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...b-day girl...

I thoroughly disagree with almost every policy position Barack Obama holds. (Though his assessment of Reagan was quite sound two days ago.)

But in the "decent human being department" he's got the last President that emerged from the Democratic camp beat by about 7, or 8, maybe 10,000 miles.

Meanwhile, Obama took a break from campaigning Thursday night to celebrate his wife’s birthday by taking her out to dinner. Advisers declined to say where they would eat, except to say it would just be the two of them.

...don't mess homie!

I think a lot of African Americans got weary of hearing the first President Clinton proclaim himself "the first Black President" of the United States.

Now it appears Sir Hillary wishes to give her future first lady a run for her money...

They <3 Huckabee!

Seriously, even if you're not voting for the guy, you have to admit that Star Parker and Jim Geraghty are making some pretty darn solid points this morning.

My own work over the years trying to get the conservative message into the black community has been made infinitely more difficult as a result of the multiple millions that America's corporations have poured into left-wing black organizations like the NAACP.

Ironically, Huckabee is the only Republican candidate to propose fundamental reform of our tax system. Credible economists, including one Nobel Prize winner, support the Fair Tax idea that Huckabee has put forth. Critics charging that the Fair Tax is politically impossible to enact also speak to the unfortunate state of mind of many Republicans today who can no longer conceive of major and sweeping change as achievable.

Inside-the-beltway Republicans have also lost touch with the increasing seriousness with which grass roots conservatives relate to the traditional values agenda. More and more folks are feeling personally assaulted by the meaninglessness that is gripping our culture and do not see our moral health as separate and apart from our economic health.

Rather than attacking Huckabee, folks would be better served to take a more careful and less dismissive look at why he's garnering such broad support.

The various causes of social conservatism - the promotion of a culture of life; the desire for entertainment options that won't teach your kids the exact wrong lesson; the commodification and commercialization of childhood; a healthy caution of strip-mining human embryos for the miracle cure du jour that scientists promise to deliver; the desire for a community where the values of the family are reinforced when the kids walk out the front door - they could use a gifted advocate. Too often the most high-profile advocates of these causes hand their enemies plenty of ammunition - must I name names?

I have my gripes with Huckabee, but when this show is over, I don't want him to wrap up his tent and go home. The man's a fighter, a communicator, and a silver-tongued persuader - skills the Republican Party doesn't exactly have a surplus of these days.

That is what you refer to as a one, two punch...

Don't know how I missed this. December 5th interview on CBS (ah that's why) with Katie Couric. Jill Stanek believes she understood Mitt Romney to say that he was ok with the use of embryonic stem cells for research and that left her with no choice but to scratch him off the Pro-Life list...

As a matter of fairness - because unlike some - this blog is NOT bought and sold... When Mitt is on with me next, I will ask him to clarify. If he said what Stanek represents him to have said - this may be a wedge too great for pro-life conservatives to get past... But unlike some talk show hosts - I will seek to ask him personally...

"You don't say... ahead by 7% huh?"

A week ago he took the lead in Iowa from Romney. Yesterday he wrestled the polling lead from Giuliani nationally. Today he lapped Thompson and Romney in South Carolina - moving up 15% points to a 7% lead in Gamecock country...

Full disclosure - I have NOT yet endorsed any candidate in the GOP Primary...

"You don't back down!"

I'm still an "Anyone But Rudy" guy... but there are things I like about him. This ad is one slick, if not ill-timed reminder of one thing I do admire about the Mayor..."

Now about that police overtime for your adulterous hunnies...

"Friend or foe... who knows?"

Jim Geraghty the gumshoe is on the case. Mitt's "friends" are not being very friendly towards the cause of his candidacy.

"Governor you raised taxes more than me..."

Michael Medved broke down the numbers this morning... and basically cites both men as exemplary leaders - but on the cold hard facts - Mitt raised taxes slightly more than Huck...

According to figures from the non-partisan Tax Foundation (based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce), Huckabee’s term as governor (1996-2007) led to a modest increase in the overall State-Local tax burden for Arkansas: from 10.1% in the year he became governor to 11.1% the last year he served. In terms of overall tax burden (state-local-federal) Arkansas remained virtually unchanged--- from 30.3% (39th among the 50 states) to 30.5% (32nd place).

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, saw sharper increases in taxes during his single gubernatorial term (2003 to 2007) in Massachusetts. The state-local burden rose from 9.8% the year of his election to 10.5% his last year as governor. Meanwhile, the total tax burden went up from 31.2% to 33.9% -- vaulting Massachusetts from 9th place to 7th place in the nation.

These numbers don’t prove that Huckabee was a great governor, or that Romney was a poor governor: actually, both men count as exemplary public servants and authentic conservatives (and both of them have taken Grover Norquist’s “No New Taxes” Pledge—in contrast to their rivals Giuliani, Thompson and McCain, who have refused to do so). Both candidates deserve respect for doing a solid job in handling state legislatures with overwhelming Democratic majorities and scoring some notable achievements as governor (though both states flipped to Democratic control in 2006).

For those who are interested in the truth, however, the growth of the tax burden in Arkansas under 11 years of Huckabee looks no worse (and actually a tad better) than the growth of taxes in Massachusetts under 4 years of Romney.