Hail to Victims!

The crisis over a "do-over" Democratic primary in Michigan badly exposes a Democratic party tied to victimology over ideology. Three specific forms of this error led to this comical collision that may yet end with a mid-November political cartoon of two skeletons in a pit -- Clinton and Obama -- with hands grasped around one another's throats.

It is astonishing to realize that a party that could shake itself of just one of the following would have avoided this problem entirely...

1. THE PROPORTIONAL DELEGATE SYSTEM

How long would the Republican primaries have raged on if so many states had not been "winner take all," allowing McCain to walk away with boatloads of delegates in several important states while not winning a majority of the vote? Crafted so that a niche candidate with a small following (read: Jesse Jackson) can "win" lots of delegates without actually winning any states, the far different Democrat system made this "Battle of Stalingrad" primary between nearly equally matched opponents a train wreck waiting to happen.

2. WOMEN VS. AFRICAN AMERICANS

If a GOP Presidential Primary boiled down to Colin Powell v. Candice Miller, it would not divide along factions of older women Republicans vs. minority Republicans. Even a primary with decidedly religious right candidate, and those who were not, couldn't -- in the end -- fracture the Republicans.

Not so with Democrats, whose tribal-coalition politics virtually assured that this profoundly unlikely battle between nearly equally matched black and female candidates would devolve to a circus act whereby has-been identity politicians from yesteryear such as Geraldine Ferraro could seize a moment in the center ring and further force the clowns to choose up sides.

3. THE EARLY PRIMARY GANGSTERS

Every four years, like mafia dons, Iowa and New Hampshire have coerced the candidates in both parties to kiss the rings of their "first in the nation" monopoly on kicking off the presidential selection process. This year, Nevada and South Carolina joined the collusion and got both parties to sign off on a silly "nobody else goes before Feb. 5" rule.

By stripping "cheaters" like Michigan and Florida of only half of their delegates, the RNC assured that both states would get real campaigns from the major competitors and thus little reason for griping from losers. It was a clear wink and nod to all involved that Iowa and New Hampshire were being listened to, but that their childish demands were not respected in any meaningful way.

Not so with Democrats. The slavish surrender to identity politics that created the porportional delegate system, and made the women voters v. black voters schism possible, also drove them to fall completely on their swords when the "Early Primary Mafia" demanded its own form of tribute.

A perfect storm entirely of their own making, derived exclusively from the victim politics that holds the party together.

Bush Will Not Seek Third Term!

What if you spent eighteen months of a presidential campaign running against an opponent who wasn't going to be on the ballot? I've had that thought burrowing through my brain as I've watched the Democratic presidential candidate primary debates and rhetoric over the last year. It was George Bush messed up this, and messed up that, and it takes a Clinton to clean up after a Bush, and we need change, and ... etc...

But with still no certain Democratic nominee, and less than eight months to the election, the hyper-Lefties over at the American Prospect have veered dangerously close to the startling realization that George Bush may in fact NOT be on the ballot when they need him...

As much as Democrats love their two candidates, the really animating issue is getting rid of Bush, and they are completely open on how, and evenly divided on with whom. Without Bush-loathing as the organizing principle of their unity, Democrats could find themselves on shaky ground: the party's old personality disorders may begin to resurface.

It's been 40 years since neither a sitting President, nor his VP, was on the ballot. And even then, the Democrats were tearing themselves apart running against the guy who wasn't running -- in that case one of their own, President Lyndon Johnson.

No Governors Need Apply...

Consider this...

Bush 2 (Gov)
Clinton (Gov)
Bush 1 (former Veep)
Reagan (Gov)
Carter (Gov)
Ford (former Veep)
Nixon (former Veep)
Johnson (former Veep)
Kennedy -- Senator
Eisenhower (military)
Truman (former Veep)
F.D. Roosevelt (Gov)
Hoover (Commerce Secy)
Coolidge (Gov)
Harding -- Senator
Wilson (Gov)
Taft (Secy of War)


Versues this...

Obama -- Senator
Clinton -- Senator
McCain -- Senator
Romney (Gov)

Barring a comeback for Romney (or an altering of the laws of the known universe for Huckabee or Ron Paul), the nominees of both major parties and thus the likely next President will have "United States Senator" as his or her primary political resume line for the first time since 1963 and only the third time in the last century.

That's quite a long dark period for the world's most exclusive country club.

NOW they tell us...

So the National Organization for Women thinks Ted Kennedy has shafted them with the "ultimate betrayal" over his decision to endorse a man (Obama) over a woman (Clinton):

The head of the New York state chapter of NOW — Marcia Pappas — called Kennedy's move — "the ultimate betrayal." She says women have forgiven, stuck up for and stood by Kennedy despite his being late in his support of issues such as Title Nine and the Equal Rights Amendment — and now are being repaid with what she calls "his abandonment."

Those are some sharp gals over at NOW. Almost 40 years after Chappaquiddick, they have come to the startling realization that ole Teddy puts his own political hide ahead of any woman who gets in the way.

It's funny, though. If NOW was really so concerned about Democratic males damaging Hillary's political dreams by betraying NOW's principles, then they might have spoken out a bit more about the Clinton White House's internship program.

Huck Sin

"Nominating Mike Huckabee for president or vice-president, would constitute an abject rejection of the free-market, limited-government, economic conservatism that has been the unifying theme of the Republican Party for decades." -- Club for Growth


The above is what you'd call a bad character reference. The authors should be the guys friendly to an underdog candidate overturning applecarts in the GOP presidential race. The Club are the boys you go to when you want to know where the next Ronald Reagan is hiding.


So why the sudden upsurge in his poll numbers? Well, he's funny. And he's the religious right's chosen man. That seems to be it: Rhetoric over record. Is the social stuff really all that religious conservatives care about? They'll prove it if they push this guy over the top.


Yipes.


Here's the man who would be President:

• Immediately upon taking office, Governor Huckabee signed a sales tax hike in 1996 to fund the Games and Fishing Commission and the Department of Parks and Tourism.
  

Outstanding. Great priorities. No sooner does he plant his (then) immense rear end in the seat and he is inking his name to a tax hike for the toy department of state government.

• He supported an internet sales tax in 2001. He opposed a congressional measure to ban internet taxes in 2003.

Translation: He'll quite literally tax anything that isn't nailed down. No transaction is safe from this man. None. All of you Fair Tax nuts who believe in this guy, please gaze upon the above. He wants to impose a sales tax on the stuff you buy over the internet from other states. He likes your sales tax ideas because he likes taxes, period!!!

• By the end of his ten-year tenure, Governor Huckabee was responsible for a 37% higher sales tax in Arkansas, 16% higher motor fuel taxes, and 103% higher cigarette taxes according to Americans for Tax Reform, garnering a lifetime grade of D from the free-market Cato Institute. Huckabee's substantial tax hikes far surpassed his modest tax cuts, with the average tax burden increasing by a whopping 47% over his tenure.

Hrmmmm.... Free-market experts... tax reform fighters.... More of these ominous character references. Huckabee is to your wallet what Michael Jackson is a to a cute 9-yr old boy. In both cases, one should not be trusted with the other.

• Under Governor Huckabee's watch, state spending increased a whopping 65.3% from 1996 to 2004, three times the rate of inflation. The number of state government workers rose 20% during his tenure, and the state's general obligation debt shot up by almost $1 billion, according to Americans for Tax Reform.

See there? He's like the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica. He's waging war on your money because he has a plan for it: More government and more government workers.

• Instead of talking about the well-documented economic benefits of free trade, Huckabee has taken to talking about "fair trade," while focusing on what he believes to be the negative consequences of free trade. Make no mistake about it: These are not the words of a free trader.

No. Those would be the words of a trade warrior, protectionist, Democrat. Those are the words of a man who would destroy this nation's economy. Bill Clinton -- both as candidate and as President -- was light years better than this on trade. The Democratic electorate, with the chance to nominate some of those trade warrior Democrats in 1992 (Bob Kerrey, to name just one), turned instead to Clinton. Who promised and delivered on passing NAFTA. With Al Gore's help.

Got that? Huckabee is talking far worse on trade than both Clinton and Gore -- as candidates. Bad signs. Bad, bad, bad...

This is the mindless, populist, crap that helped bring on the Great Depression.

• Huckabee has continued to support big-government measures as a presidential candidate, including his support for a federal ban on smoking in the work place, and his oft-heard call for a federally mandated arts and music curriculum in schools across America.

In other words, a Nanny State Health Nazi.

So, the question here is... What if this were Hillary Clinton trying to drive her version of how to live down your throat? Her version of federal arts and music? And what happens if he creates all of these programs for arts and such, and then a new President shows up and hands the steering wheel over to Nancy Pelosi's pals in San Francisco?

If you're a cultural conservative, get ready for your kids to bring home some really interesting art projects from school.

High taxes and a bigger government that's empowered to tell you how to live. This is the power the liberals always dreamed of. Mike Huckabee could be their Trojan Horse.