Time: Huckabee's Strength Tied To Rush's Opposition

THE ANTI-RUSH?

MSM Take On Huckabee's Surge Defies Logic







In their attempt to explain Mike Huckabee's recent surge in the polls, can you make heads or tails of the mainstream media's bizarre analysis?

Here goes: Huckabee is soaring because conservatives are frantically looking for an anti- establishment candidate to support. Okay, so far, that sounds about right.

But take a look at how Time Magazine / Real Clear Politics contributor Steven Stark defines "establishment":

They Love Him For the Enemies He's Made


George Will doesn't like him. Neither, apparently, does Rush Limbaugh. The Bush wing of the party now apparently distrusts him. He hasn't done well by Drudge (at least so far) and today even Peggy Noonan has her reservations.

The good news for Mike Huckabee is that he's doing one hell of a job of reuniting significant portions of the old Reagan coalition. The bad news is that it's increasingly arrayed against him.

The point, of course, is that in this case, what looks like bad news may well be the opposite. Insurgent, dissident candidates always feed off the attacks of the establishment in ways other candidates don't. It was General Edward Stuyvesant Bragg who said of Grover Cleveland, "They love him most for the enemies he has made," and in Huckabee's case, his supporters might well be thinking the same thing.

It's true that Limbaugh and Drudge aren't commonly thought of as establishment figures. But the truth is that they've now been around long enough to be, well, part of the woodwork. To a discerning observer, they're not part of the chattering class. But to an evangelical voter who doesn't follow politics that closely or a new voter angry enough by the turn of events in the country to finally get involved? Limbaugh, Drudge, Will - what's the difference?

Jim Pinkerton astutely put his finger on all this recently. Look at what's dominating the news - school and mall shootings, Britney's sister is pregnant, baseball is full of cheaters. The only candidate even remotely addressing the crisis of the American spirit - and that's what it is - is Mike Huckabee.

Does this make sense? Conservatives are turning to turning to Huckabee because he's in touch, while Will, Limbaugh, Drudge and others aren't?

Note: here's what started the whole controversy.

If our MSM friends actually listened to Limbaugh or followed Drudge, it would be clear they are covering the very issues cited here. Though he initially opposed it, Rush did discuss the Spears pregnancy, while Drudge was all over the baseball scandal.


In your Radio Equalizer's view, Huckabee is ahead because conservatives don't know where to turn and are moving toward a candidate with a shaky track record out of complete desperation. It hasn't anything to do with Rush, Drudge, Noonan or Will.

On today's show, Rush opened his monologue by fingering Huckabee strategist Ed Rollins for creating the idea that Rush is part of the "establishment chattering class". Rush sees parallels between the Perot campaign of 1992 and Huckabee in 2008, but denies he has attacked the former Arkansas governor.

Later, Rush clarified this statement, saying he initially thought this attack was coming from somewhere else, not Huckabee or Rollins.

UPDATE: Hot Air has today's Limbaugh audio here.

MEANWHILE: Condi Rice is denouncing some of Huckabee's recent foreign policy comments.

NEW: Excellent coverage on this topic from NRO's Campaign Spot


MORE on Rollins and Limbaugh from CBS:

CBSNEWS.COM: Let’s start with the attacks on Governor Huckabee from a lot of Republican establishment figures lately. Rush Limbaugh has called him “the Huckster.” Rich Lowry, the editor of the National Review, has said it would be suicide to nominate him. Why do you think he's provoking all of this criticism?

ED ROLLINS: Well, I think first of all he is not an establishment candidate. I don't think anybody anticipated early on when he started to run that he would do as well as he's doing. Some of these guys have picked other candidates.

And I think, to a certain extent, the alleged wise men have sat around in either the studios, or the newsrooms, basically writing magazine articles. They didn't see it coming and I think they underestimated him.

NRO'S CAMPAIGN SPOT continues to cover Rush's response:

Rough Day For Huckabee on the EIB


Forty minutes in, and Rush Limbaugh is continuing to pummel Huckabee:

"I've not attacked him. I've studiously avoided it. But I've raised questions. I'm going to keep asking the questions if I feel they're warranted."

"The very fact that I have looked at his record has stirred great anguish in his campaign."

"If he wants to tag me, or some of his supporters, want to tag me as being part of a New York-D.C. axis... the New York-D.C. axis is the drive-bys!"

MICHELLE MALKIN: He "Hucked Up!"

OFFICIAL LIMBAUGH transcript now available here. Atlantic update post here: see what started the fuss.

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