Mike’s Major Huck-Up

Well, don’t get me wrong…he’s had many, many potential ones. He has had to come back and correct his mis-statements with the media too many times. Why is this one the major one? It is the one that the MSM is actually picking up on. I heard ol’ Carl Cameron on FOX news just say that his response to the Bhutto assassination is really getting to Iowa voters, and that his response wasn’t something worthy of a person wanting the mantle of the Oval Office. Don’t quote that, but it’s close I’m sure.

CNN:

Anyway, I’m sure Cameron said this:

For Mike Huckabee, this is the moment he was NOT looking forward to. After riding a surge to the top of the polls in Iowa, NOW, his own jokes about not having foreign policy experience, the one in which he said, “..but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night”, is precisely the kind of stuff that can trip him up.

NY Times:

On Thursday night he told reporters in Orlando, Fla.: “We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there’s any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country.”

On Friday, in Pella, Iowa, he expanded on those remarks.

“When I say single them out I am making the observation that we have more Pakistani illegals coming across our border than all other nationalities except those immediately south of the border,” he told reporters in Pella. “And in light of what is happening in Pakistan it ought to give us pause as to why are so many illegals coming across these borders.”

In fact, far more illegal immigrants come from the Philippines, Korea, China and Vietnam, according to recent estimates from the Department of Homeland Security.

Asked how a border fence would help keep out Pakistani immigrants, Mr. Huckabee argued that airplane security was already strong, but that security at the southern United States border was dangerously weak.

“The fact is that the immigration issue is not so much about people coming to pick lettuce or make beds, it’s about someone coming with a shoulder-fired missile,” he said.

The sudden emergency in Pakistan and Mr. Huckabee’s response come at a time when he has come under increasing scrutiny from opponents for his lack of fluency in foreign policy issues, and the situation in Pakistan appeared to have challenged him.

“We have seen what happens in the Musharraf government,” Mr. Huckabee said on MSNBC. “He has told us he does not have enough control of those eastern borders near Afghanistan to be able go after the terrorists. But on the other hand, did he not want us going in, so what do we do?” Those borders are actually on the west, not the east.

Further, he offered an Orlando crowd his “apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.” His aides said later that he meant to say “sympathies.” He also said he was worried about martial law “continuing” in Pakistan, although Mr. Musharraf lifted the state of emergency on Dec. 15. His campaign told CBS News that his statement was not a blunder.

Allahpundit:

The media’s covering this with surprising attentiveness, doubtless not so much because of Huck’s shakiness on the facts than his audacious suggestion that people hailing from the nation where the “real terrorists” are and behaving unusually might warrant a bit of extra scrutiny. Oh well. If that’s what it takes to get them off the Huck bandwagon, so be it. Attack, media! Attack like the wind!

Dan Riehl:

I guess the blush is off the rose as far as the media and Huckabee are concerned. Romney’s ground game in Iowa should either give him a win, or a closer second than what some may be thinking. By Super Tuesday, I imagine Huckabee will be done. But it remains unclear how the rest of the race will play out.

Want more? A few weeks back, after a different Huck-up, Huckabee touted Frank Gaffney among his foreign policy advisers. Here was Frank’s response:

More recently, Huckabee has also claimed that former Ambassador John Bolton is among his advisers. Ready to see more Huckabee backpedaling?Bolton responds:

In recent days, Mike Huckabee has tried to answer long-standing questions about who is on his foreign policy team. On Friday morning, he listed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton as someone with whom he either has “spoken or will continue to speak.”
At a Thursday evening press conference, Huckabee said, “I’ve corresponded with John Bolton, who’s agreed to work with us on developing foreign policy.”
Bolton, however, has a different view. “I’d be happy to speak with Huckabee, but I haven’t spoken with him yet,” said Bolton, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.
“I’m not an official or unofficial adviser to anyone,” said Bolton, who mentioned he’d had conversations with other Republican candidates but refused to name any names.

Rob at Say Anything:

This goes beyond mere cluelessness to outright stupidity.

I would think that the millions of Mexican illegals who flow across our border every year would be enough to warrant a border fence without resorting to rather bizarre concerns over illegals coming from a nation on the other side of the globe. But Huckabee’s concerns about Pakistani illegals are even more bizarre when you factor in his support for entitlements for illegal immigrants already in this country.

Don’t worry…it gets even worse.

I think it is simple. Huckabee jumps the gun on a current issue in order to patch up his weak positions on the border and immigration. He gets too eager and doesn’t make sure of the facts. Presidential material? I don’t think so. Hey Iowa…just follow Peggy’s advice…be reasonable.

In the meantime…lets get Huckabee a map. Not your foreign policy candidate for sure.

Other Huckabee highlights: Not the safest hunter for sure.

Huckabee makes the top ten list of most wanted corrupt politicians. Rudy makes the list as well. Four out of ten are Presidential candidates.