Vegacura: Hearting Huckabee

Oh, my, there is great unhappiness in Wingnutonia today (thank you, thank you, Blog Report).

The Anchoress.

It’s baloney. It’s hype. Iowa doesn’t mean anything, and I’m not convinced it ever has, but it’s been a very long (too long) election season and we’ve got 11 months to go, so Iowa has been pimped and played up as the be-all-and-end all - the staggeringly important end to the beginning of election ‘08.

Don Surber.

The winners in Iowa, in order: Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Fred Thompson and John McCain.

The losers in Iowa in order: Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Mitt Romney.

Ron Paul got 10%. So?

2008 is off to a lousy start for Republicans as Adam Nagourney of the New York Times reported:

An estimated 220,000 Democrats showed up at caucus sites, compared to 124,000 in 2004. About 114,000 Republicans turned out. The last contested Republican caucuses in 2000 drew about 88,000. George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, won.

Put another way, Mrs. Clinton’s nearly 65,000 votes were more than half the Republican total. Kos pointed out all 3 Democrats beat the Huckster. Bad.

There’s the mountain.

Climb.

Tammy Bruce.

Uh, the GOP was in disarray before Iowa, illustrated by the Summer of Shamnesty and GWB being more concerned with Mexico's well-being than with ours. Considering Republicanism died in the 2006 election, and the "party leader" George W. Bush is a liberal who ended up turning Reagan Conservatism on its ear, we shouldn't be so surprised the GOP is confused after Iowa. We, the People, have been confused by them for years. If they actually had some sort of leadership, didn't have such contempt for the people, and weren't more concerned with Saudi Arabia's profits than our homeland security and sovereignty, maybe they'd have their act together.

Part of my support for Giuliani is based in the fact that he's not from the Washington establishment and could represent a return to the Reagan Coalition. Huckabee, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of what Reagan stood for, and is an embarrassment to the legacy of President Reagan.

Stop the ACLU.

I'm not worried about Huckabee though. Just because enough Iowans don't listen to the wisdom of Rush Limbaugh…[sic] most Americans do. [emphasis mine]

Sundries Shack.

Apparently, the journalistic and punditry worlds have lost their ever-loving minds over the Iowa primary last night. Take a peek at memeorandum for this morning and witness the hyperventilation for yourself. Here are a few samples.

The Fuckwit.

My Townhall column today is about how Romney can pull this off, but even if he clarifies and amplifies the message of running on Reaganism, he'll need the party regulars to get off the bench. Independent-powered victories for McCain in New Hampshire and Michigan won't matter if they are understood as such, but Romney has to let the party of Reagan know that both Huckabee and McCain want it broken up and sold off in pieces. He or Rudy need to win in Florida, or achieve a three way tie with McCain to put the campaign back into the hands of the people who built the party over the past 28 years. O'Sullivan is absolutely right on: "It seems clear that we should do all we can to help revive the Romney campaign."

I'll be listening to Rush, Sean, Laura and the rest (my friend Michael Medved has thrown in with McCain) and reading the blogs to see if surrender has set in, or whether the coalition that Reagan built is worth fighting for. [emphasis, moi]

Insta-soup.

MORE: Richard Viguerie sends out an email-blast to the effect that Huckabee's win is bad for the GOP: "Mike Huckabee is a Christian socialist. He is a good man, but with a Big Government heart. He is the most liberal of all the Republican presidential candidates on economic issues."

[Reynolds, by the way, is a particularly engaging read today, as we learn from various right wingers how unhappy "the netroots" are with Obama's victory. Guess I'd better go check in with subcommander Kos...]

And, of course, K-Lo.