Dear Governor Huckabee:

Let me tell you how proud I am of the Iowa victory. When I decided to support your campaign in early August, the thought of actually winning the opening contest of the ‘08 election seemed little more than wishful thinking. Back then, being able to drop a few hundred dollars in the bucket meant a lot to me, and I know it meant a lot to the campaign. Many of us were contributing to a Presidential campaign for the first time ever. We were inspired by your words, your demeanor, and the optimistic message that you are able to deliver. And, after a tremendous effort by your and your family, and Chip and Chris and the rest of the blog-swarm that rose to your defense in the face of some pretty vicious attacks, we find ourselves on the brink of something pretty special. Exciting times, indeed.

Now that the probability of actually getting the nomination has increased, it is time for some straight talk (sorry Maverick).

We Republicans are the national security party. We read Totten, and Yon, and keep ourselves highly informed on THE issue of our times: the threat to Western civilization posed by the convergence of islamic jihadism with activists in the international radical left. We don’t need a program to know the players, and frankly Governor, your apparent weakness in military and foreign policy matters is causing my spidey senses to tingle. I don’t presume to speak for anyone but myself, but I do believe that regardless of where we find ourselves on the conservative coalition continuum, it is the protection and security of the Republic that is our uppermost concern.

A portion of your stump speech is dedicated to issues on which you are unwilling to compromise. I respect that. But, some of your recent answers to serious national security and foreign policy issues have raised more questions than they have answered. Like it or not, it is the role of Commander In Chief that will dominate the waking hours of our next President. While assessing and recognizing personal limitations is not a sign of weakness, giving on-the-fly responses to serious issues of the day IS.

I am comfortable with your political instincts. Even with the lack of big money donors, you’ve shown how to make a grassroots campaign more than just a pipe dream for those of us in the Right blogosphere. You’ve got a real shot. Reaching out to the rest of the conservative coalition will only be successful if you are credible on national security.

Finally, on a minor point, stop gigging the fiscons. I know they’ve acted like real jerks, but the fact is, they really don’t want to see another Southerner in the White House for a while. Otherwise, they would be lined up 10-deep behind Fred Thompson. They’ll either come around, or they won’t. I’m guessing they will, eventually. So, leave the snark to the blogswarm. We live for that stuff.

Sincerely,

Nuke

P.S. : If you really want to gig someone, then gig the Donks. Just start a rumor that you’re planning on asking Dick Cheney to be your Vice President. They will go abso-freakin-lutely nuts. Heh™

Nuke Gingrich is my nom de guerre. It is fictitious, and not related to any living person (or any dead person either, for that matter).