I was at the same Huckabee and Chuck Norris event Rich briefly attended this morning. I stayed for the whole event and got to join a brief press availability with Huckabee afterwards. I agree with Rich that Huckabee gave a stirring defense of limited government and individual freedom. But at the press availability afterward, he made the statement that Iowa has more “values voters” than New Hampshire. Ahem. I asked him if New Hampshire voters don’t have values, and he stumbled through a response that included something about Iowa voters valuing family etc., and New Hampshire voters valuing limited government and low taxes.
Well. Evidently Huck is unfamiliar with the idea that you can value both.
I also asked him whether “Wall Street Republicans” have had a net positive or a net negative effect on the American economy. He didn’t have a short, quick answer. He tried to get away with a joke, but when I asked again, he rambled through a roundabout answer stating that he thinks everyone should be able to keep whatever they earn as long as they do so legally, but we have to make sure the poor don’t pay any taxes.
Huckabee has rehearsed how to speak in broad, vague terms about the value of personal freedom. But when you get below the surface it isn’t clear he really believes it. In Iowa he made fun of New Hampshire for not having a mandatory seat belt law for adults. He has not learned how to court the social conservatives without offending the economic conservatives and libertarian-leaning right.
But Chuck Norris was AWESOME.