GOP Debate in Iowa Today

UPDATE: Who does this remind you of? (Parsing words--an Arkansan from Hope.) NBC investigates Huckabee's Ethical Shortcomings. Video: The last debate before the Iowa caucuses. I'll be singing in a Christmas concert, so will have to watch the reruns--starts at 1 PM Central (Dems tomorrow, same time as I understand) Available on CNN (tho why would you watch it on the Clowns for a "News" Network) C-SPAN3, Fox News Channel, C-SPAN Radio and Fox News Radio.

Tom Bevan, RCP Blog with what you need to know pre-debate. NR has endorsed Romney. Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol here.

UPDATE: So far Huckabee has skated through on quick quips, with no serious examination of his record. (And a manipulative, mean-spirited use of religion that is over the line in my view) Powerline with more on his record. (Note the Leftie Dem Huffington Post will press this attack relentlessly should Huckabee win the GOP nomination, and with good reason.):

The Huffington Post has released additional documents from then-Governor Huckabee's file on Wayne Dumond, the rapist Huckabee concluded should be released from prison and who, after he was released, committed murder. Our friend Byron York, who has been and remains critical of some of the attacks directed at Huckabee over the Dumond affair, has reviewed the documents. He concludes that Huckabee has a lot to explain.

I'll say. The file was provided to Gov. Huckabee by a staffer who didn’t agree with Huckabee’s view that Dumond should be freed (it is this staffer, I understand, who provided the documents that appear on the Huffington Post). The file contains 12 letters written by eight different women, three of whom reported being raped or sexually assaulted by Dumond. It also includes an affidavit provided by the Arkansas state police in which Dumond confessed to a rape for which he was never charged. Thus, far from being a victim of the criminal justice system, there was good reason to believe that Dumond had committed crimes for which he was not serving time. Why Huckabee thought Dumond had gotten a “raw deal” is beyond me, and Huckabee has failed to provide a plausible explanation.

Then, there's the issue of whether Huckabee has been honest in his statements about the Dumond affair.

Read on at Powerline.

UPDATE: Huckabee stole his new immigration plan? Info here.

UPDATE: Huckabee closing on Giuliani nationally, so their implicit truce with each other (to take out Romney) may be at an end. Look for possible attack from Giuliani today.

UPDATE: More on that NY Times interview to be published this Sunday. Huckabee is a nasty piece of work. AP:

Huckabee maintains that his question in the interview was taken out of context. A statement from his campaign said the full context of the exchange shows Huckabee illustrating his unwillingness to answer questions about Mormonism and theological issues.

"Governor Huckabee has said consistently that he believes this campaign should center on a discussion of the important issues confronting our nation and not focus on questions of religious belief," said Charmaine Yoest, a senior adviser.

But Huckabee's campaign did not provide more information about the exchange, which the magazine reported this way in the article by Zev Chafets: "I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. 'I think it's a religion,' he said. 'I really don't know much about it.'

"I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: 'Don't Mormons,' he asked in an innocent voice, 'believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"