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First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC Political Researcher



Signs of a campaign growth spurt

Posted: Monday, December 10, 2007 5:06 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: , ,

From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
A change in plans for a Huckabee fundraiser in Dallas today: The site had to be moved twice to accommodate a larger-than-expected attendance. Advisors say there just wasn't enough room, so the planned gathering went from a private home, to hotel space and then to a bigger meeting room in that hotel.

Sources say the goal for the fundraiser had been $50,000 to $75,000, but those expectations were upped to $150,000, but sources now say the campaign beat that and the number is closer to $250,000. Sources tell NBC News the Huckabee campaign has spent about $750,000 total.

Now hiring: Senior campaign officials say they are "adding staff almost daily." From a lean team of 45 paid staffers nationwide, Huckabee is adding employees in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. For example, the Iowa organization has been running with 14 paid workers plus as many as 15 to 20 full-time volunteers and more offering help hours at a time. The Iowa organization is expected to grow from 14 to 19 paid staffers this week. The six-person New Hampshire staff and five or six working South Carolina could see extra help with days as well.

Pardon our dust: Higher poll numbers appear to equate to more square footage. Huckabee's one and only office, a downtown Des Moines storefront has doubled in size. In Little Rock, sources say walls were "busted out" and overnight, the space tripled in size.

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This is great news - Glad to hear it! Thanks for the info!
"Pardon our dust: Higher poll numbers appear to equate to more square footage. Huckabee's one and only office, a downtown Des Moines storefront has doubled in size."

I like that title.  But, since it's referring to Huckabee shouldn't it really say "Pardon our rapists and killers."

Here's the letter he wrote.  This isn't a HEADLINE or a PUNDIT writing this is the letter Huckabee wrote:

“Dear Wayne,” Huckabee wrote in a letter to Dumond. “My desire is that you be released from prison. I feel that parole is the best way for your reintroduction to society to take place.”

All the Huckabee followers should enlighten the rest of us what he meant.

If people think it's Christian to allow Rapists and Murderers to run free then so be it.  But, that aint the Christianity I read when I open my Bible.  It must be some other type of Bible I haven't read yet.

Pesonally, I think we should be quaranting the rapists and murderers and not the sick people.
Great news Paster Mike!
Is Huck the new media's darling?  The American public has spoken and he is not our choice to represent us. Huck has no hope, and does not have the financial backing, He will be out of the race before February 2008.
Huckabee's message is clearly resonating with voters as he continues to climb higher than anyone else.

Go Huckabee!
In Huckabee we trust

I LIKE MIKE!
Thank God for Huckabee.  He is the only canidate who is truly inspried from Jesus Christ.  Only he can save us from the seculrists, illegal imagrants, blasphemers, democrats, abortionits, and evoulutionists. Let's pray for a victory.
Tom - Get your facts straight. Yes, the Huckabee letter to Dumond did say, "My desire is that you be released from prison," BUT the part you left out (intentionally?) said, .... "but I have decided to deny your clemency." Huckabee denied clemency for Dumond FOUR TIMES. The parole board paroled Dumond, not Huckabee. Arkansas governors don't/can't parole anybody. Why the twisting of the truth?
Awesome. Thanks for the report. I HEART Huckabee
Tom, the explanation is the same for all of the attacks: context. None of the attacks give any context -- which is what shows they are nothing more than smear tactics.

Here is the context of the letter you quoted: "Dear Wayne, I have reviewed your applications for executive clemency, specifically a commutation and/or pardon. My desire is that you be released from prison. I feel now that parole is the best way for your reintegration into society. Therefore, after careful consideration I have denied your applications."

The letter was actually a denial of pardon or clemency. Parole requires that Dumond would still be supervised, and Gov. Huckabee was communicating that he thought supervision was necessary.
Two great contenders tonight folks

In this corner we have Saint Mike Huckabee a new comer to the fight.  He's showing great ability in his likeability.  On the move.  May have knocked out the nasty below the belt fighter Rudy.

In the other corner we have Holier Than Thou Obama.
He's a skinny little fighter but he has a big old tag team gal who can bring out the crowd on fight night.
Obama is known for his sneaky punches when the ref is looking the other way.  Obama is known for playing the race card to get the audience fired up against his opponent.

It's a great fight night ladies and gentlemen.
The bell's ready to sound
I like Ike....I mean Mike.

Kind of has a ring to it doesn't it.
I believe Mike Huckabee is 'surging' because his vision for America resonates with people who hear him.  

Mike Huckabee addresses difficult problems and offers practical, workable solutions.  He has experience in effectively solving problems as Governor.  He will lead and act in ways that will make us proud to be Americans.
All these freaks are same.


http://www.medicalsupplycorner.com
Thank God for Huckabee.  He is the only canidate who is truly inspried from Jesus Christ.  Only he can save us from the seculrists, illegal imagrants, blasphemers, democrats, abortionits, and evoulutionists. Let's pray for a victory.


Thank god you live in Canada. Guess what, the Democrats have this nation by the balls and we're not letting go to bible thumping bigoted idiots who think the world is only 6000 years old and the dinosaurs and man were on the earth at the same time.

Go ascend into heavpurgahellitory, yeah Christianity is nothing more than a bunch of mythological stories... just like every other religion. Wake up, it's called science.
DO LATTER-DAY SAINTS BELIEVE THAT JESUS AND SATAN ARE BROTHERS?
Glenn W. Cannon
12/12/07

Today in the news the GOP presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, asked the question, “ do Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers?”  This at first glance may seem to be an unfair question designed to cast dispersion against the Latter-Day Saints; however, since Mit Romney opened this subject to discussion a few days earlier, it may be very legitimate, and should be answered, at least in the minds of Christians.  As a way of arriving at an answer, I went to several web sites concerning the Mormons, and found one that seemed to specifically address this issue: http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/JesusSatan.pdf After the introductory remarks, still on page one, we find the following:

Anti-Mormons surely must realize that any knowledgeable student of LDS doctrine will not be shocked by such questions about the relationship between Christ and Satan since they will know the truth: Mormons believe that all of the spirits created by the Father are brothers and sisters, including every human that has ever lived and every angel, whether good or bad.  In order to explain this concept to those new to LDS, we must first lay some groundwork to better understand Christ’s relationship to his Father and to us and to discover how Lucifer came to be Satan.  Latter-Day Saints believe that Christ holds a preeminent position among all pre-existent spirits.  Paul indicates that He was called the “first begotten” by the Father and the angels of God are commanded to worship Him (Heb 1:6). [Michael Hikenbotham, The Foundation for Apologetic Research (FAIR), p 1]

There are eight pages in Hikenbotham’s apology, but in the above foundation statement exist several untruths, enough to totally destroy any further arguments.

“Mormons believe that all of the spirits created by the Father are brothers and sisters, including every human that has ever lived and every angel, whether good or bad.”

Chapter and verse, chapter and verse??  There is ample scriptural evidence that God the Father is a spirit (Jn 4:24), and of a necessity, is His Son, and also the Holy Spirit.  The angels are also spirits and live in a different dimension, a spiritual world that we cannot see, feel, measure, or touch.  The notion that those in the spirit world are all brothers and sisters is not to be substantiated by scripture, so the first LDS premise of this relationship between Christ and Satan is false.

“…we must first lay some groundwork to better understand Christ’s relationship to his Father and to us and to discover how Lucifer came to be Satan.”

There exists a common misunderstanding concerning Lucifer.  Many people think that “Lucifer” is another name for “Satan”; however this is biblically untrue.  The word “Lucifer” only appears once in the Bible, in Isaiah 14:12.  This verse must be placed in context with the whole chapter.  In verse 4, we see that this “proverb” is spoken about the King of Babylon.  In verse 16 we see that the person described in these verses is a “man”, not a spirit.  When one consults a Hebrew lexicon, one discovers that the Hebrew text means “morning star”.  Satan is not mentioned in these passages, and never does any passage in the Bible equate Lucifer with Satan; therefore, this “apology” has in its foundation another myth or untruth.

“Paul indicates that He was called the “first begotten” by the Father and the angels of God are commanded to worship Him (Heb 1:6).”

The LDS understanding of the meaning in Hebrews 1:6 is far from what the Bible teaches.  One basic principle of understanding scripture is to use clearly written and understood texts on a subject to clarify those that may be more obscure, and this is a good example of a neglecting of this principle.  To use the obscure to understand more clear passages is folly, and leads to unsound doctrine. In this case, there exist a number of other very clearly written and understood passages that tell us exactly Jesus’ relationship with his Father:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.   Jn 3:16 MKJV

He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.   Jn 3:18 MKJV

By faith Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered up his only-begotten son,   Heb 11:17 MKJV

In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.   1Jn 4:9 MKJV

It is an inescapable fact these passages are in harmony, and clearly tell us that Jesus is God the Father’s only begotten Son.  Some may then ask, “ what does Heb 1:6 mean?”  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary, first says that this translation from the original Greek is not entirely accurate.  And then he makes this statement:

But when he bringeth again, or the second time, the first-born into the habitable world. This most manifestly refers to his resurrection, which might be properly considered a second incarnation; for as the human soul, as well as the fullness of the Godhead bodily, dwelt in the man, Christ Jesus on and during his incarnation, so when he expired upon the cross, both the Godhead and the human spirit left his dead body; and as on his resurrection these were reunited to his revivified manhood, therefore, with the strictest propriety, does the apostle say that the resurrection was a second bringing of him into the world.

Paul is speaking of the first who has been resurrected after death in the new kingdom, just as we, when we are buried in baptism, are born into the kingdom:

Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.   Jn 3:5 MKJV

Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?  (4)  Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life.  (5)  For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection;                         Rom 6:3-5 MKJV

So we see that, again, another premise in the LDS foundation of brotherhood of all spirits is false.  Satan is God’s creation, and, along with his followers, are disobedient spiritual beings, who eventually will receive eternal punishment (Rev 20:10).  Even the Devil’s angels believe that Jesus is the Son of God and, knowing their eventual fate, shudder (James 2:19).

In conclusion, the false premise that Jesus is brother and sister to all spiritual beings, which includes Satan and man, is founded on a host of untruths.  Yes, we do become God’s adopted children, but only when we obey His commands:

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  (5)  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  (6) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.        Gal 4:4-6 KJV






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