Bring on Huckabee? A new CNN Poll shows he would lose by double digits in a general election.

In head-to-head matchups -- the first to include Huckabee -- the former Arkansas governor loses to Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York by 10 percentage points (54 percent to 44 percent), to Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois by 15 points (55 percent to 40 percent) and to former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina by 25 points (60 percent to 35 percent).

Edwards does the best against all Republicans.

On the Democratic side, Edwards performs best against each of the leading Republicans. In addition to beating Huckabee by 25 percent and McCain by 8 percent, the North Carolina Democrat beats Romney by 22 percentage points (59 percent to 37 percent).

CNN's polling director Keating Holling says: [More]

If Big Tent Democrat were here (he's still on vacation) he would be writing about these posts.

• Digby: Partisan Soljahs on the Obama-Krugman flap.

• Eriposte at Left Coaster:

I have seen enough of Sen. Obama's supposed "post-partisan" non-ideology in action to know that, while he will certainly be better than any Republican as President, he is definitely not my #1 choice in the Democratic primary. I have deep concerns about what an Obama administration would be like - one that will likely be interested in compromise as an end in itself, while repeatedly ditching the progressive netroots as he has been inclined to do already (even before winning), when his soaring rhetoric meets the reality of the not-so-soaring ideology of Congress and the Republican Noise Machine. It is probably the expectation of this dynamic, along with Sen. Obama's willingness to repeatedly throw progressives under the bus, that has Obama supporters like Andrew Sullivan - who once infamously tarred swaths of the left in this country as a fifth column - energized and welcoming of his candidacy.

• DpAndrews at MyDD: Obama has Republicans Licking Their Chops

A new New York Times/CBS Poll taken Dec. 5 to 9 finds Hillary Clinton maintaining her lead nationally over Barack Obama. But what about Oprah?

Forty-four percent of Democrats said Mr. Clinton’s involvement would make them more likely to support Mrs. Clinton. The poll found just 1 percent said they might be swayed by the involvement of Oprah Winfrey.

More results:

• Democrats are happier with their candidates than Republicans.

• Demorats view Hillary "as a far more electable candidate" than Obama or Edwards in November.

  63 percent of Democrats said they thought Mrs. Clinton has the best chance of all the Democrats in a general election, compared with 14 percent who named Mr. Obama and 10 percent for Mr. Edwards.

  .... Not only did substantially more Democratic voters judge her to be ready for the presidency than those who believed Mr. Obama is prepared for the job, the poll found, but more Democrats said Mrs. Clinton could bring the country together than those who said Mr. Obama was someone who could unite different groups.

More...

Jane of Firedoglake talked me into it. I'll be joining her and other bloggers in Des Moines from December 31 through January 4 to cover the Iowa caucuses being held Jan. 3.

The race is so close between Hillary, Obama and Edwards that it's just too exciting not to be there personally and analyze the dynamics, the mood, the goings-on and the last minute efforts of the candidates to get out the vote.

If you are able to send a few bucks TalkLeft's way for expenses (or even just for holiday cheer) that would be very appreciated.

Last week I predicted at the end of this post that Wayne Dumond would be only one of former Governor Mike Huckabee's pardon decisions to come back and bite him. The AP today reports on some of the others:

Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations in his 10 1/2 years as governor of Arkansas. The acts of clemency benefited the stepson of a staff member, murderers who worked at the governor's mansion, a rock star and inmates who received good words from their pastors.

As one Arkansas prosecutor put it, "It seems to be true at least anecdotally that if a minister is involved, (Huckabee) seems likely to grant clemency." Others say the key was either having "direct contact" with him or a strong lobbying effort by those close to the inmate.

The rock star, of course, was Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. No big deal there. As to the others: [More....]

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been very clear about what his message is -- hope, change and optimism. That's all very nice, but for a lot of us, it doesn't tell us what we want to know: where does he stand on issues and what does he propose to do about them if elected President? What's his voting record?

Enter Eriposte at Left Coaster. He's done an incredible analysis by assembling Obama's past statements and voting records on 13 issues.

His objective was to find out if Obama is a triangulator (and, he finds, he is) but it's also very revealing about where he stands on issues and whether he will follow through.

First, what's a triangulator? Wikipedia says:

Triangulation is the act of a candidate presenting his or her ideology as being "above" and "between" the left and right sides of the political spectrum. It involves adopting for oneself some of the ideas of one's political opponent. The logic behind it is that it not only takes good ideas away from your opponent, but that it insulates you from attacks on that particular issue. It is a tactic commonly used in third way politics.

While Eriposte was out to see if Obama was a bigger triangulator than Hillary (turns out, he is) his findings are very instructive on where Obama stands on issues, and whether he's been forthright in the campaign about his stances.

More...

Newsweek has a feature article on Mike Huckabee's wife, Janet. If he gets the Republican nomination, she may add some spice to the race. Two snippets, the first is how she's remembered in Arkansas:

There, Janet Huckabee, 52, has long been known as a straight-talking, independent-minded good ole gal with a daredevil streak and a passion for the outdoors. Dubbed the "First Tomboy" when her husband was governor, she tracked bears, hunted rattlesnakes, fired a grenade launcher and jumped out of an airplane. To promote a conservation sales tax, she jet-skied down the length of the Arkansas River— a stunt that helped earn her a spot in the state's Outdoor Hall of Fame. She often charmed local residents with her exploits, though she could also alienate them when her plain-spoken style veered into irascibility and crassness. "Janet is going to tell you what she thinks," says longtime friend Anita McCauley Murrell. "She is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of person."

The second is less favorable, concerning her 2002 failed run for Arkansas Secretary of State: [More...]

Andrew Young, former U.N. Ambassador, "civil rights icon" and Martin Luther King "lieutenant" says Barack Obama is not ready to be President.

In an interview posted online, Young also quipped that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has her husband behind her, and that "Bill is every bit as black as Barack."

....I want Barack Obama to be president," Young said, pausing for effect, "in 2016." "It's not a matter of being inexperienced. It's a matter of being young," Young said. "There's a certain level of maturity ... you've got to learn to take a certain amount of (expletive)."

The interview, on Newsmakers Live, is most likely a few months old. You can watch here. Another snippet:

"There are more black people that Bill and Hillary lean on," Young said. "You cannot be president alone. ... To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion. His time will come and the world will be ready for a visionary leadership."

Here's a CNN clip of Oprah and Obama.

Oprah Winfrey in Des Moines, Iowa today:

"Over the years, I have voted for as many Republicans as I have Democrats," Winfrey said — one line that didn't draw applause in the partisan crowd. "This isn't about partisanship for me. This is very, very personal. I'm here because of my personal conviction about Barack Obama and what I know he can do for America."

Obama on Oprah:

"You want Oprah as vice president?" he asked the crowd that responded with enthusiastic cheers. "That would be a demotion, you understand that?"

The Obama campaign gave out 23,00 tickets to the event. It said 18,500 people attended.

Obama spoke after Winfrey, and acknowledged that he was under no illusions that the crowd was there to hear him. Indeed, some people left during his speech, although the majority stuck around to hear him.

The New York Times puts attendance at "more than 10,000 screaming admirers." Oprah spoke for 17 minutes and as to why Obama should be President, said: [More...]

The AP has an exclusive report that Mike Huckabee's response to the AIDS epidemic in 1992 was to oppose federal funding for research and advocate isolating AIDS patients:

As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," Huckabee wrote.

Huckabee also said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk.".

I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."

On funding AIDS research he wrote: [More...]

Sam Stein at Huffington Post has a new article on Mike Huckabee and the parole of Arkansas rapist Wayne Dumond. Shorter version: He succumbed to the anti-Clinton zealots.

The individuals who served on Arkansas' parole board recounted a similar Huckabee mindset. And Butch Reeves, the governor's top aide, told the Huffington Post on Wednesday that, contrary to his now former boss's claims, Huckabee lobbied the parole board to reverse its previous rejection. Huckabee has said that in supporting Dumond's parole he was merely following the judgment of the board. But just one month earlier the board had voted 4-to-1 against Dumond's parole

By that point in time, those who have followed the case claim, Huckabee was convinced both of Dumond's rehabilitation in prison and of his victimhood at the hands of the Clinton machine. Throughout the case, they claim, Huckabee exhibited poor judgment and a lack of political skill.

Stein interviewed Dumond's lawyer, John Wesley Hall (who contributes to TalkLeft as Last Night in Little Rock) about whether he ever met with Huckabee. The answer is no.

More...

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman criticizes Barack Obama's health care plan as inferior to those proposed by Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. He also writes that Obama's response to those who point out its deficiencies, particularly in its lack of a universal health care mandate which would require health insurance for everyone, is one that will come back to hurt Americans, by fortifying Republican opposition, should he become President.

[L]ately Mr. Obama has been stressing his differences with his rivals by attacking their plans from the right — which means that he has been giving credence to false talking points that will be used against any Democratic health care plan a couple of years from now.

....Mr. Obama is storing up trouble for health reformers by suggesting that there is something nasty about plans that “force every American to buy health care.”

....My main concern right now is with Mr. Obama’s rhetoric: by echoing the talking points of those who oppose any form of universal health care, he’s making the task of any future president who tries to deliver universal care considerably more difficult.

After discussing why Obama is wrong to oppose a mandate and universal health care, he concludes:

More...