A Gaffe (In That, The Truth Comes Out?)

Huckabee adviser Bob Wickers said of New Hampshire, according to the Washington Post:

"It's all tax, no government there. It's not ideal."

Comments

Correction. He said, "It's all no tax, no government there. It's not ideal."

Posted by Gene | January 5, 2008 9:44 AM

Your "Huck Derangement Syndrome" is going to tear the Republican party apart. As is clear from the article, the aid was talking about political stances. New Hampshire is full of economic conservatives, not social conservatives,and you guys have labeled Huck a big taxer and big spender. Huck has stated over and over and over ad nauseum that he believes in less federal spending and lower taxes, even to the point of the most ambitious overhaul of the tax code in a century.

And your criticism of him as a big taxer/spender is not fair. When he raised taxes in Arkansas, it was after cutting spending by historic amounts, in an economic downturn caused by the recession and 9/11 attack, and in the face of a balanced budget constitution and hugely democratic legislator. I wish you "conservative purists" would offer a more conservative approach then he took. Shut down the government? Let the legislature override your spending cuts and raise taxes anyway? Try to get a Democratic legislature to impeach Democrat-appointed state supreme court judges?

You've got to get off your conservative high horse, listen to the guy and give him a chance. If you still don't like him, don't vote for him, but the hateful, bitter, unfair criticism will just drive people away from our party. That's what Democrats do.

Posted by Jeff Ragan | January 5, 2008 1:13 PM

Thanks for the extensive coverage, but please get a proofreader. I had to read the entire linked article to figure out what "it's all tax, no government up there" means, only to discover that it means nothing at all, because no one said it.

Posted by RS | January 5, 2008 2:16 PM