The GOP’s Cynical Use of Religion Has Come Home to Roost
With Mike Huckabee’s continuing surge, the Republican Party now has an Iowa front-runner whose religious beliefs are virtually identical to those of George Bush. He’s anti-choice, born-again, against gay-marriage, and gets political advice directly from God.So why is the Republican establishment suddenly in a state of near-apoplexy about Mike Huckabee? Shouldn’t they be happy? They’ve been cultivating evangelicals and fundamentalists for 30 years. Now they finally have a candidate who’s truly part of the movement. So what’s the problem?
Actually, that is the problem. The evangelical crowd was fine when it was just a resource to be cynically exploited every few years in demagogic anti-gay get-out-the-vote campaigns. But now the holy-rolling monster the GOP’s Dr. Frankensteins have created has thrown off the shackles, fled the lab, and is currently leading in Iowa. And the party doesn’t know what to do.
UPDATE (Thanks to Mister Justin): Huckabee has an interesting son:
David Huckabee, 26, the son of former Gov. Mike Huckabee, was arrested [in April, 2007] for allegedly attempting to board an airplane with a handgun at Little Rock National Airport.
After being released from the Pulaski County Jail, Huckabee called the incident “a silly mistake” and said “it shouldn’t” affect his father’s presidential campaign.
He’s the one who may have been hanging dogs and pappa kept from being arrested for it. Isn’t doing that where serial killers often start?
What the party should do is Vote for Ron Paul. It’s the simple answer.
Agree. The reason is likely the GOP knows Huckabee will eventually be ‘outed’ by the democrats as just like a George Bush, only with a brain matter.
The scary part is this may actually end up being WORSE that Bush. Imagine the damage to the country if Bush actually knew what he was doing?
So the problem is that if Hucks wins in Iowa and makes it to the Presidential vote, he won’t win the popular vote? Didn’t matter last time.
President Huckabee. Now doesn’t that sound ridiculous. As much as I hate Clinton, I would take her in a second over this holly roller.
I don’t think he’s any threat. Besides he’s a bass guitar player, not a real musician.
Sounds like how the Democrats treat the black sector of the electorate. Lots of attention at election time but afterwards they are back on to their east coast elite progressive agendas
If Huckabee gets the nomination, the only way the Dems could lose is if they shoot themselves in the foot. Repeatedly. (And don’t discount that possibility).
The Republicans have a strong centrist candidate who could win in the general electrion: Gulliani. They also have a second candidate who could win if personal religious choice kill him (Romney). But Huckabee? No way. He’s not just religious, he wears his religiosity on his sleeve. Americans are fine with religion (in fact, I can’t imagine a self-avowed agnostic/atheist winning). But they want it to be a backdrop, not front and center.
Huckabee would energize the religious faction of the party, but he’d sop up almost none of the squishy middle that either party needs to actually win an election. I think that soft middle is ripe for the picking for a moderate candidate like Gulianai. But Huckabee would push them into the arms of whoever the Dems run.
They clearly are more afraid of Ron Paul. I say this because he has shattered all of the one-day fund-raising records and has now exceeded all Republican candidates for fund-raising in the 4th quarter, yet nobody wants to talk about him. I actually searched Fox News yesterday and found no reference to the Boston Tea Party commemoration on Sunday…
None of the current Republicans are any where near worthy of winning the Presidency. Gulliani is history with all his scandals. McCain is too much a flip flopper. Huckabee lied about his degree. Romny is too much an opportunist. Hunter is a dipdork. Paul is just plain crazy. I guess that leaves Alan Keyes, only he is a little dark for most Republicans.
Even the conservative media has been attacking huckabee lately it seems. His quips about Mormonism, his 94 quotes on Homosexuality and AIDS, his part in the release of a Rapist who rapes and kills two more after release.
The problem is that two of those three negatives are actually positives to evangelical conservatives, and the third one they will forgive him.
The evangelicals are excited again. Until about three weeks ago their choices of viable candidates were Giuliani and Romney. When evangelicals get excited, they vote in droves.
What makes things worse is the truncated primary schedule, especially on the Republican side. I agree with the consensus that Huckabee is like Howard Dean in 2004, you don’t know when he is going to explode and he is vulnerable on MANY issues (personally I will never vote for anyone who does not believe in evolution). Republicans have a very small window: Jan 3rd to Feb 5th to pick a candidate they will be stuck with until November. If Huckabee wins the nomination and explodes after Feb 5, Democrats will be a sure thing.
Whatever you say about Jesus and the death penalty, Jesus ~was~ guilty of the crimes he was charged with, and the penalty ~was~ death. They even gave Jesus the option of recanting his statement to avoid the death penalty…
Given that, I think Huckabee actions are perfectly consistent with christianity.
So given that, A real Christian (I am a skeptic) like Huckabee would get my vote over Hillary (I voted for Gore and Kerry) because he is at least genuine, even if I disagree with a lot of what he says.
Actually he is the only candidate who excites me right now. So I think it would be foolish to discount him.
#7,
Yes a religious leader would tend to alienate the satanic portion of the republican party, people like George Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. Ultimately, I think it would be good for the republican party (for both the party and country) to purge its self of its satanic faction.
#4
Agreed. I despise Clinton but if she ran against Huckabee, I’d have to vote for her. Granted, I’d feel like I just voted for Mussolini over Hitler but over the past twenty years, Presidential elections seem to be about choosing the lesser evil rather than the better candidate. Oh, and comparing Huckabee to Bush is like comparing G. Gordon Liddy to Reagan.
Don’t worry he has just as much knowledge of foreign affairs as the current president.
I don’t know that he’d lose. He’s got the populism down pat, with protectionism and support for unions, and will get the NRA votes.
He’s also signalling more of a departure form Bush’s foreign policy than Hillary.
#9…Catshit for brains…..Your lack of knowledge of anything outside rant politics never ceases to amaze me.
As bad as most of the candidates are this time around (and that includes the Democrats), most of the Republican’s running aren’t flip-floppers on the major issues at least (Romney is the glaring exception to this).
If you look at the Boston Globe’s endorsement of McCain, you see what most people see when they look at him. A primarily honest, forthright candidate, who has well thought out positions on the issues that matter. A conservative, with a nice touch of moderate and Libertarian thrown in. His positions on the war have been consistent since the beginning, if we fight, fight it to win, and leave the country better than we found it. On Health Care, he looks for coverage for those in the most need (not the children of people making over 85 thousand a year as the Dems keep pushing), he’s against torture, he believes that money, while needed to win a nomination should be controlled and declared, he’s against lobbyists, earmarking and pork projects. He’s for ALL forms of energy development, and is an Environmentalist in the Teddy Roosevelt mode. (minus the lion and caribou heads on the wall)
The Globe, along with the Des Moines Register and many other political columnists have said he is probably the best qualified person running this year, of either party.
If you would take your meds once in awhile, you might see what others see and that he IS the most qualified running.
#11…GregA….God( no pun intended) I hope you’re being sarcastic. 🙂
If you look at where Huckabee is surging, it’s states that have large evangelical voting blocks. Iowa (for the Reps) is very conservative, but New Hampshire, which is overall a moderately conservative state with a good liberal twist, is not a religious right state, and Huckabee isn’t gaining any ground there.
He’s come up in South Carolina and Florida, but after that he’s not moving and shaking the big states he would need to win the nomination. He will shoot his wad by Florida and be gone on Feb. 5th, when 22 states go to vote.
The Republican’s will never allowing Guiliani to win, to many scandals and to far left on the big issues (abortion and gay rights), unless Hillary is the nominee for the Dems, then he gets it or McCain gets it.
All of the top tier Reps now beat Hillary in all the match ups. But only McCain beats Obama and Edwards as well.
As long as there’s no evidence that Huckabee’s capable of achieving an orgasm the (hypocritical) Evangelicals will vote for him.
If New Hampshire isn’t a religious right state, then how did Pat Buchanan win there?
Joshua said,
#11…GregA….God( no pun intended) I hope you’re being sarcastic. 🙂
I’m with you, Joshua! GregA’s voting rationale had to be one of the most convoluted I’ve heard in a long long time!
This common complain that Clinton is a “phony” is about phony as they claim her to be.
She has been more consistent in her views, over time, than Mitt Romney or John McCain. Even though I don’t like her stance on the Iraq war, I give her a little credit for not pandering to the “base”.
Compare that to — let’s say — Mitt Romney who was pro-choice and pro-gay when he the governor of liberal Massachusetts and now is four-square “anti” not that he want to be president! John McCain has done similar flip-flops in his desperation to become president.
But do any of these same people say they are “disgusted” by those two? Not often.
#20..MikeN… Check the demographics Mike. Even the Reps will tell you it’s not a particularly religious state. The primary religions are Catholic and Episcopalian, not very *evangelical* in their outlooks.
I really don’t care how Huckabee gets beat, as long as it happens. I just spent 7 years of my short life under a President that gets policy calls from God….that’s enough for one life time.
@21…GregAllen….McCain made nice with Falwell and the religious right early in this year. But, he didn’t change his stance on any issue when he did. Most of McCain’s positions are the same as they have been for many years.
Romney on the other hand has no position today that he held a year ago.
What we are seeing is the Christian Conservative movement desperately looking for a candidate that doesn’t have an ugly past.
Unfortunately, Huckabee’s past is pretty bad for a so-called evangelical.
Waiting in the wings is Ron Paul….antiabortion, a religious man, hasn’t boffed little boys, hasn’t had sex in a men’s room airport stall, hasn’t taken bribes, hasn’t collaborated with military contractors, has been married for decades to the same woman, has normal kids.
His only problem? He’s not a pro-israeli warmongering nutjob. Christian fundies won’t accept someone who isn’t an anti-muslim crusader.
Wow…how you guys really feel? Geez…this Chrsitian fundie would love for Ron to win, although I am supporting Fred since he has a much better chance to win against the other Reps and against Obama or Hillary. And for the guy who categorized all evangelicals as hypocritical — look at your own life. I’ll bet in many areas you’d fit right in with us.