Re: Huckabee won't run
Maybe it would have had he actually launched a campaign. That story, IIRC, didn't come out until long after he left the Governor's Mansion.
Also remember that lines of attack like that work best when they reinforce stereotypes about a candidate or his/her party; ie, when they fit with what a lot of voters already believe to be true. A big reason why the Willie Horton ad was so effective against Michael Dukakis was because Democrats were perceived as being soft and weak on crime. The line of attack therefore made sense to voters.
Would such a line of attack have worked against Huckabee? Maybe in the primary (when the attack came from fellow Republicans) it would have. But had Obama or an outside group used that line of attack in the general election, it would have been a far tougher sell because it would have contradicted with the electorate's stereotypes of both parties.
Bodie_Broadus said:Mike Huckabee let a man, who then went on to kill four police officers, out of prison.
The fact that didn't kill his political career is mindboggling.
Maybe it would have had he actually launched a campaign. That story, IIRC, didn't come out until long after he left the Governor's Mansion.
Also remember that lines of attack like that work best when they reinforce stereotypes about a candidate or his/her party; ie, when they fit with what a lot of voters already believe to be true. A big reason why the Willie Horton ad was so effective against Michael Dukakis was because Democrats were perceived as being soft and weak on crime. The line of attack therefore made sense to voters.
Would such a line of attack have worked against Huckabee? Maybe in the primary (when the attack came from fellow Republicans) it would have. But had Obama or an outside group used that line of attack in the general election, it would have been a far tougher sell because it would have contradicted with the electorate's stereotypes of both parties.