“How could a bunch of Hillbillies possibly buy a mansion like this?”
This was the opening punch line in the 1962 pilot episode of the situation comedy, The Beverly Hillbillies, but it could also be yet another pundit in 2011 suggesting Governor Mike Huckabee and his wife will not give up their new home in Florida to finance another Huckabee stab at running for president.
Wishful thinking leads many writers to conclude Governor Huckabee won’t run. They have their picks and Huckabee is competition. Many of the them don’t understand that while having a dream home is appealing to most any American, the Christian is not a materialist who thinks this life is all there is. We’ve got a home in glory.
An underlying contempt for Southerners in general and for those living in the Ozarks in particular seems to drive the conclusion that the Huckabees are the new Clampetts. Max Brantley even thought it important to know that Grannie (Mrs Huckabee) “is often seen in town, recently at an upscale design store picking out furnishings for the new Florida home”. Most of this is subtle. The idea is that these Hicks from Arkansas didn’t even know what the word “million” meant until Governor Jed struck oil, on Fox News.
Charles Krauthammer added earlier this week: “Mike Huckabee: Has a good life – hosting a popular TV show, making money, building his dream house in Florida. He’d be crazy to run. Doesn’t look crazy to me. “
New York magazine adds that he “is building a multi-million-dollar, 8,224-square-foot mansion in Florida—won’t be willing (or can’t afford) to part with the fat paychecks he is pulling in from Fox, the lecture circuit, and various travel-related ventures” (emphasis mine).
Jed Clampett and Mike Huckabee do have one thing in common (besides a taste for squirrel). They can’t be bought. Money never once robbed Jed Clampett of his family values. All the “Mr. Drysdales” and real estate moguls and their wheeling and dealing didn’t lure Clampett into thinking things were more important than people. Governor Huckabee isn’t buying it either. If he doesn’t run, I doubt it will be because of that new home in Beverly Hills.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:01 am
LOL when Huck’s own supporters are comparing him to Jed Clampett, you know he’s toast.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:02 am
P.S. Random fact, the Hillbillies mansion is the next door neighbor of the Reagans.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:04 am
Accusing Charles Krauthammer of calling Huckabee a hillbilly is a touch over the top. All he said is that the former Governor has a lot going for him right now, and that a “gut check”, like the one Haley Barbour had, might make Huckabee decide that he’s perfectly happy where he is. Don’t be so overly sensative, you’ll start sounding like the Palinistas.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:04 am
I think what people are saying is that Huckabee’s sweet new crib is evidence of his intentions not to run. I.e., why would he build it if he planned to move to Washington for potentially 8 years?
April 28th, 2011 at 11:05 am
Very funny stuff indeed.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Don’t know if this has been discussed, but Human Events is sticking by the Huckabee is Out story and Drudge has it up on his site now too:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43196
Don’t know if that makes it any more believable. I tend to believe it.
Also new Rasmussen poll showing Trump 19%, Romney 17%, Huck 15%.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:12 am
This post (as most posts from Shedlock) makes no sense at all. You claim Christians don’t care about materiality, but Romney is building a mansion. So does that make him a non-Christian? I don’t get your point at all. So many contradictions in this post.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Opps, meant to say Huck is building a mansion, not Romney.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:13 am
So the next thing ya know
Huck’s half a millionaire
His kin folk said
“Huck, move away from there!”
They said “The Sunshine State…
…is the place for ya!”
So he loaded up his truck
And moved to Flo-ri-da.
He’s out of the race, that is.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:15 am
You say he can’t be bought, yet, he sold out to host a weekly program on Fox News and he gave all that money to the poor, oh wait, he built a mult-million $ mansion. So is money important to the Huckster or not? All evidence indicates it is important to him.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Huckabee:
“South Walton is all Southeastern Conference. I can order grits and people know what I’m talking about. Not to mention, the most beautiful beaches in all of America. It’s an incredible, magnificent area with the best restaurants that are on par with those in Manhattan, but you don’t have to hijack a Brinks truck to pay for the meal.”
Leave it to ol’ Huckabee to be thinking with his stomach.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Shedlock…….You are the first person I’ve seen compare Huck to a Hillbillie. Never even crossed my mind.
As for Huck not caring about money……Well, in the 2008 cycle he sure made a big stink about not having enough of it and he certainly made darn sure that his supporters all knew that Romney was a “silver spoon feed daddy’s boy who is not like you” (paraphrase). And he sure tried a lot of creative ways to get gifts and such while governor of Arkansas. So very sorry, but to say Huck doesn’t care about money is inaccurate projection…
Also, that’s not why people are saying Huck’s probably not running.
It’s because he’s trying real hard to protect his status with FOX by not setting up a campaign organization or raising cash, whic is counter intuitive for somebody who seriously wants the GOP nomination.
He is building a new home (and there is a morgage I believe)…..not the kind of thing you do when you plan to lose your income in just a few months at the latest (unless those books are really selling) and hopefully won’t even be living it for the next 6 to 10 years.
Not to mention that with his current FOX and radio gigs, he has a huge influence over the national political discussion, which is important to him and not something you just throw away unless you are pretty certain the other alternative will be better.
Shedlock, that is how most normal people would think and nobody is faulting Huckabee if he thinks like a normal person.
If he’s not really sure he could get the GOP nomination and beat Obama, then of course he would have second and third thoughts.
And Jonathan is right…….You are starting to sound like a Palinista…
April 28th, 2011 at 11:20 am
#9….LOL…..don’t stop there……I was enjoying it…
April 28th, 2011 at 11:22 am
8200 sq ft mansion. No, he’s not materialistic. I’m sure he’s building it for the orphans. Or maybe he and Janet are thinking about having more kids. A lot more kids.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:26 am
Look, if Huckabee is your guy, you’ve gotta soul search. This is a critical election cycle. No posers allowed. Weeding through and detecting the posers is a tough one, I’ll admit. But the mansion-building convinces me Huckabee does not have the nation’s best interests at heart, rather his own. Pending more facts, of course. Maybe he’s opening it up to the homeless. Are there more facts?
Huck has a penchant for living large. So does the current president. Let’s give a tightwad like Romney a shot at directing the use of tax dollars, shall we?
April 28th, 2011 at 11:27 am
And before you lather up and spew, please differentiate between the ability to create wealth, and the conspicuous consumption thereof.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:31 am
You are exactly right Mr. Shedlock. Huckabee is a saint. Those accusing him of liking money are just Christian haters. Now Romney, on the other hand. That is a money grubber. No ounce of Christian blood in that man.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:33 am
He is building a new home (and there is a morgage I believe)…
And a couple paid speeches or a book advance on the next string of Huck NYT bestsellers would pay those mortgage payments for the entire time he is running for president..and after
Or Huck sould sell off his homes in North Little Rock.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:33 am
*could *should
April 28th, 2011 at 11:35 am
17.
And it only takes 17 comments this time for the religion card to be played by “Obama…
April 28th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Craig (Huck fan) -
Does this mean that he will not be using the class warfare politics he used last time now that he is “in the money”?
April 28th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Why are Rombots so civil? (Sorry Craig, his post at #22 has been removed, no profanity allowed)
April 28th, 2011 at 11:44 am
you meant to say “some Rombots” – right Craig?
April 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Is there a University of Rombots up in Massachusettes where they learn that?
April 28th, 2011 at 11:46 am
It is obvious.
1. Huck is a Floridian now with home state advantage.
2. Huck needed more than one home state like Romney.
3. The western (panhandle) White House needs to be nice. (I’m sure Romney has a nice house or two somewhere. After all, Romney has enough money to donate to Planned Parenthood for killing babies, I’m sure he has a nice house too.)
4. All the big donors that flee the anyone-but-Romney sinking ship need to be entertained in a nice house when Huck rides in on his white horse to save us all from Trump.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:47 am
26.
Bingo!
April 28th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Poor tired white horse!
April 28th, 2011 at 11:56 am
28.
See 25.
April 28th, 2011 at 11:59 am
29:
Again, never said I was a Rombot. Lose again.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
You aren’t fooling anyone.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
31:
Got you fooled.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Shedlock, where did Krauthammer call Huckabee a hillbilly again? Oh, he didn’t, you just inserted his name in there to make it appear that he said or implied something he didn’t. It certainly doesn’t help your SoCon cause or your candidate when you can’t even refrain from bearing false witness and making stuff up out of thin air.
Also, I read the Max Brantley piece. Again, no hillbilly theme. How you feel that him referencing Janet Huckabee shopping makes her look like Grannie Clampett is beyond me.
This is the problem with Huckabee. He’s perceived as thin skinned, and posts like this only make him look more so. He looks reactionary, as opposed to above the fray.
Having said that, I don’t think Huckabee’s house will necessarily keep him from running, nor will the job at Fox. He is well enough known that he will be able to make money if he runs and looses.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
The problem Rob, is not that he couldn’t make money if he loses…he can’t afford the mortgage if he WINS.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
34, A $400,000.00 per year salary, on top of the money he has made over the last couple of years will be plenty for him to pay off his mortgage. I just don’t see that as a hindrance to him running.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
“LOL when Huck’s own supporters are comparing him to Jed Clampett, you know he’s toast.”
He who laughs last, laughs best:
Check out who called Mitt Romney Jed Clampett.
Hint: “GOP candidate: I’m more Jed Clampett than Teddy Roosevelt”
April 28th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
36, way to go, allude to another candidate when you can’t actually argue with the fact that you are the one calling Huckabee Jed Clampett. Classy.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
” You claim Christians don’t care about materiality, but Romney is building a mansion. So does that make him a non-Christian? I don’t get your point at all. So many contradictions in this post”
Neither building a mansion nor not building one makes you a Christian, silly. The point was clear. Having a nice home wouldn’t keep either Huckabee or Romney from doing what they thought God wanted them to do.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
“u are the first person I’ve seen compare Huck to a Hillbillie. Never even crossed my mind.”
It is all over the liberal blogosphere and among liberal pundits. The establishment GOP just uses the template without the label that’s all.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
39, where have any establishment GOP members called him a hillbilly or compared him with Clampett. If you are going to make the accusation, you need to actually back it up with facts.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
“He is building a new home (and there is a morgage I believe)…..not the kind of thing you do when you plan to lose your income in just a few months at the latest”
Asked and answered. See the last link. People start to build new homes or move in a new home all the time, then get new jobs and move elsewhere. This has been an effort to paint Huckabee as a money-grubber. It happens here on R42012 all the time.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
“Not to mention that with his current FOX and radio gigs, he has a huge influence over the national political discussion, which is important to him and not something you just throw away unless you are pretty certain the other alternative will be better.
Shedlock, that is how most normal people would think and nobody is faulting Huckabee if he thinks like a normal person”
I wouldn’t fault him he decides he wants to retire in a nice home. What is wrong is the suggestion that his new home is definitive and the implication that there is no way he would ever give it up. That is malarkey.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
23 – When you start being honest, I will start being civil.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
38 – Then what the crap was all that stuff about Christians not being materialistic for then?
April 28th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
OFH,
You can’t challenge someones honesty while being civil yourself?
April 28th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Rombot, apparently you can’t make distinctions. I am not disparaging big houses. I am disparaging the idea promoted that Huckabee would NEVER give up the money to run for president. The implication that he is enamored with money and an opulent lifestyle. It is bogus.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Rather silly to compare Huck to a hillbilly. I’ve never seen it done with the exceptions of the posts here on his sons cooking squirrel.
If the Left does this comparison, why are you responding here?
(Answering my own question) Probably because it’s the only place you’ve got to respond. I guess I’m okay with your response, though it’s still rather silly proposition. Huck’s a great communicator, a good all-around guy.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
45 – I think you need to work on your communication skills, because I didn’t get that from your post at all. Are we supposed to think that because Huckabee is a Christian he would favor being President over having money? Is there more Christian virtue in having power than in having material wealth? I have no idea what religious values have to do with the matter at all.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
ogrepete,
There is a reason why many on the right keep citing the home and the Fox contract while never once asking the same questions about the other candidates. Do we even know how Tim Pawlenty is paying for his house, if he has one? How will Gingrich make a living? What will Rick Santorum do without his paid gigs on Fox?
These questions are never asked because they don’t fit the template. It would be good to add that there are hints of the same kind of thing against Palin, as well. It is a way of denigrating the “unrefined”.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
“Are we supposed to think that because Huckabee is a Christian he would favor being President over having money?”
Neither. The Christian virtue is doing what is right and not clinging to power or wealth. I think Huckabee will do what he thinks is right, and neither power or money will be determinative. That is my opinion, of course.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I wouldn’t say govhuck struck oil on fox news given he is only pulling in $500,000 per year with that gig…compare that to what beck/o’reily make and huck should aim for about 5m per year. The guy will run for president again, its just tbd if its in 2012 or 2016+
April 28th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
49 – Fair enough. Maybe you should have just said that in the first place.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
48 – Maybe those things aren’t reported because they aren’t relevant. You don’t think Huckabee’s need to pay his mortgage will be impacted by whether he has a job or not? It is just common sense, not some conspiracy to turn Huckabee into a money grubber. A large mortgage requires a large income. Why is it controversial to notice that when evaluating whether someone is going to quit their job to run for President or not?
April 28th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Rombot, Huckabee has already stated to David that he can easily turn around and sell the home. Huckabee already has a plan in place to counter that particular argument. Then agian you being you, I do not expect you to understand or want to understand.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
And for the record, I don’t fault Huckabee at all for building the house. It is a beautiful location and I’m sure it will bring him a lot of joy. I would do the same thing if I were in his position.
April 28th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
53 – That is fine. That doesn’t mean people are being unfair to Huck by wondering about it. What do you not understand about that?
April 28th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Rombot.
Wondering,asking questions, pontificating, all that is fair game. Stating without equivocation and going after motives is a loser.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Craig for Huck/Beat Obama! Says:
April 28th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Why are Rombots so civil? (Sorry Craig, his post at #22 has been removed, no profanity allowed)
====
Thanks, Kavon.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
48.David Shedlock Says:
April 28th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
“There is a reason why many on the right keep citing the home and the Fox contract while never once asking the same questions about the other candidates. Do we even know how Tim Pawlenty is paying for his house, if he has one? How will Gingrich make a living? What will Rick Santorum do without his paid gigs on Fox?
These questions are never asked because they don’t fit the template. It would be good to add that there are hints of the same kind of thing against Palin, as well. It is a way of denigrating the “unrefined”.”
===
Bingo!
April 28th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Craig, don’t blame Kavon, I take full credit for the censorship.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
“Stating without equivocation and going after motives is a loser.”
It also shows fear as well.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
56 – In other words, having an opinion about the status of a candidate you like is not proper, but having an opinion about anyone else is fine. I have seen many unequivocal statements by you that are nothing but opinion. Why the double standard?
April 28th, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Rombot,
Don’t be so touchy. I think you understand the difference between “Huckabee might not run because he has a mortgage to pay” and “he’s not running, because he doesn’t want to give up that nice new home”, can’t you?
I think you will find my posts are often peppered with hedges such as “I think”, “in my opinion”, “possibly”, and “it may be”.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Notice in the OP:
“could also be”
“seems to be”
“I doubt”
April 28th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
62 – Honestly, I really don’t see much of a difference. Pundits give their opinions using unequivocal statements all the time. They aren’t saying these things as fact. That isn’t their job. I find it awfully petty to be whining over whether they include the qualifier “I think” or “in my opinion” or not.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
The difference between fact and opinion is important to me. Not every opinion has to include the words “I think” of course. But it is not difficult to see when a writer wants you to equate his opinion with the facts – especially on what is a fact question. I teach writing. I insist that my students make sure they separate out fact from opinion to the best of their ability.
April 28th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Craig (Huck fan) -
You still haven’t answered my question. Does this new “money” that Hucakbee has come across alter his tactics? He can’t go after Mitt as the “guy that fired you” while he is the “guy you work with” anymore. Can he? Won’t this put a damper in his class warfare tactics?
April 28th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
65 – Remind me never to send my kids to your writing class. ;(
April 28th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
67, too bad. They would probably benefit from it far more than the trash they are teaching in public schools these days.
April 28th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
If I recall, isn’t Shedlock teaching in college? I am not sure.
April 28th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
College, yes.
April 28th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
70 – What college?
April 28th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
OK – let’s shoot for any of the Huckabee fans – Craig seems to be busy today.
Does this new “money” that Hucakbee has come across alter his tactics? He can’t go after Mitt as the “guy that fired you” while he is the “guy you work with” anymore. Can he? Won’t this put a damper in his class warfare tactics?
April 28th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Liz,
As soon as I heard Huckabee was building this house, I assumed it was to bring home dignataries when he is President. You know the house has to be nice.
April 28th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Marshalltown Community College in Iowa.