January 11, 2008
UPDATED: A Completely Unexpected Get For Huckabee
Newsday columnist and FOX News regular James Pinkerton has signed on as an adviser to Mike Huckabee's campaign. Pinkerton, an alum of the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations, said in a statement that he "jumped at the opportunity" to help the former Arkansas governor "restore the magnificent Reagan coalition."
That Pinkerton is suspending his relationship with FOX and his column of 14 years is not only surprising, but also says something about the momentum building around Huckabee.
It's been oft-noted that the 2008 GOP presidential front-runners all clash with the Republican Party establishment in some way. (Mitt Romney is the GOP Establishment Candidate to a tee, but is having trouble convincing Republicans of his authenticity.) It was believed that despite his Iowa win, Huckabee would face vehement opposition from the anti-tax/pro-wealth, anti-illegal immigration and libertarian wings of his party. That may yet be the case. But the fact that the campaign was able to convince Pinkerton to sign on may indicate that Reagan idolizers in the party see more that they like in Huckabee than not.
Pinkerton, by the way, is anti-abortion but doesn't have a strong evangelical bent in his columns. So there are reasons besides Huckabee's Southern Baptist preaching that prompted the pundit to cross over.
"I have thought for a long time that he had the best ideas and the best message for our time -- and when I met him, I saw that he was the best person for the job," Pinkerton said today.
In his Dec. 13 column, Pinkerton identified what he called Huckabee's heartland centrism as the former governor's most winning quality in a general election. Despite his evangelical background, Huckabee often comes off as a social moderate, particularly in his populist messages on crime and poverty. In these anxious economic times, Huckabee seems well-poised to win working-class votes now and in the general.
Huckabee remains shaky on foreign policy matters. Pinkerton, who wrote earlier this week that the candidates needed to focus more on Pakistan's political crisis, could help ensure Huckabee bones up on those issues and put an end to those gaffes.
As much as pro-business Republicans fear Huckabee's populist rhetoric, they may fear more the regulatory streak of John McCain, the other GOP candidate riding an early-voting surge. That Huckabee is able to attract advisory talent like Pinkerton and Ed Rollins may show that his ground and fundraising operations could soon be worthy of the media hype surrounding the candidate.
As for Huckabee's tax plan: Last week we took a look at bipartisan criticism of his fair-tax proposal. Yesterday, Slate ran a defense of Huckabee's tax plan by economist Stephen Landsburg.
"With a sales tax, that 20 cents sits in your bank account earning interest until the day you spend your earnings. Let me say that again: Your pretax earnings sit around collecting interest until the day you withdraw and spend them. Where have we heard that before? It's exactly what happens when you invest in a traditional IRA!" Landsburg writes.
Read the rest here.
Posted at 5:13 PM
Posted to:
Campaigns, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Taxes, WH 2008
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