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The successes of Mike Huckabee and Hillary Clinton in their respective primaries raises a question that is the subject of this week´s Friday Look: What is it about Arkansas?
Mike Huckabee´s political talent was honed on the pulpit. He began as a small town minister and aspiring televangelist. He tended to several Southern Baptist churches and started two Christian television stations. He developed skills that would translate well to the stump such as speaking in metaphors, tapping into the populist sentiment of his audiences, and comfortable body language.
In 1989, he started his political career when he was elected President of the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention. Three years later he lost a race for U.S. Senate, but then won election as Lt. Governor in 1994. Two years later, in the midst of the Whitewater scandal and his predecessors´ resignation, he was elevated to Governor of Arkansas. He served in that position for ten years before beginning his current campaign for the Presidency.
The Huckabee spin machine is equally impressive. The press seems to genuinely enjoy Huckabee´s company; and he seems to get a free pass from them sometimes. His appearances on late-night talk shows like Jay Leno and Stephen Colbert revealed not only a witty and personable side of him; but also humility.
In the meantime, his surrogates like Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman and Campaign Chairman Ed Rollins explain his message and drive their negative message of the day against one of their opponents. It has proven to be an effective one-two punch that has gotten Huckabee this far.
Hillary Clinton´s raw political talent was developed at Wellesley and her time working on Capitol Hill. At Wellesley she served as President of the Young Republicans and then President of the College Government Association. She then interned at the House Republican Caucus in Washington, DC; before working on the presidential primary campaign of Nelson Rockefeller who was running for the Republican nomination.
After Rockefeller lost the nomination, she left the Republican Party for good and returned to Wellesley. Upon graduating, she was chosen to deliver the commencement address in which she criticized Republican U.S. Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts who had spoken right before her.
The current Clinton spin machine was first developed during the years of the Clinton presidency. After getting elected in 1992, the Clinton spin machine fresh from Little Rock went to work. First they sold his Clinton´s controversial campaign promise of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military. The resulting legislation was "Don´t Ask, Don´t Tell." They next tackled gun control passing the Brady Bill that required a five day waiting period on handgun purchases. However, while Clinton proved adroit at achieving political compromise; the policies proved to be politically disastrous. The 1994 midterms resulted in the Republican Revolution and the Democrats losing both the House and the Senate.
But Clinton bounced back and began continuous polling of Americans to "listen" to where Americans stood on the issues. Triangulation was born and Clinton won reelection. As the 1998 midterms approached, the spin machine found itself attempting to weather allegations of lewd conduct in the Oval Office by the President. While they were fairly successful, gaining seat in the 1998 midterms, the whole episode ended in Clinton´s impeachment.
Following impeachment; the spin machine went back to work. The Clinton surrogates took to the national talk shows selling the whole impeachment process as rapid Republican partisanship. While that was not likely a selling point to the Senators who voted against removing him from office; it went a long way towards salvaging his reputation among the American people.
The second iteration of the Clinton machine utilizes many of these techniques developed during impeachment. On the stump or under examination, Hillary sticks to her guns. She does not speak of sexual relations, but rather the working class and specific policy proposals.
Off the stump, Clinton surrogates take to the national talk shows driving a separate, often negative message. The latest example was the comments by Congressman Bob Johnson about Barack Obama that got the national media talking about race for days.
Mike Huckabee´s political talent was honed on the pulpit. He began as a small town minister and aspiring televangelist. He tended to several Southern Baptist churches and started two Christian television stations. He developed skills that would translate well to the stump such as speaking in metaphors, tapping into the populist sentiment of his audiences, and comfortable body language.
In 1989, he started his political career when he was elected President of the Arkansas Southern Baptist Convention. Three years later he lost a race for U.S. Senate, but then won election as Lt. Governor in 1994. Two years later, in the midst of the Whitewater scandal and his predecessors´ resignation, he was elevated to Governor of Arkansas. He served in that position for ten years before beginning his current campaign for the Presidency.
The Huckabee spin machine is equally impressive. The press seems to genuinely enjoy Huckabee´s company; and he seems to get a free pass from them sometimes. His appearances on late-night talk shows like Jay Leno and Stephen Colbert revealed not only a witty and personable side of him; but also humility.
In the meantime, his surrogates like Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman and Campaign Chairman Ed Rollins explain his message and drive their negative message of the day against one of their opponents. It has proven to be an effective one-two punch that has gotten Huckabee this far.
Hillary Clinton´s raw political talent was developed at Wellesley and her time working on Capitol Hill. At Wellesley she served as President of the Young Republicans and then President of the College Government Association. She then interned at the House Republican Caucus in Washington, DC; before working on the presidential primary campaign of Nelson Rockefeller who was running for the Republican nomination.
After Rockefeller lost the nomination, she left the Republican Party for good and returned to Wellesley. Upon graduating, she was chosen to deliver the commencement address in which she criticized Republican U.S. Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts who had spoken right before her.
The current Clinton spin machine was first developed during the years of the Clinton presidency. After getting elected in 1992, the Clinton spin machine fresh from Little Rock went to work. First they sold his Clinton´s controversial campaign promise of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military. The resulting legislation was "Don´t Ask, Don´t Tell." They next tackled gun control passing the Brady Bill that required a five day waiting period on handgun purchases. However, while Clinton proved adroit at achieving political compromise; the policies proved to be politically disastrous. The 1994 midterms resulted in the Republican Revolution and the Democrats losing both the House and the Senate.
But Clinton bounced back and began continuous polling of Americans to "listen" to where Americans stood on the issues. Triangulation was born and Clinton won reelection. As the 1998 midterms approached, the spin machine found itself attempting to weather allegations of lewd conduct in the Oval Office by the President. While they were fairly successful, gaining seat in the 1998 midterms, the whole episode ended in Clinton´s impeachment.
Following impeachment; the spin machine went back to work. The Clinton surrogates took to the national talk shows selling the whole impeachment process as rapid Republican partisanship. While that was not likely a selling point to the Senators who voted against removing him from office; it went a long way towards salvaging his reputation among the American people.
The second iteration of the Clinton machine utilizes many of these techniques developed during impeachment. On the stump or under examination, Hillary sticks to her guns. She does not speak of sexual relations, but rather the working class and specific policy proposals.
Off the stump, Clinton surrogates take to the national talk shows driving a separate, often negative message. The latest example was the comments by Congressman Bob Johnson about Barack Obama that got the national media talking about race for days.
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