HUCKABEE FIRES ONE OFF, POSSIBLY DAMAGES VEEPHOOD CHANCES
May 16th, 2008, 3:41 pm · 2 Comments · posted by Dan Lehr
(CNN) – During a speech before the National Rifle Association convention Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — who has endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain — joked that an unexpected offstage noise was Democrat Barack Obama looking to avoid a gunman.
“That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he’s getting ready to speak,” said the former Arkansas governor, to audience laughter. “Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor.”
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As the Politico’s Ben Smith notes, “joking about Obama getting shot at is probably not the fast track to veephood.”
MONDAY UPDATE: Huckabee apologizes on Meet the Press:
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What do you think?
May 16th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
The man of the cloth Mike Huckabee showed his true racist colors with his comment at the NRA convention tonight. Mike, what divinity school were you graduated from…The Republican School of White Men Only?
May 17th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Unlike some, I do not see the remark as vicious. It was, to me, clearly an attempt to deliver a humorous one-liner (and Huckabee is no stranger to those) in a way that connected with the audience: “Ha ha, urbane, educated Democrats are afraid of guns.”
However, I completely concede the toxicity of political fallout from this offhand comment.
And, personally, I never find it funny to joke about guns pointing at anyone.