I, For One, Have Fallen For Jesus Christ

Hard to admit, but I am feeling a bit like a religious bigot. I could not see myself or anyone, for that matter, voting for a person who would believe that a man named Joseph Smith had found golden tablets from God out in the desert of the southwestern United States and built a homemade religion around himself. Mitt Romney may be a smart businessman, but he supposedly fell for that crock. I, for one, have fallen for Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in the Word.

Mitt Romney: Pounding a Round Peg Into A Square Hole

HOWARD FINEMAN writes:

Here lieth the campaign of Mitt Romney, victim of the mistaken belief that the only way to succeed in national Republican politics was to turn yourself into something you are not. Or maybe the campaign revealed what his closest friends never imaged him to be. They thought he was a decent classy guy. But maybe he really is a soulless throat-cutter who would do and say anything to win.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was a good fellow who didn't know enough about national politics and listened to people who gave him bad, cynical advice.

Sen. John McCain was in a good position before; now it's hard to imagine that he won't wrap up the nomination in the next week or two. His lone remaining serious opponent, Mike Huckabee, has exceeded expectations, but expecting him to be able to unhorse McCain is perhaps expecting too much.

I have covered a lot of presidential campaigns, and I can't think of one that so lost its way-so expensively-as that of the former governor of Massachusetts. A board room and business favorite, a man with a Midas managerial touch, he was widely admired and even beloved. But he was a Republican of an old moderate school-that of his own father-and, like George W. Bush, Romney the Younger decided that he had to jettison all that he was to become something that he was not.

Mitt Romney Suspends His Presidential Bid

Watching 'breaking news' during a late lunch (sound relatively muted in busy cafeteria) and gathered from the images and scrolling type at the bottom of the screen that Mitt Romney has "suspended" his presidential bid... Whether or not this is permanent or how and why it occurred, I do not know as of now...

Political Deal Making in West Virginia

Representatives of McCain’s and Paul’s campaigns urged their supporters to put their votes behind Huckabee. McCain’s goal was to stop Romney, his closest competitor in the national polls, from picking up momentum; Paul’s goal soon became clear.

As the Huckabee and Paul campaigns huddled, they reached an arrangement: Paul would throw his support to Huckabee in exchange for three of the 18 national delegates that Huckabee could claim with the victory.

“We struck a deal with the Huckabee people,” Edward Burgess, a spokesman for Paul’s campaign, told NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV of Huntington.

“They came to us and dealt with us honorably and with respect. And so we told them that if Dr. Paul didn’t make it through the first round, that we would go for their man,” Burgess said. “They pledged us three delegates to the Republican National Convention.”

McCain staffers, meanwhile, began parading around the hall carrying signs telling their delegates to vote for Huckabee.

Sticking Around for the Long Haul: Mike Huckabee

LIZ SIDOTI writes:

WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee hasn't won a Republican presidential contest in a month. The result: money is tighter, his staff is smaller and he can't seem to get the attention he once did.

Still, he says he's sticking around for the long haul — well past Tuesday's coast-to-coast primaries and caucuses if need be.

"I'll stay in until someone has 1,191 delegates," the former Arkansas governor insisted Sunday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Kennessaw, Ga. He was referring to the number of convention delegates needed to win the party nod. "A year ago, nobody said I'd still be here. Look who's still on his feet."

With 21 states holding contests Tuesday and offering more than 1,000 delegates, Huckabee's continued presence could be a major factor in what essentially has become a two-man race between Republican front-runner John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Politicians Not Shy of Talking Up Religion

U.S. politicians are not shy of talking about their religion and regularly appear in church.

In recent decades, part of the American political drama has been scripted by the "religious right" -- mostly white evangelical Protestants united by strong opposition to abortion and gay marriage who have been a key base of support for the Republican Party.

Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee, who scooped up strong evangelical support but whose campaign is fading ahead of next Tuesday's nominating contests across the country, is a Baptist preacher who peppers his speeches with Biblical allusions.

Mitt Romney is a Mormon who was moved to address questions about his faith in a speech in December. John McCain has long sought to smooth relations after including leaders of the religious right among those he called "agents of intolerance" during his failed presidential bid in 2000.

The leading Democratic presidential contenders have also been open and candid about their faith.

That faith, and that of the Republican candidates, is Christian, although candidates have also spoken about the need for religious tolerance.

A false rumor that has circulated on the Internet about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, is that he is Muslim who has lied about his religion. The rumor appears to illustrate the importance some voters attach to a candidate being Christian.

YID WITH LID: Romney Created Hillary Care In Massachusetts

Considered Friends? Enmity Against Mitt Romney

The NY Times reports that other Republican candidates for the presidency don't like Mitt very much. For example,

“Never get into a wrestling match with a pig,” Senator John McCain said in New Hampshire this month after reporters asked him about Mr. Romney. “You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

But Mitt (Willard Milton Romney, in fact) says "you know, I consider these guys my friends."

Ahead Nationally: John McCain and Hillary Clinton

Mark Murray, Deputy political director of NBC News reports:

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are leading in their respective parties' upcoming primaries, according to two new state surveys (in Florida).

But a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that their rivals — John McCain and Hillary Clinton — are ahead nationally, with Clinton leading Obama by 15 points and with McCain moving from fourth to first in one month.

NBC News Projects Hillary and Mitt as Winners in Nevada

Mike Huckabee On FairTax Plan in Michigan

Huckabee, a Baptist minister who won the Iowa caucuses backed by that state's large Christian conservative vote, has shifted his Michigan appeal to families worried about the continued economic malaise that affects the state. Referring to the state's "arsenal of democracy" legacy from World War II, Huckabee said the next president must make Michigan's woes a priority.

"There was a time in this country when Michigan saved America. Now it is time for America to help save Michigan," Huckabee told the state's economic elite. It was a potentially hostile crowd for Huckabee, who has criticized business and Republican leaders for failing to appreciate the problems of working Americans. His first ad to air in Michigan proclaims that voters want a president who doesn't remind them of "the guy who laid them off."

That rhetoric, and a record in Arkansas that includes tax and spending increases, have drawn the ire of the GOP's economic conservatives. Fred Thompson, who has bypassed Michigan but hopes to upend Huckabee in South Carolina's Jan. 19 primary, attacked Huckabee while campaigning there Friday, saying he is betraying the ideals of Ronald Reagan.

And the Club for Growth, an anti-tax, anti-spending group, is airing ads in Michigan attacking Huckabee.

He sought to defuse that criticism at the Economic Club.

"My goal is not to make rich people poor, it's to give poor people a shot at the American dream," he said.

"I am not trying to strangle business," Huckabee told reporters in a conference call after the speech. "It's my belief that the Republican Party should have policies that empower everybody from the CEO all the way down to the guy on the line."

Huckabee has been critical of the effects of international trade on American manufacturing jobs. But he said during the conference call that he supports a series of free-trade deals pending before Congress, including a treaty with South Korea that is opposed by Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

Huckabee touted his support for a tax reform plan known to its backers as FairTax. It would replace federal income and payroll taxes with a flat sales tax, which he says would stimulate the economy by simplifying the tax code and encouraging productivity.

"He's our best chance of getting the FairTax enacted," said Roger Buchholtz, the head of the movement's Michigan chapter.

But many independent analysts say the plan's supporters understate the tax rate that would be required, and that it would benefit more wealthy taxpayers at the expense of the less well-off.

Political Baptism by Fire: Mike Huckabee No Longer A Dark Horse

With national polls showing him (Mike Huckabee) surging to the front of the GOP race, the candidate who promotes himself in television ads as a "Christian leader" is undergoing a political baptism by fire.

His better-funded, better-known rival, Mitt Romney, this week began airing campaign ads in Iowa attacking Mr. Huckabee's political record. He's facing scrutiny over his past attitudes toward gays and common-law couples. And, on Wednesday, Mr. Huckabee faced accusations he had deliberately disparaged rival Romney's Mormon religion.

"I'm going to be a lot more careful about everything I say, because I find that it gets amplified to a new level," Mr. Huckabee quipped during a Republican all-candidates debate in Des Moines.

Indeed. In just the last week, the media entourage following Mr. Huckabee has tripled amid his transformation from dark horse candidate to legitimate Republican contender.

The new interest comes on the heels of an ABC News-Washington Post survey this week which found support for GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani had slipped to 25% support nationally, with Mr. Huckabee jumping into second place with 19%. Mr. Romney sits third at 17%.

Medieval and Profoundly Catholic View of God and How the World Works

Ric Caric writes:

...Huckabee believes that God is putting his chips squarely on the Huckabee square.

But why?

Huckabee has a very medieval and profoundly Catholic concept of how the world works. He believes that "literally thousands of people are praying" on behalf of his campaign and that their intercession with God has resulted in God favoring his campaign and supporting him.

What about the other Republican candidates like Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Ron Paul?

It follows from Huckabee's views that God must not only be ignoring the candidacies of the other Republicans, God must actively be working against them. Perhaps Huckabee thinks that God hates most Republicans even though he favors Huckabee. There's nothing to object to in the first part of that statement. Given that the Christian god disdains wealth, insists that people love their enemies, and values the poor, depressed, and suffering over the happy and secure, it should be obvious that God hates the Republicans.

The only question is whether God is making an exception for Huckabee or not.

I don't think so myself. If God is doing anything, he's favoring Huckabee as the weakest and weirdest Republican candidate for the general election and thus ensuring that the Republican Party as a whole is going to lose.

In other words, Huckabee's rise is solid proof that God loves Hillary

Mike Huckabee Says "I Don't Know How He Did It"

YAHOO News reports:

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher who has surged in Iowa with evangelical Christian support, bristled Tuesday when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools.

Huckabee — who raised his hand at a debate last May when asked which candidates disbelieved the theory of evolution — asked this time why there is such a fascination with his beliefs.

"I believe God created the heavens and the Earth," he said at a news conference with Iowa pastors who murmured, "Amen."

"I wasn't there when he did it, so how he did it, I don't know," Huckabee said.

But he expressed frustration that he is asked about it so often, arguing with the questioner that it ultimately doesn't matter what his personal views are.

"That's an irrelevant question to ask me — I'm happy to answer what I believe, but what I believe is not what's going to be taught in 50 different states," Huckabee said. "Education is a state function. The more state it is, and the less federal it is, the better off we are."

By LIZ SIDOTI and LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writers

Running for President: Mitt Romney

"Governor (Mitt) Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation," campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said.

Various polls have shown voters are less likely to vote for an adherent of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a faith some evangelical Protestants view as a cult. Romney, who constantly reminds voters they are choosing a commander in chief not a pastor in chief, will attempt to assure critics that his Utah-based faith is akin to other mainstream Christian faiths.

The Salt Lake Tribune