National Review Online, Jim Geraghty
Huckabee, Fluent in the NRA's Language
Fred wowed 'em, the crowd loved McCain's rejoinder to the Code Pink protester, Mitt Romney's video went over well, and Rudy Giuliani earned their respect. But the guy who absolutely looked the most at home before the NRA today was probably Mike Huckabee.
Fred wowed 'em, the crowd loved McCain's rejoinder to the Code Pink protester, Mitt Romney's video went over well, and Rudy Giuliani earned their respect. But the guy who absolutely looked the most at home before the NRA today was probably Mike Huckabee.
Beginning with a jab at Rosie O'Donnell, and saying that because he was underdressed, he felt "as out of place as George Soros at an American Legion post", Huckabee used humor and homespun anecdotes to prove his bona fides as "one of them."
The American Spectator
Mike Huckabee just gave a masterful performance at the NRA conference, not only taking jabs at his opponents on gun rights and asserting his support for the Second Amendment, but doing it with good humor. Although he didn't put it in these words, the underlying message of his speech 
was: "I'm one of you."
was: "I'm one of you."He took aim at both Rudy and Romney when he suggested to the audience that they should "look at past behavior" to get a credible idea of whether you can believe candidates and understand their future performance. In obvious jabs at Romney, he said of the NRA that "I didn't just join last year," and pointed out that when politicians bring up the issue of hunting when talking about gun rights it's obvious that they don't understand gun rights. He said he was a hunter himself "not just 50 years ago"--again, another jab at Romney. Then he followed the rule of show, don't tell--recounting his own stories hunting ducks, turkey, and antelope. He demonstrated his knowledge by referring to the details of the specific guns he was using. But he said the Second Amendment was about a lot more, including people's right to defend themselves. Also, he got sentimental, talking about how fathers hand firearms down to to their sons. He has a rustly old gun, that his father gave him, and it brings back a lot of childhood memories. "I can't see a father saying, 'Son, when I die, I'm going to give you my Playstation,'" he joked, generating laughs.
