Huckabee Stands By Overtly Religious Campaign Ad

Last week, Mike Huckabee broke with longstanding precedent as he unveiled a presidential campaign ad infused with deeply religious tones:

Just look at the screen shot.  You can tell from the very first shot that they intended to have a giant, white, floating cross moving behind Mike Huckabee.  There is no mistaking it.  There is zero chance that it was placed there by accident.  But, as Mike Huckabee was on the road with his Huckster Revival rhetoric, that is exactly what Huckabee claimed on CBS' Face The Nation:

He said the ad was put together quickly, and that book shelves formed the cross in the background.

Everyone thought that we were so smart and clever. The truth is, it was a book shelf," Huckabee said. "We hurriedly put the spot together. It wasn't scripted. I ad-libbed the spot. It was done at the end of a long taping day, and really kind of a thought of, well, let's do a Christmas spot just in case we decide to use it maybe on our Web site."

Well, I have watched that ad repeatedly.  Ad-libbed or not - there is absolutely, positively no way on earth that the white book shelf just happened to magically have just the right amount of shadow effect and special lighting to make it appear as a big, glowing, white, moving cross, timed perfectly to end behind him as the camera rotated and the spot came to an end.  It was clearly done as an intended effect.  And I can't help but think that makes Mike Huckabee a bold-faced liar.  Let's see some other footage from that set.  Let's see how that bookshelf looks in any other shots - video or camera.  Let's talk to your camera and lighting crew.  I seriously want to know what production company created the spot.  Was it created by one of his televangelist buddies?  Either way, it was no accident and his flat out lying about it is embarassing.  And on the same day that The Dallas Morning News endorses him.  What a joke!  Shame on them.  What does the Dallas Morning News think about his deep connections to the "Profit Prophets" and televangelists who are under under investigation by Congress?

Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is standing by televangelist Kenneth Copeland as the U.S. Senate investigates the ministry’s potential financial misconduct.

Copeland has given his support to Huckabee and appears in ads with the Republican candidate in the religious magazine Charisma to promote the ministry’s upcoming TV special.

Despite the potential negative effect, former Baptist preacher Huckabee has expressed his trust in the Copelands and will appear on the ministry’s TV show next week.

"Kenneth and Gloria Copeland are about the most gracious, authentic, and humble people I know and I consider them dear friends," Huckabee wrote to Time magazine. "They have brought hope to millions and have operated with the utmost integrity as far I know.

Gracious, authentic, and humble.  That's just what I think when I hear Copeland say things like this on his website:

"I have taken over the politics and the politicians. Listen to My voice. Vote the way I say in all elections. America’s place as a nation is coming to its fullest and finest hour. Not just as the military power but as the source and supply of the gospel, My gospel, in power and witness to the whole earth."

Does Copeland really believe he has taken over politics and politicians?  Does that mean that he controls Mike Huckabee?

And humble?  Yes, that is exactly what I think of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland when I read this:

A few years ago, Copeland asked donors to help him buy two $20 million Cessna Citation X jets — planes the preacher said would help him and his wife "spread the gospel around the globe faster than ever before."

And this....

Grassley is also asking questions about the Copelands’ spending, including a gift of more than $2 million that the Copelands reportedly received early this year. Happy Caldwell, pastor of Little Rock’s Agape Church, told his congregation in January that fellow evangelists had provided Kenneth and Gloria Copeland with the money during a gathering earlier in the month.

"They were speechless," Caldwell said, as members of his audience gasped. "That’s about a million dollars apiece."

Copeland’s son spearheaded the fundraising, Caldwell said, adding that the couple deserved the gift.

"When you’re a heroic giver, eventually you’re going to be a heroic receiver," Caldwell told his congregation.

So, the $2 million was a gift.  That their son went out and solicited from their flock.  Yes, I can see how they would be considered "humble" by Mike Huckabee.  It's not like they went out and asked for $2 million dollars.  Their son did.  Totally different.  

But, these are exactly the type of people that Mike Huckabee surrounds himself with....phonies.  Each one working their own scam.  Will the Republican voters fall for Mike Huckabee's Revival Tour?  Sending their checks to Mike Huckabee so America can be "healed?"  We shall see.    If they don't, Mike Huckabee may have a future as America's next great money-driven televangelist.  After all, his recent stint (last month) of six straight days on Copeland's religious/fundraising television program appears to have been well-received because it certainly awoke the televangelist voters who tuned in.  

Will the rest of the so-called "values voters" really fall for Huckabee's televangelist schtick?  

As far as the overtly religious messages in Huckabee's Christmas ad.......Who are voters going to believe?  Mike Huckabee or their lying eyes?

UPDATE:  The ad was created by a San Fransico based firm called Dresner, Wickers, & Associates.  From their own website, here is what they have to say about the television spots they create for political candidates:

Browse our portfolio of Television work by simply clicking on the thumbnail images.
When you have just 30 seconds to introduce your message to millions of busy voters, every word and image counts. At DWA we produce the most highly-crafted and tightly-written political advertising in the market today. Our commitment to refining your message to needle-point accuracy while creating attention-grabbing visuals to bolster that message provides our clients with unmatched confidence that voters will not only pay attention to their ads, but they will also be impacted by them.

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