Mike Huckabee may be avoiding CPAC because it's not conservative enough, but his PAC has been busy, e-mailing out thousands of fund-raising appeals this week for his Stop Senate Democrats Fund.
One of his targets is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who won her first statewide election last year and will be running for re-election to a full six-year term next year.
The anti-Gillibrand e-mail is a form letter; except for mentions of Gillibrand and New York, it is word-for-word identical to Huck PAC e-mails targeting Bill Nelson, Dianne Feinstein, Claire McCaskill, and Sherrod Brown, so far.
Text and commentary, below.
New York needs a conservative United States Senator. Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been in Washington too long and it appears she's stopped listening to New York voters - after all, you didn't want bailouts, you didn't want the stimulus package and you sure didn't want Obamacare. Thanks to elected officials like Senator Gillibrand you got bailouts, you got the stimulus and you got Obamacare.
Senator Gillibrand like all of the Democrats up for re-election in 2012 is a large reason our nation is going bankrupt. Sadly last week, when given a chance to begin to redeem poor legislative choices, Senator Gillibrand voted AGAINST the repeal of Obamacare.
Huck PAC is preparing to help conservatives win the New York Senate seat and defeat other vulnerable Democrat Senators across the nation. We are asking 100 New York supporters to donate this week towards this goal. Will you make a donation of $10 or more to stop Senator Gillibrand and the budget-busting Democrats in Washington?
I have sent this email to just 1,000 New York voters across the state. I am counting on a response from you. If you would prefer to donate by mail, please send your check to Huck PAC at:
Huck PAC
Attn: Stop Senate Democrats Fund
PO Box 2008
Little Rock , AR 72203
New York and America would be better off with conservative Senators like Marco Rubio in office. Together, we worked so hard to take back the House -- now you can help conservatives take back the Senate. Please chip in today.
When you stick Gillibrand and New York into a form letter, you're bound to make some mistakes.
Like saying Gillibrand "has been in Washington too long." For conservatives, one day of a progressive Democratic Senator in Washington may be too long, but in the real world, Gillibrand's four years in Washington (two in the House, two in the Senate) make her a relative newbie.
The claim that Gillibrand has "stopped listening to New York voters" is a crock -- on the bailouts and the stimulus, Obama's statewide approval rating in the Marist poll when those bills were enacted was well above 55 percent.
Obama's approval rating did drop just below 50 when the ACA was enacted, but a Siena poll taken in September 2009, after months of media overkill about tea party opponents to health care reform, found that more New Yorkers favored the Democrats' plan than opposed it.
So Gillibrand was indeed listening to her constituents, in the aggregate. She was not voting the way the 20-30 percent of conservatives/Republicans/tea partiers wanted, but why would she?
Huckabee's evident fund-raising goal of a few thousand dollars is laughably insignificant, so the real reason for these e-mails must to promote Huckabee's presidential candidacy by connecting with conservatives in several important states, and pretending to be a leader against "the budget-busting Democrats in Washington."
Some tea partiers naturally think there's more to it than that:
Its encouraging that Huckabee considers this an important seat, maybe nationally it will garner attention and some big bucks....
At our meeting last night Brad brought up Betsy McCoy running against Gilly and getting her to speak to our group. Could be an interesting prospect!
Serial health care liar Betsy McCaughey does seem to be testing the waters, but she has a track record as a political flake.
Only tea party ignoramuses would consider her "an interesting prospect."
Maybe a serious challenger to Gillibrand will arise, but it won't be McCaughey, and Huckabee will do little to help whoever it turns out to be.