{"id":949,"date":"2009-10-18T11:24:56","date_gmt":"2009-10-18T18:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/?p=949"},"modified":"2009-10-18T11:24:56","modified_gmt":"2009-10-18T18:24:56","slug":"its-who-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/?p=949","title":{"rendered":"It’s Who You Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eg293c-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Big news this weekend is the result of the latest Rasmussen poll<\/a> showing Mike Huckabee leading Mitt Romney in a hypothetical Republican match-up.<\/p>\n

Talking heads and media experts are weighing in with all sorts of theories on how and why this might be happening. Conventional wisdom (whoever that may be) seems to be suggesting that either of these two are the candidates that the left would most like to have at the head of the Republican ticket because, ultimately, they are most beatable, and therefore their rankings are being artificially inflated. Maybe. I can see where that might be the case for MItt Romney. He definitely has a constituency within the Party, but I’m not so sure how large it really is at this point. And I can sure see where the Dems would have a field day attacking him in an election – so yeah – he probably could be the liberals’ favorite candidate. But what about Huckabee? <\/p>\n

I have my own little theory: Since Mike’s been a regular on Fox News with his weekend show, which is fairly well-rated, he’s become a very identifiable quantity. He’s in our living rooms every week – a guest in our homes, as it were. We’ve seen him play his guitar, we’ve heard him ask his guests some questions that we would ask if given the opportunity, and we’ve seen him empathize with celebrities and “real people” in conversations that bring out his warm fuzzy side. His corny humor, silly grin, and balding crown are familiar characteristics in millions of American
\n homes. <\/p>\n

Does it surprise me that Huckabee is leading the Republican pack then? Nope. It makes perfect sense. He’s the guy we know. He stops in every Saturday evening just before dinner and shares a few snicks and grins and a song or two. His show is politics-lite, so we don’t end up too divided by his personal stances on issues. He plays to the center-right. Unlike Glen Beck, he isn’t hammering an agenda that is likely to alienate anybody much. (The White House hasn’t painted a target on his forehead yet – so he’s not the candidate they fear either.) So when the pollster calls, the name of Mike Huckabee is a ready answer. <\/p>\n

Political reality: People vote for the candidate they feel they know best. This is true at every level of politics. I will submit that this is the underlying reality for the success of most incumbent campaigns: Voters feel like they know what to expect from the guy or gal already holding the office, whether or not they really do, and whether or not their own political beliefs mesh. Whether it is more true here in Montana, I can’t tell you for sure, but just look at the way the voters swung between democrats and republicans in this state in the last election: Republican McCain for President, Democrat Schweitzer for Governor, Max for Senate and Denny for House. Trusting the familiar – even if they didn’t always like the person all that much or think he was the best possible candidate. (Have you ever heard anyone – from either side of the aisle – seriously suggest Max Baucus was our best and brightest? Me neither.) <\/p>\n

The moral of this story is one that political candidates and their campaign managers need to take more to heart. It’s NOT about the issues or your position on the issues that will get you elected. It’s about how many people feel they know you. Except for a few who strictly vote party line (about 20% on each side) the majority of people will vote for a person they know – or think they know – rather than a candidate that more closely matches their own political views. You may not like that. And you’re right, that’s not the way to get the best government. But it’s the way it is. Plan your campaigns accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Big news this weekend is the result of the latest Rasmussen poll showing Mike Huckabee leading Mitt Romney in a hypothetical Republican match-up. Talking heads and media experts are weighing in with all sorts of theories on how and why … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Xq4i-fj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions\/955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2helenahandbaskets.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}