Conservative Donnybrook

CNN’s Bill Schneider: “Like Iowa Democrats before them, more than half of Democratic voters in New Hampshire ranked ‘change’ as the most important quality they were looking for in a candidate, according to CNN exit polls.”

“Change” is one of those words that send the focus group happy-meters into the stratosphere. Yet another reason that focus groups and polls that rank ludicrously broad and meaningless concepts should be abolished. We are all now subjected to every candidate prattling on about how he, she, or it is committed to changing the tone, changing politics as usual, changing Washington, or similar vacuous claptrap. Hey, for the next debate why don’t we just let “change” be a gimme, like R, S, T, L, N and E on the Wheel of Fortune bonus round? Everyone’s all for it, so can we just check it off and talk about something else?

Huckabee is launching an ad, aimed at working-class voters, addressing economic insecurity in Michigan. Conventional wisdom has it that Huck’s evangelical, socially conservative base has been at the root of his success. But Michigan could be a testing ground for the durability of his economic populist message.

I don’t have any detailed knowledge of Michigan’s demographics, but I don’t think Huckabee’s brand of evangelicalism is well represented there. But it does have a lot of economically insecure voters who have been hit hard by globalization and the gutting of the American manufacturing economy. As of right now, he comes in second to Romney by an insignificant margin in the RCP poll average. A solid win Michigan would show that Huck’s message resonates among Reagan Democrats.

Meanwhile, it looks like a make-or-break state for Romney, who has pulled ads in SC and Fla, apparently to concentrate on Michigan. He’s also promising a victory, so even a strong second-place showing will be a blow to Mitt’s faltering campaign.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina:

In what could ultimately be a tight race against a rejuvenated McCain in South Carolina, Huckabee emphasized there is a “genuinely mutual respect” and that he doesn’t anticipate taking the gloves off, unless McCain takes them off first.

Is Huck running for vice president?

UPDATE: More on the Huck-McCain love fest:

For now, at least, it’ll be a battle with feathers, as Huckabee and McCain have spent recent weeks complimenting each other at nearly every available opportunity. The staffs of both candidates say the men respect and enjoy each other’s company, talking most recently on Tuesday night when Huckabee called McCain to congratulate him on winning in New Hampshire. (Their good relationship continues to fuel speculation of a McCain-Huckabee or Huckabee-McCain ticket.)

The shock to me is not that the Iranian navy antagonized three American ships in the Persian Gulf but that they were permitted to do so by the U.S. Navy without meeting a watery grave.  Dropping boxes into the water near U.S. ships and giving the impression that those boxes were mines (“We are coming at you and you will explode in minutes”) demonstrated Iran’s desire for death and destruction.  So, the question I ask is why weren’t they sent to the bottom of the gulf?  I am glad to hear that the commander ordered the sailors to battle stations and weapons trained on the Iranian aggressors.  I simply wish those weapons had been used and those horrible blue boats were destroyed. 

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From McCain’s victory speech tonight, complete with I’m-a-straight-shooter schtick: “I didn’t tell you what the polls said you wanted to hear…”

“I also didn’t tell you what the polls said you didn’t want to hear,” he could have added. When the word “amnesty” became radioactive according to the polls, McCain began energetically dissembling, denying ever having proposed such a thing. Kaus, earlier today:

It really is impressive that McCain still gets fawning reporters to call his bus the “Straight Talk Express” while his defense of his most significant recent domestc initiative depends entirely on the employment of cumbersome and obscuring PC euphemisms (e.g., “earned legalization,” “comprehensive reform” “undocumented immigrants” …sorry, make that “Nonimmigrants in the United States Previously in Unlawful Status,” etc.). That is, where it doesn’t require outright untruths (i.e, that illegals would “not be in any way rewarded for illegal behavior”). …

I echo Lowry’s sentiments on The Corner:

OK, It’s Three Minutes… …into Hillary’s speech, and I already feel the air leaving her balloon.

Tell me about it! Bo-o-o-o-ring. Can she be any less electrifying? Maybe she should cry again! Meanwhile, Obama’s concession seemed like an energized victory speech (my skepticism about Obamamania notwithstanding).