The Nation -- It is no secret that Southern Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee positioned himself as a "Christian leader" to win Thursday's Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.
Huckabee's campaign featured a glowing cross in one television commercial and the ancient Christian symbol of a fish as the backdrop in another. And he slipped Biblical quotes and paraphrases into his campaign rap -- even suggesting when he pulled an attack ad that he did so because "we want to do unto others as we wish they would do unto us."
It worked in Iowa, where evangelical Christians have been prime players in Republican politics for three decades.
A CNN survey of Republican caucusgoers Thursday found that six in 10 identified themselves as "born-again" Christians. Huckabee won the support of 46 percent of them, while just 19 percent backed Romney.
So it was that, while he was outspent by what he estimated to be a 15-1 margin, and while he faced a withering attacks from rival Mitt Romney's camp and independent groups, Huckabee was able to hold his position and score a remarkable statewide win in Iowa.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican who did not endorse a candidate, bluntly said after Huckabee beat Romney by 10 points that the victory of the former Arkansas governor could be attributed to "loyalty from evangelical Christians."
To Grassley's view, Huckabee's scripture-sampling campaign was a smooth "fit" with Iowa evangelicals -- both stylistically and emotionally.
But now the campaign moves to New Hampshire, a state where the religious right has never enjoyed a political foothold. New Hampshire Republicans are anti-tax and anti-government crusaders, but they have never been Christian crusaders.
They also vote in a primary, as opposed to caucuses that favor campaigns with committed supporters who are willing to give not just a vote but a full evening to the cause.
So the Huckabee campaign is retooling itself fast.
Suddenly, the "Christian leader" is just a "leader."
Huckabee arrived in New Hampshire Friday morning with new literature that drops the religious references used in Iowa and plans for a television advertising campaign that will eschew the crosses and fish that meant so much to his Iowa base.
Huckabee is nothing if not consistent. Sure, he losing the religious trappings that served him well in Iowa, but he's remaining every bit the crassly calculating and cynically manipulative politician that he has proven himself to be from the start of this campaign.
Source
Maybe so... At least he hides it better than Hillary.
Before you go any further, read this...
Dictionary.com defines a redneck as:
1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.
While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.
You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.
I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.
It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...
The Redneck Cabbie.
You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.
A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.
I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.
This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.
1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.
It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.
While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.
You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.
I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.
It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...
The Redneck Cabbie.
You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.
A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.
I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.
This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment