Congress
How do you screw up a campaign victory speech? It is a Politics 101 fundamental rule that during the post-results speech the candidate must be surrounded on the stage by his family — particularly if the candidate is a Republican “family values” type, and especially if the candidate is the winner.
Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager, Ed Rollins — who has been coasting for 24 years on his success working on Reagan’s reelection but was last seen storming off the senate campaign of Florida whackjob Katherine Harris — obviously decided to keep Huckabee’s sons out of camera range during last night’s victory speech in Iowa, not because they are ginormous but because their presence would remind people about son David’s torturing and killing a dog (and the attempts by his father, then the governor of Arkansas, to cover up this sadistic episode).
But, as you can see in the video above, someone lost control of the candidate’s image management prior to the victory speech and allowed television actor Chuck Norris to upstage Huckabee with his preternaturally white teeth.
The message projected by this video is that Huckabee put a Hollywood friend ahead of his family on one of the most important nights of his life.
It probably won’t be damaging like Howard Dean’s screaming unaware into a microphone after Iowa in 2004 but don’t be surprised if this video clip of Huckabee and Norris appears subtly in the background of attack ads from the Romney or McCain campaigns.
Here are photos of the other candidates, all with their families, last night:
Topics: Congress
I think Chuck Norris IS Huckabee’s wife.
[...] Pensito Review Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager, Ed Rollins — who has been coasting for 24 years on his success working on Reagan’s reelection but was last seen storming off the senate campaign of Florida whackjob Katherine Harris — obviously decided to keep Huckabee’s sons out of camera range during last night’s victory speech in Iowa, not because they are ginormous but because their presence would remind people about son David’s torturing and killing a dog (and the attempts by his father, then the governor of Arkansas, to cover up this sadistic episode). [...]
Did anyone else think the woman standing beside Norris was distracting as she talked and traded places through the speech?
That’s no woman, that’s his wife.
Bingo. The first thing I thought when viewing Huckabee’s speech was, “What the hell is Chuck Norris doing up there?” Then, “Oh, yeah, he’s a creationist too.” Huckabee was completely overshadowed, which was stupid of him and his campaign people. They probably figured it would be good to be seen with a “good guy” like Chuck Norris, but to me it backfired, which is good for the democrats…
The woman directly behind Huckabee, who can be seen from time to time as Huck moves his head right and left, is Chuck Norris’ wife. Huckabee’s family, when taken as a whole is the least attractive family of the presidential candidates of both parties. It doesn’t surprise me that Huckabee’s “handlers” wanted them off to the side.
Rimshot! ~ Jon . . .
It will be a cold day in hell before I watch anything with that BOOB chuck noris . . .
Let’s keep in mind that Mr. Chuckles (Xtian Family Values posterboy) Norris traded in his wife of 30 years for a younger model.
While not quite the serial divorcer ala Gingrich, Limbaugh, or Landon, Norris certainly epitomizes the hypocrisy of most of the Republican family values crowd.
I think this really goes down as one of the worst campaign gaffes ever. Even if it doesn’t register at a conscious level, this image is burned in voters’ subconscious minds. It’s no surprise that Huckabee finished poorly in NH after this stupid move. To have a third-rate Hollywood actor and his trophy wife behind him during this all-important speech in Iowa completely destroyed his carefully crafted aw-shucks, folksy, family-values shtick. Do his handlers not understand the power of an image?? I couldn’t hear one word Huckabee was saying while I wondered why those two were standing behind him in such a position of prominence. Plus, the blond kept shifting around, which further caught viewers’ attention. Bizarre.