Driving home through a mini blizzard, I decided that the best way to focus would be to listen to the AM radio, where Hugh Hewitt was having one of his Romney days.
One thing was said time and again from the ever full-of-himself Hugh, and it really upset me.
He claimed that a vote for Huckabee is a wasted vote, because "He doesn't stand a chance of winning anyway"
And he went on to take calls from McCain, Romney, and Huckabee supporters from Super Tuesday states, asking them why they support their candidate. Of course, every time a Huckabee voter was on the line, Hugh said: You know that you are throwing your vote away, and ensuring a McCain victory... Time and again, caller after caller.
HOW IS THIS ANY WORSE THAN PUSH POLLS?
FOR SHAME! Shame on Hugh, Shame on Romney's campaign for not calling in and asking him to stop, and shame on anyone who complained about groups push polling for Huckabee but who are going to remain silent in their hypocrisy! FOR SHAME!
Let me explain one thing: A vote is something very sacred, very meaningful, and should require knowledge and courage.
A vote is NEVER thrown away, if you are voting in good conscience, and are casting your ballot for what you believe!
A vote, especially in the primary process, is a vote for what you truly want on the party platform. It is a vote for the direction of the country, the direction of the party, and the candidate that you feel best represents YOUR VALUES.
You should not be scared or pushed into voting for another candidate out of fear that another might win. I will come straight out and say it... If Mitt Romney was as good as Hugh and all the pundits claim him to be, HE WOULD HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THOSE VOTES FROM HUCKABEE!
And for Mitt Romney to claim that Huckabee should drop out, and that Huck's voters belong to him... FOR SHAME on Romney to assume that he knows more about how someone who supports Huckabee should vote than they do!
This is a last ditch, desperate attempt to drive Romney's numbers up. Yet one more sleazy reason why I could never back that kind of character! Politics as usual does not cut it for me. I need a candidate with true compassion, true conscience, true understanding, and the ability to reason.
Amen, Steve!
ReplyDeleteI've been amused the last few days at this wholesale selling out by conservative talk radio for Romney. As we had talked about a few weeks ago, I was already sensing their covert support for Romney through various comments I heard while listening to Rush, Hannity, Ingraham, Glenn Beck, etc. They were trying to push their listeners towards Romney by only talking positively about him and by always talking negatively about McCain, Giuliani, and Huckabee, without directly coming out and supporting Romney overtly. It's like they were trying to maintain a facade of impartiality (i.e. "fair and balanced") while still influencing their listeners to get the candidate they wanted. But as the primaries have worn on and their tactics clearly haven't worked, they've abandoned all pretenses of impartiality and are desperately trying to swing the nomination towards Romney. And the million dollar question is: Did they throw their support to Romney too late to make a difference (due to McCain momentum or some other effect), or is it just that these talking heads are a lot less influential than they're given credit for?
I also think one of the assumptions they've been making is flawed: that if Huckabee dropped out of the race, all of his supporters would flock to Romney and McCain would be prevented from getting the nomination. However, I personally believe that a good portion (maybe even a majority) of Huckabee's supporters, primarily Evangelicals, have serious reservations about electing a Mormon to the highest office in the land. Those Evangelicals that don't are probably already Romney supporters. I think it's MORE likely that if Huckabee dropped out, you'd see an INCREASE in McCain's lead as these voters would vote for the only other choice besides Romney.
Thoughts?
Jason
Jason -
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question directly: The talking heads are less influential than they're given credit for!
Look, when these pundits are cramming a candidate down their listener's throats, the listeners will do one of three things:
1. Turn the radio or TV off. They don't want to hear it.
2. Keep listening, and potentially call into the shows, or actively confront the pundit.
3. Agree to take the advice of the pundit.
It seems like most folks felt that they could make up their own mind, and as such, the talking heads are not giving the voters/listeners the credit they deserve to make an educated decision.
Even this morning, Bill Bennett (who is Pro Romney) was saying "I just don't understand why people didn’t get our message". I say to him, the message was received, but largely rejected!
It was received because it was outrageous. Making claims that Huckabee's campaign is "an insurgency campaign" is nothing short of claiming that a vote for Huckabee is a vote in support of terrorism. The people see the ridiculous arguments attempted, and then continued to see right through them!
And I agree 1200% with you, that it is very presumptuous for the Romney supporters to assume that Huckabee voters belong to Romney. Regardless of their reasons, I would see most Huckabee supporters rejecting Romney in favor of McCain mainly due to the way that Huckabee/McCain and Huckabee/Romney campaigns have interacted. Character and class can actually go a long way!