Went to hear Huckabee talk in Derry, NH. He gave a creditable talk (for a Repub) with much less emphasis on his antiabortion views than in Iowa, and much more emphasis on gun control. Claimed he was a real hunter, unlike those faux guys - never mentioned his having recently violated rule #1 of the hunt by shooting over the heads of reporters. Talked a lot about family values but somehow neglected to mention his son who hangs dogs and tries to sneak guns on airplanes. Nevertheless, he's a decent speaker, albeit not in Obama's league - but who is, really? - and the crowd liked him.
But, if it's true that a person can be judged by the company he keeps, then Houston, we've got a problem...
First of the Huckabee "warm-up acts" was Star Parker, an African-American conservative columnist who writes for Townhall, A former recipient of public assistance, she had first a religious, and then a political conversion. Her speech was impassioned and kind of angry sounding, not very coherent, and mercifully brief. Biggest applause line was when she said her grandfather, "the son of slaves" (not sure about the chronology there; maybe I misheard), said that his freedom derived from "his property and his gun." I'm sure she's sincere in her beliefs, but I guess she doesn't realize that the slavers had a similarly simple-minded (at best) view of politics and morality.
Next on stage, D-list former television star, and current conservative columnist, Chuck Norris, who is doing a lot of campaigning for Huckabee. HUGE amount of anticipation to hear him speak, but the excitement quickly evaporated once he opened his yap. He talked in a rambling way about himself and the wonderful work his foundation does teaching martial arts to at risk kids. I'm not dissing the foundation - but, jeez, if you want to talk about how great YOU are, run for office yourself.
Norris wanked on for thirty seemingly endless minutes before introducing Huckabee.
The whole point of Huck's campaign is populism, but Norris couldn't help coming across like the classic self-absorbed, privileged celebrity as he talked about:
*How he couldn't get his foundation started until he spoke with his good friend George H.W. Bush, who pulled strings in Houston to get Norris's program into its first public school.
*How he was at a store when some rich guy from the middle east bought millions of dollars of product BUT DIDN'T PAY TAXES. What were YOU doing in such a store, "man of the people" Chuck? And are you telling us you don't use tax shelters?
*His friends who own jets and yachts but who also don't pay taxes. Okay, I agree with him on this, but you know what they say: lie down with dogs, get up with tax breaks...
*The piece de resistance - a discussion about his ranch outside of Houston (400 acres, I think he said) and how amazing it was, and how he's going to give the most amazing barbeque. And, guess what - you're invited! Only, not really: if you contribute $10 you get a "virtual tour" of it over the Internet.
I would be remiss in not mentioning Chuck's uber-trophy-wife with the Farrah Fawcett hair.
So much for populism - although I wonder if the star-struck (and Republican - therefore critical-thinking-impaired) audience even got the contradiction.
Later, we waited 2 hours to hear Obama talk, which was kind of a drag, but we all agreed that waiting 2 hours for Obama (or anyone) was better than listening to Chuck Norris speak for 30 minutes, or maybe even 5 minutes. And in contrast to the unimpressive people who spoke with Huckabee, the warm-up speaker for Obama was an appealingly modest N.H. veteran. Obama also did an incredibly gracious thing and called the two young local organizers up to the podium and thanked them at length for their work.
So, a very partial list of the company they all keep:
Obama: Oprah, a humble vet, his youthful organizers
Edwards: Nataline Sarkisyan's parents, lots of labor unions, lots of econonists, the Sierra Club
Hillary Clinton: the Clintons' old guard, Wesley Clark
Huckabee: an angry and deluded conservative columnist, Chuck Norris
McCain: Wilford Brimley (okay, I don't think this is so bad - he's pretty cute, and has that persuasive-grandpa thing going for him.)
Oh, and the New Rule: no one with a "ranch" should be permitted to run for public office, or speak at any public event at all. That means you, Mitt, and all your little Mittlings besides!
Read Hillary Rettig's book The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006). Read SusanG’s review of The Lifelong Activist here and for more excerpts and other info visit www.lifelongactivist.com.