Posted on 12/01/2007 9:07:56 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Rick Moran has a post up exploring Mike Huckabee’s record as Governor of Arkansas in which he concludes that although Huckabee is a social conservative he most certainly isn’t a ‘real’ conservative.
“While Huckabee claims to have cut taxes 90 times totaling $378 million, the state’s Department of Finance and Administration says he also raised taxes 21 times that brought in a whopping $883 million,” Rick writes. “Under his ‘conservative’ governance, the ‘average Arkansan’s tax burden’ went “from $1,969 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1997, to $2,902 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005, including local taxes.”
He warns American conservatives that Huckabee sounds an awful lot like George W. Bush did back in the day: “Get past the charm, the unctuousness, and the corn pone manner and what you have in Huckabee is a big government conservative who looks suspiciously like George Bush did in 1999.” And, finally, a word of caution: “I’m sure that if the GOP goes ahead and annoints Huckabee, the conservative movement in America will be set back as our once proud heritage of fiscal responsibility and support for smaller government will be trashed by another wolf in conservative raiment.”
If I were American this would be one of the major problems I’d have with Huckabee. Frankly, he’s not fiscally conservative enough for me. It should be clear to all of you by now, that I often don’t care much about ’social’ issues (they don’t get me riled up). To me, fiscal issues and foreign policy issues are most important. I focus on small government.
Having said that, Rick is wrong to say that Huckabee isn’t a conservative. He is. He’s just not a traditional conservative. Neither is he a libertarian conservative. He’s a social conservative. A Christian conservative, you could say. This group cares more about social issues than about spending issues. What’s more, although they agree with most other conservatives on social issues, they often tend to believe that the government should invest quite some in education, social programs, health care even, and they - of course - believe that the government should play an active role in shaping the economy.
There are different kinds of conservatives, and Rick would be wise to remember that.
What’s important in this debate is what kind of conservative you are. If you’re a social conservative, a Christian conservative who cares about spending in a responsible matter, albeit not in a (fiscally) conservative manner, Huckabee’s your man. If you believe that making government smaller isn’t as important as helping people while you don’t favor the big Democratic programs, Huckabee’s your man.
If, on the other hand, you believe that government is too big as it is right now, you should probably consider voting for someone else. If you oppose, for instance, No Child Left Behind you probably shouldn’t vote for Huckabee.
Who then, who can fiscal conservatives (such as myself) turn to? Rick obviously favors Fred Thompson. As I’ve said in the past, it seems to me that Thompson could be a good candidate, but he has an energy problem. If not in reality, then at least in perception. Of course there’s also John McCain, but McCain has an immigration problem, to put it mildly, and many conservative believe that his attempt to push through lobby reforms - which succeeded - was unconservative. Rudy Giuliani? Not social conservative enough and he’s surrounding himself with neoconservative advisers. Mitt Romney? As I see it, probably the best choice, although doubts remain about him changing his positions / views.
In short: traditional conservative don’t have a ‘perfect’ candidate. We can comment on all Republican candidates and call them unconservative in one way or another. The question is what issues matter most to you?
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Fred is just the President of the United States just looking for a place to happen.
My dream ticket is Thompson/Hunter.
Fred in ‘08!
Hunter/Coulter for me.
He won’t give a comment when asked about the NAU and I know that he voted for an expansion of NAFTA.
The Real Conservative…(Ain’t Mike Huckabee) BTTT!
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