The Blue State

SC-2008: Obama and Thompson lead in polls

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.  We're lite on posts today, but we'll be back up to full speed at midnight eastern tonight with the nightowl clips.

Meanwhile, new NBC poll numbers are in from South Carolina, which are great news for Obama and Thompson.  Obama, within the last month, has vaulted ahead of Clinton.  Here are the numbers.  First, the Democrats:

South Carolina Democrats
Barack Obama - 35%
Hillary Clinton - 24%
John Edwards - 12%
Joe Biden - 2%
Undecided - 24%

Now to the Republicans.  Thompson, who is scheduled to announce his run for the White House in July, leads Giuliani, Romney and McCain:

South Carolina Republicans
Fred Thompson - 25%
Rudolph Giuliani - 21%
Mitt Romney - 11%
John McCain - 7%
Mike Huckabee - 5%
Undecided - 28%

Maybe it's not some coincidence that the two candidates on top, Obama and Thompson, are thought of as Washington-outsiders.  People on both sides of the spectrum are sick of business as usual in Washington and want change.

Huckabee's ethical dilemma

Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is considering a run at the presidency.  To help him get the nomination, he has done his best to constantly remind people about his public service record.  Although, when you look behind the scenes, Huckabee has some ethical issues of his own:

Arkansas' Ethics Commission has admonished Huckabee for violationsfive times in 14 years, once for taking money from an organizationwhose donors have never been listed. He jokingly attributed his weightloss to a "concentration camp" diet and once called his state a "bananarepublic."

And last week, he lashed out after reporters questioned wedding-giftregistries set up to furnish Huckabee's new $525,000 home in NorthLittle Rock. Friends this fall set up the accounts for Huckabee and hiswife Janet, who have been married since 1974.

Not that this makes him any different from any other powerful GOP figure that uses politics as a stepping stone to build personal wealth.  When it comes to being in a position of public trust, people like Huckabee picked the wrong career.