Brother Huck in Washington State

People who have read my posts recently know I'm no fan of Brother Huck. But when you see what brazen nonsense the Washington Republican Party pulled on him Saturday, we do have to ask what the Huck is going on. Josh Marshall and the folks at TPM are on the story, e.g., WTF? 02/10/08; Huckabee: "Weird Things" Going On 02/10/08; Doin' The Best We Can! 02/11/08.

The basic story is, with 87% of the precincts counted, the bold Maverick had a small lead over Bro. Huck. So the state Republican Party chair, Luke Esser, just declared the Straight Talker to be the winner. Josh Marshall writes:

In terms of consequence, Bush v. Gore it ain't. This is a relatively small contest in a nomination campaign that appears to be over. But this is something you'd expect either from Soviet history or a farcical passage in a Faulkner novel. And let's not forget the context. Huckabee starts the day with a blowout win in Kansas. That evening he gets the largest number of votes in Louisiana. Then in the third contest he's neck and neck with John McCain and looks like he may win all three contests of the day - a shut-out for the all-but-declared nominee. Then as it's going down to the wire, the head of the state party decides he's seen enough and calls it for McCain.

I always appreciate a Faulkner reference but, hey, come on: Faulkner wouldn't have used plot device that dumb!

A TPM reader wrote them, "Nice to know the Repubs have progressed from 2000 where they refused to count Democratic votes, to 2008 where they are now refusing to count their own votes." It reminded me of the Republican debate two weeks ago, where the Maverick and Romney sat there like two Delta plantation owners smirking smugly at the Huck and Ron Paul when they were talking. They seemed to think they were just tolerating annoying eccentrics. (Which Paul is, but that's another story.)

Tags: mccain, mike huckabee, william faulkner

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