides this perspective on John McCain's potential 2008 campaign.

Daniel Owen of Oval Office 2008 is back from hiatus and reports on recent news about Governor Huckabee.

Political Wire links to a George Will article claiming that Senators Rick Santorum (PA) and Sam Brownback(KS) could have "special strength" with the evangelical and social conservative voters so important to winning the White House. Of course, Will seems to forget that Senators don't get elected president.

Captain's Quarters discusses the 2006 election cycle. Things look dismal for liberals.

Speaking of liberalism, Real Clear Politics has a link to this story by a liberal writer worried that liberalism itself may be in serious trouble. He writes about the good old days, when ideology and politics were separate. What he fails to realize, apparently, is that conservatives have always been here ... there's a certain amount of liberal hanky-panky conservatives are willing to tolerate, but it was the liberals' injection of their own brand of "ideology" into politics that spurred conservatives to action.

More to come. Check back often!

BSR

Book Review: Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork

Welcome back, everyone. Hope you had a terrific Memorial Day Weekend.

Gov. Mike Huckabee's new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, which details his amazing personal story of losing over 100 pounds on his way to becomming America's new health spokesperson, is doing quite well. The book has now risen to #433 in Amazon's sales rankings and continues to get excellent reviews.

Customer Reviews

Buy this book and live a healthier life!, May 15, 2005

Reviewer: Dr. Michael L. Johnson

I heard the author on "The Sean Hannity Show" and was so impressed that I bought the book that evening. Gov. Mike Huckabee is right on the money with this book and he is living proof that you can get healthier, IF, you make a commitment to yourself. This book is informative and motivational. The title says it all......too many Americans ARE digging their grave with a knife and fork. If you want to live a happy, healthy life, read this book. The time to change your life is now. I highly recommend this book.

Dr. Michael L. Johnson, author of "What Do You Do When the Medications Don't Work?--A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Migraine Headaches, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Conditions"

Buy your copy of Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork here.

BSR

Memorial Day Weekend 2005

"Let us, if we must, debate the lessons learned at some other time. Today, we simply say with pride, "Thank you, dear son. May God cradle you in His loving arms."

President Ronald Reagan

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone.

BSR

President Reagan's remarks taken from Memorial Day Ceremonies at Arlington, Virginia May 28, 1984

Consensus: Huckabee's Stock is Rising

A lot has happened in the last few days. A quick perusal of the right side of the blogosphere indicates a consensus opinion that Mike Huckabee's stock is rising.

Take a look at this, this and this.

Now lets have a look at the list of "front runners" who have been talked about over the last several months:

Giuliani: A celebrity and a name, but he's pro-choice. That makes him a non-starter.
McCain: Just committed presidential suicide with the filibuster deal.
Frist: Now being labeled by conservative groups as a weak leader. He's through.
Jeb Bush: Has sworn he will not run this time around.
Santorum: Probably one of the most polarizing figures in the field.
Hagel: Too soft on the filibuster issue and also has the senator problem.
Schwarzenegger: Another celebrity name who never had a chance.
Powell: He has never wanted to be president and he still doesn't.
Pataki: About as liberal as Giuliani. Another non-starter.

That leaves Condoleeza Rice, Haley Barbour, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and few other lesser known names. Let's take a look at them:

Rice: Will likely have Bush's support if she runs. She was born in Alabama, but it's not clear that she has enough of a connection to the south to hold it's critical block of electoral votes together. She also has no campaign experience.

Barbour: A well-known politico and governor of Mississippi, he could play well in the vital south. But he has to get re-elected in 2006 and its not a given that he will.

Hutchison: Has the senator problem.

George Allen: Has the senator problem.

Sam Brownback: Has the senator problem.

Mit Romney: A governor, but of Massachusetts. He would not play well in the vital south, especially if the Dems put a real southerner on their ticket. Not only that, but he's suddenly changing his position on abortion just in time for a 2008 run. Nothing like a little hypocrisy and pandering to endear oneself to the voters. He's toast.

Mark Sanford: Governor of South Carolina, he would be a player in the vital south.

Tim Pawlenty: A governor, but of Minnesota. He would not be able to keep the south together, especially with a real southerner on the Dem's ticket.

Bill Owens: Governor of Colorado. Another candidate who probably cannot keep the south together.

We believe the GOP cannot keep the White House in 2008 if they do not keep the southern block together. Democrats are going to do all they can to break it up.

Therefore, we believe the race for the GOP nomination will come down to the candidates who are: 1) not senators; and 2) capable of keeping the south together.

Assuming Jeb Bush sticks to his vow not to run, today those candidates are: Barbour, Sanford and Huckabee.

We like those odds.

BSR

News & Views

The John Brummett column has generated quite a bit of buzz out in the blogosphere about Governor Huckabee. Here's a sampling:

Mark Harris at Save the GOP . He's wrong about Huckabee's position on illegal immigration, but we're soon going to address that on this blog. Stay tuned.

Daly Thoughts reports on it here.

Johnathan Singer at Basie! Note to Johnathan: Mike Huckabee IS from Hope!

Jim Pfaff of The Opinion Times.

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

Good friend Ryan James at RyanJames.tv

The Carpetbagger Report covers the news here.

Justin Ready at 2008 Political Perspective. While you're there, vote in his online poll.

Politics & War, a blog by Daniel Munz

The Uncompassionate Conservative had this to say

Brew at Robot Invasion

On the filibuster deal: My only question is what, exactly, are the "extraordinary circumstances" under which the minority is still entitled to use the filibuster?

Here's more on the filibuster deal, with a variety of links to other bloggers' opinions, by Mark
Coffey at Decision 08.

You can strike two more Republicans from the 2008 list. According to Jahn Hawkins at Right Wing News, the filibuster deal kills the chances of McCain and Frist.

If you're trapped at a desk at work, you can catch the filibuster deal news from video blogger Ian at The Political Teen. He's got it all!

More News & Views to come. Check back often!

BSR

LULAC to Hold National Meeting in Little Rock; Huckabee to Speak

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest U.S. Hispanic civil rights organization, will hold its 2005 national meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas beginning June 27. The meeting is expected to attract 5,000 members from all over the nation. According to reports, Gov. Mike Huckabee has been confirmed to speak at the convention.

Huckabee Will Run, Reporter Says

John Brummett, columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock, published a column on Sunday in which he claims that "a person close to" Governor Mike Huckabee told him "matter-of-factly" that Huckabee will run for president in 2008.

Bummett then says that Huckabee, who has gotten little attention among national pundits, is generally misunderstood and proceeds to break down Huckabee's chances in a remarkably favorable light, considering the fact that Brummett is no friend of Huckabee's.

Sprinkled throughout the column are many, many items regular readers of this blog are already familiar with.

"Our Boy Mike looks like a Santorum-styled social conservative only because he came out of a Southern Baptist pulpit and talks the talk on abortion. When he's traditionally right wing, he's combatively so and overstatedly so. Otherwise, though, his positions on immigration and Medicaid spending ... make him something akin to the compassionate conservative that Karl Rove helped George W. Bush contend falsely that he was."

In addition to honestly being a compassionate conservative, Brummett says, Huckabee potentially enjoys a number of other advantages.

"The essence of a Huckabee candidacy would be a compelling biography, convenient geography and a philosophical straddle linking social conservatives who'd like his pulpit background and less strident conservatives who'd like his moderation."

Finally, Brummet says, there are "rampant impracticalities" among the current forerunners in the Republican field. By design we have spent little time talking about other potential Republican candidates on this blog, preferring instead to focus on introducing you to Mike Huckabee. Brummett, however, gets it right (mostly) regarding the other candidates.

"Giuliani is pro-choice, pro-gay and anti-gun, and Republicans who embrace him as a celebrity and hero wouldn't overlook these matters if he ran for president. McCain is famously temperamental and he currently is being unforgivably friendly with moderate Democrats in trying to fashion a filibuster compromise. Frist appears to be cold and inept. Hagel's problem is that senators don't get elected president. Romney is another little-known governor. Santorum is an extremist. Pataki is about as liberal as Giuliani. Condoleeza is wholly untested in electoral politics and it remains to be seen whether Republican primary voters would embrace an African-American woman for president."

Before concluding, Brummett takes a moment to correct his previous speculation that Governor Huckabee might resign early in order to give Arkansas Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller the advantage of running as an incumbent in the 2006 election. We noted at the time that that scenario, if Huckabee were planning to run for president, would be highly unlikely since it would require him to give up his chairmanship of the National Governor's Association, a very powerful position from which to launch a presidential campaign.

BSR

News & Views

I was traveling out of town all weekend and unable to get to the blog. My apologies to the regular readers. I was SHOCKED by some the the things Howard Dean had to say on Meet the Press yesterday-- so expect some posts about that soon.

The Huckabee bandwagon continues to gain steam. The Uncompassionate Conservative had this to say.

US News speculates about a First Lady Janet Huckabee. She's a super lady and truly a "one-of-a-kind". America will love her, guaranteed! Special thanks to Arkansas Daily Blog for pointing us to the link (even though it galls them to do so-- Heh!)

Political Wire provides this bit about John Edwards' apparent plan to use a "southern strategy" to win the Democratic nomination in 2008. We've talked a lot about the likelihood of a Democratic nominee from the south, but Edwards? He couldn't even carry his own state! Shouldn't that be a prerequisite?

The Senate is bracing for the filibuster vote which will have broad implications for the 2008 election.

It's the Supreme Court stupid. Mark Coffee at Decision 08 points out that the Dem's, knowing full well President Bush is likely to have the opportunity to select a Supreme Court justice before his term is up, are involved in a power play attempting to ensure no Supreme Court nominee can take the bench without their approval.

Democrats to Republicans: "Just trust us." Real Clear Politics provides this link to a Robert Novak article reporting that Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor is trying to broker a compromise on judicial nominees that offers no committment by Democrats to not filibuster future supreme court nominees by saying Republicans and Democrats should just "learn to trust each other." Meanwhile Senator Pryor's party leader, the man who speaks for all Democrats, calls Republicans "evil." How dumb do they think we are?

State insurance commissioner follows Governor Mike Huckabee's lead, saying there is a crisis in the health insurance industry that is being caused by the health care system.

BSR

GOP Wins New York in 2008?

Fox News (see Politics menu) reports today that a recent poll shows the GOP could win New York in 2008 in a match-up between Rudy Guliani and Hillary Clinton. But don't get excited. What the poll fails to show you is that Guliani cannot possibly get the nomination in the first place due to his stance on abortion. The Republican base will not accept him.

BSR

An Excerpt From Mike Huckabee's Book

My apologies to the regular readers for the lack of new posts on Thursday. I was again traveling on business and unable to get to the blog. Things will be back to normal again next week. The following is an excerpt from Governor Mike Huckabee's new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork. This particular passage has nothing to do with weight loss advice. We chose it because it gives some insight into what makes Mike Huckabee the man he is.

BSR

"A major portion of my motivation in wanting to be healthy is a sense of stewardship to God as well as to my family. Because I believe that I am not a biological accident but rather the result of a creative process of an omnicient God, I came to the inescapable conclusion that my personal lifestyle choices were in direct contradiction to the very way I had been created. ...I would never seek to impose my deep personal convictions on others and sincerely hope that a discussion of the spiritual does not come across as judgemental, arrogant, or self-serving. I simply believe it disingenuous to discuss my personal journey (and my hope for yours) without telling 'the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.'"

Mike Huckabee

Order your copy here.

News & Views

Lee Higginbotham of Los Angeles, CA sees the potential for a Huckabee 08 run. Thanks, Lee!

Justin Ready at 2008 Political Perspective comments about Huckabee's recent interview with the Los Angeles Times and reports that the Governor continues to dominate the candidate preference poll he's running on his site. Hop on over and let your voice be heard!

The Cook Political Report provides a great analysis of the Democratic and Republican fields for 2008. We find it interesting for two reasons: 1) He systematically knocks off well-known Republican candidates for a variety of reasons, leaving Huckabee's name on the list as a possible "beneficiary"; 2) He notes that Wesley Clark will benefit in 2008 from experience he gained in 2004. But Cook failed to mention perhaps the most important thing Clark has going for him -- he's a real Southerner. Could 2008 be The Year Arkansas Dominates National Politics with Wesley Clark, an Arkansan, battling Hillary Clinton (former First Lady of Arkansas) for the Democratic nomination and then facing off with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for the White House? It's too mindboggling for us to think about now.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News is appalled that, starting next year, Medicare and Medicaid will start paying upwards of $90 million annually for erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra and Cialis. Hey, John...you didn't even mention the secondary costs associated with it for things like abortions and treatment for STDs! These are likely to cost millions more!

The stench of hypocrisy coming out of the Democratic party on everything from religion to judicial nominations is bad enough -- and now this.

Speaking of hypocrisy, we wonder how this will go over: Born Again Democrats

Michelle Malkin is tracking the filibuster showdown. You can follow it here.

And now for a fun one: Mirandalola writes that she had a terrible speaker at her graduation and wishes that her school had invited Governor Mike Huckabee, who spoke at her friend's school. "I'm jealous. Michelle's graduation was cooler than mine," she says.

Finally, here's one that's completely off-topic, but interesting: Tell this to the Arizona Cardinals.

BSR

Why the Republican Party Needs Huckabee (and other stuff)

Sorry for the lack of new posts today, folks. I've been travelling on business (my real job) which has kept me from the blog (my chosen job). Unfortunately my real job allows me to pay my bills (insert audible *sigh* here).

But here's something interesting for you. Radio Weblogs provides additional evidence today that the Dems are likely to nominate a real Southerner at the top of their ticket in 2008. If they do, here's why the Republicans better nominate Mike Huckabee.

Now for some other stuff:

Some might wonder why we started a Huckabee for President blog barely 3 months after the last election. Who the heck cares, right? Well, John Hawkins of Right Wing News sums it up quite well. We're not doing this hoping to attract large numbers of readers right now (though our numbers are growing by the week)...we're doing this now because of WHO the readers are right now.

Speaking of blogs being used to communictate with intellectual decision-makers, Bob Hoffman, who runs the terrific Political Gateway site, has created a page with links to grassroots 2008 presidential campaigns, including ours. Thanks, Bob!

Our stats tell us we're getting visitors from George Washington University's website, too, but we can't get to the page we're linked on because it is password protected. Hey GWU'ers, how about dropping us a note and letting us know what you're up to?

The War on Religion is on, baby, and the church is fighting back.


BSR

Mike Huckabee on "Real ID" Act

The purpose of this blog is to help communicate Gov. Mike Huckabee's health and health care message and to help convince him to run for president in 2008. Occasionally, however, we allow current events to take us away from this focus temporarily. Today is such a day.

Governor Huckabee is on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" right now discussing his views on the recent federal act called "Real ID". The act is an attempt, for national security reasons, to standardize drivers licenses across all 50 states. C-Net provides a good overview of it here.

The national security problem arises from the fact that the driver's license has become a de facto national ID in America and can be used as identification for boarding planes, renting cars and the like. In addition, states all have varying procedures and requirements for obtaining and renewing driver's licenses-- some require less documentation than others, some provide longer renewal intervals than others, etc.-- which allows potential terrorists to obtain a driver's license in a state where they are "easier" to get and then to keep it and use it nationally for years.

The Governor has made news recently by voicing objection to Real ID on the grounds that it is an unfunded Federal mandate that will cost states millions--if not billions--to implement. Huckabee is speaking in his role as Vice-Chairman (and incoming Chairman) of the National Governor's Association.

There are some serious Big Brother issues with the Real ID Act, such as its potential to allow the federal government to embed RFID and other technology into the cards to track your movements. But, for now at least, Huckabee's objections remain with implementation and funding issues for states.

BSR

ABC News on Mike Huckabee's Weight Loss Message

ABC News reports today on Mike Huckabee's national tour to promote his health and health care message:

"The number one thing I hear from people is when they say, 'By golly, if the governor can do it, I know I can do it.' And I don't take that as an insult. I take it as a compliment. Because they know I was a lifelong, ultimate, self-avowed couch potato who loved mass quantities of anything you put in front of me. The more Southern-fried it was, the more I liked it. The more gravy you poured on top of it, the better it was. And they look at me and they know what I lived and they see the change and they say, 'By golly, if he can, I can too.'

Governor Mike Huckabee

Read the entire story here.

BSR

News & Views

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire speculates today about the possibility that Gov. Huckabee's national book tour and health message is a prelude to a run for the White House in 2008.

Last week, after pouring over the latest Pew election surveys, we published a post titled "Democrats Negative & Fatalistic About Future" after finding information buried in the Pew story that identified this key difference between Democratic and Republican voters. Now David Brooks of the New York Times has pubished his own piece after observing the same thing. "...76 percent of poor Republicans believe most people can get ahead with hard work," Brooks says. "Only 14 percent of poor Democrats believe that. Poor Republicans haven't made it yet, but they embrace what they take to be the Republican economic vision - that it is in their power to do so. Poor Democrats are more likely to believe they are in the grip of forces beyond their control."

Radio Weblogs quotes Robert Novak on speculation that Hillary Clinton is a "lock" for the Democratic nomination in 2008 and will be "tough to beat". We have not even begun to speculate about what a Huckabee vs. Clinton matchup might look like and we arent going to start now--fun as it would be, its wayyyyy to early for that. Hint: one reason this match-up might be fun an interesting is that Hillary may very well try to resurrect her ill-fated national health care plan. Thanks to Real Clear Politics for pointing us to the story.

We published an analysis not long ago predicting that the Democrats may nominate a real southerner in 2008 because they now realize that they cannot win without it. Experience has taught them that putting carpet baggers on the ticket (Gore) and pandering by putting just any ol' southerner in as VP (Edwards) does not work. Quite the opposite--real southerners (Carter, Clinton) at the top of the ticket does work. In fact, those are the only two presidential victories in recent Democratic memory. RyanJames.tv provides futher evidence today to support this likely democratic stragegy. Our argument is that if the Dems are going to go south for 2008, Republicans have few options to one-up them and maintain its lock on the southern electoral votes -- Mike Huckabee, both a real southerner and a former Southern Baptist minister, can do it.

The judicial filibuster showdown is all but certain. Thanks to Real Clear Politics for pointing us to the story.

Mike Huckabee on ABC's "This Week"

You can catch Governor Mike Huckabee this morning on ABC's "This Week". Check here for your local airtime. If you're here because you've already seen the Governor on "This Week" or another program, welcome!

You can find more information about the Governor and his new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, here.

After that, why not get yourself a fresh cup of coffee and spend some time with us learning more about Mike Huckabee and what he can do for America. The Information Center in our sidebar is a great place to start.

And please, foward information along to your friends and family. Just click the little envelope at the bottom of each post to email it to them!

BSR

Sunday Kick in the Pants

It's Sunday morning and time for this week's Kick in the Pants idea. Since we're still in the late Spring/early Summer time of reasonably mild temperatures for most of the country, we're going to stick with our outdoor suggestions. Today, after church and a light lunch, consider taking your spouse and kids to a local public golf course. It does't matter if you've ever played a hole of golf in your life. All you're looking for is something fun to do while you're outside walking. (Believe me, on a public course you will not be the worst players out there, either!). You can rent clubs for everyone if you dont have them (DON'T rent a cart). Everyone will have fun chasing their golf balls around the course and you can even make a little family competition out of it.

If you have kids too young to swing clubs or walk that far, go buy frisbees for each person in your group and head for the local park. You can make your own frisbee golf course by choosing trees, swingsets and other things in the park to use as "holes". All you do is keep track of how many throws it takes for each person to hit the "hole" with the frisbee. It's a lot of fun.

BONUS: Going to the park allows you take your fat dog along for some exercise, too!

DOUBLE BONUS: These are the kinds of things your kids will look back on as fun, positive memories. Isn't that the kind of legacy you want to leave?

Have fun,

BSR

Praise for Huckabee's Book

Welcome to the Mike Huckabee President 2008 blog. The Governor's new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, is getting very positive reviews all around the country. We hope you will spend a few minutes with us to learn more about Mike Huckabee and what he can do to help America.

Here's what Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusettes had to say about the book:

"Governor Huckabee's inspiring story is a call to action for anyone who has ever struggled with managing their weight. His good-natured humor and understanding shine through, and his advice is sound, straight-forward, and easy to follow."

News & Views

Save the GOP White House 2008 has a post about Condoleeza Rice's position on gun rights. Maybe she is considering a run at the White House. You can learn about Gov. Mike Huckabee's position on gun rights here.

Video blogging is the next wave in the revolution of how information gets disseminated and The Political Teen is one of its pioneers. It provides a valuable service and its also expensive in terms of bandwidth, so check it out and consider dropping some change in his tip jar.

CBS does it again? GOP Bloggers is reporting on a Rush Limbaugh claim that CBS doctored a Ken Starr interview tape to make it look like Starr is opposed to GOP efforts to end judicial filibusters.

Speaking of judicial filibusters, Powerline has an excellent post today that reminds us exactly how we got where we are today.

BSR

Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork Reviews

Book reviewers at Amazon.com are giving Gov. Mike Huckabee's new book great reviews. You can order you copy here.

"It's not everyday that you find a book by an elected official that ends on a positive note. "Quit Digging" is both informative and inspirational. The best advice for living a healthy life given by someone that has been through the process. I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't had luck with diets or even those that think they can't get motivated to live better."

Jerry Swann, Santa Barbara

"Mike Huckabee truly gives an insight on why weight loss should not be a goal but healthy living should be our focus. He lays out in an entertainingand useful way tips on becoming healthy. Along with a personal and inspiring message that gives the reader encouragement and hope. I reccomend this book to everyone and encourage you to read this and his other books This is a great book by a great author."

"James"

News & Views

Here are items of news & views of interest for today:

Found the photo on Gatewaypundit. At least the dude has a good attitude about it!

Political Beaver analyzes the 2008 GOP field, including Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Deborah at Heart, Soul & Humor, a self-described "liberal evangelical with a heart", rails against heartless Republicans who want to "eliminate compassion for the hurting, poor, homeless and hungry" by reforming Medicaid, yet she supports her case with an article that quotes Republican Governor Mike Huckabee. We've reported here about Governor Huckabee's leadership in protecting the people during the Medicaid reform debate. Apparently there are no Democrats worth quoting on the issue.

The Weigh We Were, a blog run by Kat Carney to promote weight loss success stories, links to a great article about Gov. Huckabee in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Here's a link to an article about Huckabee in the Times-Picayne titled "Reform Candidate."

Another story in the Houston Chronicle with some great quotes by Huckabee.

If you're looking for the best diet plans, Consumer Reports has started rating them.

BSR

Democrats Negative & Fatalistic About Future

We found this buried in a Washington Post story today about a recent Pew survey:

"One other important difference defines the Democratic- and Republican-leaning voters. Those who tilt to the GOP are more personally optimistic and believe in the power of the individual, regardless of income, while those inclined toward the Democrats are more negative or even fatalistic in their attitudes about the future."

How utterly sad. And there is this:

"The Democratic groups [surveyed] include Liberals, the largest bloc in the study. They are well-educated, affluent, secular, strongly opposed to the Iraq war and to an assertive foreign policy, and strongly in favor of gay rights. The Liberal group has expanded since the last study, in 1999, while a once-distinguishable bloc of New Democrats has largely disappeared."

I wonder where the "New Democrats" went? Did they become more liberal? Or could they be among the first of the refugees we've predicted will be driven out of the Democratic party by its increasingly vocal left-wing faction?

Time will tell.

BSR

John Kerry Fails Zogby's Challenge

Political pollster John Zogby, writing for Arianna Huffington's new liberal blog, complains that democrats offer nothing to the American people and challenges his fellow liberal bloggers to "comb this country and find me a democratic idea that is new and that works."

How about John Kerry's "Kids First" childrens health insurance idea he's barnstorming the country with?

Well, it works but it ain't new and it ain't democratic. Oops!

BSR

Thanks to GOP Bloggers for pointing us to the Zogby post.

Huckabee Winning By Landslide

Several days ago, we provided readers of this blog with a link to Justin Ready's 2008 Political Perspective where he is running candidate preference polls for the 2008 presidential election.

Well, lets just say Huckabee supporters are coming through.

"It's been a runaway," Ready says, "...helped by the advertisement of my poll on a blog for Huckabee supporters I must admit. Still, it has been impressive that they keep coming back to vote..."

Thank you, Huckabee supporters! Now go vote again.

BSR

Fat Bringing America To It's Knees

Need another example of an obesity-related medical cost that is spiraling out of control? Consider knee surgeries. The number of cartilage repair and total knee replacement surgeries is exploding in the United States and a key culprit, according to new research, is obesity.

The University of Utah School of Medicine conducted a first-of-its-kind study into the causes behind more than 850,000 meniscus tear surgeries now taking place every year. They discovered that being overweight accounts for a whopping 450,000 -- over half-- of these surgeries.

Researchers found that overweight people are at least three times more likely to tear their meniscus, while the most obese men and women are 15 and 25 times, respectively, more likely to tear the cartilage. At $3,000 per surgery, this accounts for approximately $1.35 billion in unnecessary surgery costs annually.

Another rapidly increasing knee surgery is total knee replacement. A panel of experts, led by Dr. E. Anthony Rankin of Providence Hospital in Washington, determined that most patients who undergo the procedure, in which the moving parts of the knee are replaced with a manmade joint, are Medicare beneficiaries, but the age of patients is declining. Today, it is not uncommon for patients in their 50s to receive new mechanical knees.

About 300,000 U.S. patients each year get new knees, and the procedure will become even more common as the American population ages. At an average cost of about $32,000, expenses for this surgery account for approximately $9.6 billion annually.

How many knee replacement surgeries are the result of being overweight and obese? No research has yet been done to determine that. However, one can safely assume that if overweight and obese people are 15 to 25 times more likely to have meniscus tear surgeries, these same people will later be candidates for total knee replacement, particularly if they do not maintain a healthy weight after the initial surgeries.

BSR

Thanks to Hot Topic Blogs for pointing us to the University of Utah School of Medicine study.

News & Views

John Hawkins at Right Wing News, whom we owe a special debt of gratitude to for featuring this blog as his website of the day way back in our early days in February, drew me in with a post mentioning Gov. Mike Huckabee as a potential candidate in 2008. While there, I read his 25 pieces of advice for bloggers and, chastened, am proceeding to heed said advice.

Mark Coffey of Decision 08 linked to our John Kerry Steals Mike Huckabee Program post. Thank you, Mark, and welcome to all visitors from Decision 08!

On that same note, Taegan Goddard at Political Wire has a post today titled "Kerry the Outsider" that links to a Boston Globe story about how Kerry, the ultimate Washington insider, is attempting to keep his 2008 hopes alive by repositioning himself as an anti-Washington outsider. One of the Kerry tactics mentioned in the story is Kids First, which we've already pointed out was ripped off from Mike Huckabee's ARKids First program begun back in 1997.

Some time ago we published a post predicting that the 'Nuclear Option', if used by Republicans, would escalate the war on religion. Ryan James provides a Texan's perspective on the showdown that now seems to centering on blocked Texas Supreme Court nominee Pricilla Owens.

For more excellent analysis on that subject, we recommend you check out PowerLine.

Finally, Hugh Hewitt has some very interesting things to say about the showdown as well.

Special thanks to Terry Turner at Watching Washington for linking to our cost comparison of the war on terror and obesity. We liked that post too. If you're interested, we also compared the number American of lives lost in the war on terror to the number lost to obesity.

We've posted here several times about rampant Democratic hypocrisy. Here are two more examples from GOP Bloggers and Wizbang.

I close with this. While I was disappointed that Gov. Huckabee had been bumped from Hannity & Colmes last night, I was pleased to see Michelle Malkin there in his place. For her, I stuck around and watched the rest of the show. Immigration will be a key issue in 2008. We'll all do well to pay attention to what she has to say about it.

BSR

John Kerry Steals Mike Huckabee Program

John Kerry is brazenly running around the country proclaiming that America must get serious about providing health insurance for uninsured children, claiming it is a "critical issue." What he fails to tell you is that his program, called "Kids First", is a direct rip-off of Gov. Mike Huckabee's innovative ARKids First program started way back in 1997 under the guidelines of the federal Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Not only does Kerry have the audacity to claim ownership of an idea that was started by a republican almost 10 years ago, but he doesn't even bother to try to think up a creative name for it!

But hey, we do agree it is a critical issue. How about listening to the man who cared enough to actually make it happen?

BSR

Medicaid Reform: Mike Huckabee's Ideas Catching On

The New York Times' Robert Pear today published a story entitled "States Propose Sweeping Changes to Trim Medicaid by Billions". Readers of this blog have previously seen our reporting about how Gov. Mike Huckabee is at the forefront of Medicaid reform and protecting the people who depend on it.

Now we've begun to see evidence that Huckabee's health care ideas are catching on with other government leaders.

"We can't sustain the current Medicaid program. It's fiscal madness," said Democrat John Adams Hurson, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates who is president of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "It doesn't guarantee good care, and it's a budget buster. We need to instill a greater sense of personal responsibility so people understand that this care is not free."

The documents Pear used in researching today's story, obtained by The New York Times, offer a vision of "Medicaid plus health care reform," including "incentives and penalties for individuals to take more responsibility for their health care."

We want to point out here that Gov. Mike Huckabee has not endorsed penalties for individuals who fail to take responsibility for their health care. "I don't want to be your sugar sheriff and I don't want to be the grease police for what you eat or don't eat," he said to Bob Novak on Crossfire recently.

Rather, Huckabee has advocated an innovative incentive based system in Arkansas designed to encourage people to want to take better care of themselves.

"We have to decide there is a better approach to health care than just pouring money into trying to treat sick people. It might be that we ought to put a greater level of focus on keeping people from getting sick in the first place," he said in his 2005 State of the State address.

Stay tuned.

BSR

Mike Huckabee Book Tour Update

We've received some additional information about upcoming national media appearances by Gov. Mike Huckabee. Make sure you catch Sean Hannity's national radio show today and Hannity & Colmes tonight, we hear that the topics of discussion will go beyond the governor's book and will be quite interesting.

UPDATE: Gov. Mike Huckabee's appearance on Hannity & Colmes has apparently been bumped by the Zion, IL murders of two little girls and other news. We'll provide you with an update on the schedule as soon as we know details.

All times LOCAL - Check your local listings

Monday, May 9

5pm--Sean Hannity's national radio talk show
9pm--Hannity and Colmes Show on Fox News Channel

Tuesday, May 10

6am--Fox and Friends, FOX News
9:45am MSNBC Morning Show
11:30am Dayside with Linda Vester,Fox News Channel
Anderson Cooper, CNN*
Chris Matthews, Hardball, MSNBC*
*To be aired in their time slots that day

Wednesday, May 11

10:45 CNN Live Today

Stay tuned! More to come.

BSR

Mike Huckabee on Imus In The Morning

Welcome to Mike Huckabee President 2008. The governor just wrapped up an appearance on Imus in the Morning where he talked about his new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork. Come on in, make yourself comfortable and spend some time learning about Mike Huckabee and what he can do to help solve America's real crisis.

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Other Bloggers on Mike Huckabee

Terry Turner runs an extremely well-done blog called Watching Washington. He had this to say about Gov. Huckabee. Thanks, Terry!

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Huckabee in Newsweek Exclusive

Here's a web exclusive interview by Newsweek with Governor Huckabee. The whole interview is a must-read for those who want to know more about the Governor and his thoughts about health and healthcare, but here is a passage we think is particularly revealing. It sheds light on how he sees America's current health care crisis and the role of the government and public-health community in fighting it:

"If you look at the early 1900s when most Americans were dying prematurely from infectious diseases like smallpox, malaria, whooping cough and diphtheria, the public-health community and government came together and said we need to deal with these issues-vaccinate people, find cures, clean up the water supply and the food supply. They tackled it as a public-health problem and, in a reasonably short period of time, we eliminated most of these diseases. We need to do the same thing with chronic disease [such as obesity]. "

Governor Mike Huckabee

Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, the fourth book by Governor Mike Huckabee, publishes May 10. Order your copy here.

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Excerpt From Huckabee Weight Loss Book

"I grew up just a few pocketfuls of change above the poverty level. I had hard working parents, but their combined income did little more than keep the rent paid and keep food on the table. The food of working-class people is rarely choice cuts of lean meat, fish and fresh produce. It tends to lean heavily on the kind of dishes that stretch both the dollar and the waistline. ...For many poor people, food is the only thing they have in abundance--but only because the really cheap foods can be enjoyed in mass quantities at minimum cost."

Governor Mike Huckabee

Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, p.6

Mike Huckabee: Inspiration to Others

"Often in the mornings when I run, the image of Mike Huckabee enters my mind. I saw a news clip of him laboring during the Little Rock marathon. He finished it. Two years ago the man was winded walking the steps of the Arkansas state capitol and now he runs a marathon."

Chris Gonzales, founder of Forty Days of Fat*

*Forty Days of Fat is an innovative, blog based weight loss/fitness program created by Chris Gonzales. Basically, you join the program by pledging a certain amount of money to charity for each pound you lose, each sit-up you do and each milestone you reach. As Chris says, every time you think about procrastinating, the thought of needy children really motivates you to get up off the couch and get to work. We think its a wonderful and brilliant concept. Check it out.

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Praise For Governor Mike Huckabee

"Mike Huckabee has a great personal story to tell, and he tells it in a very compelling and practical way. He also is in a powerful position to make good public policy to help people get healthier. I've adopted many of his programs in Virginia."

Governor Mark Warner (VA)*

*Dust jacket quote, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork

Fat. It's Not Just For Poor People Anymore

Fat. It's not just for poor people anymore. New research released today by the University of Iowa resulted in a surprising discovery. Obesity is growing the fastest among people earning more than $60,000 per year.

For years doctors have known that the poor were more likely to be overweight because fresh produce and other healthful food can be expensive as well as less accessible than fast food and other high-fat options in low-income neighborhoods.

The study utilized 2002 data and discovered that while only 9.7 percent of people with incomes above $60,000 were obese in the 1970s (inflation adjusted), that number jumped to 26.8 percent by 2002.

The bottom line is that obesity, and the serious health consequences and staggering costs that come with it, has become a national crisis of epidemic proportions. It affects all races, ages, religions, political parties, geographies and socioeconomic groups indiscriminately.

Medicare and Medicaid costs associated with obesity-related illnesses such heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes threaten to bankrupt states and crush our children and grandchildren under a weight of taxes heavy enough to reduce their standard of living for the first time in American history.

Gov. Mike Huckabee is the only potential candidate for president in 2008 who is talking about America's health and health care crises.

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Governor Mike Huckabee: A Man on a Mission

"I have embarked on a mission to challenge the faulty thinking of our current system that could result in a complete change in the paradigm of
health care in America."

Governor Mike Huckabee
in Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork

UPDATE: Video of Mike Huckabee's GMA Appearance

Update: Governor Mike Huckabee appeared on Good Morning America this morning with former president Bill Clinton to announce the launch of the Clinton Foundation's new 10-year initiative to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity. Clinton said the initiative, a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, seeks to reverse childhood obesity by:

• Urging kids to influence one another through positive peer pressure
• Working with the restaurant industry to encourage better menu choices
• Encouraging doctors to take a more aggressive role in talking to the parents of overweight children about the problem and its consequences
• Working with schools to stop offering poor menu choices and access to fattening vending machine foods

Huckabee, who recenlty lost over 100 pounds and reversed his own diabetes, serves as a role model for people fighting obesity. Referring to his unexpected partnership with former democratic president Clinton, Huckabee said fighting the obesity epidemic is something that transcends partisan politics. "Everyone wants to choose good health," he said.

Citing reasons for the initiative, Clinton said diabetes, a direct result of obesity, is rising at an alarming rate. In addition to the human costs, he said, diabetes alone accounts for a "staggering amount" of Medicare and Medicaid costs each year. If the obesity trend continues, he said, these costs threaten to "swallow us up."

See video of the press conference here.

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New Research Looks at the "Extremely Obese"

New University of Pittsburgh research, the first study to look closely at "extreme obesity," confirms that the fatter a person gets, the greater their likelihood of serious health problems, including death. Extreme obesity, defined as being at least 90 pounds overweight, has become an "alarming trend" in the United States.

Recent studies suggest about 4 million Americans are extremely obese, with body mass indexes of at least 40. That translates into 233 pounds for that 5-foot-4-inch person.

The good news, according to researcher Kathleen McTigue of the University of Pittsburgh, is that losing a little as 20 pounds can improve an extremely obese person's health prognosis.

Of the 90,000 women studied, 3.6 percent were extremely obese, including 3.1 percent of white women and 9.6 percent of black women. McTigue tracked the women's health over five years.

White women with "regular obesity" had a 19 percent greater risk of death in that period than did normal-weight women. The extremely obese had double the risk of death (38%).

For black women, regular obesity increased the risk of death by 36 percent, compared with a shocking 60 percent increased risk for the extremely obese.

Much of that risk was caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Aggressive treatment of those conditions is particularly important for the very obese, McTigue said.

Gov. Mike Huckabee, a national role model and spokesperson for weight loss, health and America's health care crisis, has a new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, coming out this month.

Order your copy here!

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Obesity Linked to "Fate Worse Than Death"

A new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted by Kaiser Permanente Medical Foundation, has discovered a link between obesity in middle age and "a fate worse than death -- dementia."

This is an impressive study. Labeled the "most convincing research so far," it involved a large number of people (10,000) over a long period of time (30 years), which significantly reduces the chances of inaccurate results.

Dementia is a progressive brain disease which results in a gradual loss of memory and ability to function in daily activities and, in most cases, leads to a need for long term care. One of the most well-known causes of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. Anyone who has seen a loved one suffer with dementia knows it truly is "a fate worse than death."

Researchers conducted an analysis of 10,276 men and women who had undergone detailed health evaluations between 1964 and 1973, when they were age 40 to 45, and who were still members of the Kaiser health plan in 1994, nearly 30 years later.

Key points of the study include:

Compared to those whose weight was normal at midlife, obese participants had a 74% greater risk of dementia.

Those who were overweight had a 35% greater risk of dementia compared to those whose weight was normal.

This latest research comes amid questioning and confusion in the United States over the dangers of being overweight. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said a new analysis showed that being too fat caused far fewer deaths than previous government estimates. The announcement led to attacks by critics and restaurant-funded groups who say the threat of fat has been hyped by the U.S. officials.

Make no mistake. "There is absolutely, positively, undeniably no doubt that being obese is not good for you," said Dr. William Cochran of Pennsylvania's Geisinger Health System.

The researchers believe that the current obesity epidemic may shift the projections upward on the expected prevalence of dementia in the next 20 years. Even without factoring in a dementia-obesity link, they point out, there is expected to be a 400% rise in dementia in the next 20 years because of the nation's rapidly aging population.

The impact of such a massive increase in a long-term, disabling disease goes far beyond just the human suffering. The financial impact on taxpayer funded Medicare and Medicaid, which pays for the care of all seniors and most nursing home patients, threatens to lower the standard of living of future generations -- our children and grandchildren--for the first time in U.S. history.

Governor Mike Huckabee is the only potential candidate for president in 2008 who is addressing America's health and health care crisis. His new book, Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork, will be released in May.

Order your copy here.

BSR

Sunday Kick in the Pants

This is the time of year to be outside. No matter where you are in the country, the weather is about a mild as it gets. Winter is over and the heat of the summer is still a long way away. Today, after church and a light lunch, you should round up the kids and get outside to do something active, even its just for an hour.

• Take a long walk on the beach
• Walk around the neighborhood
• Start overhauling your lawn--put in a flower bed, plant some trees
• Mow the lawn with the power drive off
• Put up a net and play some badminton or volleyball
• Challenge some friends to a family vs. family sports activity

See you Monday,

BSR