The GOP universe

to the GOP's ears.

Well, I'll have a hard time believing that a book alleged to be written by Sara Palin is her own work unless the entire thing is one gigantic run-on non-sentence, with one period at the very end. :-)

OK, that's not fair. I am sure she can string cogent ideas together when writing. She really does need to do some work on speaking in complete sentences though. Gerunds are dangerous things in the wrong hands.

On Newt versus Huckabee: spoken like someone certain the canon is virtually flawless. You say you want a big tent, but you reject most manifestations of a big tent.

__________
I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy for those who think, and a tragedy for those who feel. -Horace Walpole

...I can't tell you how many times over the last few months I wish we had more involved gadfly Gingrich, as opposed to a mostly sidelined cheerleader Gingrich. He could be equally infuriating to liberals and conservatives, but at least he was interested in real ideas.

I want Newt back in Congress in 2010.

Palin writing a book--a substantive not folksy book--is a good idea.

Have you seen Huckabee's TV show? I think he does a good job of articulating conservative fiscal ideas and social values while being likable and "nice." He doesn't seem too interested in conservative interpretations of the Constitution, as you mentioned.

--Fern

Conservatives like to say Huckabee is too liberal, but he supports the fair tax, for christ's sake. He had some infrastructure programs when he was governor, and some taxes had to be raised to maintain a balanced budget--but he was right in the debates when he pointed out that by some people's standards today Reagan would be considered a liberal-- since as governor he pretty much had to do the same thing.

The only other thing which makes Huckabee stand out from other conservatives is that he isn't absolute in his support of free trade--but neither are paleo-conservatives like Buchanan, someone who worked as Reagan's speechwriter.

I don't think Huckabee is a good candidate for the Republican Party, but this is exactly why the base is narrowing. With history behind them and the party uniting behind Bush's presidency, they've lost sight of the actual diversity that made up their party.

Here's a nice summary of the shift in the evangelical vote from Spiritual Politics

As they sought to do this time around, the social conservative leaders want to shift their positions not at all, advancing the cause sub rosa behind a suitable front man like Romney. Permitting a broader agenda, a la the National Association of Evangelicals' Rich Cizik, runs the risk of sanctioning their folks to vote Democratic--behaving like, God forbid, the Catholics. And yet, despite a not very impressive outreach effort, the Obama campaign managed to round up twice as many young evangelicals as John Kerry did four years ago. If the old guard can think of nothing better to offer that growing demographic than the same old values agenda in 2012, perhaps it ought to think again. As for the rest of the electorate, its antipathy to religious right culture warriors should not be underestimated. Jews and Mainline Protestants and, yes, many Catholics too run the other way when evangelicals are on the march.

Having just experienced this in my own church, this is very reminiscent of what older churches experience as they try to make the jump to attracting younger congregants. If the church wants to stick with that "old time religion" including the traditional hymns, the King James way of speaking and keeping out the "unwashed masses", it will die.
Chris