Rob Who? Cincinnati's Rob Portman Trails Badly In Cleveland GOP's Online Veep Poll

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, a SW Ohio Republican who served in the Bush White House as budget director and trade representative, is faring poorly in the Cuyahoga County Republican Party's online veepstakes straw poll. Portman is currently in fourth place, trailing Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Condoleeza Rice in the 10-person field. Voting has not been brisk -- just 191 ballots to date. Perhaps the online contest will grab more attention, and more votes, after word spreads around the blogosphere.

Portman, who represented OH-02 in the House on the Ohio River, has been widely touted as a potential running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain. He is supposed to have the kind of Midwest cred that can help deliver Ohio, a crucial state. But he's clearly not striking any sparks to date in NE Ohio. Portman may have baggage from his days as trade representative -- Ohioans are not enamored with NAFTA and similar trade bargains. Polls of voters have indicated skepticism about globalization and its impact on the state's manufacturing economy.

In the days ahead, it will be both fun and interesting to observe the Cleveland GOP straw poll even though it is an unscientific beauty contest. The results could be manipulated -- after all it is an online vote with no real ballot security. But none of the 10 on the list has any kind of formal campaign organization to drum up supporters. And the Huckabee, Romney, Rice combo currently at the top may actually express some sensibility about the views of those who visit the Republican Party Web site in Ohio's most populous county. All three are well-known national figures. Portman is not widely known. And with 14.3% of the votes, he's not showing any signs of being a sleeper.

Ohio Presidential Primary Election Results: Obama/Clinton, Huckabee/McCain, Congressional And Legislative Contests

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Click here to the see the voting results in Ohio as they are tallied by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. She will begin posting results after the polls close March 4. The numbers available on The Daily Bellwether via the link to Brunner's office include the Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and the Republican contest between Mike Huckabee and John McCain. There will be totals for the congressional races and statehouse nominating contests.

Huckabee's Top Staffers: Memo Declares Faith In Ohio GOP Conservatives

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Feistiest line in the memo -- don't let the media pick the GOP candidate. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's top aides issued the document aimed at rallying the troops and informed campaign workers that no surrender is anticipated. Ed Rollins and Chip Saltsman foresee a GOP presidential primary race against John McCain in Ohio, and portray Huckabee's refusal to quit as a positive "because vigorous discussion will keep all the media 'oxygen' from migrating over to the Democratic contest." In other words, Obama and Hillary won't get all the headlines.

The complete text of the memo is available here on Nuke Gingrich. The pertinent part for Ohioans:

"So don't let anyone tell you that it's over. In fact, as of today, no fewer than 27 states, districts and territories have not had a chance to vote. That includes such big states as Texas (Chuck Norris' home state, 'nuff said), Ohio and Pennsylvania. All the Republicans and Republican minded independents in those states want to be part of the process, too, and they deserve to have a choice put before them. Folks don't want the Republican Establishment to pick the nominee for them through a premature rush to judgment, and they sure as heck don't want the media to pick the nominee."

Mrs. Huckabee Defends Her Hubby: Bill Clinton Learned Foreign Policy At IHOP

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Janet Huckabee is standin' by her man. She allows former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may come up a bit light in the foreign policy experience department. But so did some other governors who wound up in the White House. "Ronald Reagan didn't have any foreign policy experience. Bill Clinton, they said the only experience he had in foreign policy was going to IHOP, the International Pancake House."

Pardon me, Mrs. Huckabee. That would be the International House of Pancakes. Her implication is that Mike is just as competent as Bill -- but she doesn't note that Bill spent some time in Britain studying at Oxford University, and that he travelled the Continent. Those are blanks on Huckabee's resume. The full course of the would-be First Lady's interview with the Iowa Independent is here. She says her husband can hire a good staff to help him on the foreign policy front. She also has some interesting things to say about abortion -- that women should not have to go to jail if laws are changed and abortion is banned.

Mike Huckabee's Evangelist Pal: Circulates Pledge To Ban Music With 'Rock Beat'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Apparently, evangelist Bill Gothard would be ecstatic if the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland shut its doors. The Mike Huckabee supporter has been circulating a pledge that calls for religious music to replace all rock for all time. Besides asking people to take the pledge, Gothard reportedly has written that rock is "unclean" and "satanic." Does that make Cleveland the new Gomorrah on the Great Lake? Should Graceland -- the home of Elvis --switch its name to Gomorrahland?

Cincinnati rock musician Justin Jeffre is a bandmate of Nick Lachey, and credit Jeffre with discovering the anti-rock pledge: "Almighty Father, based on the authority of your Word and the testimony of others, I now propose to remove from my life any music that contains a 'ROCK BEAT'; and replace it with melodious music that glorifies You and edifies others."

Jeffre is building himself a reputation outside the music world as a political activist. He's run for office in Cincinnati as an independent and on the Green Party ticket. So far, no success. He may be on the verge of scoring a political splash by pointing out that Huckabee -- an ordained Baptist minister who plays bass in a rock band -- seems to consort with those who feel the music itself is perditious. Jeffre sent evangelist Gothard a "confession" last week about his activities with Lachey in their rock band called 98-degrees.

"I thought our group was just having a great time making our fans happy with fun music. If only we'd known how dangerous the 'ROCK BEAT' is . . ."

He also wanted to bring Gothard up to date on his pal, Huckabee.

"Anyway, steady yourself Dr. G, because I'm about to reveal some even shocking information about Gov. Huckabee. He recently told a New York Times reporter he wants The Rolling Stones to play his inaugural. Get thee behind me, Mick!"

Jason Haap at the Cincinnati Beacon has posted the complete text of Jeffre's letter to the man he considers the rock music-hating evangelist. It is full of links about the whole devil's music issue.

Ohio's Kucinich Holds 10th Spot On The Web: Huckabee's Hits Soar To 2nd Place

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's campaign Web site now is getting 36.12% of all the hits tracked in the Republican field, a surge that puts him a tad behind Ron Paul's Internet juggernaut. The former Arkansas governor -- whose poll numbers are in a steep climb -- has also taken off like a rocket in cyber space. Of the 16 campaign Web sites maintained by the Democratic and Republican candidates, Huckabee gets nearly a fourth of all traffic, making him No. 2 overall and right behind Paul. The candidate whose site seems to have tanked: Fred Thompson.

Here are the top four sites across the entire field: Paul, 24.22%; Huckabee, 23.62%; Obama, 12.28%, Clinton, 8.7%. Cleveland U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is No. 10 on the list at 2.52%. The least looked at Web site belongs to Sen. Chris Dodd.

The data is compiled by Hitwise, a commercial online intelligence service. It has been monitoring the presidential Web sites and charting their popularity since at least September. The company is a unit of Experian, the credit bureau. It says it has patented methodology that captures online usage, search and behavior of Internet users and can analyze online trends.

The Huckabee campaign is elated that its Web site is attracting heavier traffic as the January 3 Iowa caucuses approach. It put out the numbers on the campaign blog two days ago, and also said that this week has produced record numbers of hits.

Mike Huckabee On Faith: Honest Atheists Are Better Than Phony Christians

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- GOP Iowa presidential frontrunner Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, has refused to say if Mitt Romney's Mormon faith is a Christian religion. Meanwhile, The Daily Bellwether has noticed that Huckabee's official campaign Web site contains an essay in which he discusses his religious views. He writes that candidate religious views should be shared and debated. Huckabee says he prefers "honest atheists" over phony believers.

"We should not banish religion from the public square, but should guarantee access to all voices and views. We should share and debate our faith, but never seek to impose it. When discussing faith and politics, we should honor the 'candid' in candidate -- I have more respect for an honest atheist than a disingenuous believer."

Romney has scheduled a speech for Thursday that will discuss his Mormon faith, which many theologians describe as an offshoot from conventional Christianity. Its scripture is the Book of Mormon, which is not part of the Bible used in Protestant and Catholic churches.

Britain's Telegraph Sees An Alliance: Huckabee And Giuliani Vs. Romney

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Telegraph calls it a "non-aggression pact" between Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani as they team together against Mitt Romney in the Iowa GOP primary. The plan is to eliminate Romney as a serious contender in the presidential race. The Telegraph says the strategy has risks for Giuliani because former Baptist minister Huckabee could emerge No. 1 in South Carolina, a southern state with a January primary that should be culturally comfortable with the former Arkansas governor. And if Huckabee wins big in South Carolina, he might gather a full head of steam for the other southern primaries and be unstoppable.

[UPDATE: 12 pm 12-3-07 -- There are reports of robo calls out of Ohio to Iowa for Huckabee. Some suspect the calls show Giuliani and Huckabee are in tandem to stop Romney.]

Meanwhile, an American Research Group poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina shows the race in that state has become a virtual dead heat between Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee. Last month, Romney had a 6 point lead over Giuliani and Huckabee was in the single digits. Romney appears to be fading, Giuliani is holding and Huckabee has the hot hand.

Fla. Values Voters Straw Poll: Nobody Likes Romney

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Christian right political organizers have finished counting straw poll ballots cast by 340 delegates in Fort Lauderdale and report that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won 64% of the votes. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is courting values voters, skipped the event and collected zero votes in the straw poll. Some think that shows he's failed to connect with the religious right, an important GOP voting bloc. They point out that other no shows such as Rudy Giuliani received votes.

There is a huge amount of reportage and analysis available here. Be my guest and dive in.

Gun-Totin' Mike Huckabee: Fires A (Verbal) Shot At Katie Couric

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a concealed carry permit, and he's been cautious about saying much about when and where he's packin.' But the Republican presidential candidate makes no bones about his support of the Second Amendment, and has now taken a swipe at CBS anchor Katie Couric, demonstrating his bona fides to the pro-gun voting bloc. He also seems to have gotten in a dig at Couric for allegedly anti-Southern bias.

To do it, though, Huckabee had to dredge up a tale from 1998 when Couric worked for NBC's Today show. His real target, though, may have been Rudy Giuliani, that New York Yankee who led a city with some of the nation's toughest gun laws.

So far, hardly anyone has noticed Huckabee wrote on his blog late Friday about the day Couric interviewed him about a middle school shooting that killed a teacher and four students near Jonesboro, Ark. Huckabee said he defended the South against Kouric's down on Dixie attitude.

''She intimated that mass murder of school campuses seemed to be confined to schools in the Deep South, where there existed a 'culture of guns.' I assured her that yes hunting and ownership of firearms were Southern traditions. At the same time, the murder of innocent schoolchildren was most certainly not and such violence was inexplicable regardless of one's geography."

But Couric, according to Huckabee, seemed determined to humble the South. And, he said, he would not let her get away with that.

"When she continued to press, looking for some validation of her view that these shootings were in some way connected to the South, I firmly reminded her that Colin Ferguson boarded a train in New York and coldly killed 27 people before finally being subdued. That event occurred in New York where the gun laws and among the toughest in the country, and where gun ownership is so much lower than in the South."

Huckabee went on to say he is an NRA member. His blog entry is HERE.

As a conservative political performance it was boffo. In one shot, he accomplished four things. He told the world he owned guns and supported gun rights. He ripped the liberal news media. He portrayed himself as someone who would stick up for Southerners -- always a good move in a region that can still bristle over real or imagined Yankee slights. And he managed to say something that could be interpreted as unflattering about New York, implying that it was more liberal than most places.

Now, isn't there a New Yorker running for president against Huckabee, a New Yorker who is leading in all polls. That's right -- Rudy Giuliani, the one-time mayor of the city ''where gun laws are among the toughest in the country."

Mitt Romney's 'Cult' Membership: An Issue For Southern Baptists?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The nation's 16-million Southern Baptists belong to a Protestant denomination that officially classifies Mormons as members of a cult or sect that denies or redefines "any or all essential Christian doctrines." And the Baptists could pose a huge problem for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon and hopes to appeal to religious and social conservatives.

Baptist pastor-turned-politician Mike Huckabee, a Romney rival who trails in the polls, says religious credentials are important in the race.

"I think it it fair game to ask a person about his or her faith. I mean, I'm asked about mine all the time. I don't find that offensive."

Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee made the comment in a interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, which pointed out that the Southern Baptist Convention considers the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, a cult.

Huckabee hasn't said whether he personally considers the faith a cult.

"I don't know enough abut the Mormon faith. I rally don't know that much about it, other than I know Mitt's a nice guy."

But in the weeks and days ahead, you can bet that others will have a lot to say, and they can point to the Baptist's Web site for ammunition. That's where the church's North American Mission Board has its list of "Major Cults and Sects in North American." Who's atop the list? The Mormons.

Mike Huckabee Speaks Out On Blog: We're In WWIII

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee failed to generate rave reviews at CPAC last week, and nobody knows how it went behind closed doors with Focus on the Family in Colorado. But the socially conservative Republican is on his blog today explaining why he's running for president, saying he's in to stop the "Islamic fascists who have launched World War III." Huckabee is barely registering in any polls, and there is speculation in his home state that he really will end up running for a U.S. Senate seat.

But today there was none of that. The Baptist minister was full of fire and brimstone and even summoned the image of the Iron Lady, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

"We face a real threat from Islamic fascists who have launched World War III and have vowed to literally annihilate every last one of us all in the name of devotion to an impersonal god to whom they have sworn the blood of their children. They do not fight a conventional war and are not a conventional enemy, and we will not defeat them with a conventional military response and certainly not by negotiation because they believe their mission is not over politics, property or personality, but is the direct order of their god to give their last breath to take our last breath. This is no time for America to (in the words of the great former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) 'go wobbly.'"

The entire text of Huckabee's statement is HERE. It is interesting that he used a lower case "g" when he wrote the word god for the deity Muslims worship. Was that meant to convey an insult to all Muslims? Or just the Muslims who are fascists?

Huckabee did capitalize "Islamic." Does that mean the religion deserves more respect than the deity.

Or it might not be an insult at all -- it could be a typo.

Huckabee's blog post is his first, and represents his push to get a wider public to take a glance at where he stands. He's fiery, but is not direct about what he thinks about the big question on Iraq at the moment: More troops or less?

FireDogLake's Frogger Predicts Hillary Is Going Nowhere

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Shared a meal and conversation with FroggerMarch, the diarist who writes at FireDogLake, the major national blog that is progressive in outlook and unflinching in its attitude that the Bush Administration outed the CIA's Valerie Plame for nefarious political purposes. FroggerMarch is an Ohioan who closely follows national politics, detests Dick Cheney and suspects the '08 presidential election is no gimme for the Democrats, especially if they nominate Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Frogger [an old acquaintance from a politically connected family] has been studying the GOP field closely -- no surprise, since he is famously interested in opposition research -- and thinks former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee could become a far more formidable foe by November 2008 than most Democrats (and Republicans) now realize. He said Huckabee headed the Southern Baptist Convention in that state and is within reach of becoming the darling of Republican social conservatives. He sees Arizona Sen. John McCain gaining steam in the months ahead and believes Rudy Giuliani is just too liberal for his party.

As for Hillary, FroggerMarch -- who lives in Cincinnati -- says she is at the top of her game now. "I think the fact that her name is Clinton helps her in the African American community and the polls. It skews her up. Bill Clinton is a god in the African American community. And I think that what she has going for her is that she is from New York, she is a senator, and her name is Clinton. Over time, she has nowhere to go but down. Her great weakness is that she has no great strength. The bad news about Hillary is that there is no good news. She doesn't have a great resume, other than being First Lady. She has the fact that she is a woman, but the newness will wear off. If her name wasn't Clinton, would anybody think she had a chance? I think the Democrats are eventually going to move past the name, and then what is there? It will be attrition."

FroggerMarch predicts former Sen. John Edwards or New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will move up in the polls later this year. "Those are the guys to watch over time. I'm not leaving out Sen. Obama, but I don't think his time has come. That needs to be watched, but I'm picking Edwards and Richardson, though Richardson may have a problem or two that hasn't come out yet. There are people who have questions. We'll see."

Who knows what the future holds? The national blogger's focus on Mike Huckabee was interesting because nobody in the Ohio 'sphere has paid much attention to the Baptist preacher turned pol. Perhaps he is worth watching.

FroggerMarch, who went to Miami University, said he picked that name because his mom loved the video game called Frogger. He's active in the business world and said he uses that moniker because his politics are too liberal for many corporate types. "I have to deal with a lot of Republicans," he said.