Wednesday, August 29, 2012
So what does Mitt Romney have to do this fall to actually occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Three things: First of all, he needs to make sure he makes no flubs whatsoever. Secondly, he needs to have flawless debate performances. And finally he needs to increase his likability quotient.
Ann Romney tried to do that this week, along with others, but are voters going to go for it or not? Only time will tell.
When Bill Clinton told people, “I feel your pain,” it worked.
Mitt Romney has to channel a little Bill Clinton and he also has to channel Ronald Reagan’s sunny optimism. Can he do it? To be continued.
Chris Christie’s speech Tuesday night at the GOP Convention would have been a homerun if he were some typical politician. The problem is that he’s Chris Christie and that means people expect a lot. They want to be entertained. They want the passion. They want the chutzpah.
However, Christie delivered his speech reading a teleprompter and that took away from his authenticity. A prompter-less Christie is better. An unshackled Christie, while dangerous, is more effective.
Still, his speech was solid and for people who have never heard Christie speak before it more than satisfied.
Christie speaks of bipartisanship but his "my way or the highway" in your face approach doesn’t lend itself to that. Yet he gets things done. Give the guy credit.
The Brody File was on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning here in Tampa talking about Ted Cruz and the Tea Party. Watch below.
It's me, Joe, Mika, Chuck Todd, David Gregory, and former New York Gov. George Pataki.
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It’s been fascinating to watch the media look fascinated over the rise of Ted Cruz this week at the GOP Republican Convention. Indeed, it is quite a story but there is an aspect of their coverage that bares their cluelessness.
Tea Party activists had been hard at work for months working to get Cruz in the position he is in today. Tea Party leaders saw his star potential a year ago before the mainstream media caught on.
The lesson of Ted Cruz’s effectiveness is this: When you have a candidate with impeccable credentials and someone who is a true die-hard Tea Party candidate, then you have a winning combination. The challenge for the Tea Party is to find more candidates like Ted Cruz. They are out there but the legwork must be done.
Our one-on-one interview with Ted Cruz from here in Tampa at the convention will be posted shortly.
In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Mike Huckabee says he didn’t run for president because of the toxic political atmosphere and the fact that he didn’t see enough money heading his way to compete effectively.
Huckabee sat down with us at the GOP Convention in Tampa and will be one of our guests on this week’s Brody File Show this Friday at 9:30 .a.m ET on the ABC Family Channel.
Watch below along with the transcription.
David Brody: I know you were thinking of running for president and decided not to and I know there is no second guessing on your part, but for all the evangelicals sitting there at their kitchen counters crying, going Mike Huckabee could have been the guy, what do you say to these folks?
Mike Huckabee: I’m grateful for their even having that sentiment, I’m deeply grateful for that. It makes me, I don’t know, feel very wonderful that people would even imagine it. But on the other hand that two things were going to make it very difficult for me. One was the toxic atmosphere that existed in the party. A candidate like me that really doesn’t enjoy going out in an angry, tearing up other people on the Republican ticket, it’s just not my thing. I’ll mix it up with the liberals any day of the week, and have fun doing it, even then I’m not going to do it in an angry way.
But the other factor, and I’ve been in politics long enough to know, I did not see the level of money coming my way that is not only necessary to compete, but in this world in politics, it’s not enough to have money to get your message out. You’ve also got to have the money to defend yourself against the millions of dollars of the anonymous money that comes against you by way of the independent expenditures.
It’s so vicious, it’s so mean, some things are so untrue and unfair, you’ve got to respond to them, but you’ve got to have money to do that, and it’s just unfortunate, but that’s kind of where the process is.
Brody: Well, that's right and Rick Santorum found that out first hand. He had no ATM to go with him.
Huckabee: You can't be the candidate that does what the federal government does, spend money that you don’t have, borrow money you cant afford to pay back. I’ve committed to my wife, to God, and everybody around me I wasn’t going to do that four years ago and I wasn’t going to do it this time.
In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Mike Huckabee says Mitt Romney should not shy away from talking about his faith and says he’s telling his skeptical evangelical friends they should vote for him. If elected, Romney would be the first Mormon president.
Huckabee sat down with us at the GOP Convention in Tampa and will be one of our guests on this week’s Brody File Show this Friday at 9:30 a.m.ET on the ABC Family Channel.
Watch below along with the transcription.
David Brody: Do you think he should talk more about his faith?
Mike Huckabee: I think there’s no need for Mitt Romney to be reluctant to talk about his faith, and his relationship with his church. I know there’s a sensitivity and I’ve heard of all of the talk about some people saying, 'Oh, I am not sure if I want to vote for a Mormon.' I think that’s nonsense, and here’s why.
I may not be Mormon, but I am so grateful for the Mormons’ position on issues that are of great importance to me. Let’s face it. Prop 8 would never have happened in California had it not been for the Mormon Church, they were there. Financially, they were there organizationally, would not have happened. So, I’m far more able to identify with all the Mormons than I am with the Democrats, that are an easy call for me.
So I’m telling all of my evangelical friends that say well, should I vote for a Mormon? I say yeah, why not? I mean, because when we talk about it, it doesn’t matter where he goes to church; it matters where he’s going to take the country, that’s what really becomes important to me.
The other thing about his faith that I think is quite endearing, he lives it. You know, it’s one thing for a person to say I am a member of this church, haven’t been there in 20 years, haven’t written a $10 check to it. Here’s a guy who gives 15 percent of his income away.
And for Christians, the tithing is not something that is small to us. It matters that people take their faith so seriously, because we do understand the biblical mandate of where a man’s heart is, that’s where his treasure will be. So, if a person’s heart says I’m going to give, it means he keeps his treasure there. Treasure and heart have a real connection there.
Brody: I went Salt Lake City and visited with elders of the church. They say it's not just a Sunday faith at all.
Huckabee: I think it’s one of the things that is most admirable about the Mormon faith is that in their congregation, they take care of the people who have hurts and who have needs. You don’t see Mormons on welfare; they don’t need to be because their church is going to envelope them in the love and compassion of their church.
If all of the evangelicals, I would go this far, if all my good Baptist brothers and sisters would give a dime out of a dollar of their income, and they would tithe that money for widows and orphans and poor people, government welfare need not exist. So, I think there’s a great lesson there.
In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Mike Huckabee says the GOP should be focusing on President Obama’s radical abortion policy rather than trying to force Todd Akin out of the Missouri Senate Race.
Huckabee sat down with us at the GOP Convention in Tampa and will be one of our guests on this week’s Brody File Show this Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET on the ABC Family Channel.
Watch below along with the transcription.
David Brody: I don't want to rehash the whole situation but at some point did this become a piling on situation from the GOP establishment?
Mike Huckabee: For me, it was a matter of, if somebody on our team fumbles the ball, then we have to run the next play from scrimmage, not go out there and ask everyone in the stands would you please stop and see who fumbled? Let’s go out there and put the spotlight on him. No, let’s get back in the huddle, we may even sit out a while, but the point is we’ve got to continue the game, and the best way to do it is to show the difference between us and them.
I think the most important thing for the Republicans to do, because you know, here’s an individual who admitted what he said was wrong, apologized for it, okay that’s all he can do. What we’ve got to do is say, you know, the issue is not some one comment that one person made and repudiated and apologized for, it is the litany of what Barack Obama has done, has actually done, and has never apologized for gender selected abortion, his support for partial birth abortion, his three time, three time refusal in Illinois as a state senator to vote for a bill that would have required medical attention for a baby born alive from a botched abortion.
He is so far beyond most of the very liberal members of his own party, that I think that’s the contrast to point out, that’s the record that we ought to be asking for an apology of.
In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Mike Huckabee says GOP leaders can learn lessons about conservative Christian voters from the popular Chick-Fil-A appreciation day.
Huckabee sat down with us at the GOP Convention in Tampa and will be one of our guests on this week’s Brody File Show this Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET on the ABC Family Channel.
Watch below along with the transcription.
David Brody: What about this Chick-Fil-A crowd and really getting them out to register and vote?
Mike Huckabee: Well, it’s very important and I think that Republicans need to recognize that not only what they saw on that day was a phenomenon that exceeded all of our expectations, it showed of that sort of quiet group of Americans who normally don’t go and scream and yell and make a lot of noise or carry signs. Frankly that day wouldn’t have worked had we asked them to do that because that’s not what they’re into.
These are not people who are into being impolite, or to making a lot of noise or burdening their fellow neighbors. It’s not that they don’t have strong convictions, they just are very polite people, and they’re civil, and their world is not all about yelling and screaming. So, when we asked them just to go and show up and eat at Chick Fil A, get a sandwich, it doesn’t involve honking a horn, waving a sign in someone’s face, getting in a shouting match. It involves me going and eating a chicken sandwich, but doing it with a point of positive affirmation, not negative protest.
That’s what happened. Now, the point of all of that is if Republicans don’t understand that that vast group of citizens, they’re willing to take a stand, they’re willing to go to the polls and vote, just give them a reason. Just lay it out there and give them a reason and tell them, you understand them, you identify with them, and that you’re going to stand with them on the issues that really matter to them.
Brody: So are you concerned the party is not doing enough of that?
Huckabee: I think sometimes the party may be a little afraid that they’ll get branded in some way, or that they’ll be viewed by the Democrats in some way. Who cares what the Democrats? The Democrats don’t like us anyway. There’s nothing we can do or say that is going to make them say, 'Oh, I really like those guys now, I really respect them.' Especially on issues like commitment to marriage and life.
The reality is the Democratic and Republican views are worlds apart there. And even within the Republican Party, there are variations and not everybody has exactly maybe the drill point on it, but you will find overwhelmingly that support for the affirmation for biblical marriage. You will find overwhelmingly a sense that people believe that there is a sanctity in every human life.
Beyond that, again, there are variations. But on those two points, there’s pretty clear agreement. I don’t think those are losing issues for the Republicans, those are winning issues for the Republicans.