Black Box Report

Iowa Hearts Huckabee!

Now, granted, yesterday I questioned the validity of a straw poll that can be bought and that the leading candidates don't even participate in, but for a lower tier candidate like Mike Huckabee, it's a feather in his cap...or just insert your own version of pundit-speak here:

Finishing second in Ames was none other than the former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee. The Huckster spent next to nothing and captured 18% of the vote. To say Mr. Huckabee “exceeded expectations” is just not good enough, not if you want to be a complete pundit. The correct response when querried as to how Mr. Huckabee did in the Ames Straw Poll is he pulled off “a surprise.” This is one step below “a shocker” which is a rarely used term in the pundit vocabulary. “A shocker” is reserved for those delicious circumstances when the front runner fails to exceed expectations and is defeated by someone the punditocracy had previously considered “a surprise.”

Marc Anbinder gets analytical and counts the ways that Huckabee did so well:

So -- how did Huckabee finish so highly?

1. He is a powerful political communicator.
2. His campaign paid for about 1800 tickets.
3. His support of the Fair Tax proposal
4. His affinity with evangelical Christians and home schoolers
5. His many visits to Iowa and high-profile evangelical activist supporters
6. He needed only about 2600 votes to finish second
7. His debate performances

And by all accounts, Mike Huckabee is just a likable guy. You can disagree with his policies, and many do, but it's just hard to build up any real animosity towards him. And when you compare him to a flip-flopping millionaire like Romney and the stridently nutty Brownback, you can see how Iowans took a cotton to Huck:

Unlike Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback, Huckabee didn't bring busloads of supporters to Ames, nor did he spend vast amounts of money on the straw poll. Yet he managed to beat Brownback and steal Romney's thunder on the basis of a live performace of "Free Bird" and a large dose of conservative stumping.

Waitaminute. Hang on. Free Bird? Oh, do tell me more!:

This just in from Register reporter Jennifer Jacobs:

Mike Huckabee was playing “Free Bird” on a bass guitar at his stage this morning.

The lyrics are about a guy breaking off a love affair, explaining why he can’t make a commitment. “If I leave here tomorrow,” begins the song by rock band Lynyrd Skynrd, “would you still remember me?”

OMG! Huckabee! Freebird! Who cares about whether lyrical analysis shows it to be inappropriate for a presidential candidate?

Huckabee!

Freebird!

I'm a little upset that I'm just finding about this now. Apparently, Huck's been making this a staple on his North American Tour presidential campaign. The blog Vote for Breakfast has a bit more about the band...and the video from New Hampshire!

On July 7, 2007, Presidential Candidate and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took the stage in Nashua, NH to preform a scorching rendition of the Southern rock anthem "Free Bird" with his band Capitol Offense. The band is comprised of the Governor (bass), members of his staff (plus one family member) and an investment banker (rhythm guitar). The band is billed on their MySpace page as "The Hardest Working Band in Politics!"

There was an uncomfortable feeling in the air as the band played the already down-beat opening at a painfully sleepy tempo. But when Arkansas Family Life Issues Liason Chris Pyle's drums and Presidential Candidate Huckabee's bass kicked into overdrive midway though the song, there was no question that this band rocked!

(raising bic lighter)

Huckabee!!!

HUCKABEE!!!