Some people have been hinting at the possible demise of the Huckabee campaign because of a "shoestring" campaign team and because of this whole DuMond issue.
I really don't think the DuMond case is the end of Huckabee. The truth is, this was brought up six months ago and Huckabee got through it. Yes, it is different now that he's ahead in the polls, but this is simply OLD news that was brought up as a political attack during his campaign for Gov. of Arkansas.
Gov. Huckabee either denied clemency or took no action (same as denial) for DuMond four separate times. There was even doubt as to whether DuMond was even guilty the first time around.
Interestingly enough, it was NOT Huckabee's decision that made DuMond eligible for parole. (DuMond's original life sentence made him ineligible for parole.) It was Jim Guy Tucker, in 1992, who granted DuMond executive clemency, reducing his sentence to 39.5 years, automatically making him eligible for parole.
This was dumped on Huckabee's plate in 1996. There was a request for DuMond's clemency (pardon) in August of that year. FYI, governors in Arkansas cannot grant parole, only the Parole Board can do that. The Parole Board at that time was made up of people that either Bill Clinton or Jim Guy Tucker appointed.
Huckabee was going to grant clemency (again, doubt to whether he was guilty the first time around), and the "secret" meeting with the Parole Board actually was to dissuade Huckabee from granting clemency, NOT Huckabee pushing the Parole Board to issue parole for DuMond.
Huckabee eventually denied the clemency request, and as I said before, ended up doing so four separate times.
If he really wanted DuMond set free, he could have done so via clemency/pardon. Gov. Huckabee believed that parole would have been the best way for him to re-enter society.
In 1999, the Parole Board granted DuMond parole. Huckabee did not even know this was coming, and he had no part in it.
-Cydney
Cross-posted on The Celebrity
Posted by Cydney at December 06, 2007 11:40 PM | Email ThisI do have some reservations about Huckabee and am beginning to put a finger on them. One is that he is supposed to have said the Bible says he should do something about global warming. Boy, I thought that was strange, but not so strange for a person that believes God would adjust the temperature of the shower if you prayed to him. Where is he?
Posted by: swatter on December 7, 2007 08:25 AMEven if the facts are wrong, there's been enough damage to Huckabee with Dumond, that in addition to the rest of his RINO behaviors, it will be enough to trump his candidacy.
The liberal MSM press has been fawning over Huckabee for many years. He's exactly the kind of conservative they like. One who is willing to say all the right things, and genuflect as appropriate to political correctness or to their elitism.
Or how about the Holiday Inn Express gaffe? Or his stance on immigration, which finally seems to have flip flopped?
Personally, I don't have a horse in the race. My only goal is to see Hillary defeated. But Huck's sudden rise doesn't add up. It smacks of a left leaning MSM that wants to build up candidates at whatever time they think offers the best visible opportunity to derail their chances.
We'll find out soon enough.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 7, 2007 09:44 AMI'm not sure what RINO qualities you're talking about, Jeff. You really should check out where he stands on stuff rather than running with what the MSM is feeding us.
I have not seen Huckabee flop on immigration. If you're referring to that whole scholarships for children of illegals thing, that's a whole other story. The bill never even passed.
Just because Huckabee has raised taxes in his state (he did CUT taxes 94 times), doesn't mean he's not a conservative. Sometimes you HAVE to raise taxes to get stuff done, and Huckabee realizes that. Arkansas had crappy, crappy roads, and while some conservatives in his state wanted to lock extra money away in savings, Huckabee said why not spend it on our crappy roads? They needed fixing, and they had the money.
I think sometimes people try to conserve to death and never want to actually spend to get things done that need to get done.
Just because a guy raises taxes for good reasons doesn't mean he's not conservative.
Posted by: Cydney on December 8, 2007 02:15 PMBut, I personally think there are more conservative candidates in the race than Huckabee. If you compare all candidates side-by-side on every issue, I think you will find that Huckabee does have same weaknesses. Some of this is speculative based on old rehash, etc. But what troubles me about Huckabee is that he seems to be more worried with being inclusive. He brings his admirable New Testament beliefs to the poltical table. I don't think most conservatives want someone who is going to play compromise with Democrats, if that leaves us in pretty much the same place.
Case-in-point, today's Congressional Republicans are almost as bad at pork spending as Democrats. I don't think Huckabee would represent a true departing from such spending, he would instead do what kept the peace. And that's not what we need to counteract downward spiraling progressivism.
Posted by: Jeff B. on December 9, 2007 10:01 AM