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You know, I've written those words more times than I care to think about. Its not like this is the very first time anyone has ever penned the obituary for the Mike Huckabee's political career, nor is this the last time someone will ever comment on how this situation or that discovery is threatening to drop him off the face of the planet, only to have him rebound spectacularly.
I mean, I'm not that lucky. He will haunt me forever. Because, of course, I love him that much.
This time, its actually a story we've heard before. During his time as governor, Mike Huckabee issued over one thousand pardons and commutations, among them, the Seattle Times notes, was Maurice Clemmons, killed this afternoon after an intense manhunt. Clemmons was sought for questioning in the murder of four Washington police officers.
Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protests of prosecutors.
"This is the day I've been dreading for a long time," Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski County said tonight when informed that Clemmons was being sought for questioning in connection with the killings.
Clemmons' criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.
Carrie Dann of MSNBC, in the wake of the incident, provided a rundown of Huckabee's record, which includes the communtation of Clemmons 95 year sentence as well as the commutation Huck came under fire for during the 2008 campaign: that of Wayne Dumond, who, after having his Arkansas conviction for rape cut short, raped and murdered a woman in Missouri. In that case, as well as in this case, Huckabee ultimately blamed the Arkansas parole board for a lack of oversight, despite seeming to have been involved in both cases.
I would like to say that this will have an effect on his political career because, of course, I am not a fan of Mike Huckabee. Can I articulate exactly why? Probably not. I mean, I'm a fan of Sarah Palin right? Or I was before she got all folksy and neurotic on me and started buying sensible shoes and traveling to the lower 48 states. Now I'm not that much of fan of hers. Mike Huckabee has what Palin has now in spades: he sort of strikes me as the people I don't like all rolled into one. Why do you tell stories about eating squirrel? What is with the Creationism thing? Why do you wear sweaters on television? Maybe its because I live in a Blue State, where we have lots of taxpayer funded fine arts education to rot our brains, but people in my real life don't talk like that. People in 70s educational film strips talk like that. I also get the sense that you're judging me. You don't know me. Unless you can see me through the television, you DON'T KNOW ME. Umm....yeah. Okay.
See what I mean?
Anywhoo, I don't particularly think this will have a long-term effect on his political chances in 2012 because, like Sister Toljah, I sort of tend to believe there weren't any chances to begin with.
Even before this story broke, I didn’t think Huck would have much of a chance of making it beyond the primaries in 2012 – his ambitions as of this point on the subject are unclear – but I think the news of his granting clemency to Clemmons, which some are calling his “Willie Horton moment,” pretty much seals the deal.
He's already stated that he "likes his current job" as a Fox News commentator (seriously, who wouldn't?), and the polls don't show him having much of a shot. According to Bloomberg, people like him only a little more than they like John McCain. And given that the option was John McCain and people picked John McCain over him, I'd say this limited poll was bad news.
But polling only goes so far. Everyone by now knows that Huck has political issues. He has a weird tax policy. He has a weird immigration policy. He has a weird how-Christianity-influences-policy policy. I don't quite know how to describe it, but just like everyone else who runs on the Republican ticket, he has a problem fitting into the Republican mold. But this is where my irrational gut response to Mike Huckabee comes
