Mike Huckabee Wants to Have it Both Ways on the NY-23 Race; Updated

In an article for Morning Call, Josh Drobnyk interviewed Mike Huckabee. One part of the interview stands out:

Q: How do you explain what happened over the weekend in New York's 23rd Congressional District, where the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, a supporter of abortion rights and gay marriage, dropped out of the special election after a revolt by conservatives against her candidacy?

A: The Republican Party is getting a good lesson in where people are. It to me was an affirmation that if Republicans want to win elections and want to get the enthusiasm of not just Republicans but conservatives behind them they've got to have at least some grounding in conservative views. But the other thing that it points out is how [some people] don't understand the intricacies of how politics really work. They want to say that all of the Republicans who either supported Dede or didn't support [Conservative Party candidate] Doug Hoffman, they are cowards. Well, no. In some cases it is that you understand that an independent, third-party candidate doesn't typically win with a three-man race. It only spoils it and gives it to the Democrat.

It certainly looks like The Huckster is trying to have it both ways here. First, he attempts to place himself on the side of the conservative grass roots when he admonishes the Republicans to be grounded in conservative views. I guess he assumes we forgot that, when it mattered, he dissembled incoherently on whether or not he would endorse Doug Hoffman. He said he agreed with Doug Hoffman on the issues, but he couldn't endorse him because he was giving a speech or something. Like Newt Gingrich, he didn’t make the right decision until after Scozzafava withdrew. Better late than never I guess.

Next, Huckabee insults the intelligence of the grass roots, essentially claiming they don’t understand the “intricacies” of elections by implying that if they did possess as deep and cosmopolitan an understanding as he, they would understand why he didn’t get off the fence and support Doug Hoffman when it mattered as Governor Palin did. Apparently he wants us to believe that his inability to make a decision was really an inspired act of principled sophistication and not the gutless waffling portrayed by conservatives.

Finally, Huckabee justifies the Newt Gingrich position with that tired old chestnut that a vote for a third party candidate, such as Doug Hoffman, would “spoil” the race and give it to the Democrat candidate. Is it just me or does his last point contradict his first? Like a typical politician, he tries to please everybody by giving a non-answer designed to do just that. Can anyone imagine Governor Palin giving an answer like that? I know I can’t.

On a lighter note, we’re all familiar with Governor Palin’s sublime smack down of the hopelessly overmatched Joe Biden yesterday. The Vice-President made some characteristically ill-informed comments at a sparsely attended campaign rally for Doug Hoffman’s Democrat opponent. Josh Painter and Gary P have interesting perspectives on the very one-sided affair. One wonders if Joe Biden will ever learn that he doesn't belong in the big leagues. Had it been a boxing match yesterday, the referee would have stopped the fight.

Update by Doug: (H/T jimr3) Brendan Miniter of the Wall Street Journal has more on the NY-23 race and it's impact on establishment Republicans such as Huckabee, Romney, and Gingrich as compared to it's impact on those like Governor Palin who took a principled position:

Amidst the stunning events in New York's 23rd congressional district -- with Republican-turned-independent Doug Hoffman suddenly surging to the front and likely to win today's race -- collateral damage has been suffered by some of the GOP's presidential hopefuls who misread the race and the mood of the Republican electorate.

Mitt Romney -- formerly a man who seemed willing to show up and plug for any Republican anywhere to pick up a few chits -- was nowhere to be seen in the district. Mike Huckabee, a favorite for religious conservatives who demonstrated a gift for gab in last year's Republican presidential primaries, materialized at an event near the district last week but didn't venture into it or speak up for Mr. Hoffman.

Newt Gingrich, though, may have taken the biggest hit to his relevance. He threw his weight behind Dede Scozzafava, the liberal Republican assemblywoman picked to run by local party bosses, just days before a GOP revolt pushed her out of the race. "I felt very deeply that when you have all 11 county chairman voting for someone, that it wasn't appropriate for me to come in and render my judgment," he now says.

[...]

In contrast, pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, the Club for Growth, Fred Thompson and Dick Armey all endorsed Mr. Hoffman. Then there's Sarah Palin, whose endorsement of Mr. Hoffman focused national media attention on the race and seemed to set in motion the collapse of support for Ms. Scozzafava. Lucky or otherwise, Ms. Palin comes out looking like a leader and Mr. Gingrich doesn't.

More here.