Days of Change

Day 1166 – Saving All My Love for You

Mike Huckabee’s second candidate forum was held this weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. There’s been quite a change since the last one. Jon Huntsman decided that his mediocre showing in New Hampshire demanded that he show up this time. Ron Paul declined this time, realizing that the idea of Ron Paul is more popular than what Paul has to say.

Jon Huntsman was a conservative governor from a conservative state. Romney was a mostly conservative governor from a liberal state. Both men have allowed the media to paint them as moderates, but not in SC. Their conservatism was well on display tonight. They drew both from their histories and outlined their intentions to cut spending and lower taxes.

Ironically, Newt Gingrich was the least popular candidate at the forum. He was peppered with questions about negative campaigning and his views about venture capital. When Gingrich tried to bring up Mitt Romney, (which was apparently against the rules) he was roundly booed.

I think conservatives have made themselves heard. It’s easy to say that Romney could say one thing and do another in office, but that’s possible with any candidate. It’s up to Congress to keep the president on track. One thing Romney did was use enough ad buys to erode support for Gingrich. Then he managed to make Gingrich look like the bad guy to other conservatives. I would really love to see him use that magic on Obama in the general election.