Huckabee Gains Momentum

During the last few weeks, Gov. Huckabee has been gaining a lot of political ground. Here's a brief synopsis:

1. He won the on site straw poll of the Value Voter's Summit by a landslide (51% of votes for Huckabee, second place was Romney with about 10%). The speech he gave at the Summit was dynamic.
   
2. His performance at the GOP debate hosted by FOX left people wanting to hear more.
3. After the Values Voter Summit, and the debate, his fund-raising has skyrocketed. In the month of October, Gov. Huckabee has raised more money through ONLINE donations, than he raised through all sources during the entire last quarter.
4. Polling data in Iowa shows Huckabee in statistical tie with Thompson for second place, behind Romney.
5. Nationwide polling by Rasmussen shows Huckabee tied for third place with 13%, officially placing Huckabee in the "top tier" of candidates.
6. Some articles attacking Huckabee have surfaced. The attacks seem to be centered on whether he is a true fiscal conservative. As a pastor, I endeavor to take great care to use the Scripture texts in context during my sermons. It appears that many of those writing about the tax hikes in Arkansas are not putting the Governor's record in context. One tax was a referendum voted upon by the citizens ... they voted to impose a tax increase upon themselves to improve their roads. Another tax hike was mandated by the Arkansas State Supreme Court. The Governor did manage to get many tax cuts through a Democratic controlled State Legislature. As I read some articles questioning Huckabee's record, I was reminded of the statement the Governor had made, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, finally they swear you in." Three down, one to go!
7. Finally, some claim that Huckabee is not electable, because they don't think he can defeat Hillary. This weekend, during a speech in Iowa, Gov. Huckabee claimed to be the best candidate to beat Clinton because he had confronted "the Clinton political machine" in their home state and won. "I know about Hillary and Bill Clinton's political machine in Arkansas more than any other man running for president," Huckabee said. "I didn't just win once, not twice, not three times but four times in an election against the Clinton political machine. Bill Clinton and Hillary campaigned against me every time I ever won." (from FOX News article)
   

I believe the next Republican debate is scheduled for November 6th. Mark your calendar, and do your best to tune in, and make an informed decision before you vote in the primaries in 2008.

Look What's Missing!

Saturday was a monumental day in Alayna's life. She lost her first tooth. Ever since it became wiggly, she's been soooo excited. She even had trouble getting to sleep, hoping and waiting for it to come out. She would go in the bathroom, climb up on the sink, and wiggle her tooth back and forth. Finally it came out, and she gave us hugs and the BIGGEST smile I think I have ever seen

Josiah's Bedroom

We had been putting off finishing Josiah's bedroom for a while because we were a bit overwhelmed with the idea of putting up the border. After talking to Esther's sister, we decided we could do it ... and it wasn't that bad after all! Here are some pictures of the finished product.

No, It's Not a Fire .... It's a Sunset

We were eating supper the other night, and saw shades of the sunset out the window facing North. We looked out the West window in our kitchen, and we were treated with this absolutely beautiful sky.

Go West, Young Lady!

In her Heritage Studies lessons, Melanie was learning about the early American settlers moving West. She really enjoyed making a covered wagon out of a shoe box.

Napping Josiah

Why are sleeping children always so cute?

Life Chain

This year, our church participated in Life Chain, a nationwide event where churches throughout a community line select sidewalks and prayerfully stand, holding signs that show support for the sanctity of human life. It was a very positive experience, with many vehicles honking their support as they drove by. Below are some pictures of the kids, as you can see, Josiah even got involved.

As we were standing there, I noticed two men walking up the street with a clipboard and a roll of stickers. As they came closer, I saw that they were campaign workers for Mitt Romney. They approached me saying, "Do you know that Mitt Romney is and always has been pro-life?" I replied, "No he hasn't." The guy looked shocked and said some gibberish about never signing any pro-choice legislation while serving as Governor of MA. I wasn't standing there to participate in a political debate, so I didn't reply. Anyway, I wrote the following and sent it in to our local newspaper this evening.

Dear Editor,

This afternoon, my family had the privilege of standing on West Avenue for an hour quietly showing our support for the life of the unborn. I was shocked, frustrated, and greatly disappointed when two campaign workers from the Mitt Romney for President campaign came walking down the sidewalk offering literature and stickers to the Life Chain participants. I felt this was entirely inappropriate for the following reasons:

1. The Life Chain is NOT a political event. It is a time or prayer and peaceful public witness by churches throughout the community to show our support for the sanctity of life. To cheapen this event by sending campaign workers to solicit votes is disgraceful.
2. To add insult to injury, the campaign workers were saying, "Mitt Romney is and always has been pro-life." The truth is that Gov. Romney campaigned on a pro-choice platform before becoming Governor of MA. He has recently flip-flopped his position. It appears that this is an effort to gather support from pro-lifers who may not have tuned in to the political process yet.

If the local Romney campaign has any honor and integrity, they will apologize for exploiting an event planned for the noble purpose of expressing the value of life for cheap political gain.

First Leaf Pile of Autumn

Melanie, Alayna, and Josiah raked up some leaves in a pile, then enjoyed sliding into them!

New Wall Decoration

For the last couple weeks, Josiah has been on Albuterol and Pulmicort to help with some asthma type issues. These medicines make him want to throw things. I can understand throwing balls, but it seems that anything he gets his hands on goes flying through the air -- even spaghetti noodles! A couple days ago, we made the mistake of leaving him at the dining room table by himself to finish his spaghetti. It was quiet for a while, and when we looked in to check on him, this is what we found. He was told that he would have to help mommy clean up the mess, so he replied, "OK. You get the sweeper, I'll get the dustpan."

Huckabee wins Hilling Highlights Straw Poll

In one month's time, 28 visitors to this blog cast a vote for their favorite 2008 Presidential Candidate. Here are the results:

Mike Huckabee . . 12 votes (42%)
Ron Paul . . . . . . . . 6 votes (21%)
Fred Thompson . . 6 votes (21%)
Mitt Romney . . . . 2 votes (7%)
Hillary Clinton . . . 2 votes (7%)

Congratulations to Gov. Huckabee, as the clear winner of this unscientific poll (margin of error +/- 95%). Seriously though, citizens in states with early primaries are starting to like what Mike is saying. While the "top tier" candidates have been absent from the last two debates, Gov. Huckabee has been gaining ground. Click on the Mike Huckabee banner on the right column of this blog, to learn more about his positions on key issues. I like what I've seen and heard!