Huckaboom on Leno — homerun?

By Contributor Archive

Filed Under Race for White House 2008 on Jan 3 

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Mike Huckabee graced Jay Leno’s return to TV last night. He picked up an electric guitar and played a blues number with Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks.

All I could think of was another Arkansas governor who blew his sax on the Arsenio Hall Show, wailing his way into the White House.

From what I saw (and I have to confess I was switching back and forth to David Letterman – I missed Hillary’s cameo), Huckaboom hit a home run.

Millions of people tuned in last night for the first new Leno show since the writers’ strike. Huckaboom couldn’t have bought that kind of national exposure even if his campaign coffers held all Michael Bloomberg’s money!

He came across as a man with a fierce sense of humor – even about himself. He was folksy, down-to-earth and broke up Leno several times.

If you think it was a mistake for him to leave Iowa, look at the long run. Most of the people who saw Huckaboom last night will not be caucusing in Iowa today. But they may very well be voting in November.
With a win today, he’s off to a flying start.

If you’re a Democrat, be afraid. Be very afraid.

Comments

7 Comments

  1. blackadvent on 03.01.2008 at 14:31 (Reply)

    …What would happen if Ron Paul went on Conan O’Brian’s show and played the xylophone?

  2. RedstateEddio on 03.01.2008 at 14:38 (Reply)

    I agree. It was a “perfect storm” opportunity to reach an entire nation on the eve of possibly winning Iowa. I wanted to watch Leno just to see how he did without writers; I stayed to watch Huckabee, and thought he was sharp, witty, self-deprecating, and convincing in a sound byte sort of way.

    He did more with 1 positive appearance on the show than 20 Mitt attack ads. He traded jokes and jabs with Leno like he was a professional. You can tell whom Leno likes when he’s interviewing them, and it was clear he likes Huck. Huck’s staff pulled off a major coup by getting him on there. It could possibly be a defining moment for this campaign.

    His line about wanting to look like “the guy who lives next door, not the one who just laid you off” was spot on. Like him or not, that was a Mark McGuire-Sammy Sosa-Barry Bonds kind of home run moment.

  3. Jacosta on 03.01.2008 at 14:47 (Reply)

    We’re talking about the same Huckabee who thought he was safe on being on the Tonight Show because the strike was over, and he said that he’d never cross the picket line because he supported the writers? Uhm – earth to Huckabee and his supporters – the strike is STILL going on! He was heckled by all the strikers for being “two-faced” and a “traitor”…as he was being booed for crossing the line he said he’d never cross!

    This is the same Huckabee who thought that martial law was still being imposed in Pakistan when it was over two weeks earlier…the same Huckabee who got the border of Afghanistan on the wrong side of Pakistan….the same Huckabee who’d never heard of the NIE report…..the same Huckabee who “apologized” for Bhutto’s assination….the same Huckabee who said that Romney is soft on crime because he never sent a convicted murderer to death row – NEWSFLASH! Massachusetts doesn’t have capital punishment! DUH! The same Huckabee who said that Romney left office with a deficit – when in fact he left Massachusetts with a SURPLUS! The same Huckabee who let convicted criminals free because some of them supposedly “found” religion…only to have some of those go on to commit more crimes including murder and rape once freed…and some whose whereabouts are unknown!

    Huckabee = Huckaclueless!

  4. Michael on 03.01.2008 at 15:09 (Reply)

    He actually played the bass, not the guitar. I didn’t see much difference between him any other candidate trying to cater to the late night TV voters. I am “afraid… very afraid” if a good showing on Leno or the “right” religion trumps qualities that will actually get something done in office. This is one crazy election in one crazy election process.

  5. Justin Hoover on 03.01.2008 at 20:01 (Reply)

    The reason why Romney spends all his time attacking Huck and McCain is because there isn’t a single conservative thing about this record. If Hillary gets the Democratic nomination, and Huck gets the Republican nomination… Huck is going to be the next president.

    There are two main reasons for this: the Democrats are just as disenfranchised with their Congress as the Republicans are with their President/Congress and the fact that the Registered Republican roles are going up after plummeting for 2 years.

    Another main reason is that in Arkansas, Huck pulled 48% of the African American vote, plus he launched KARE after Hurricane Katrina. This fact, combined with his pull of the evangelical vote… he will get elected by a very healthy margin.

  6. Justin Hoover on 03.01.2008 at 20:07 (Reply)

    Huckabee is going to win Iowa, make a strong showing in N.H., win Michigan, and definitely take South Carolina. He also has a good shot at taking Florida too. This will leave him sitting pretty comfortably on Super Tuesday.

  7. SA Kalinich on 06.01.2008 at 13:55 (Reply)

    Yo Michael, the bass is a guitar!

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