Tell me about Huckabee

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Alexander I . He was actually an evangelical who had traveled from his home in Iowa just to pretend to be interested in the LDS church, try to convert its missionaries, and if he couldn't, to just waste their time.

As you may or may not be aware, the LDS center in NYC is (or was) across the street from Lincoln Center. My folks had a theater subscription at LC. They arrived early, and it was a cold winter night, so they wandered into the LDS center. They also signed the guest book, apparently.

Next week they get a visit from the clean cut guys in suits, who dont drink coffee. My dad tells them how much he admires their clean cutness and family values - and I think he avoided laughing at the aspects, that were, well, over the top for a pragmatic, largely secularized Jew. He did mention to me how odd some of it was. I hope hes forgiven for wasting their time

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
I hope hes forgiven for wasting their time

It wouldn't have been a problem, and they certainly wouldn't hold it against him. If you've met a fair amount of LDS people, you know that most of us love to prattle off about our faith. The missionaries probably enjoyed the positive feeling from "shared common moral values" too.

The only thing I took umbrage at was that the guy I was dealing with lied to us. So we wasted a lot of time meeting with him every couple of days and teaching him all about our religion when he was faking it in order to deliberately waste our time. Irritating.

[Alexander I]

Another interesting tidbit.

Mitt Romney's first ad presenting an overtly anti-Huckabee message.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_el_pr/romney_adwatch_1;_ylt=ApQnyJzViPbNqK_.vljL2G7XbuRF

[DirtyMartini]

Alexander,

I'm curious how you feel about Romney's handling of questions regarding his religion. AFAIK, he's said that he's a man of faith and a christian, but doesn't answer specific questions about Mormonism. Even his big "faith speech" didn't address the questions that have been asked of him.

I've heard some say that he's trying to down-play his religious affilliation for the sake of electability. Agree or disagree?

[DanS]

Originally posted by Alexander I
Another interesting tidbit.

Mitt Romney's first ad presenting an overtly anti-Huckabee message.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/..._.vljL2G7XbuRF

Are you crazy? This isn't interesting. Neither is that AIDS boy stuff. It's just the same old same old from the campaigns.

I'm beginning to like Huckabee, if only for the fact that the attacks against him are so inane.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini
Alexander,

I'm curious how you feel about Romney's handling of questions regarding his religion. AFAIK, he's said that he's a man of faith and a christian, but doesn't answer specific questions about Mormonism. Even his big "faith speech" didn't address the questions that have been asked of him.

I've heard some say that he's trying to down-play his religious affilliation for the sake of electability. Agree or disagree?

Honestly, I don't think he should have to say more than that he's a man of faith. He's running for president of the USA, not the LDS church. I don't think he's playing down his religious affiliation per se; I think he's trying to avoid looking like he's trying to force his particular faith into the spotlight. If people thought he was trying to use his campaign to convert them, (which he obviously isn't) they'd really not vote for him. He's said that the church won't influence his decisions as president, and I believe that.

I think if people actually want to understand Mormonism, they need look no further than the missionaries who are always around in just about every neighborhood. People can always look up the church's website if the missionaries don't get to them first.

IMHO, if people want to know about the church, they should ask a missionary about the church, heck, they should ask Gordon B. Hinckley if they get the chance. They shouldn't ask Mitt Romney to be the public spokesman for the church. That's someone else's job. Ask Mitt Romney about his politics. His religion shouldn't matter beyond whether or not he would keep it separate from his government, which he says he will.

That's my two cents.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by DanS

Are you crazy? This isn't interesting. Neither is that AIDS boy stuff. It's just the same old same old from the campaigns.

I'm beginning to like Huckabee, if only for the fact that the attacks against him are so inane.

Meh. I just had an accidental DP that I wanted to put something Huckabee-related in. That's what I found. Sorry it doesn't interest you.

[DanS]

It's just stupid tripe. Save it next time.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by DanS
It's just stupid tripe. Save it next time.

Whatever.

[DirtyMartini]

Fair 'nuff.

I'm not sure that's gonna work for a lot of secular voters though.

Every Mormon I have ever known holds the church as their highest priority/authority. I think for Romney it will be hard to escape the concern that the Mormon church will have undue influence on the presidency.

We clearly didn't ask enough questions about W's faith, and we now have a president who relies on prayer rather than reason. While I see nothing in Romey's background as governor to suggest anything similar, it will still be a concern.

I think it will be a concern for Huckabee too -- he was a Baptist minister for crying out loud. With Huck, though, more people are familiar/comfortable with Baptism than Mormonism, which may get him off the hook.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini

We clearly didn't ask enough questions about W's faith, and we now have a president who relies on prayer rather than reason. While I see nothing in Romey's background as governor to suggest anything similar, it will still be a concern.

I think it will be a concern for Huckabee too -- he was a Baptist minister for crying out loud. With Huck, though, more people are familiar/comfortable with Baptism than Mormonism, which may get him off the hook.

I think the difference between Romney and Huckabee (and W for that matter) is that Romney knows where to draw the line, and Huckabee doesn't. That just IMHO, of course.

[Will9]

Romney looks troubled in Iowa

Huckabee: 39%
Romney: 23%

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/iowa/republican_iowa_caucus

Nationally, he's 1% ahead of Giuliani

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/daily_presidential_tracking_polling_history

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by Will
Romney looks troubled in Iowa

Huckabee: 39%
Romney: 23%

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/iowa/republican_iowa_caucus

RCP's average has the Iowa race at 32.4% (Huckabee) to 22% (Romney).

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/ia/iowa_republican_caucus-207.html#polls

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by DanS
It's just stupid tripe. Save it next time.

You aren't a mod. You're free to ignore other posters, but teh fact that you started this thread posing a question doesn't give you teh authority to dictate what people discuss in it.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini
Fair 'nuff.

I'm not sure that's gonna work for a lot of secular voters though.

Every Mormon I have ever known holds the church as their highest priority/authority. I think for Romney it will be hard to escape the concern that the Mormon church will have undue influence on the presidency.

Jesus Christ. Replace "Mormon" with "Catholic" and "Romney" with "Kennedy"

Especially since we know that Huckabee will let his church influence his presidency.