Leap of Faith: Mike Huckabee and Little Rock ethics

The Wall Street Journal ^ | December 21, 2007 | KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

[Aristotelian]

As pigs in pokes go, the Democratic Party bought itself a big one in 1988. Michael Dukakis was relatively unknown, but he was also the last man standing. Only too late did his party, along with the rest of the country, realize Mr. Dukakis was a typecast liberal--a furlougher of felons, and a guy who looked mighty awkward in a tank.

This is what happens when a party takes a flyer, and it could be Republicans' turn with Mike Huckabee. The former Baptist minister and governor of Arkansas is surging in Iowa, and is tied with Rudy Giuliani in national polls. He's selling his party on a simple message: He's not those other guys, with their flip-flops and different faiths, and dicey social positions. As to what Mr. Huckabee is--that's as unknown to most voters as the Almighty himself.

Mr. Huckabee is starting to get a look-see by the press, though whether the nation will have time to absorb the findings before the primaries is just as unknown. The small amount that has been unearthed so far ought to have primary voters nervous. It isn't just that Mr. Huckabee is far from a traditional conservative; he's a potential ethical time bomb.

[Aristotelian]

a potential ethical time bomb

WOW!!!!!!!!!

[Aristotelian]

Get this! She warns that there are signs that Mr. Huckabee’s background “is ripe to provide the sort of pop-up political scandal that could derail a general election campaign.” She further notes that the Huckster is a product of the same Arkansas establishment that produced Bubba.

[MSF BU]

Mike needs to go back to Arkansas and take out one of the two liberal senators from that state.

[Route66]

Many here have been saying this from the beginning. We nominate this man at our peril. What’s out there now is enough to sink him (and us with him) and I predict we’ve only scratched the surface of what will be revealed about Mike.

[Soliton]

Let the voters decide.

[Aristotelian]

"The pair from Hope"

[Aristotelian]

And who would have more dirt on the Huckster than the Clintons and their Arkansas cronies?

[Route66]

Guaranteed.

[Rudder]

I'm seriously puzzled about how, exactly, did Huckabee gain so much traction in the polls so rapidly. By what means, e.g., TV, newsprint, internet, door-to-door, radio, word-of-mouth, etc., did he ascend?

Any thoughts?

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Democrats know it. Here’s an interesting statistic: Since the beginning of 2007, the Democratic National Committee has released 102 direct attacks on Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani has warranted 78; John McCain 68; Fred Thompson 21. Mike Huckabee? Four. The most recent of these landed back in March. GOP voters may not have examined Mr. Huckabee’s record, but the left has—and they love what they see.]

Democrats are holding back on Huckabee until their colleagues in the news media guide Huckabee through the nomination process. Then the scandals will come out of the woodwork.

[Aristotelian]

I gather he was investigated by the state ethics committee at least 14 times.

One focus of attention was Action America, a funnel for money that he helped found in 1994 while lieutenant governor. And The American Spectator is reporting that he’s doing it again right now.

“According to his financial disclosure documents for 2007, Huckabee’s income appears to come from a small pension and his wife’s salary — as well as speaking honoraria placed solely through “12 Stops, Inc.,” a company set up to handle funds he made from book sales, and for which he is a named corporate officer. A Huckabee campaign aide said that Huckabee’s speeches were placed by a speaker’s bureau and the honorarium was paid for by Huckabee’s company. “Essentially, he paid himself to speak,” says the aide.”

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12478

[Aristotelian]

I don’t understand his meteoric rise either. I can see the evangelicals in Iowa. But why is he up so much nationally?

He is the “un-candidate” — that is, “none of the above.” But that’s not enough to explain his explosive rise. And it certainly isn’t driven by policy. Does anyone know what he stands for other than the Fair Tax?

[ModelBreaker]

I don’t understand his meteoric rise either. I can see the evangelicals in Iowa. But why is he up so much nationally?

For one thing, he's a fabulously natural speaker. His response to the reporter trying to get him to say he believed the universe was created in seven days was one of the most deft pieces of politics I've ever seen--it was clearly up there with Reagan's microphone moment. He made the reporter look like an ass, professed his faith in God in a way that did not offend, and got a standing ovation, leaving Wolf Blitzer sputtering.

I am deeply suspicious of his politics. But he is head and heels over the other candidates as a speaker and interviewee. When he speaks, it sounds as if he's telling you what HE thinks, not what a bunch of handlers have prepped him to say. It's refreshing. If he weren't so left-wing, I would consider jumping on his bandwagon.

[lesser_satan]

Here's a better one, courtesy of The REAL Mike Huckabee blog.

[Rudder]

Well, I’m going to keep nosing around to look for what information I find on this question. Things just don’t add up, and I haven’t found a so-called expert who attempts to address this.

[Right_in_Virginia]

BTTT