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Huckabee on Hillary: "I Feel Her Pain!"

May 08, 2008 8:43 AM

As someone who faced criticism himself for not exiting his presidential nominating race "properly," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee suffered through some of the same criticisms Sen. Hillary Clinton is going through right now. (Though of course the math was even more stark for him.)

So this morning I asked Huckabee what he thought of Clinton's dilemma.

"In the words of her husband, 'I feel her pain!'" Huckabee says.

"She is playing by the rules.  She didn’t make the rules, the party did," he continues. "If they wanted to have the game end before the end or regulation, they should have written the rules that way.  Does Major League baseball or the NFL prematurely end the game if one team gets overwhelmingly ahead?  Even in boxing, unless there is a knockout, the fight goes the distance. 

"The idea this 'hurts' the Democrats is not absolute.  It hurts them if things get rancorous and personal (which it has).  But the mere fact of the ongoing race doesn't automatically hurt.  In fact, the Dems are on page 1 everyday and John McCain is on page 7. 

"True, he's not really taking any body blows right now, but there is some value in being battle tested.

"There is one thing that has to be noted, however:  As long as the only people calling for her to get out was Obama supporters it wasn’t a big deal.  Now, she's beginning to see the defection of long time loyalists like McGovern and that hurts.  If that continues, she may not have a choice if she wants to 'leave the party so as to get a return invitation.'"

- jpt

May 8, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (65)

User Comments

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Jeanne from Michigan: Using the football analogy both Obama and Hilary are on the same team, so the voters are like head coaches that are responsible for selecting the best team to play each week. Hence, Hilary should QUIT because it is obvious she doesn't cut it. The real game will be between MCCAIN and OBAMA. I know the truth hurts!

Posted by: jayc | May 14, 2008 5:01:45 AM

Once again, Mike Huckabe shows true class and what a compassionate and insightful person and politician he is. This is a man that we so badly need in Washington. I hope the GOP does not underestimate the value of Huckabee's stock because, if they do, they will be losers!!!!

Posted by: Linda Rayborn | May 8, 2008 11:58:44 PM

tomdavie is right. everybody needs to cool off... she's not going to commit political suicide; she's just positioning herself the best she can. at this point, it's pure politics. if you're candidate won then good for you and be a good winner. the other candidate will likely end up VP or Senate majority leader. there's details to work out (like money) and it would be silly for Senator Clinton to drop out before May 20th.

Posted by: MIguy | May 8, 2008 11:17:55 PM

Quote from UK by Sarah Churchwell: "The media and the blogosphere, delighting in their sporting shredding of Gore's electoral chances in 2000, helped pave the way for the disastrous US administration of the last eight years. If the media enjoyed dismantling Gore, their pursuit of Clinton has been blood-sport." THE MEDIA GAVE US BUSH AND NOW THE MEDIA IS GOING TO GIVE US OBAMA. I'm sure you all have the stomack to take on this responsibility for the next four years.

Posted by: Starlight | May 8, 2008 5:54:03 PM

Huckabe only had 200 delegates and he didn't drop out until McCain FULLY had the magic number. McCain showed class and he will again in NOVEMBER when he wins!

Posted by: Darla | May 8, 2008 5:52:20 PM

Just saw a flock of pigs flying over with "Hillary" banners !

Posted by: Jacob's Quandary | May 8, 2008 4:30:55 PM

This is Boring...

Not enough "hands-on" thrills ...to aptly sum it up "Opinions are like fannies, everybody has one !"

Posted by: bonnie | May 8, 2008 4:06:44 PM

Thank God for Hillary and Bill. Sincere, honest and hardworking couple. Please vote the Clintons for a third term, they deserve it, it is their birthright.

Posted by: Mark | May 8, 2008 3:31:56 PM

I remember Mike Huckabee! Didn't he run for President?

Posted by: DKNY | May 8, 2008 3:23:26 PM

MY VOTE IS TO A P.O.W.WHO SERVE HIS
COUNTRY NOT A JOHNNY COME LATELY
WHO USED HIS CHURCH FOR HIS POLITICAL
GAINS.

Posted by: VINNIE | May 8, 2008 1:59:09 PM

why does a republican always have to school the democrats? Once again, republicans fall inline, democrats fall in love!!!

Posted by: mona | May 8, 2008 1:28:22 PM

Hillary has a large number of supporters who claim they won't vote for Obama for one reason...

Hillary has gone out of her way to convince her supporters that the reason she's losing and will eventually lose is because Obama has stolen the election.

Every time he wins, it's somehow undemocratic. She comes up with a new theory every week for how she can win by changing the rules.

When people point out her newest gambit or flip-flip (i.e. Michigan and Florida) is against the rules, she claims they're saying that because they want to steal the election.

Hillary has busted her back to convince you that her failings and lack of electability are due to a vast LEFT WING CONSPIRACY designed to steal her rightful nomination.

That's why people hate her these days, and that's why we say that she's destroying the party.

She's thrown Dean, Gore, Kerry, the DNC, MoveOn, African Americans, Caucus states, small states, and just about everyone else BUT those who voted for her under the bus. She even ENDORSED John McCain, for pete's sake!

She may well have once deserved the nomination, but that hasn't been true for a long time, and she's working her way up to DESERVING a nice retirement from politics.

Posted by: fontapa | May 8, 2008 1:26:10 PM

Omentum and Fontapa: I hope Hillary runs as an independent, so she can break up this orchestrated democratic party for Obama.

If Obama is so qualified and the candidate of the people, than why in the latest survey taken after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, 40% of Hillary Supporters said they would not vote for Obama if he were nominated.

They would vote for McCain.....Yet, Obama supporters would vote for Hillary by 70%.

Posted by: steve | May 8, 2008 1:06:12 PM

i am proud sen. clinton was compared to annie oakley, annie oakley was a great american-who never stopped fighting, she did have trouble once from a young upstart who tried to slander her name-randolph hers. and his newspapers with the help of the young upstart tried and for a while succeeded in tearing down annie oakley. she contiuned to fight. herst. had to appol. to annie oakley and the young upstart disappeared, never to be heard from again.
young upstart-msm of the day on her side
turned the public against annie oakley
annie fights
annie wins.
the stories are so ironic and it is just great for obama to hav compared sen. clinton to annie oakley.
also to me, it just shows obama lack of precious american history.
annie oakley is a legend
and i am sure sen. clinton was proud to be compared to her.
he thought he was being smart and cute and all he did was showed how inexperienced and young he is.

Posted by: jgaw | May 8, 2008 12:58:28 PM

There is ZERO doubt in anyone's mind that if the roles were reversed, Mr. Obama would have been forced out of the race.

In fact, back when he was up by 200+ delegates, had won 12 contests in a row, and was outfundraising her 3 to 1, if their roles were reversed, the whole party would have come together and shoved him out.

The only reason she's still in this is because she's Hillary Clinton.

Sure, it's her right to keep running. However, nearly every candidate who's ever gone for the nomination has shown the decency to step down once it became even remotely clear they couldn't win and were dragging the race out longer than neccessary.

That's on both sides of the aisle, folks. Even the vicious Republicans are more capable of doing the right thing for their party than Hillary "Me First" Clinton.

Clinton supporters, if you like her so much, you should have encouraged her to drop out. Staying in is hemorhaging her political capital by the minute. She'll be lucky to get a town council seat after this fiasco.

Posted by: fontapa | May 8, 2008 12:58:06 PM

To Mary: Get a life and stop knocking Michele Obama. She is better than you and you know it and resent her for it. Stop putting words into her mouth, making it seem as though she is unpatriotic. Tell the truth, you don't want to see Blacks in the whitehouse or anywhere else. Get ready. They will be President and Mrs. First Lady with or without you. Go on with your McCain/Hagee loving self.

Posted by: M Thompson | May 8, 2008 12:48:38 PM

i don't care what he was talking about
it shows his lack of experience and tact to say punished with a baby.
i have a friend who has a son now around 18years who was a product of rape. she has worked and loved that child his whole life.
women-mothers do not get punished with babies-but the larger point is his inexperience, he was talking off the cuff and didn't have a scriptwriter to tell him not to use the term punished with a baby.

Posted by: jgaw | May 8, 2008 12:43:44 PM

Has anyone else noticed besides myself, that when Michelle Obama is giving her little rallying speeches for he husband, that she is literally "Preaching" at all of us.

Go away, you ungrateful American. You are not my mother or my teacher.

You are just an ambitious, evil-looking woman!!!!!

Posted by: stella | May 8, 2008 12:41:41 PM

To all of the Obama haters, if McCain wins the GE, get ready for even higher gas prices, sluggish economy, more wars that America can't afford. If Obama wins the nomination, great, if Hillary wins, great. I don't care which Democrat wins the nod. Anybody is better than that old white man.

Posted by: M Thompson | May 8, 2008 12:39:45 PM

well mary, it could also be said
obama does not exibit as wright, because. as i have told my black friends, obama has not lived the black american experience that most blacks his age have. and it is a slap in the face that he should come along and tell the black est. to get lost, you way is not valid, it will be my way now.and the black people just flock to him like sheep. and think him being in the white house is somehow going to make their lives better. the one think all working class and poor people nee is economic change. and obama with his far left thinking friends are not going to do that for them. that is not their way. i wll not be suprised to see a revamping of the welfare dept. and food stamps, and other dependent on the state programs. except in healthcare.
but you know what, sen. clinton would have gotten healthcare for all. she failed the last time. and she has had a lot of time to work on it and get it right. healthcare for all is not an obama fight. actually, do we know of any cause for the american people obama is passionate about making happen? I can't think of one. well just one, he is passionate about having the american peoploe crown him as president.

Posted by: jgaw | May 8, 2008 12:28:17 PM

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