Posted on 10/25/2007 9:52:56 PM PDT by Fred
Republicans have won five of the last seven presidential elections by running candidates who broadly fit the Ronald Reagan model--fiscally conservative, and firmly but not harshly conservative on social issues. The wide-open race for the 2008 GOP nomination has generated two new approaches.
Rudy Giuliani, for example, isn't running away from his socially liberal views, although he has modified them. But he is campaigning as a staunch, even acerbic economic conservative. Should he win the nomination, conventional wisdom has it he may balance the ticket by picking former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a running mate.
Mr. Huckabee, on the other hand, is running hard right on social issues but liberal-populist on some economic issues. This may help explain why the affable, golden-tongued Baptist minister was the clear favorite at the pro-life Family Research Council's national forum last Saturday. And why Mr. Huckabee's praises have been sung by liberal columnists such as Gail Collins of the New York Times and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.
Mr. Huckabee attributes his support to the fact he is a "hardworking, consistent conservative with some authenticity about those convictions." He is certainly qualified for national office, having served nearly 11 years as a chief executive. I have known and liked him for years; on the stump he often tells the story of how we first met outside his boarded-up office in the state Capitol, which had been sealed by Arkansas Democrats who refused to accept he had won an upset election for lieutenant governor in 1993. But I also know he is not the "consistent conservative" he now claims to be.
Nor am I alone. Betsy Hagan, Arkansas director of the conservative Eagle Forum and a key backer of his early runs
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles," she says. "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."
Who is Mike? An innocent looking lying whore!!!!
let’s repeat this again
Republicans. You have to be
pro-life
AND
cut taxes
AND
stop being such a wuss when it comes to islamofacism
AND
protect our border.
Thank you
The Republican Party wasted too many years of opportunity to groom an appropriate conservative candidate for 2008....a race that everyone knew would be the most critical race that America has ever faced.
At risk is our judicial system which equates to the agenda of the SCOTUS, our Constitution, our values, our laws, our borders, our culture, our freedoms, even our language. It hangs in the balance in 2008. America’s INTERNAL enemies have floated to the surface of a stagnant pool, like the pond scum they are....and who is there to FIGHT THEM, TO STOP THEM in the 2008 race???
That is what I asked the Repub Party the day I called them and cancelled my support and membership in their useless, weak, pathetic so-called organization. A Repub President for TWO TERMS, and a Congressional majority for ALMOST two terms. And what did they do with it???
QED
Well, it ought to be Dick Cheney, but we’ll just have to settle for Fred. ;-)
Sorry, that's the way it is.
“When conservatives took over the Southern Baptist Convention after a bitter fight in the 1980s, Mr. Huckabee sided with the ruling moderates. Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge who led the conservative Southern Baptist revolt, told me, ‘I know of no conservative he appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention.’”
I would really like to validate if the above is true. The SBC was a real mess by the late 70s, and the “moderates” as called above were actually outright theological liberals. Many worked hard to get the SBC back into traditional conservative hands. If Huckabee sided with the “liberals” that were driven out of power, then he isn’t the kind of guy I want running our country. He would be another Jimmy Carter - which we don’t need.
Actually, I have to question why a Southern Baptist Minister would seek political office. There is NO higher calling than the ministry of the Gospel. Anyone that was a minister, that can be happy doing anything but serving as a minister, wasn’t ever really called by God....he could be bogus.
This write up is disturbing. If you can provide further collaboration, it would be appreciated.
Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee all have one thing in common, destroying the GOP in their respective states.
Oh that's bad. :-)
I will try. Fund is a very reliable source. He is writing for the WSJ so his priority will be fiscal issues.
As abhorrent as abortion is, it is a issue of STATE RIGHTS. I want my president to defend my constitution and my state rights, otherwise no one will have any rights. Roe v Wade was bad law as it invented a right that only the legislatures of each state can either give or deny.
This guy has been completely under my radar so far, but just what I have read in the column makes it certain that he has no chance of ever getting my vote.
He’d be worse than Rudy.
While I may agree with you on most, if not every, point, I would prefer not to see Pelosi and Reid running the agenda for our country.
You, in your uncompromising world, appear to prefer that outcome.
I, and I pray, most Republicans, do NOT.
While I may agree with you on most, if not every, point, I would prefer not to see Pelosi and Reid running the agenda for our country.
-
unless they ran as Republicans and suddenly they are now what we need for this country.
rebel_yell2 wrote: “You just ran a lot of FR and 90% of the voting population out of the Republican party. Enjoy losing EVERY election until hell freezes over.”
What planet have you been smoking crack on?
If you would bother to read it, you will learn that the four issue positions you think are losers for the GOP (pro-life, cut taxes, win the war on Isamofacism and protect our border) are all proud planks of the 2004 Republican Party Platform which was a winner in 2004.
http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf
Liberals and RINOs want the GOP to be Democrat Lite, a guaranteed losing position.
Ronald Reagan proved that when Republicans act like conservatives, they win. Bob Dole proved that when they act like anything less, they lose.
only a pro-life republican will want to appoint judges that will actually remove roe v wade. Furthermore he would be opposed to taxpayer funded abortions.
This is clearly not the case with Rudy (the leading contender) and as for Ron Paul, I have no real problem with his federalist position here because it probably true that it will lead to pro-life policy and that’s what he wants.
Are those four elements that demanding (of our politicians): Life, liberty, security, and sovereignty?
“Nor am I alone. Betsy Hagan, Arkansas director of the conservative Eagle Forum and a key backer of his early runs for office, was once “his No. 1 fan.” She was bitterly disappointed with his record. “He was pro-life and pro-gun, but otherwise a liberal,” she says. “Just like Bill Clinton he will charm you, but don’t be surprised if he takes a completely different turn in office.”
“Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. “He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles,” she says. “Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a ‘compassionate conservative’ are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee.”
I copied the above from a conservative news site, I forget which one :)
I am not necessarily anti-Huckabee and will vote for whatever Repub wins the nomination. However I thought the above is food for thought.
Which of those 4 do you, and your supposed 90% of FR, disagree with?
1 pro-life
2 cut taxes
3 stop being such a wuss when it comes to islamofacism
4 protect our border
people just have to know who he is. If he’s rising in the polls it is probably because they don’t know his record on illegals and taxes.
He is one of the RINOS that the powers that be are trying to force on conservatives.
NO THANKS.
Ties to Clinton Crimes are the key issue with any AR politician. So read and weep on the Huckster....Mr. Huckabee’s reluctance to surround himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton. Zac Wright, a spokesman for incoming Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, was asked this year why 15 Huckabee agency heads had been retained. Most of them were “Clinton people,” he replied, not “Huckabee people.”
As an Arkansan, I agree with that statement. He is a Bill Clinton style populist that does just enough conservative things to get by but is a big government nanny-state guy at heart.
This article is a very accurate portrayal of him but it doesn't even go into his soft attitude on illegal immigration which is enough by itself to rule him out for me.
Huckabee is the party’s WORST nightmare. Take everything u hate about George Bush’s immigration policy, Carter’s economic policies and Clinton’s ethics (or lack thereof) and u get Huckabee. This mand MUST be stopped.
Fund is an economic conservative who is socially liberal, and he’s backing Rudy Giuliani.
My take on The Incredible Huck:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1915751/posts
You shouldn’t be on the anti-Huck ping list, you should be running it. Looks like your blog already is.
Don't beat around the bush or mince words. Just come out and tell us what you really think :-)
ping
Huckabee is just another RINO. We must not elect one more RINO. He is a liberal calling himself a conservative, check his very liberal record as a Governor.
To be added please FReepmail me.
I swear some of these media people and journalists just read FR and the blogs and get their column ideas from us. I like Fund.
The GOP is just dumb enough to do this...BABY KILLER/NANNY STATER '08!!!!! Get excited.
I saw it. You know, I’m not surprised and I’m sure you’re not either. Even without hearing him talk about certain things you can just tell what a liberal’s position would be on bogus stuff like global warming. The guy was stupid enough to believe the bogus studies on Second Hand Smoke so this would just logically follow.
He is a pro-life liberal who hunts. The Hucksters ACU rating if he were in Congress would be about 20.
Funny how “Republicans” who are nanny state smoker banners tend to be liberal on everything else.
And Fund has to keep all his beltway connects happy. These guys could care less if HRC wins.
Why would the Corporate conservatives want to see a Socialist elected?
“Retire the liberal tax raising, open border, nanny state Huckster Ping”
B U M P
No more mainstream politicians. No more RINOS. No more traitors in office.
I suppose there are a significant portion that disagree with each of the four. When you require the AND operator, you eliminate ANYONE who fails to agree with you on all four positions. Hence, you will lose 90% of registered voters, if not 90% of FR. I would prefer to get 3 out of 4 or even 2 out of 4 to 0 out of 4, which is where we are heading with Reid/Pelosi/Clinton. But I guess you’d rather have that than compromise . . . .
For them to "destroy" the GOP in their respectative states, it would have had to have been there in the first place. New York is about 2/3rds RAT and hasn't elected a conservative Governor or mayor in decades. Massachuttes is the most liberal state in the union, and every congressional seat, both senate seats, and every statewide office was RAT long before Romney took office. Arkansas is huge yellow-dog Democrat state in the south the Dems have had an iron grip on every local office since the 19th century. Huckabee is one of only three Republicans in modern times to buck the tide and get elected Governor in that overwhemingly RAT state.
A more relevant example is George Ryan. Illinois WAS a competative state and had a Republican Senator, a Republican controlled state legislature, and 20+ years of GOP governors before he took the helm in 1998 and throughly wiped out the IL GOP by 2002.
Okay, it's official now. Facts are like hypocrite to you. You asked me to cite conservative positions Huckabee held besides guns and abortion, I gave you a dozen examples, and your responce is to "lalalalalala I can't hear you, I'm just going to continue pretend Huckabee is liberal on gays, Iraq, and everything else on the planet to continue to spew my agenda."
Perhaps you can find a "liberal" besides Joe Lieberman who supports the WOT as strong as Huckabee does. Good luck.
Good thing you weren't here to spew your anti-Huckabee garage back in 2004 or JimRob would have you banned for lying about his long time friend.
Well, you are the first fellow FReeper in a while who has broken out the old "Shut up, Newbie, I was here on FR since 1777, back in the Revolutionary War days. I was on the George Washington threads."
In case you haven't noticed sir, and judging by your focus on me, you haven't, I'm hardly alone in my opposition to Mike Huckabee for any higher public office. I would say you are outnumbered 150-1.
I've said before, it's nothing personal against Mike. Nice guy, I wish him luck in his retirement and private life.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.