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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Spotlight Falls on Mike Huckabee


By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

Peel them away and, underneath, you have Mike Huckabee, the last survivor in the elimination tournament of the Christian right. And they could do a whole lot worse!

Start with the dreams about Sen. George Allen, R-Va., who became former Sen. George Allen before he could become a viable presidential candidate. Then go to Mitt Romney, his putative opponent for the designation of the right wing. But that was before he ran straight into a wall of bigotry against Mormons.

The most recent polling suggests that while a majority of voters agree that “other Americans” would be amenable to a black or female candidate for president, only 36 percent feel that way about a Mormon. Unjustified. Unfair. Outrageous as it is — it nevertheless is.

That prejudice and the justifiable cynicism that his flip-flop-flip on abortion engendered have held down his vote share despite massive advertising. (He was pro-life before he ran against Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy in Massachusetts, at which point he discovered a relative who died after an illegal abortion, which, conveniently, induced a change of heart. He remained pro-choice as a governor of the most liberal state in America until, as he contemplated entering the GOP primary for president, he realized that abortion had cultivated a contempt for life and so decided to become pro-life — equally conveniently.)

Whatever the reason, Mitt Romney’s lack of appeal led conservatives to search under various other burning bushes (no pun) to find a new standard-bearer.

Their choice became Fred Thompson. But then it turned out that he had actually accepted a fee to lobby for a weakening of anti-abortion regulations and had waffled on the issue in the ’90s in candidate questionnaires. That fact, combined with his lack of knowledge of issues and his aversion to hard work, have sent his candidacy into a downward spiral.

Voters on the right understand that Fred can’t stand up to Hillary in a debate. Hey, he might not stay awake that long.

So it became “Where have you gone, Newt Gingrich? The nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” But Newt took one look at Hillary and decided he really wanted to head a nonprofit foundation educating voters on solutions for America instead of being president of the United States, so he pulled out before he ever got in.

In the meantime, plugging away in the shadows, with no money and no political backing, an articulate, principled, knowledgeable, conservative Christian, Mike Huckabee, has been plowing the fields in Iowa hoping to catch a break.

He is witty, sincere, dedicated and courageous in his own way. With a minus share of the vote, he kept at it and refused to pander on the one hand or give up on the other.

I first met Mike when I became his consultant in his race for lieutenant governor of Arkansas. He was a refreshing change from my previous Arkansas client, but you probably know that story. I was impressed when I first asked Mike about his views on parole for violent felons. I anticipated a standard right-wing response. Instead, he said, “Oh, no, the Christian concept of forgiveness requires that we allow parole. We just have to use it wisely.” I was amazed . . . and sold.

What, I wondered, would a right-wing Christian activist do as governor of a state? He would sign off on the death penalty, veto abortion, oppose gay rights and insist on the Pledge of Allegiance; but then, what would he do for the balance of his term in office?

Mike Huckabee answered the question.

He set up programs to fight childhood obesity, reformed prisons to emphasize reforming inmates, put values back in education and became a highly popular governor.

Now he churns his way to the forefront of the pack in the Republican primary. He’s still broke, but still finished a strong second in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll with 18 percent of the vote.

Now in Iowa polls he has moved ahead of McCain and, in some trial heats, ahead of Romney. Rasmussen Reports has him rising to 7 percent nationally. (Full disclosure: If he breaks 10, I win a dinner from Bill O’Reilly.) But he has the best of all possible worlds: Rivals who are falling of their own weight.

So here comes Mike.

5 comments:

  1. This is why I would never vote for a Mormon.

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4464207013217006489

    Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb.

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  2. Anonymouse: Huckabee isn't a Mormon.

    Huckabee's been taking a few hits lately. John Fund at Opinion Journal cited Phyllis Schlafly whom I met years ago when I worked for the late John Ashbrook. She's an icon of the "Real" conservative movement if there is such a thing:

    "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles," she says. "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."

    That was matched by articles equally critical at the American Spectator:

    http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12205

    and National Review:

    http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzNiY2M5NzIxZDJlMDUxNzUwYmQ4ZDU5ZDAzY2U3YWU=

    Huckabee's no better and no worse than any other candidate running. After all, there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Even Reagan was criticized and OFTEN by conservatives.

    P.S. Love the title for your blog. People sometimes say we need another Reagan. But I wouldn't mind finding another Churchill:


    "Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fall, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.
    Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour!”

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  3. Thanks, Mike, for your comments and for your superb blog, Mike's America. I think that Duncan Hunter would make the best President, but at this point it seems prudent to support the best of those that have a chance of getting the nomination and winning the Presidency.

    I have been thinking that I should explain the title, Sunlit Uplands, and appreciate your providing the original Churchill quote. Today's geo-political crisis, like the one Churchill confronted, is spiritual at its root. Let us hope and pray not only that a leader with Churchill's many gifts steps forward to save the West, but that the West recognizes what is at stake, embraces the leadership, and does what is necessary to defend Christian civilization.

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  4. For no particular reason other than I get a 'good' feeling, I like Mike for President as well...

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  5. I don't agree that a person's religion is irrelevant to his seeking the presidency. Our religion is something we hold at the very core of our being, something that at least ought to affect the way we think and make decisions. To say that it's irrelevant is to artificially separate politics and religion in a way that is at least unnatural.

    Further, Romney's Mormonism is relevant because it is not a Christian religion. Mormonism denies basic tenets of Christianity and replaces them with incredible tenets such as our ability to become gods when we die and that Jesus and Satan were brothers. This is not bigotry. This is documented belief.

    So when someone holds a religion that is so ludicrous as to defy serious belief, that at least ought to tell us something about him. If he can hold such ludicrous positions seriously, that certainly is telling. And if he doesn't hold them seriously and yet professes that religion, that tells us even more!

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