It looks like Mike Huckabee is carrying on one of the most favored traditions among liberals: historical revision.
From yesterday's Washington Times, Huckabee tries to explain why he didn't pull off the Republican presidential nomination:
"Rank-and-file evangelicals supported me strongly, but a lot of the leadership did not," the former Arkansas governor says. "Let's face it, if you're not going to be king, the next best thing is to be the kingmaker. And if the person gets there without you, you become less relevant."
This is one "rank-and-file evangelical" who didn't support Huckabee strongly. In fact, I had him pegged for a pro-life liberal back around August or September. And I was far from the only rank-and-filer to realize this.
Ironically, there are a number of evangelical leaders who for whatever reason hopped onboard Huckabee's bandwagon, despite the fact that after abortion and marriage, he was a liberal candidate.
Maybe next time he should run as a conservative Democrat; it's be closer to the majority of his ideology.
Nah, that wouldn't work either. Democrats are almost entirely liberal, and they can't abide a blasphemer to the holy liberal sacraments of abortion and homosexuality. And unlike Republicans, Democrats are smart enough not to support someone who doesn't share their ideological outlook simply because they have the right "D" or "R" after their name.
17 comments:
I think Mr. Huckabee is delusional. If his theory is true how can the "rank and file" be out-numbered by a few leaders? Or, is he claiming the evangelical Christians vote en masse as they are instructed by their pastors and leadership? That would be a first! At least among Southern Baptists, and I supect it's the same with other fundamentalist denominations.
He also claimed to be the ONLY Republican who said the economy was in trouble!
Does the name Ron Paul ring a bell, Huckabee...?
Wrong. Governor Huckabee has the true conservative value in fiscal conduct. He did spend some money in Arkansas, but he also did it in such a way that it returned to the people the funds by vastly improving the infrastructure which vastly improved the Arkansas ecomnomy, made school equitable per a court order, and provided heqalth care for the poor preventing health care crisis by prevention, thsu saving both the humanity of the poor and the use of catastrophuic services of ER's and hospitals. He made 94 tax cuts and his predicessor continued with more. Mike was a blessing to Arkansas and is a constitutionalist. He will not spend money on education from the federal level, as that is a state p\ower and responsibility. Mike is the best to come along since Reagan and maybe better then he.
Mr. Dunn, Huckabee's record on crime, immigration and several other areas is absolutely pathetic.
Please read this and see if you can call him a "true conservative" with a straight face:
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2008/01/is-mike-huckabee-conservative.html
"If his theory is true how can the "rank and file" be out-numbered by a few leaders?"
Huckabee's campaign was built on mid and low level evangelical voters. I agree that some of the "rank and file" did not support him but if you look at the values voter staw polls, Huckabee was getting 50%+ although he got few endorsements from top name evangelicals. He did get a lot of lower and mid level endorsements.
As for Huckabee's conservatism, his record on crime is pretty good. Overall crime rate went down and muders went down quite a bit. His immigration record is not great although he did oppose driver's licenses for illegals. Someone like Hunter is the only one who can claim true conservatism and acceptibility to evangelicals. I think in Huckabee they saw a guy that was more way more conservative than Rudy, McCain, or Romney and that is what helped soften Huckabee's record becauses Huckabee's current positions are sure conservative across the board.
Huckabee is pro-life, pro-family, very strong on the 2nd Amendment, is for making the Bush tax cuts permanent, is a strong proponent of the Fair Tax, is for a border fence and is against amnesty, is for finishing the war in Iraq, is for the death penalty, and turned a debt into a surplus as governor, among other things.
Mike Huckabee is clearly a conservative.
Yes Ken, Huckabee was conservative on everything except crime, national defense, taxes, health care, big government, business, and illegal immigration.
Yep, pretty conservative (if you change the definition of "conservative).
“despite the fact that after abortion and marriage, he was a liberal candidate”.
Please explain to me “after abortion and marriage” what exactly made Huckabee a liberal candidate. Was it:
-A stronger immigration policy which calls for building a border fence and no amnesty for illegals.
-A strong stance on the 2nd amendment and being against any assault weapons ban.
-Winning the war on terror with honor.
-Favoring a tax structure which would cause ALL Americans and especially small business owners to pay LESS in taxes (The Fair Tax).
-A governor who in 10 ½ years CUT taxes 94 times with the tax burden increasing only 0.5% per Arkansas citizen despite a heavily controlled Democratic state Congress and Senate.
-Whose bulk of tax increases in state government came on because they were mandated by the Supreme Court.
It seems you drank the same kool-aid of the “conservative” media and the Romney-backed “Club for Growth”.
When someone lacks the intellectual arguments, they generally turn toward shallow name-calling and labeling. When you actually feel like having an intellectual exchange of ideas, I’ll be ready and waiting.
"Yes Ken, Huckabee was conservative on everything except crime, national defense, taxes, health care, big government, business, and illegal immigration."
No need to change the definition of conservative. Mike is a conservative on all those issues. Myself and others here have already laid out where Mike stands on these issues and you choose to ignore that. Don't just take others word for it, check it out. Take a look at his positions at mikehuckabee.com
Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.
Those of you who profess to live and breathe by the brand of conservatism that puts holding on to money above being aware of the society in which you live and having compassion for those in need, may someday find yourself on the other side of the eqation, needing someone to care and finding no one there.
Many rank and file evangelicals.. the kind that actually know Jesus and how he operated, Know that individuals and society do have an obligation to help the weakest in their midst. remember "alms for the poor" or "look after the widows and orphans"
Any true believer will embrace this aspect of our faith. It is a true wonder to find a politician whocould find the most fiscally reponsible way to do that, in such a way that every member of the community was able to reap prosperity.
For too long there has been a disparity of polar opposites. Democrats say take from the rich to give handouts to the poor. The Republicans say, to hell with the poor, they can be 'individuals' and pull themselves up.
There is a place for someone who can say, we will help you if you help yourself a little too.
Yes Huckabee is a conservative, he's just the face of conservatism 2.0 the brand of conservatism that will be able to bleed support from the progressives and ensure that the GOP and any kind of conservatism have a future.
And if one more conservative resurrects tax raising, amnesty signing Regan as a reason not to support Huckabee, I'll vomit.
You guys need to read your own conservative history books. You have to go back to goldwater to find the kind of purity you're talking about, and that brand of conservatism never had mainstream appeal. the GOP needed a Regan to come in from the cold in national politics.
Enough with the conservatism is god already.
Stephen, you've let Huckabee dupe you--bad!
Anyone who cared to know could have and should have seen the truth about Huckabee a LONG time ago; if you check the archives of this blog, you'll find tons of information that proves Huckabee is a pro-life liberal.
Stronger immigration policy? I wouldn't give you a fake Canadian nickle for what he says on the campaign trail about immigration policy. Look at what he's said and DONE in in the past: opposed immigration raids, promoted in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens, called efforts to deny government benefits to illegal aliens "racist" and "bigoted" and inflammatory and race-baiting."
As for the war on terrorism, he criticized Bush's steadfast determination in the war on terror ("bunker mentality") and said he'd close the terrorist POW camp at Club Gitmo because, oooohhh, some people don't like it. You can't fight a war when you're worried about your supposed allies "not liking" something that is perfectly legitimate.
As for his tax increases, courts can't mandate tax increases. Governors and legislatures aren't obligated to obey illegal orders from a court. That's the job of the legislature to pass and the governor to improve. Blaming the courts for his own weakness isn't leadership.
He buys into this global warming drivel, putting him in the company of Al Gore and other anti-business, anti-Western Leftists.
He bashes business like a professional liberal. Business helped create the enormous prosperity we enjoy in America. If a business has done something illegal, prosecute. Otherwise, his type of whining sounds like a Marxist liberal.
He issued more clemency than six other neighboring states--combined. Several of the recipients of his clemency went on to commit more crimes after they got out of jail. His bad judgment cost Carol Sue Shields and another woman their lives.
One of Huckabee's biggest problems on crime and war is that he fundamentally misunderstands the nature of evil. Christ told us as people to return good for evil in our relationships. But this did not extend to allowing people to escape the legal penalty for their crimes, nor did it extend to allowing a foreign enemy to attack your country.
Huckabee doesn't seem to understand that government has an obligation to protect its citizens from evildoers, both foreign and domestic, as outlined in Romans 13. Huckabee wants to play nice-guy with evil people; if he wants to do that in his personal relationships, that's his business, but as a government leader it's reckless, negligent, and derelict.
By the way, I was not a Romney supporter, either. His opportunistic changes of heart didn't fool me, either. Anyone who believes something a candidate says on the campaign trail when it is different than what he's said or done in the past is dangerously foolish.
Ken, I choose to ignore what a politician tells me on the campaign trail when he needs my vote when it is contradicted by his record.
Why are you so gullible to believe someone who has vehemently opposed efforts to restrict illegal immigration is now suddenly Tom Tancredo's brother? You define calling the denial of taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens "conservative?"
If all someone has to do to get the support of conservatives is wave a banner and say "Hey, I'm conservative (despite my record)" then conservatives deserve to lose because we're stupid to deserve leadership.
You define belief in Al Gore's sci-fi classic global warming as "conservative?"
You define issuing more clemency than six neighboring states COMBINED as "conservative?"
You define bashing business as "conservative?"
You define begging the legislature to tax something, tax anything and then blaming the courts for your own lack of leadership "conservative?"
You call undermining our president's determination in the war on terror as "arrogant bunker mentality" as "conservative?"
You call his ethical lapses for which he was admonished and fined by the ethics commission "conservative?"
How many conservatives have been endorsed by the NEA?
Your definition of "conservative" is a far cry from the one I've known all my life.
Anonymous 10:37, apparently you, like Huckabee and other liberals, have a profound misunderstanding of the proper role of charity and compassion.
I challenge you to point to a single reference from the Bible where we are commanded to use the power of government to take money from one person and give it to another for the purpose of charity.
Christ commanded PEOPLE to help people, not GOVERNMENT to take money from one person and give it to another. There is no blessing for either party in forced "compassion."
In case you haven't noticed the multiple reports over the last couple of years, conservatives and Christians far out-give liberals. Why? They, like the Founders, understand that the proper role for charity and compassion belongs to the private sector, not government. There is no constitutional authority for it; ours is a government of enumerated powers, meaning if the Constitution doesn't authorize it, the government can't (legally) do it.
Consider these statements from the Founders and early statesmen:
A wise and frugal government...shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. – Thomas Jefferson
Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated. - Thomas Jefferson
With respect to the two words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators. – James Madison
I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. – James Madison
Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government. – James Madison
We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. — Congressman Davy Crockett
Conservatives don't advocate "to hell with the poor;" they advocate PEOPLE caring for people, as Christ commanded, not the "legalized plunder" of taking from one person against their will and giving it to another.
Mr. Ellis-Just a few other things to consider...
On immigration, strong immigration advocate Rep. Duncan Hunter and Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist endorsed...Mike Huckabee.
In his 10 1/2 years as governor, 16 death-row sentences were carried out. Wayne Dumond was not offered clemency he was paroled. Dumond was originally sentenced to life w/o parole but it was later reduced to life with parole when a Clinton appointed judge reduced Dummond's sentence.
Also, I believe Huckabee's position on the environment is as a conservationalist, not a environmentalist. We are commanded to be good stewards of the environment. You are right when you say global warming is a bunch of huey.
Much of what Mike Huckabee's tax increases came with a heavily-controlled Democatic House and Senate. He could veto the spending bills and tax increases. However, a Governor's veto power in Arkansas is virtually meaningless as it only takes a simple majority to override.
u" Early on, I had the same impression all of you Huckabashers had: this guy sounds like a Christian socialist. Unfortunately our "leaders" went with the same gut instinct and, because they thought he had no chance, didn't expend the effort to educate themselves and find out he is really quite conservative. Impressions got trotted out as facts, a FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE record got twisted out of context into a horribly ghoulish tax-and-spend fairy tale, and by the time Huckabee showed he did have a chance, their opinions were set in stone.
Some conservative leaders have had the humility to reconsider. Paul Weyrich is a long-time conservative activist and writer, and the leader of the Free Congress Foundation. I have long followed his excellent writings, and as someone familiar with his thought I expected him to recognize Huckabee's positions and potential early on. Instead, he backed Romney. However, recently Paul had the guts to apologize to many of his fellow activists for not backing Huckabee earlier, for hesitating due to the lies and distortions about his record. (http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13894).
(By the way, that article also lends credence to Huckabee's claims that he could have done better if so called Christian "leaders" had gotten behind him earlier. Again, the real historical revisionism comes not from Huckabee, but from Huckabashers and articles like this one.)
Historical revisionism is when you take a man who fought for years against taxes, and even created the Tax Me More Fund to mock liberals who wanted to raise taxes; and nail him as a "big government tax-and-spend liberal" for a tax increase that he had to pass to fund basic state government mandates (AFTER having already made every effort to avoid it by slashing $380 million from the budget). During Huckabee's 10+ year tenure, the state budget grew 50%-- which is supposed to sound horrifying to a conservative. During the same 10 year period, state budgets across the nation grew 98%. I guess people forgot that inflation occurred, wages grew, and the population also grew.
Huckabee's a great leader with great potential-- you have to cut through a lot of false and misleading crap to see it though. He's a great communicator, which is a politician's best weapon. I read some of his speeches to the Democratic legislature in Arkansas, and they are very persuasive. It was with this skill he was able to accomplish so much in a state completely dominated by Democrats. Rated one of the top 5 governors in the nation, he is also a great executive leader. He improved roads significantly, brought Arkansas education ranking from one of the worst in the nation to 8th in the nation, streamlined and reorganized the state government to make it much more accessible to the average citizen, and more.
I know this sounds pointless at this stage in the game, with Huckabee no longer in the game. But historical revisionism needs to be countered. The facts have been horribly distorted about this great man.
Bob Ellis wrote:
"I challenge you to point to a single reference from the Bible where we are commanded to use the power of government to take money from one person and give it to another for the purpose of charity."
In response to your challenge, I challenge you to point out one position Huckabee has taken where he endorses using the government to take money from one person and give it to another in the name of charity.
You are fighting a straw man. You are fighting a figment of your own collective historical revisionist imagination.
Mr Fuller, I'm responding to both your comments here.
For the first one, while Huckabee's record on tax increases is debatable, his record on immigration and border control, and crime and punishment is pathetic beyond serious debate.
He has also illustrated by his comments disparaging the War on Terrorism that he would only make a half-hearted effort and does not understand the nature of evil.
When you throw in other statements and positions, such as his advocacy of man-made global warming solutions and government health care like SCHIP, he's clearly a "pro-life liberal."
As for your second comment, while I'd still appreciate the courtesy of a response on my challenge for even one Biblical reference to support socialism, I'll answer your challenge.
SCHIP. SCHIP is government health care, social spending, taking money from one person and giving it to another. He pushed a state program (ArKidsFirst) like SCHIP in Arkansas and wouldn't back President Bush in his veto of expanded SCHIP legislation.
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