The Huckabee Factor
For me at least, Mike Huckabee is probably the least objectionable of the Republican candidates. Given that Huckabee is on record calling for the quarantining of AIDS patients, this only highlights the extremely poor quality of his fellow Republican candidates. But is the Republican establishment, founded as it is on support for big business and the military, ready for somebody like Huckabee? In other words, would a Huckabee candidacy expose the shallowness of the official support for “social conservatism” in these circles?
And there is indeed a great deal of growing discontent with Huckabee, over at the National Review among other places (is it because he is not a zealous torture supporter?) Over to Kevin Drum:
“As with blogosphere conservatives, mainstream conservatives are mostly urban sophisticates with a libertarian bent, not rural evangelicals with a social conservative bent. They’re happy to talk up NASCAR and pickup trucks in public, but in real life they mostly couldn’t care less about either. Ditto for opposing abortion and the odd bit of gay bashing via proxy. But when it comes to Ten Commandments monuments and end times eschatology, they shiver inside just like any mainstream liberal. The only difference is that usually they keep their shivering to themselves because they want to keep everyone in the big tent happy.
But then along comes Huckabee, and guess what? He’s the real deal. Not a guy like George Bush or Ronald Reagan, who talks a soothing game to the snake handlers but then turns around and spends his actual political capital on tax cuts, foreign wars, and deregulating big corporations. Huckabee, it turns out, isn’t just giving lip service to evangelicals, he actually believes all that stuff….. I think this brand of yahooism puts off mainstream urban conservatives every bit as much as it does mainstream urban liberals. They’re afraid that this time, it’s not just a line of patter to keep the yokels in line.”
Drum has a point.
Quarentining is established policy for several communicable diseases. Back when the AIDS epidemic first came out, people were afraid they might contract AIDS from sitting on the same toilet bowl as a person who had AIDS or from French kissing. Such a view seems silly in retrospect. Of course the view that one is equally at risk of contracting the AIDS virus no matter what sexual beahvior they choose is equally silly in retrospect. So Huckabee gets grief for treating AIDS as not just a gay man’s or needle user’s disease, and he is thus condemned as a closet homophobe. You can’t win for losing.
In practical terms, it’s hard to see how a Huckabee presidency would differ from the Bush presidency on social issues. If you want to know why conservatives are skeptical of Huckabee, it’s probably a good idea to look at the areas in which he isn’t conservative, rather than the areas where he is.
M.Z.,
When the AIDS virus first came on the scene, there was a lot of confusion about how it was or wasn’t transmitted. But by 1992 it was pretty well known that it couldn’t be transmitted via casual contact. Heck, I was only 14 in 1992, and I knew that AIDS couldn’t be transmitted via casual contact. That Huckabee didn’t seem to know this is a little disturbing.
Yes, 92 was late in the game. If you compare the AIDS rhettoric from 1988 to the rhettoric of 92, there was a signficant change. If I remember correctly, the Republicans had to even do a speech at the convention in ’92 to show their caring about AIDS. The Republicans were being castigated for not wanting to spend more money on AIDS research. The public at large wasn’t where the scientific community was in ’92.
The comments by Tony is one example of why Huckabee will not receive the nomination. He is good on abortion which is why I could vote for him in the general election. However, his record reveals Huckabee to be a tax and spender and his recent comments reveal him to be an Obama clone on foreign policy. His record in Arkansas disclose some troubling ethical lapses, although they do not rise to Bill Clinton levels. His free hand with paroles in Arkansas, including a case where a convicted rapist paroled at his instigation went on to rape and murder two women, betrays a soft attitude on crime. Republicans, by and large, think that one Democrat running for President is enough and see no reason to nominate a second one. Huckabee right now is getting the “none-of-the-above” Republican vote. As his views are better known, I expect Huckabee’s balloon to deflate rapidly.
Since Huckabee is the Republican with views most closely aligned with Catholic social teaching, Donald shows where his allegiances truly lie.
Since Huckabee is the Republican with views most closely aligned with Catholic social teaching, Donald shows where his allegiances truly lie.
Oh come off it. Like Donald, I’m wary of Huckabee, for many of the same reasons Donald cites. Fundamentally, Huckabee is a big-government perfectionist. He is completely un-conservative.
Oh, and he’s a “spooky” fundamentalist, so it’s odd that MM would be relatively supportive. And the notion that his views are most closely aligned with Catholic social teaching only holds true if you desperately cling to the false notion that Catholic social teaching mandates massive government intervention in every aspect of your life.
Huckabee’s answer to the Christian approach to the death penalty sums up his approach to government: “Jesus was too smart to run for office.” He’s not even close to Catholic social teachings – not on subsidiary, not on solidarity, and certainly not on issues of war and peace.
He’s a nice guy who believes that Christ rose from the dead. And yet, as James reminds us – even the demons believe that.
Actually, Ron Paul is the candidate with views most closely aligned with Catholic social teaching:
http://defendlife.blogspot.com/2007/11/presidential-candidate-evaluation.html
From which I infer, if you don’t support Ron Paul, you don’t support Catholic social teaching, and are probably a Calvinist.
I agree– Paul is also closer to CST than the others bar Huckabee, which goes to show that it’s not just about the size of government. And I agree– his theology leaves a lot to be desired, but I’ve been saying that about fundies for years now!
Blackadder: LOL!
MM: I don’t think it is fair to criticize Donald over his concern over Huckabee’s ethics and community safety. They both fall under CST.
“Since Huckabee is the Republican with views most closely aligned with Catholic social teaching, Donald shows where his allegiances truly lie.”
Not with “Pope” Huckabee that is certain. Huckabee reminds me of Carter in 1976, and I hope more attention is paid to his record as governnor in Arkansas than was paid to Carter’s record as governor of Georgia in 1976. Here is an article in 2004 on Huckabee’s use of clemency as compared to surrounding states.
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_08_11_04/huckabee8.html
There is a lot more like this on various issues from his terms as Governor. I hope the dead tree press will do their job and examine his record warts and all.
I just hope when people examine Gov Huckabee record in Arkansas “warts and all” they will be careful of the source. THis CLub For Growth stuff that has been after him since the beginning is outrageous. I never knew that it was bad for instance to support taxes voted on by the people to build roads. Yet the CLub for Growth thros that in too
The Club for Growth has been after Huckabee since the beginning, and with a vehemance that seems to outpace either Huckabee’s actual economic record or (until recently) his status in the polls. These attacks, it seems, have been largely bankrolled by a single individual, Jackson Stevens, Jr., who is an Arkansas banker and, for some reason, really dislikes Huckabee.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTc4NWFlODA0ZTY2NWJlMDZkNTA2MGJkNTUwODdmNGU=
Make of this what you will.