Huckabee Hits His Target

National Review Online: Candidate's New Christmas Ad Is A Perfect Appeal To Christian Voters

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Byron York.

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In late November, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee sat down with Chip Saltsman, his campaign manager, and Robert Wickers, his media adviser, to confront a two-part problem. The first part of the problem was Christmas. With the new, condensed primary schedule, what should normally be the most intense period of campaigning before the Iowa caucuses would now come at Christmastime. What kind of political ads - if any - would be effective? The second part of the problem was Huckabee’s success. He was beginning to rise in the polls and knew he would draw attack ads, mostly from Mitt Romney. How should he respond?

“We started talking about how the whole Christmas season is changing the deal for all the presidential campaigns,” Saltsman told me last night. “I said Santa Claus was the great equalizer.” By that, Saltsman meant that the deluge of Christmas advertising, Christmas parties, and Christmas shopping, along with the general holiday rush, would dilute and reduce the effectiveness of ads put out by the far better-financed Romney campaign; there would just be too much noise for a politician to break through. “I said we’ve got to think of a different way to talk about the governor during Christmas than just the usual campaign ads,” Saltsman recalled.

And if they figured out a different way, how would it work in the face of “contrast” commercials from Romney? “How do you run an attack before Christmas?” Saltsman wondered. “And how do you respond to one?”

The men decided that the best way was to go positive - and seasonal. Saltsman suggested that Huckabee “sit in front of a camera in a red sweater and wish everybody a Merry Christmas.” Huckabee agreed.

The result was that a few days later, after returning to Arkansas late at night from an exhausting campaign swing through Iowa, Huckabee found himself in a private home in Little Rock, sitting in front of a camera in a red sweater, wishing everybody a Merry Christmas. The ad was all concept; there was no script. The camera rolled, and Huckabee ad-libbed the message. The first take was two seconds too long. Huckabee did it again, hitting the time right on the money, and the ad - called “What Really Matters” - was done.

“Are you about worn out of all the television commercials you’re seeing?” Huckabee began. “Mostly about politics. I don’t blame you.”

“At this time of year, sometimes it’s nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends. I hope that you and your family will have a magnificent Christmas season. And on behalf of all of us, God bless and Merry Christmas. I’m Mike Huckabee and I approve this message.”

The ad begins running this morning in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. But its impact is being multiplied by discussion of it in news reports and the blogosphere. Reaction has been strong - and immediate. More than one observer has called it brilliant and effective. Others said it crossed an important line. “Mike Huckabee pretends to put politics aside,” wrote the blogger Matthew Yglesias, “[and] starts conducting his campaign as an explicit appeal to Christian identity politics.” Fox News’s Brit Hume, opening a discussion last night, said it was “not exactly a non-denominational Season’s Greetings card.”

One prominent Republican pollster - not affiliated with any campaign - agrees. “In his ads, Huckabee was clearly laying out a Christian brand,” David Winston told me last night. “He has focused on part of his brand as being Christian, and now, I think this ad is intended to soften that, to talk about family and friends and enjoying Christmas.”

Of course, it’s one thing to wish people a Merry Christmas. But is talking specifically about the birth of Christ a little much? “I think that’s who he is,” Winston said. “You’ll find a lot of people who like it, and you’ll find some people who are uncomfortable with that phraseology.” But probably not a lot; from a political-strategy viewpoint, perhaps the most effective thing about the ad is that it openly appeals to Christian conservatives - and indirectly plays into the “War on Christmas” theme that pops up every year - but likely does not alienate large numbers of other voters.

Saltsman maintains it shouldn’t alienate anybody. “The birth of Christ is what Christmas is,” he told me. “When you say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ that’s what it is.” When I asked whether the ad is exclusionary, Saltsman said, “Do you exclude people when you send out Christmas cards? Do you exclude people when you see ads where they’re saying ‘Merry Christmas’ and have Santa Claus? I just don’t agree with that.”

In October, when he addressed the Values Voters summit in Washington, Huckabee gave the most overtly religious speech I have ever seen any candidate give. He didn’t simply say, as other candidates did, that he shared a common Judeo-Christian heritage with the audience. Instead, his speech was filled with Biblical references. He talked about David and Goliath. About Daniel in the lions’ den. About the loaves and the fishes. About Elijah and prophets of Ba’al. It was serious churchgoing stuff.

I saw Huckabee a week or so later in Iowa, and I asked him whether the speech was too hot to give before a general audience. He seemed a little surprised by the question. “The ultimate purpose of any speech,” he told me, “is to hit the target, and the target is your audience. I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh that was a brilliant speech, I didn’t understand it, it was way over my head, but it was a brilliant speech.’ Well, it wasn’t a brilliant speech. If a shooter consistently hits over the head of the target, it doesn’t prove that he’s a good shooter. It proves he can’t shoot. So the whole point is you aim for the target. The target in that room was people for whom faith was the motivating factor to be involved in public policy.”

Now, in “What Really Matters,” the target is bigger: a large part of the electorate in the early-voting states. But there’s another target, too: Mitt Romney, the man who planned his campaign so carefully, who conducted painstaking strategic audits to analyze the tasks involved, who invested millions of his own dollars in the effort, and who now finds himself flummoxed by the clever ad-libber from Little Rock, who may not know an enormous amount about being president, or about foreign policy, but sure knows how to hit the target.

[terrapin78]

And I dare say a reason for non-Christians to question if this is the type of message we want out of the White House.

I don''t.

[cbs_oliver]

Christ''s values as reported in the New Testament seem quite different from Huckabee''s more violent values.

Perhaps he will have an epiphany over Christmas and change his tune.

That would be good.

[bwessels]

Bush scored by saying the person he admired most was Jesus. This seems less jarring than that, probably more sincere, and less calculating.

[wasatch01-2009]

Huckabee is playing the religious card to advance his own politcal agenda. He is not getting my vote.

[jon2012-2009]

A leader who courts the religious vote so openly, in my book, accomplishes nothing but a dubious distinction even if he succeeds. The Christians as a group represent a market for a dog-and-pony-show that more informed citizens have little taste for.

[clestes-2009]

Yeah, but it won''t appeal to the majority of Americans. There is no way a rightwing minister is going to go to the whitehouse.

As far as qualifications go, he and Rudy rank as the least qualified candidates out there.

He is just another whitebread bushie and America knows it. In fact, all the ups and downs of the rep candidates say to me that the reps are in trouble. They cannot find anyone who inspires confidence and they are so much alike that one could be interchanged for another. That is a big problem.

Ron Paul excepted.

[jbrewster7]

Is Huckabee a real "Christian Leader?"

FACT: Mike Huckabee stole over $70,000 worth of furniture from the Arkansas governors mansion.

Google: Counting the furniture Huckabee takes his office furniture; a conflict on Mansion gift.

(SOURCE: Arkansas Times 12/14/06 Leslie Newell Peacock)

(http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=68c98333-95ea-42e9-a9ce-a901f2a02148)

[jbrewster7]

Is Huckabee pandering for the votes of illegal hispanics?

FACT: Mike Huckabee supported in-state higher education benefits for children of illegal immigrants.

FACT: Mike Huckabee opposed a federal raid of 119 illegal immigrants at an Arkansas Tyson poultry plant, 107 of whom left the country either voluntarily or through deportation.

(SOURCE: Melissa Nelson, "Huckabee Risks Political Fortunes To Denounce Immigration Raid," Associated Press, 8/5/05)

[jbrewster7]

FACT: The ethics commission fined Huckabee $1,000 for failing to report that he paid himself $14,000 from his 1992 U.S. Senate campaign and $43,000 from his 1994 lieutenant governor''s campaign.

FACT: Huckabee accepted more than 300 gifts worth at least $130,000, ranging from $3,700 cowboy boots to a $600 chainsaw.

Google: Huckabee rivals unearth ethics complaints (SOURCE: POLITICO Kenneth P. Vogel Nov 21, 2007)

[perception5]

Some breaking news from Ron Paul on Slick Hucks ad....."Asked about Republican rival Mike Huckabee''s Christmas-themed ad, which we wrote about yesterday and has attracted attention in part because of the image of a cross that many see hovering over Huckabee''s shoulder, GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul said this morning on FOX & Friends that: "It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, ''when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.'' Now I don''t know whether that''s a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don''t think I would ever use anything like that." (Fox has put video from some of the interview here. To see Paul talking about the Huckabee ad, though, you need to check this clip at YouTube.) Paul''s linking of Huckabee''s ad to fascism is certainly an attention-getter."...........Yeah !

[jbrewster7]

Is Huckabee a real "Christian Leader?"

FACT: Mike Huckabee set up a nonprofit entity so he could give paid ``inspirational'''' speeches without having to disclose the donors.

Google: Huckabee''s Boom May Be About Ready to Bust: Margaret Carlson (SOURCE: Bloomberg Dec 12, 2007 Margaret Carlson)

[jbrewster7]

Is Huckabee a real "Christian Leader?"

FACT: Mike Huckabee stole over $70,000 worth of furniture from the Arkansas governors mansion.

Google: Counting the furniture Huckabee takes his office furniture; a conflict on Mansion gift. (SOURCE: Arkansas Times 12/14/06 Leslie Newell Peacock)

[johngoodnews]

Seeing the ad made me feel a little bit better about this Christmas what with all the bad news and things. I''m glad I got a chance to see it.

[hungry1968]

He''s running as a christian - that''s 90% of his platform. He has no foreign policy or military experience and from the damage that Bush is causing, our next president is going to need plenty of both.

[lanefiller1]

Anyone interested in what Huckabee is really like face to face should try this funny (but it actually happened) column:
http://goupstate.us/index.php/lanefiller/2007/11/02/title_14

[tessies101]

Huckabee is not what the American working class is looking for, or at least for me and countless others.
He flip flops about the bigger issues like taxes, and immigration. His record as governor of Arkansas is all you need to see, it was horrible. Ron Paul fits into the America we should and want to be. I am just amazed to see yet another Republican such as Huckabee sticking to his Religious Platform, that platform will make him unelectable, when are these pundits going to realize this?

[catmontty]

Geeze, do you all talk about your friends like this if they send you a religeous Christmas card?

All you BA HUMBUG''S sit down and think about it.

He''s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Christmas is a national holiday whether you are Christian or not. Most people are off of work for Christmas, whether you are Christian or not.

So basically, Huckabee is wishing everyone a Merry Christmas - aka, a good day on Christmas whether you are Christian, or believe in Christmas or not. Cheer up!

[shaggydo-2009]

The blogger%u2019s theme here seems to not be about fact but innuendo and doing what you accuse Huckabee of doing and being destined to do, and that is being a maniacal religious zealot who will ignore everything others have to say or think unless they belong to his form of religion. What are you doing except being maniacal anti-religious zealots who do ignore everything others say or think unless of they belong to your anti-religious form of religion. I%u2019m neither pro Christian nor anti Christian however do I believe in good and evil, I%u2019ve known both and this approach is not good.

[sweetness230]

Geez, cattamonte. None of my friends are running for POTUS. Huckabuck in the name of Jesus is a disgrace, actually more of a travesty and let''s just hope for His sake we have not been dumbed down so far that we are unable to see it. And I should know. I''m from Arkansas and saw him in action first hand.

[gkc99]

More lies from the Mouth of Satan!

What do you expect from the NRO flack brigade?

Huckleberry may do OK in tent revival country, but when he moves out of the Arkansas / Missouri / Iowa axis, folks might wonder about his ability as anything except a Holy Roller.

Please nominate him, Repugs! I''m beggin'' ya!

[earthling56-2009]

The bandwagon effect, also known as social proof and closely related to opportunism, is the observation that people often do (or believe) things because many other people do (or believe) the same. The effect is often pejoratively referred to as herding instinct, particularly as applied to adolescents. Without examining the merits of the particular thing, people tend to %u201Cfollow the crowd%u201D. The bandwagon effect is the reason for the bandwagon fallacy%u2019s success. Huckabee being the savy politician he is has no delusions as to who his demographic is in Iowa. He will say anything short of, %u201D the only person that can help a hick in Iowa is a hick his self%u201D. And if he thought thought the evangelical center of the Iowa republicans would buy it, he would say it. Suffice to his saying that he is the %u201CChristian candidate%u201D and that he is choice of the disenfranchised underdogs of the country, this Elmer Gantryish candidate will do only one thing for Iowans, insure that their third choice in the republican nomintion gets nominated. Namely,Rudy Giuliani,because once he runs out of evangelicals he is toast. Or maybe Rudy Giuliani%u2019s running mate. Oh well, same difference.On that note by all means forget about politics and have very merry Christmas,and a happy New Huckabee,"erm" New Year, sorry for the freudian slip.

[hypnotoad72]

I''ve read up a little on Huckabee (I recall a pithy little table that also had him next to another Republican, followed by Clinton, Obama, and Edwards).

I also like Edwards and Obama, but I fear Hillary will win the nomination.

Huckabee might be what this nation needs. He''s enough of a centrist to be believed. Obama has some centrist points as well, but he''s being bashed by too many on the Dem side. Pity... But I digress. Huckabee may not have the most experience, but he might have the intelligence to seek out those who do.

Also noting most of the Democratic candidates are also assertive on foreign policy and the war, the far-far-left "Let''s just blame" nitwits ought to zip their lip. Few seem to want to say Pelosi might be taking a step back and breathing because she knows something quite valid the loonies out in blog-o-land don''t. It''s more fun for them to call her "traitor" and everything else...

[fredgrad2000]

More lies from the Mouth of Satan!

What do you expect from the NRO flack brigade?

Huckleberry may do OK in tent revival country, but when he moves out of the Arkansas / Missouri / Iowa axis, folks might wonder about his ability as anything except a Holy Roller.

Please nominate him, Repugs! I''''m beggin'''' ya!


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Posted by gkc99

Please nominate Hill and Bill; I''M BEGGING YOU!!! Nothing better than Hill and Bill to draw out the entire GOP base; and I''ll gladly match any of our candidates experience to Hill''s as hostess-in-chief and no accomplishment senator anyday. Nothing better than a no-principled, half the country hates her, liberal to run against in November. Nominate Hill, I beg YOU!! I''ll take most of the GOP candidates against the Fem-bot with the mechanical cackle who the country hates anyday.

[fredgrad2000]

"He''''s running as a christian - that''''s 90% of his platform. He has no foreign policy or military experience and from the damage that Bush is causing, our next president is going to need plenty of both." Posted by hungry1968

Well, the Dems are SCREWED then, Hill, Obama, and Edwards combined have, well, ZERO experience, despite what HIll''s handlers would have the mainstream media spew out. I''d love a battle on who''s executive, military, or forign policy experience is better in November between any of the 4 potential GOP candidates (McCain, Romney, Giuliani or Huckabee) and Hill, Barack, or Edwards. If the Dems really cared who had the best experience, they''d nominate Joe Biden or Bill Richardson; either one has 5x the experience of the "top tier" combined.

[drivelphobe]

What Huckabee has is common sense and respect for the American citizen, our laws and our sovereignty. He knows enough to close the borders, stop illegal immigration, enforce our laws and make English the language of the country. He doesn''t have to have all the experience that his opponents claim he needs.

Just like any CEO, he will rely on advisors with expertise to give him input. The decisions are made with compassion, wisdom, integrity and keeping in mind the will of the people, our laws and our language.

Huckabee is the man for the job. His faith only means to me that he is reasonable in maintaining perspective with regards to moral behaviour. I don''t care what faith, other than Islam, the candidates have. I feel any faith, other than Islam, tends to improve the odds of decency.

Go Huck, the peoples'' choice.

[pjacobsuk]

The Day is not called Present-mas. It''s not called Food-mas, Drink-mas or Santa-mas. It''s called Christmas (Christ is right in this word) So, When it''s Christmas, I see nothing wrong from wishing everyone a Merry one.

[jcr103]

"Huckabee Hits HIs Target" Sure--if the idiot fringe in society is his target.

[imnho]

My suggestion is that he backup about twenty yyards and punt.

[roger3815]

Christians love to think that they are persecuted. This is nothing more than a cynical ploy and it worked like a charm. He knew he''d draw criticism and that would give him the desired persecuted feel. The right-wing religious zealots are eating it up.

[cbs_oliver]

The Day is not called Present-mas. It''''s not called Food-mas, Drink-mas or Santa-mas. It''''s called Christmas (Christ is right in this word) So, When it''''s Christmas, I see nothing wrong from wishing everyone a Merry one.
Posted by pjacobsuk at 06:30 PM : Dec 18, 2007

I have mixed thoughts on this. When people who know me and know I am a Christian wish me a Merry Christmas I appreciate it.

When people who don''t know me wish me a Merry Christmans during Hanuukkah I wonder what they are about.

The date of the Christmas celebration was almost certainly selected for symbolic and political reasons.

The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun."

December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice. (In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.)

If you are familiar with Constantine''s claimed vision which includes the cross over the sun and "By this sign you will conquer" you can see how December 25 might be selected for Christmas.

I am always pleased about Christ''s birth.

I see no reason to impose or abuse others because of this during a really quite arbitrary period of celebration.

[ih2005]

Clearly, Mike Huckabee draws people to him. He *is* what *leadership* looks like: snipr.com/leaderlook

[Razzl]

If Huckabee becomes the Republican nominee he seals the Party''s fate as a minority party driven by regional religious obsession rather than broad conservative intellectual views. Since we need the Republican party out of our government for a while in order to give the Democrats (who now are about 20% crossover moderate Republicans and almost all of the regisetered independents) time to heal the divisions in our national political life sown by Rove and Bush and DeLay, and to fix the actual problems that Congress can''t act on with Republican obstruction at every turn. The broader public is quite ready for a return to the respectful separation of church and state that existed prior to Reagan and Huckabee will remind voters all the way to the polls about that. And I heartily approve the message we''ll send the GOP next November...

[daperdiction]

True christians awake!! Now is the time!! God is
asking for at least one volunteer from each church
in the nation to call all the members of their
church and tell them about his candidate for
president, Mike Huckabee (mikehuckabee.com).
Will you be the one??
(PS: Make sure all your sister churches have a
volunteer as well!!)

[hosers22]

Just a note for Huckelberry: When I am negotiating a deal and the other person starts bragging about how Christian he is, I usually bend over and say, give it to me now, because you will eventually. Huckabee, the "Baptist Preacher"! Am I the only one that is getting tired of his mantra? How does a theology degree qualify Huck to run the United States?

[jon2012-2009]

Huckabee is the man for the job. His faith only means to me that he is reasonable in maintaining perspective with regards to moral behaviour. I don''t care what faith, other than Islam, the candidates have. I feel any faith, other than Islam, tends to improve the odds of decency.
Posted by drivelphobe at 06:28 PM : Dec 18, 2007

Typical Christian thing to denigrate other people''s beliefs while setting oneself up as morally virtuous. Religion or no religion, people still lie, cheat, kill and go to war. Don''t you consider that other people might find your statements offensive?

Forget humility. Doesn''t your religion teach you to respect other people''s beliefs?

[alanrobisch]

Forget humility. Doesn''''t your religion teach you to respect other people''''s beliefs?

Posted by jon2012 at 08:23 PM : Dec 19, 2007

What the heck do you mean by respect. If you mean totally not. If you believe that adultery or premarital *** is appropriate then no. If you believe that mohammed is a prophet well again what do you mean by respect. As a christian I think they are wrong. Do you respect christians that believe in adam and eve? Should we love those we disagree with certainly. should we help people when they are in need certainly. do i respect people who believe in the right to choice. No I don''t but would I do anything to hurt or attack them. No I would make it clear that I disagree with them if it became an issue.

[alanrobisch]

I see no reason to impose or abuse others because of this during a really quite arbitrary period of celebration.


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Posted by CBS_Oliver at 09:31 PM : Dec 18, 2007

It may be an arbitrarily chosen date but as you are well aware its because we don''t know when he was born. I know the history behind it but celebrating the birth of christ if you are a christian is celebrating your own salvation and that of the world

[alanrobisch]

"Huckabee Hits HIs Target" Sure--if the idiot fringe in society is his target.

Posted by jcr103 at 08:02 PM : Dec 18, 2007

Are you an atheist or simply anti-christian

[alanrobisch]

Elect this high rolling Elmer Gantry President of The United States and you can kiss your country good bye.

Please explain? is it because he is a christian?

[jon2012-2009]

To: alanrobisch2 at 09:33 PM : Dec 19, 2007

You can express your beliefs without reference to other people''s and holding up your belief system as a superior model, as the only one worthy of trust and following. I can understand that you''re against premarital s-e-x and people of other religions do as a matter of fact. That is just part of your beliefs and I wasn''t concerned with the those details. When you''re promoting the idea that other people are no good when they don''t share your beliefs, you''re inviting a response. It is a line of argument that cannot be allowed to hang unchallenged and to proliferate to continue to fuel Christians'' efforts to overturn the separation of church and state.

I don''t consider one set of religious beliefs "better" than another in so far as the believers'' goal to please their God is concerned. Because none of us has the ultimate answer really.

[alanrobisch]

don''''t consider one set of religious beliefs "better" than another in so far as the believers'''' goal to please their God is concerned. Because none of us has the ultimate answer really.



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41 PM : Dec 20, 2007

Ye old moral relativism. christ teaches us to love everyone not just those who wwe agree with. I love my brothers and sisters even though we have serious political differences. On the other hand I believe theri are certain moral absolutes that you do not believe in. do you have respect for the views of the car bombers or the kamikaze. do you believe I should respect people who adhere to things I believe are morally wrong ie assisted suicide or those who condone abortion on demand

[hofheins1]

I am scared for our nation if Mike Huckabee wins the republican nomination. I believe that the president of the United states needs to have a president that has faith, but this is the only thing that Huckabee has on his side. His record on immigration, pardons, and tax increases is not what this country needs right now.

We need to think logically right now. Will a republican nomination such as Huckabee with a record of increasing taxes, a record that is weak on immigration, and with a record of pardoning over a thousands criminals including murderers win against the Dem''s. Of course not.

I believe that this so-called huckaboom is going to turn into a huckabust just as soon as well reasoned people begin looking at his record of accomplishments.

I do not doubt that Huckabee is a great guy, I just can not bring myself to support him, because I have come to the conclusion that Mitt Romney is what this country needs. He has the values that Huckabee has, plus he has a record of success that is unmatched by any other candidate.

We need to rally around Mitt with support right now. I believe that the American people are inherently good and well reasoned, and that they will come to see Mitt Romney as I have (The Next President of the United States).

Mitt Will Win!