Trailhead

A Very Special Christmas With Mike Huckabee

According to Mike Huckabee’s new ad , Christmas is a time to set aside all the political rhetoric and focus on “what really matters,” i.e., “the celebration of the birth of Christ.” You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a more potent piece of political rhetoric.

Huckabee, clad in a Rudolph-red sweater and standing in front of a lit Christmas tree, says he knows you’re “worn out of all the television commercials you’ve been seeing,” and that it’s time to “pull aside from all that.” It’s a simple, nonpartisan message that will resonate with all Americans, or at least all Americans who matter to Mike Huckabee in Iowa: Merry Christmas. Because on Jan. 3, he’s hoping for a lot more than 10 lords a-leaping.

The best part is he’s looking into the camera for the full 30 seconds, giving you plenty of time to decide whether his right eye is wandering or just slightly larger than the other.

This seems like a good time to credit Mitt Romney for his diligent observance of the Jewish holidays. We’ve seen press releases on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur . But why no menorah-lighting ceremony?

UPDATE 6:12 p.m. : A reader/friend (really, what’s the difference?) sent this along under the subject line, “You are a gentile.”:

1) Every observant Jew knows that Hannukah is totally a minor holiday.Plus, the Jewish communities in the early states aren’t big enough tomatter.
2) Tu’Bshvat– the festival of trees –isJanuary 22, a couple weeks before the mega-Jew communities of NewJersey, Illinois, New York, Florida, and California vote. If Romneycelebrates that he’ll get major street cred.
3) You light a Hannukiah, not a Menorah.Menorahs can last only 7 nights–you need a special candelabra to celebrate the miracle.

I hereby cede all future Romney/Judaism items to our mensch-in-residence, Chad Matlin.