The Huckaboom
December 14th 2007 03:49
Wow. Mike Huckabee has really shaken things up in the GOP primary. He is now leading in Iowa and is in second place in several national polls. His surge came out of nowhere. Needless to say, his recent success has created a lot of turmoil for the other candidates and is causing most of them to change their early-primary strategies.
Huckabee is a true social conservative. Being a Baptist preacher, he's as much of a purist on the social issues as you can find. The social conservatives in the GOP have been pretty listless and had not previously coalesced around a single candidate. In fact, there were rumblings from various religious talking heads that Evangelicals would not allow the fiscal conservatives to shove a social liberal on them. Rudy Giuliani, who has been leading the GOP field throughout the election season, is in favor of gay marriage and favors abortion (including public funding of abortion). Those views are anathema to social conservatives. Now, they seem to have found a candidate. Ironically, though, Huckabee's rise could help Giuliani get the nomination. Romney was in a strong position to keep Giuliani from winning. Now, however, Huckabee could keep Romney from getting the momentum needed to defeat Giuliani. And while Huckabee may do well in Iowa, he will not do as well in a number of other states. By supporting Huckabee, the social conservatives may very well be left with no viable candidate in the general election. Still, if ideology trumps pragmatism, then I guess that's a chance they're willing to take.
I'm the son of a Baptist preacher myself, so you'd think that I would be one of the ones swooning over Huckabee. I'm not. Yes, I'm a social conservative, but I'm also a fiscal conservative and a national security conservative. I think that's true of many social conservatives. Huckabee is weak on foreign policy, so that's a mark against him on defense. Also, he's terrible on law and order issues. He has been weak on illegal immigration and he pardoned or commuted the sentences of a ton of prisoners as governor of Arkansas. Finally, he has a history of embracing higher taxes and higher government spending. If it wasn't for his views on social issues, he would be very comfortable in the Democratic Party. No, Huckabee isn't the right choice for me. And I believe that his surge will end once folks realize how wrong he is on fiscal and national security issues.
So...while I fully understand the reasons behind Huckabee's sudden popularity, I do not want him to win. I don't think he can win the primary. Even if he did, I don't think he could win the general election. So my Christmas wish is that social conservatives will choose pragmatism and will cool on Huckabee. There are plenty of other candidates who are across-the-board conservatives -- and those candidates have a much better chance of winning the election next November.
Huckabee is a true social conservative. Being a Baptist preacher, he's as much of a purist on the social issues as you can find. The social conservatives in the GOP have been pretty listless and had not previously coalesced around a single candidate. In fact, there were rumblings from various religious talking heads that Evangelicals would not allow the fiscal conservatives to shove a social liberal on them. Rudy Giuliani, who has been leading the GOP field throughout the election season, is in favor of gay marriage and favors abortion (including public funding of abortion). Those views are anathema to social conservatives. Now, they seem to have found a candidate. Ironically, though, Huckabee's rise could help Giuliani get the nomination. Romney was in a strong position to keep Giuliani from winning. Now, however, Huckabee could keep Romney from getting the momentum needed to defeat Giuliani. And while Huckabee may do well in Iowa, he will not do as well in a number of other states. By supporting Huckabee, the social conservatives may very well be left with no viable candidate in the general election. Still, if ideology trumps pragmatism, then I guess that's a chance they're willing to take.
I'm the son of a Baptist preacher myself, so you'd think that I would be one of the ones swooning over Huckabee. I'm not. Yes, I'm a social conservative, but I'm also a fiscal conservative and a national security conservative. I think that's true of many social conservatives. Huckabee is weak on foreign policy, so that's a mark against him on defense. Also, he's terrible on law and order issues. He has been weak on illegal immigration and he pardoned or commuted the sentences of a ton of prisoners as governor of Arkansas. Finally, he has a history of embracing higher taxes and higher government spending. If it wasn't for his views on social issues, he would be very comfortable in the Democratic Party. No, Huckabee isn't the right choice for me. And I believe that his surge will end once folks realize how wrong he is on fiscal and national security issues.
So...while I fully understand the reasons behind Huckabee's sudden popularity, I do not want him to win. I don't think he can win the primary. Even if he did, I don't think he could win the general election. So my Christmas wish is that social conservatives will choose pragmatism and will cool on Huckabee. There are plenty of other candidates who are across-the-board conservatives -- and those candidates have a much better chance of winning the election next November.
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