As Hillary Clinton attacks Barack Obama's kindergarten record, the GOP race gets messier as Mike Huckabee continues to surge (but not in New Hampshire). Powerline comments on Huckabee's explanation of his foreign policy experience (or lack thereof) on the new Imus show. Here's the transcript:
Imus: Part of the strengths of Senator John McCain, who we talked to yesterday, was his perceived, and perhaps real foreign policy experiences and so on, and you have had little or none, or perhaps you have. Is that a concern?
Huckabee: First of all let me say Senator McCain is an honorable and good man and I enjoy getting to be on the trail with him. And I know we are supposed to be sort of hostile toward one another; I don’t think it has to be like that, and I have long respected him. People will say that people will say, “well, you are a governor, you don’t have much foreign policy experience.” Neither did Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan came as a governor, he had been an actor. But ten years after he was sworn into office, there wasn’t a cold war, the Berlin wall was down, and there wasn’t a Soviet Union. People considered that one of the most important times in American history in terms of our relationship with the world. Certainly governors have more experience than people realize because we do trade missions and we are involved in cultural exchanges, we deal with multinational corporations in bringing jobs, travel extensively. But more importantly, the role of foreign policy is one of character and understanding what your principles are and then surrounding yourself with good advice. And the ultimate thing is, I may not be the expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
The Holiday Inn line is funny. But at some point Huckabee has to stop being simply pleasant and funny and actually act presidential. Perhaps it is just me, but the subject of foreign policy is an important one and not a moment for a one-liner.
Peter Lawler thinks John McCain has taken too hard a stand on Iraq. But at the same time he praises McCain for his authenticity. This, I would argue, is the heart of McCain's appeal. He says what he believes, damn the dictates of today's opinion polls. Opinion changes, and a statesman can help change that opinion.
John Podhoretz argues it is still the Romney-Giuliani show. He is certainly right that Huckabee is playing the role that should have been played by Fred Thompson. But, Podhoretz argues, Huckabee's record will not withstand the limelight that comes with his rise in the polls. Podhoretz concludes with this possible scenario:
I can, however, see one other scenario. Say Giuliani melts down this month, owing to more revelations about the intersection of his private life and his public duties. Or Romney melts down, in part because Huckabee’s rise means he will lose Iowa and therefore make it impossible for him to win every early state and thereby “slingshot” his way into the nomination. Huckabee won’t be there to pick up the pieces, because he speaks to a different electorate.
But John McCain will….
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