This afternoon at The King’s College in New York City, former governor Huckabee addressed a full hall in a wide-ranging discussion of public policy. Sporting polished black cowboy boots, Mr. Huckabee struck a tone of folksy humor mingled with Old Testament wrath to analyze the current state of the Republican party. During the last decade, the GOP had “violated every principle” it claimed to uphold. In its fiscal profligacy, including the last-ditch rescue of banks, the “inner circle” of the party had fostered an “axis of power” between Washington and Wall Street that threatened to exhaust the country’s resources. This was the tangled route by which the party “lost any sense of honor.” The free-spending ways of the recent past were not merely wrong-headed in fiscal terms, he intoned, but “morally wrong.” And now federal finances are in such disrepair that we can no longer be fairly thought of as “the world’s superpower.”
Huckabee flatly denied being a “pro-life liberal,” an accusation often made in certain quarters on the right. Not a trace of defensiveness could be detected on this point. To the contrary, the governor gave an all-out defense of his tax hikes while governor of Arkansas on the grounds that they were the only responsible course of action to repair state roads. He snorted with derision at “libertarians” who fail to recognize that “we don’t have a health-care crisis in this country, but a health crisis.” He spoke with passion and knowledge on the need for preventative care to bring down exorbitant costs. And then, without the least amount of prompting, he mustered a vigorous defense of Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity. This was the “art of governing,” he argued, rather than the cheap “science of campaigning.” He finished his call to a compassionate conservatism by echoing recent comments made by Governor Daniels touting prison reform. Invoking a “Biblical standard” of crime enforcement, he granted that criminals must be punished while stressing that the status quo needs to be replaced. Opposed though he is to the decriminalization of drugs, he endorses a more “hopeful,” therapeutic approach that would thwart the creation of “monsters” within our prison walls.
The governor was hardly less restrained when the subject turned to foreign policy. He warned of the dangers inherent in the role of “world policeman.” Invited to plead for cuts in defense spending, he delicately declined, but noted that combat operations in Afghanistan were futile and therefore constituted government “waste.” U.S. policy in Afghanistan, he hastened to add, was not exceptional in this regard. The specter haunting the U.S. is that of a broader overstretch. Sounding very much like George W. Bush as governor of Texas, Huckabee denounced the use of U.S. armed forces for any kind of nation-building. “Leave that to the Peace Corps,” he concluded. “The nation that most needs building is America.”
On that platform he will “serve God and man” if he chooses to run for president — a decision, the governor grinningly emphasized, that will be made at a time of his choosing.
An interesting summary... I would like to see the transcript for context or know a little bit more about the author, Brian Stewart and his stripes so I decide how much salt to add. As an Arkansas resident, the "tax hike" that Huckabee referred to was a popular referendum. We had bad roads. We needed to fix them. Was it important enough to raise taxes? We put it to a popular vote and the people passed it. As much as I am against raising taxes, I really don't mind paying taxes when the money is being spent on a true need that only the government can provide (i.e. roads). Again, this was a tax the people imposed on themselves by direct, popular vote.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHuckabee believes it is proper, Constitutional, and desirable for the federal government to impose a national ban on smoking.
Just because his social views are often in line with conservatives does not make him a conservative. Huckabee's fundamental disregard for principles of federalism, and all too quick embrace of government action, are dangerous. He may claim he'll only act for good, but once you give the federal government the type of authority Huckabee wants, that power will be abused down the road. That's why the founders intentionally deprived the feds of "Huckabee style" powers.
As C.S. Lewis said: "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Seriously, if Huckabee _wasn't_ a Christian, would anyone on the right still support him? The guy has one redeeming quality (his faith), and somehow he manages to get the benefit of the doubt from so many otherwise intelligent people.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am a Christian. I am a conservative. He does not get the benefit of the doubt from me. For me it comes down to a matter of trust. Do you trust Huckabee to make the tough decisions in a manner consistent wit conservative principles? I don't. I think he is more concerned with being liked then being right. Leaders could care less about being liked.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo much rubbish, so little time. I will just focus on one item of the bible-beating bozo:
>Invoking a “Biblical standard” of crime enforcement, he granted that criminals must be punished while stressing that the status quo needs to be replaced. Opposed though he is to the decriminalization of drugs, he endorses a more “hopeful,” therapeutic approach that would thwart the creation of “monsters” within our prison walls.
Whatever. Here is what "conservative" Huckabee's policies led to regarding one monster within the walls of the Arkansas prison system:
External Link
I really do not like Mr. Huckabee. Not one bit. For heaven's sake, even Jonah Goldberg says the guy is advocating "Compassionate Conservatism" on steroids. The thought of a Huckabee-Obama race in 2012 would drive any person who loves America to suicidal thoughts.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"even Jonah Goldberg says the guy is advocating "Compassionate Conservatism" on steroids."
Even Jonah Goldberg?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLike Lucas, I, too am an Arkansan. I support Gov. Huckabee and hope he will run for President. I was glad to see the new PPP national poll out today putting him 10 points ahead of his closest competitor.
"Sounding very much like George W. Bush as governor of Texas, Huckabee denounced the use of U.S. armed forces for any kind of nation-building." Ok, that is the conservative position which George Bush stated when he was governor of Texas, but why bring that up? Is it that you want us to think Gov. Huckabee is like President Bush (but only his worst attributes)? I'm at a loss as to what the point of this article was. I think it would benefit your readers to just come out and say what you mean.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMike Huckabee is a Conservative. You can't compare his governance in the State of Arkansas, one of the poorest states in the U.S., to Alaska or even MA, which have lots of money in their budgets. When he became
Governor, he inherited a $200M deficit, a Supreme Ct in
AR that said they MUST improve the schools and some of the worst roads in the country. He improved the schools from 49th in the country to 6th in the U.S. and the truck drivers said the roads in Arkansas at that time were some of the best in the U.S. He left office with a $850M surplus and a 65% approval rating in a Democratic state that had more Democrats in their legislature than MA had at the same time.
Mike Huckabee has shown leadership by advocating policies that not everybody accepted. He didn't wait for polls to show if it was the popular thing to do. He maintained his principles and didn't push his religion on the people of Arkansas.
Mike Huckabee has either won or come in a close second in every poll in the last 18 months. He has won 3-4 just this week. To win he had to get the highest Republican, Conservative, Independent and Moderate voters. That should prove that he doesn't just get the Evangelical vote. He would be the best Republican candidate for President in 2012, and the best choice to beat Pres. Obama.
It seems odd that anybody on this website would not consider Mike Huckabee a Conservative when they endorsed Mitt Romney during the 2008 primary. He had the Romneycare even then, which grew the government in MA, and had the same mandates as Obamacare. How do the people who own this site explain that Romney was EVER a Conservative?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm glad I'm not the only one who seems to look at the idea of a Huckabee campaign as "Thanks, but no thanks."
wooga is right that simply being socially conservative doesn't make him a conservative. Once he was entertaining the idea of a national smoking ban, I got off the bus. Not that I was ever really on it to begin with. But a Huckabee candidacy is dead on arrival, as far as I'm concerned.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHuck talks a pretty good populist line. I'm a raw populist, so I supported him for a while in '08... until he turned out to be nothing more than a stalking horse for Comrade McCain. I don't know what Huck got in return for that trick; maybe it's the Fox gig and the Florida mansion. Now he can't be taken seriously as an advocate for any position, populist or otherwise.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe difference between FLOTUS and Huck on what people should eat? None.
Big government pol in a folksy dress.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHear, hear to most oif the prior comments. This is not the guy we want. He is a terrible choice and hurts the party by even being on the platform at a GOP debate. We need small government conservatives, not snake-handling statists.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI can't figure out the attraction to Huckabee. Sure, he seems like a nice guy. But presidential? Seriously?
He comes across to me the same way a televangelist does - pious, invoking all the right themes of giving and doing good, yet at the same time stuffing his wallet with someone else's money.
He's a populist do-gooder. His lines seem nicely poll tested so as to avoid controversy.
But he lacks an depth of intellect and character that is required to be a successful President. We're two years into that play; Huckabee would be Act 2 of the same one.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy I don't like Huckabee:
1. He's another Bush. As much as I liked Bush as a person and supported the War on Terror, he was nothing more than a Progressive Republican.
2. Not that I'm a fan of Romney either, but Huckabee went after Romney based on religion. That completely turned me off. Absolutely despicable. I don't care if the a potential President wears magic underwear or not. I care whether that person can do the job.
So, Huckabee - NO THANKS.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have the same reaction to Romney as to Huckabee: smugness becometh a POTUS not.
I also have concerns about Giuliani, but if he could run the country the way he ran NYC, then he's got my vote. However that's an unquantifiable 'if' at this point.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJust say no to the return of Christian Socialism.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, I was expecting this kind of piece, after all the polls out this week, but NRO made it happen first. Congratulations!
I think Brian Stewart needs to work on his sneer a little bit. There were a couple sentences where I had a hard time detecting it.
NRO might do well to remember a couple things, though.
1. The vast majority of conservative voters in this country are Christian. It's only the very liberal areas of the country, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and, of course, inside the Beltway, where this is not true. Perhaps Stewart needs a country vacation and maybe NRO's editors should join him. He's beginning to sound like a famous democrat in 2008 who intoned that Americans were "clinging to God and their guns."
2. "Populism" simply means, "for the people." That's what most of the electorate wants. We're a little tired of politicians who get to DC and forget that their job is to represent us.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe last thing the Republican party needs is a big government conservative like Huckabee at the top of the ticket. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy, but he's wobbly on far too many major issues for me.
It may be wishful thinking, but my hope is none of the candidates from 2008 would run again...just not an appealing group.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIowadove,
Ah one of the tough guys. A blusterer who thinks trusting criminals with the administration of law and order is moral. One who feels, and I emphasize that you FEEL, it is a method to obtain vengeance and protect society.
No worry about prison reform for you. Just outraged incomprehension when inevitably the poison affects you. You just don't understand why you can't seal off evil people and you become angry like the monkeys you evolved from. Like them, you don't understand that original sin goes to the heart of each one of us. And if we choose to cultivate evil in prisons, it is the work of the evil within our selves.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHuckabee should join the Democrat Party. Both parties would be strengthened by his departure.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseInteresting that Huckabee leads almost all of the polls this week and none of that is posted on NRO. Also interesting to note that NRO critiques Huckabee's speech at King's college and tries to give it a religious bent. Perhaps you are trying to pigeon hole Huckabee into a religious candidate hole. But obviously the polling data this week has shown that Huckabee has expanded his base. He leads most of the midwestern states. Those are crucial states that the Republicans need to turn red in 2012.
Huckabee has done an outstanding job of getting his economic/fiscal message across. He even has been able to get out the correct information on his record in Arkansas.
But I am sure that NRO will keep trying to dismiss and belittle Huckabee while pushing Palin and Romney.
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