Shutting the Window on Huckabee's Campaign
While reviewing all of the potential candidates for the 2008 presidential race, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post writes:
Mike Huckabee: The Arkansas governor makes the Line for a second straight month largely on potential. Huckabee is the candidate seemingly best equipped to appeal to social conservatives (he is a Baptist minister) while also offering an unorthodox appeal to other elements within the party (note the media coverage he's gotten from his emphasis on nutrition, exercise and weight loss). But -- and it is a big but -- Huckabee just hasn't capitalized on the momentum he had coming into 2006. It doesn't help that his decision to sign a minimum wage increase last month drew the ire of fiscal hawks in the party -- led by the Club For Growth, which called Huckabee a "liberal." The window for Huckabee to move into the top tier is still open, but not as wide as it once was. [emphasis added]
And might I add that it was more than just the minimum wage that drew our ire. Huckabee is a habitual tax-and-spender. As I previously reported:
- Huckabee signed a 3-cent gas tax increase in 1999
- He called for a state sales tax hike in 2002
- He signed a 25-cent cigarette tax hike in 2003
- He allowed a major tax hike package to pass in 2004
- He increased spending by 65.3% from 1996 to 2004
Also, recall that the Cato Institute gave him a "D" on their 2004 governors' scorecard.
Huckabee is currently a second-tier candidate for the 2008 race for the White House. After more and more people become aware of his awful fiscal record, he'll be a no-tier candidate.
Posted at Andrew Roth at 5:06 PM | TrackBack
