Hope?

So, here we are with Obama winning Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and I’m listening to his evening speech, heavily loaded with “hope.”  My first thought is that Hillary is in trouble as I see it, with Obama being a strong communicator and a candidate who is really able to energize the youth vote.  I may be wrong, but I don’t see how Obama can be stopped by a woman who has the highest negatives of any candidate running (yeah, I know there’s that pesky Clinton machine, but you know, it’s getting old and a little tired).

So, let’s imagine that Obama gets the Democratic nod.  How, I ask anyone, how can John McCain, a man who will be 72 by election day, who can easily be seen “reading” his speeches (and stumbling a bit when he speaks), and ultimately who comes from a generation so far removed from a 25 year old voter that he is literally irrelevant to them, how is he gonna beat Obama?

I don’t think he can.

In fact, I doubt he even comes close.  So, what’s a Republican to do?  Duh…  McCain must be stopped by getting seriously serious about Mike Huckabee.  Sure, Huckabee isn’t at all likely to win the nomination by getting enough delegates, that’s easy to see.  But, if “conservatives” get serious about conservatism, we can stop McCain from getting the 1,191 before the convention in September. 

If Republicans want any reasonable chance in the coming national election, they better be looking to the only candidate left that can go head to head against Obama on communication skills, youthful relevance, and most importantly, genuine “hope.”  Obama is ultra liberal, inexperienced, has never governed, and is only filling a small balloon with “hot air” hope.  Mike Huckabee is a real conservative, he knows how to govern (with more executive experience than anyone who has been in this race), he knows how to be relevant to the younger audience, and no one knows hope any better than the preacher man who was born in the town called Hope.

Mike Huckabee needs a miracle.  Mike Huckabee needs true conservatives to stand up and be that miracle. 

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 2.12.08
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Important debate tonight…

Tonight’s MSNBC Republican debate could be a real positive pivot point for Huckabee.  With Thompson now out of the race there’s good reason to believe that a majority of his support could easily slide toward Huckabee.  And, polls in the Florida contest continue to show Huckabee only a small handful of points out of the lead in 4th place.

Plus, the debates have typically been extremely profitable for Huckabee as his communication skills and genuine nature usually stand out well above all the others.  With not too much time til the Florida primary, a grand slam performance tonight could create a perfectly timed Huckaboomlette.

I know I’m spending some time today praying for strength, wisdom and guidance for Mike, and I hope you are too.

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 1.24.08
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Some great voter-guide resources…

The Liberty Counsel has updated their voter-guide resources… check ‘em out here http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=16245

And there’s never been a better time to be praying for great voter support in South Carolina for Huckabee.

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 1.18.08
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The most important leg of the stool…

We’ve heard much this election cycle of Reagan’s three-legged stool of conservatism… a strong economy, a strong defense, and strong social values.  But can one leg be more important than the other two?  With a little thought, the answer is absolutely yes!

A strong economy and strong defense are certainly very important to long term survival of the nation, but if you really examine what the social values leg represents, I think you’ll see that it’s the pillar of them all.  The truth is that when we speak of Republican social values, we are really pointing to the foundation of right and wrong as taught to us by the Bible.  Our understanding of a moral standard is based on what God defines.

There’s a really simple reason why the social values leg stands out as most important… it’s because it’s the only leg that’s eternal.  Right and wrong won’t change when your life on earth is done, or even when ALL life on earth is done.  Nations have always come and gone, and they always will, but God’s Kingdom will stand forever, and it doesn’t need an economy, and it certainly doesn’t need any defense.  

It’s my contention that being on the right side of the social values leg should be the number one qualifier for a Presidential candidate.  I’ll admit that this is the primary reason that I consider Mike Huckabee to be the best man for the job.  Taking seriously the need to bring abortion to an end in America should be priority number one of every American.  This and other important issues are the building blocks of the foundation on which our entire nation sits.  If this foundation crumbles any further, it’s hard to image America being able to continue to stand. 

And before you assume that my brain is in park on the other two legs of the stool,  I’ve also looked closely at his economic record in Arkansas and I see it as logical, strong, and effective.  He has signed the pledge to not raise taxes if elected President, and he wants to invigorate our economy with the FairTax.  As far as defense goes, I honestly don’t think any candidate has articulated a stronger stance, saying that we must have a military that is so strong that no one wants to take us on.

I know that when it’s my turn, I’m voting for Mike Huckabee.  Not only because I believe he has all three corners covered, but because he knows that one of those corners truly is more important than the other two.

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Martt Clupper 1.17.08
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Wall Street’s biggest risk…

Mike Huckabee’s rise from relative obscurity has been resisted quite boldly by most of the Washington elite and by the powerful fiscal conservatives on Wall Street.  I’m sure they think this is a smart move, even essential to preserving a strong future for America.  I think they are wrong.  Very wrong.

The “good people” of the Unites States are the social conservatives, like it or not.  That’s not to say that a fi-con can’t be a so-con, that’s a great combo.  But if you prop up your fiscal ideology way up over the important social issues, you wind up forsaking the foundation that makes society work.  Don’t misunderstand, a powerful and effective set of fiscal rules leading to a strong economy are extremely important.  But if you don’t build that economy on the basic truths of right and wrong, honesty over deception, and ultimate human accountability to God, then you simply cannot last.

Mike Huckabee has awakened the social conservative/Christian conservative like no modern politician has.  We’ve come out of the woodwork in great numbers to support a candidate that we can really believe in.  We’ve also been encouraged to see that Huckabee has built his campaign around the concept of uniting ALL Americans, so it’s not just Christians that have helped him reach the front of the pack in national polls.  With the challenges we face in the future, a leader that truly knows how to unify is going to be essential.

But I believe Wall Street and the powerful Republican elite are making a huge mistake in rejecting the rise of Huckabee.  Seems to me that Christians have been “used” to get Republican Presidents elected for several years now.  The key word here is “used.”  Honestly, we’ve received next to nothing in exchange for our vote.  If Huckabee is beat down by the establishment and doesn’t receive the nomination, I think the elite are in for their worst nightmare.  I believe the recently resurrected Christian political activist may very well revolt in November 2008 by retreating.  And here’s my pivot point that some will argue against me on… without ALL of the Christian conservatives, the Republicans can’t beat the Democrats in the general election.

And here’s the real kicker in all of this.  I am as sure as I can be that a Huckabee Presidency would actually be good for all Americans.  The reason for this is something that I honestly think most Wall Street types don’t really understand.  It’s because of Huckabee’s genuine ability to inspire HOPE in people.  Not the empty, slick-word hope that’s tossed around by the Democrats lately, but straight from the heart, and straight to the heart, HOPE.

So, Wall Street, watch out.  The way you choose to face the Huckabee phenomenon will very likely have a huge impact on how well we all face the future.  And if there’s one thing all conservatives can agree on, it’s the simple fact that a Democrat in the white House on January 20, 2009 will almost certainly signal the beginning of the end of the United States of America within 10 years.

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Martt Clupper 1.14.08
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Energy independence and Huckabee

A few debates back, Huckabee put forth the idea that we can be energy independent in 10 years.  Mitt Romney was quick to respond with something more like 20 years, maybe more.  Some might think that Huckabee is being overly optimistic, but I’m here to say that this is the Unites States of America… and it’s about time we started acting like it again.

I’m convinced we can be energy independent in 10 years if that’s what we set our minds on.  But we don’t just decide one day, all 300 million of us, that we need to make this a priority.  That’s something a good President does, and then he sets about encouraging us to get it done.  I think it’s been so long since we’ve had an actual “leader” in the white house (almost 20 years?) that we’ve forgotten that one of the absolute most important things the President does is set the tone for the entire nation. 

Maybe this sounds naive, trivial, or just plain weak to you, but America needs a dad.  A head of the household that knows just when and how to encourage us to be more than we ever thought possible.  A man that’s always striving to lead us in a good and positive direction while looking out for the things that would seek to harm us.  He’d also be willing to put his foot down and tell us to straighten up and fly right when we lose our way.  America needs a President who can connect with us, to inspire and encourage us to step up to the plate and hit a home run.

I think Huckabee is the only man in the race that has these qualities through and through.  So when he says we can be energy independent in 10 years, I believe him.  It’s far less an issue of throwing as much money as possible at the problem, and so much more an issue of needing the right encouragement coupled with an attitude that says “we can do this.”

We’ve even got a good head start on this.  Check out this video of the “Aptera” car.  Designed and built in California, this radical concept shatters our idea of how energy efficient a car can be.  And it’s not just a dream, this car will be in production soon with an amazingly affordable price.  I’ve been following the progress of this project for about a year now.  Two things I’ve noticed: First this car is an excellent piece of engineering and is completely viable… second: many of you that check it out will think it ugly, odd, and be filled with many dumb questions, please just go on about your day and keep your opinions to yourself  : ) 

Check out www.aptera.com for more info.

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Martt Clupper 1.11.08
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New Hampshire’s “silver lining”

The “Live Free or Die” people of the Granite State have spoken their mind concerning Presidential candidates, and Mike Huckabee only squeezed out a third place finish.  So, is this bad news?  Ummm, not so much!  There are silver linings in them clouds, my friends.

First, looking back at Iowa, can you even imagine Mitt Romney spending $8 million+  against Mike Huckabee’s  less-than-a-million and all he gets is a second place finish?  That’s crazy.  And it’s not like Huckabee just barely beat Romney, it was 34% to 25%.  Ouch.  The magnitude of this accomplishment cannot be overstated.  The point here is that Romney is nowhere near as strong as was expected, and Huckabee is way stronger than anyone would have guessed.   

Now New Hampshire has come and gone.  This time Romney gets beat by John McCain?  First, I must say that I think John McCain is an amazing man.  From serving the United States in the military, to his heroic POW experience that included him refusing a special privileges deal that would have released him with less than a year of captivity (he would eventually be captive for over 5 years before being released), to years of public service that finds him willing to go against the flow to stand up for what he believes.  John McCain is a truly unique man. 

But the reality is that he’ll be 72 years old by election time.  For some, this may not be an issue, but I don’t want someone this old as President facing the turbulent future that seems to be just around the corner.  His acceptance speech in New Hampshire, which found him having to refer to the written notes continuously and still stumbling along a bit, reflected the reality that he is far past his prime as a leader.  And then there’s also that pesky problem that he often times seems to be more of a Democrat than a Republican. 

Yet, given these weak points of McCain, Romney and his bags full of cash still couldn’t beat him.  Even more of an issue when you realize that Romney governed right next door to New Hampshire, and even has a summer home there.  Ultimately, this past week seems to tell us that America just really isn’t all that interested in having Mitt Romney as President.

This leads us to the big silver lining that comes as a result of Romney’s two silver finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.  Romney just isn’t a strong contender for President.  And McCain, while he has done well in New Hampshire, there just isn’t much reason to seriously think the majority of Americans will overlook the thorns on his rose and want to send him on to battle the Democrats in November.  This is where Huckabee shines.  He is still running a rising campaign as evidenced by this national Gallup Poll just out that again has him as the number one Republican in the national race with 25%.  Hello?  This is the candidate that has spent less than $2 million so far for the ENTIRE campaign, and he is in the lead!  BTW, that same poll has Romney at just 9%.

The future is indeed bright for Mike Huckabee, and I look forward to the next 4 weeks as we see possibly the most amazing and important race for the Presidency in all of modern times.

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 1.09.08
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Sting of the “Bee!”

Wow!  The Iowa caucus has made some pretty exciting history, and I was there to see if unfold.  It was fantastic : )

The following is a photo essay of the experience: (click the thumb for a bigger pic)

Late Thursday afternoon on the street outside the Huckabee Iowa HQ in Des Moines.    

Small portion of the volunteers making calls to encourage people to get out and caucus just a few hours before they begin.

  
Almost 200 Republicans gathering at 7PM in a church to caucus on the north side of the Des Moines area (Democrats were gathering in the lower level).  There were people representing Huckabee, Romney, McCain and Thompson that spoke for about 2 minutes on behalf of the candidate, and then blank pieces of paper were handed out to each person.  In just a few minutes, everyone had made their selection and turned their paper in.  It was all very orderly and everyone seemed to take it all seriously. 

The sorting and counting of the simple handwritten ballots begins with volunteers on a table in the hallway.

Nothing fancy here, just a pile for each candidate beginning to grow as the ballots are sorted.

Looking good!  The Huckabee pile is fast growing bigger than anyone elses : )  Everyone watched closely as they were counted to make sure it was accurate.  The totals: Huckabee 82 / Romney 41 / Thompson 31 / McCain 29 / Giuliani 8 / Paul 6 / Keys 1 / Hunter 0.  Everything done by about 7:30PM.

After leaving the caucus location, I headed over to the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines to check out the Huckabee campaign post-caucus gathering.  The very sharp looking Huckabus was parked in front of the hotel.

It was a beautiful night and the bus was quite impressive.

A video projector and screen were set up in the hotel lobby so when you came in you could see the local news coverage of the caucus returns.  This was my first indication of how the big picture was looking… Huckabee projected winner with 41% of the votes in, about 8PM.

Inside the banquet room where the gathering was beginnning to take place.  Another video screen with live news coverage… Ed Rollins talking about the great results. 

A little self-portrait as the very happy crowd begins to grow, about 8:30PM.

Ed Rolins live in the room to give a short speech about how well the night had gone, how Huckabee made the right call on not running the negatives ads, and how bright the future is looking.

Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee is greeted on stage.

Mike addressing the very enthusiastic crowd, with his wife janet behind him, daughter Sarah (Iowa field director) behind her, and Chuck Norris and his wife at the far left.

As always, a great speech… and pretty cool to be this close to the next President of the United States!

After the speech, greeting the crowd of locals and volunteers with the growing paparazzi doing their thing.

All in all, I was really impressed by the nice people of Iowa and their caucus process.  And it was so cool to be part of history as Hucka”bee” put a little sting on the establishment! 

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 1.07.08
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Glenn Beck: Huckabee / Romney…

I’m not ashamed to say that I really enjoy the Glenn Beck Program on the radio.  It’s the most unusual 3-hour mix of fun and important issues, or as they say, a fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.  Glenn is an excellent broadcaster with a far better com style than Rush when it comes to being culturally relevant.  I mean that mostly in the sense that Rush represents the old school, and Beck is much more of a representative of where our culture is now. 

I’ve listen to Beck consistently for over a year, however, since October 2nd, the day after I first learned about Mike Huckabee, I’ve listened pretty much to all three hours, everyday (officially makes me a complete sick, twisted, freak).  This is easier for me than for some since, in my regular life, I’m a self-employed ceramic tile installer.  I’ve got a small radio I clip on and listen with earbuds while working.  I’ve been intently monitoring the show to know exactly how much exposure Huckabee has been getting, and to see what Beck’s take has been on him.

I was very pleased on October 19, 2007 when Beck did a full hour interview with Huckabee on his CNN Headline News TV show.  I thought the interview was an out-of-the-park homerun for Huckabee.  This interview showed me not only that Huckabee had the right answers, but that he definitely had what it takes to be President of the United States.

There’s actually a unique common thread that I see in both Beck and Huckabee… and that’s an extremely unusual openess and honesty.  I believe that the “truth” really means something to them both.  It’s reflected in this interview, both in the questions from Beck and in the answers from Huckabee.  It’s this specific quality of both of these men that attracts me to what they have to say.

However, I noticed something very disturbing to me on the radio show on Thursday, November 29th.  It was the day after the YouTube debate.  (BTW, I really liked that debate, even if many talk radioheads didn’t).  I was also pleased because I believe Huckabee still stood out as the most “human” of all the candidates (and I am pretty much looking for a human to be my President). 

So, anyway, it was in the first hour of the radio show on 11-29-07  (this would be a good time to interject that I’m pretty much a details kind of guy and I’m often times hyper-observant).  So, Glenn had Romney on the phone, and he opened the interview by saying “Governor Romney, welcome to the program.”  Romney responded “I’m doing great, thanks.”  And I thought, what?  That was weird, why did he answer like that?  I admit that it’s no biggie here, he simply answered a question that wasn’t asked, and any of us could make a silly mistake like that.  But it really stood out to me, it was very obvious.

Hang on, I’m still getting to the disturbing part…  so, along the way in the show, Beck mentions that they are going to play the Romney interview again in the third hour.  I’m thinking, hmmm great, that’ll be fun, more Romney I’ve already heard.  Now we get to the big, distrubing issue.  Glenn is doing an intro for the interview saying “spoke with Governor Mitt Romney earlier today, and started with the obvious question – after last night’s debate, how are ya?”  And then next, I hear “I’m doing great, thanks.”  Say what!?  That’s not how this interview went.  Honestly, I was stunned… they edited the lead-in question so as to make Romney look like his answer made sense.  Light bulbs went off in my head immediately (and these weren’t LED’s, they were very bright, heat-generating, electricity wasting incandescents!). 

Honestly, I’d been getting an uneasy feeling that Beck was not giving Huckabee a fair shake by this time since the “Huckaboom” was emerging but Glenn wasn’t really talking about it (and c’mon, an underdog with pennies on the dollar against the leading candidate, and he’s moving into the lead in the polls?  You don’t ignore that story unless you are ignoring the truth).  Then this edit of the interview happens and I get my first serious clue that “truth” is not at the center of what’s going on here.  And then, based on what happened in the next 4 weeks leading up to the Christmas/New Year’s break, it was easy to see that there was a clear bias against Huckabee. 

I still think Beck runs a great entertainment show, but I’ve been forced to believe that his
“enlightenment” doesn’t really include the “truth” above all else.  I would have been ok if Beck had simply said, ya know, Romney is my guy, but instead it really seems to me that he has run an anti-Huckabee effort to specifically redirect support toward Romney. 

It’s absolutely fascinating that just 2 days ago, I saw a comment left at a news story website that mentioned the connection between Bain Capital and Clear Channel Communications.  I admit that I don’t know for sure what connection Mitt Romney has today to Bain Capital, the company he founded and ran for many years, but research seems to indicate that he is still a silent partner.  This becomes a rather huge issue when you realize that Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners received shareholder approval in their effort to buy Clear Channel Communications on September 25, 2007.  Clear Channel oversees talk radio giants Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity as well as many others. 

Two final thoughts: 1) it seems Romney has been trying really hard to buy the election in Iowa, and 2) I believe that later tonight, Mike Huckabee, and the goodpeople of Iowa, are gonna show that it doesn’t take money to win in Iowa!

GO MIKE GO!

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Martt Clupper 1.03.08
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Politics, Religion and Christmas…

Found a couple really interesting videos posted at www.retthatcher.com yesterday. 

The first one is about a small kiosk in a mall in West Des Moines, Iowa that sells political stuffage.  It’s kinda funny overall, but mostly fascinating to see late in the vid that the kiosk operator has been running an unofficial poll based on the number of candidate buttons sold… if it’s accurate, we’ll be celebrating a big Huckawin very soon : )

The second vid shows Mitt playing a funny little word game reminiscent of Bill Clinton (ouch).

In addition to the vids, I’ve got some thoughts on politics and religion that I think are important, especially since Christmas day has just come and gone.  This is the first time in my 46 years that I’ve really paid close attention to an election cycle, and certainly the first time I’ve actually gotten involved.  This one seems especially exciting for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the internet is certainly playing a big part of how people formulate their candidate opinions.

It’s been interesting reading loads of commenter posts at a variety of websites and seeing just how bizarre the thoughts and responses are of so many people.  As Huckabee has gone from the bottom to the top, I’ve noticed a lot of posts that make it very clear that religion should be kept out of politics.  Beggin’ for a pardon, but I disagree.

Politics, or the process by which we govern our nation, has a powerful (and hopefully positive) impact on the way we live our lives here and now… and that’s cool, but our time on earth is so much smaller than a drop in the bucket compared to eternity.  And that’s where religion comes in.  Religion isn’t just a way for us to express what we believe about God, it’s really how we define what we believe about everything, and that points us square at our understanding of eternity.   

To think that the decisions we make to govern society could even be made exclusive of what we believe about the foundations of the universe seems a little silly to me.  Regardless of what a politicians beliefs are, you can be sure that the decisions he makes will be directly influenced by what he believes at his core.   So, as far as I’m concerned, the more I know about a politicians belief system, the better I’m able to determine how he’s likely to govern. 

As a dedicated follower of Christ myself, I’m looking for a qualified candidate for President who is also a committed Christian.  Some would see this as selfish, immature, or both.  But I believe that if you really understand what Christ teaches, you will understand that governing on His principles is absolutely the best for ALL people.  This is why I believe Mike Huckabee is the best man for President.  He brings the experience, skills and the Christian convictions to make him best suited overall.  And though it seems to confuse some people, I am allowed to cast my vote for a candidate based on ANY criteria I believe is important.

Lastly, I believe that Huckabee has energized voters just like me because we truly believe that Christ is at the core of who he is.  This isn’t another politician just claiming to believe like I do to snag my vote, but this guy is the real deal, and it shows.  Having just celebrated the day when we acknowledge the birth of Jesus, the ONLY Savior to the world, it’s comforting to know that I support a candidate that has completely convinced me that he really believes this too.

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Martt Clupper 12.26.07
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