Will the FEC shutdown cut off public funding to the Edwards campaign?

Just for the record, I find it fascinating just how openly the Republican establishment just hates Mike Huckabee. Don’t get me wrong. I can see why they’re bent out of shape. They think he’d be a rotten national candidate. And more importantly they’re pissed at him for not understanding the proper role of Christian conservatives in the Republican party, which is to supply votes, phone-bankers and general grunt work.

My pal Mike Lind in one of his books had this great line about the GOP Triangular Trade in which Southern evangelicals provide the votes for a party financed by and run on behalf of Wall Street and with policies devised by a gang of New York intellectuals and scribblers. He put it more eloquently. But he had it about right.

Basically, Richard Scaife provides the money to help keep his taxes low. Bill Kristol comes up with the ideas. And Mike Huckabee provides the votes.

Anyway, I get why they’re down on him. But I’m surprised at just how transparent they are about it. With Ron Paul at least the guy dissents from what are now cardinal points of the Republican agenda. But where does Mike Huckabee really dissent on much of anything?

Williams Hartung considers what a Mike Huckabee foreign policy would look like.

I feareth that my man Mitt, in whose candidacy I’ve invested so much time and energy, is destined to get smoked on Tuesday.

Just got this letter from Mitt …

Dear Friend,

As you’ve likely seen by now, we finished a strong second place in Iowa and the mainstream press has been quick to call this devastating.

Well, I’m here to tell you that just like in the Olympics, winning the silver in the first event does not mean you’re not going to come back and win the gold in the final event. And we’re going to win the presidential nomination, by pulling together.

I’m humbled by what you have done so far. Now, the action you take today could determine the course of history!

1. Please Invite 5 friends to join Team Mitt. It’s going to take every mouthpiece and volunteer possible for victory. Someone from my staff will follow-up with all new Team Mitt members immediately.

2. Call a friend, forward them this email, stop by their home or office and ask for just one more contribution to help us win New Hampshire and continue this campaign to the ultimate finish – the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

3. Finally, help 5 friends learn more about me with a personalized phone message. Just use our new phone messaging tool. I’ll even record a customized voicemail greeting for your cell phone if you’d like. Imagine the surprise your friends will get when they call.

Remember – Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush also finished second in Iowa and went on to win the Republican nomination, and I will too. I’m the only candidate who is competitive in all of the early primary or caucus states – South Carolina, Michigan, Nevada, Florida…and of course New Hampshire.

You know as well as I do that Iowa represents the beginning of the process, and we’re on our way to New Hampshire to win – with your help.

My sincere thanks,
Mitt

I’m shocked that they can get a machine to perfectly imitate Mitt’s voice well enough to give me my personalized Mitt voicemail. I’m loving it!!!

Jose Padilla sues John Yoo for authorizing torture.

Jared Bernstein: It’s looking like our recent economic troubles have reached the labor market.

Ken Baer reports from a rally in New Hampshire: Kerry in 2004 played the right notes, Obama is playing music.

Trent Lott lands on his feet, founds new lobbying firm with former Sen. Breaux.

I hinted at this last night. And now Dan Balz makes the same point. If you look at the kinds of people and political constituencies where Obama got his biggest support, New Hampshire has even more of those people than Iowa.

Okay, I could come up with a few good snarky lines on this one. But I’ll settle for someone just explaining to me what the hell Mike Huckabee’s talking about.

TPMer Eric Kleefeld and I were chatting this evening about whether everyone’s underestimating Huckabee’s chances in this race. And I think Eric may be on to something. But then I go over to Huck’s site and I see his pitch to supporters, which you can see in this screen capture.

Can anyone explain what the hell that means? Vertical? I guess if you’re main opponent was Fred Thompson you might push the fact that you spend most of your time standing up. But seriously, is there something I’m missing here? Or is this the weirdest campaign I’ve ever heard?

I mean, at a minimum it’s setting the bar for his presidency pretty low, right?

Late Update: Well, ask and ye shall receive, they say. Apparently this is a big buzzword for Huckabee. He wants to end the horizontal politics and get back to vertical politics.

Here’s a video of him talking about it …

Later Update: A few other readers suggest there’s some crypto-evangelical code wording going on with it too. And it seems like they’re definitely on to something here. Here’s one example, another and another.

The more I look at this I don’t think there’s any question this is a clever dog whistle call out to Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals that his politics are God’s politics.