There has been some stir over the Governor's answer to the evolution question that he gave in a debate in July. Most people criticising his answer have twisted and manipulated it to say something that he did not say. I made a video contrasting the views of Governor Huckabee with John Edwards. The conclusion: Huckabee believes in God; John Edwards believes in Santa Claus.
As we have been noticing, now that Governor Huckabee is generating some momentum in the race for President, the media, as well as interest groups, have taken it upon themselves to attack Huckabee. Do not expect to hear truth from these sources, however. Consider this example.
In an opinion piece for the US News and World Report, Bonnie Erbe tries to create a scandal by resorting to the well-known (and highly effective) strategy of reporting half-truths. Says Ms. Erbe:
Other questions surrounding his [Huckabee's] tenure are even more puzzling. One is why earlier this year, as Huckabee was leaving office, he apparently ordered the destruction of more than 100 computers in the governor's office.
What!? The Governor ordered the destruction of more than 100 computers in the governor's office? Is my mind changed? No. Here's why.
The incident Ms. Erbe refers to, and which she tries to manufacture a scandal, is an instruction of the Governor to destroy more than 90 (not "over 100" Ms. Erbe) computer hard-drives (not "computers", Ms. Erbe) in order to "protect sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers" from being leaked (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 18, 2007).
The destruction of the hard-drives hardly constitutes a scandal. On March 17, 2007, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that an ethics panel had cleared Governor Huckabee of any wrong doing regarding the destruction of the hard-drives. A Jim Parsons had filed a complaint that Huckabee had violated the law in destroying the hard drives. From the Gazette:
Jim Parsons of Bella Vista filed the complaint, claiming that Huckabee violated Arkansas Code 7-9-410, which requires that records regarding public ballot initiatives be retained for four years.
The commissioner of the ethics committee, in a letter to Governor Huckabee, wrote that the commission had dismissed the claim by a vote of 4-0. From the Gazette:
Sloan wrote that the law didn't require Huckabee to keep those records. Furthermore, he wrote that such records usually are in paper, not electronic, form.
So, an independent ethics committee cleared Huckabee of any wrongdoing in the destruction of the hard-drives. But that is not all.
On July 18, 2007, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Huckabee had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Arkansas State Attorney General. Said the Gazette:
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said Tuesday that his office's research has determined that former Gov. Mike Huckabee and people in his administration broke no laws when more than 90 [not "over 100" Ms. Erbe] computer hard drives [not "computers", Ms. Erbe] were crushed before Huckabee left office in January
So, an independent ethics board unanimously cleared Governor Huckabee of any wrongdoing, and an investigation by the Attorney General's office concluded the same thing.
Conclusion:
Ms. Erbe not only misstates the facts, she also only reports half of the truth. She tries to manufacture a scandal out of the destruction of hard-drives upon termination of the Governor's tenure in office, and yet an independent ethics committee, as well as the Attorney General's office, has cleared him of wrongdoing. Ms. Erbe's reporting is irresponsible, incorrect, and deserving of rebuke.
As promised earlier, new Rasmussen polling data was released today. The poll shows Huckabee in a tie for third place nationally. This is a daily tracking poll, and thus the numbers will likely shift up and down frequently. The trend, though, is the most amazing thing to note. Huckabee has gained 7% since October 1.
- Rudy Giuliani: 23%
- Fred Thompson: 17%
- John McCain/Mike Huckabee: 13%
- Mitt Romney: 12%
Prominent Christian leaders have been slow to embrace Huckabee, and [Gary] Bauer told WORLD that his primary concern is the candidate's electability in the upcoming primaries.
In a private meeting with supporters after his speech, Huckabee expressed frustration over Christian leaders' reticence to back him: "It's a little bit like a soldier who goes to war and his own army won't give him the supplies he needs to win."
But evangelicals at the conference handed Huckabee a huge win over the weekend: In a straw poll conducted by the FRC, Huckabee garnered 51 percent of those who voted on-site, swamping every other candidate. Romney trailed in second place with 10 percent of the on-site vote. (The FRC allowed online voting as well, and Romney edged Huckabee by 30 votes in the overall tally.)
In my opinion, there is a demonstrable rift between the so-called "Christian Leaders," and the Christians they are presumed to be leading. That rift is essentially that the aforesaid leaders are pursuing pragmatism, whereas those who are not leaders are pursuing principle. The leaders are openly skeptical of Huckabee (for unprincipled reasons, I might add), but nevertheless the voice of those attending the Values Voter Summit handed Huckabee a resounding amount of support.
Today the University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll released its most recent poll numbers for the Iowa caucuses. Here are the results:
- Mitt Romney: 36.2%
- Rudy Giuliani: 13.1%
- Mike Huckabee: 12.8%
- Fred Thompson: 11.4%
- John McCain: 6%
A summary:
Mitt Romney continues to hold a strong lead in Iowa among candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination. But Mike Huckabee's Iowa numbers -- buoyed, perhaps, by growing support among Evangelical Christians -- have jumped significantly since August, putting him in a near-tie with Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, according to a new University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll of likely GOP caucus-goers released today, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007.
Time.com points out that Huckabee's position and success are especially interesting due to the fact that he has only spent $1.7 million. Contrast that with Mitt Romney's $53.6 million and Rudy Giuliani's $30.2 million. Huckabee has moved up from the 2% that he received from the same poll in August. This is truly an amazing feat. Huckabee has increased his support by 1while spending significantly less than the other candidates. This indicates to me the the Governor not only has a message that is resounding with voters, but that he is also able to stretch finances; and that is very impressive in today's money-centric campaign strategies.
The poll also evaluates the Democratic candidates, but who cares about that?
In addition, we should be seeing some more Rasmussen numbers sometime today. We will, of course, discuss those once they are released.
A Note From the Editor
It typically is the duty of a blog that favors a particular candidate to paint that candidate in the best possible light. Sometimes doing that would require either totally ignoring, or else positively spinning, criticism that the candidate receives. This blog is not going to do that. Rather than ignoring or spinning criticism of Governor Huckabee, I will try to present and respond to the criticism to show why, even in the face of such criticism, I still support Governor Hucakbee for President. Sometimes the criticisms might be true, and other time they might be distortions; nevertheless, it is important that they be presented and addressed. Toward that end, here is what has been happening over the past few days
Not surprisingly, Governor Huckabee's surge has prompted some attacks on his record.
On Friday, John Fund wrote unfavorably of Mike Huckabee in the Opinion Journal. Here's some snippets:
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.
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."
Lucas Roebuck, former opinion page editor of the Benton County Daily Record, former assignment editor for KNWA-NBC, and former managing editor for the Northwest Arkansas Times, wrote a rebuttal to the Opinion Journal piece. Here is a snippet:
Fund attempts to make the case that Huckabee is “not the ‘consistent conservative’ he claims to be.” However, instead of constructing a well-researched case of examples of Huckabee’s supposed conservative inconsistencies, Fund strings together a handful of individuals who simply accuse Huckabee of being liberal with little or no factual support. Furthermore, what little evidence Fund does present is skewed by critical omissions of relevant fact.
The Huckabee campaign released its own rebuttal of the Fund article.
The Governor has apparently done so well in the last week or so that CBN News decided to scrutinize his theology.
On Sunday, Time reported that Governor Romney took a shot at Huckabee.
He wanted in-state tuition breaks for illegal aliens in his state. I think that’s the wrong way to go.
Governor Huckabee's response:
I guess I’d be coming after me too. I’d also be crying, if I’d spent all that money.
I've been doing a little research of my own of the main criticisms that are coming out about the Governor. I have to say that in most instances I find the criticisms to either be distortions of the truth, or I find that the criticisms are insignificant according to my hierarchy of values. I will do my best to present my conclusions in following posts. In doing so I am likely to break the golden rule of blogging that says never to construct a post that is longer than 500 words. Well, if we want to get to the truth of the matter, sometimes we need more than 500 words. And if people want to get to the truth, they should be willing to endure a lengthy post; if they are not willing to get to the truth, they probably should not bother reading this blog.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll today that shows Governor Huckabee has moved ahead of Governor Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. The results were as follows:
- Rudy Giuliani: 20%
- Fred Thompson: 19%
- John McCain: 14%
- Mike Huckabee: 12%
- Mitt Romney: 11%
Governor Huckabee continues to stun. Way to go Governor!
According to a recently released Rasmussen poll, Gov. Huckabee has reached double digits in national polling for the first time. Huckabee receives 10% of national support for the Republican nomination. This may look like a small number, but the indication is that Huckabee is trending upward on a consistent basis.
Consider, for example, an important fact: there are at least some conservatives who, having previously written Huckabee off, are beginning to give him a second look. There is a growing swell of frustration with the pragmatic attitudes being adopted by conservative "leaders." The tide seems to be turning a bit as person after person abandons the pragmatic deception, and turns back to principled thinking. If that happens more, the other candidates will begin to lose some of their support as some of their less than happy supporters warm to Gov. Huckabee's princpled conservative campaign.
One example of conservatives who are beginning to warm to Huckabee is the tripartite endorsement from Christian bloggers Justin Taylor, Joe Carter, and Matthew Anderson. Having previously bought into the pragmatic notion of electability, these three have now come out in support of Mike Huckabee. They write:
For several months we have admired the scrappy campaign of Gov. Huckabee but believed it would be a wasted effort to support him with our time, energy, and finances. We bought into the notion that he could never get the GOP nomination since conservative voters would not support him. And the reason we were told conservative voters would never support him is because he could not get the nomination. To quote John Piper (from a different context), "It’s like the army being defeated because there aren’t enough troops, and the troops won’t sign up because the army’s being defeated."
We can no longer sit idly by and allow the campaign of a worthy candidate and an honorable man to flounder for lack of support.
So far, Huckabee has been able to avoid the negative attack politics that permeates the process. As he gains steam, however, I would not be surprised to see the other candidates and their supports begin to take attack shots at him. That would be a true indicator that Hucakbee is not only a threat, but a major threat.
Today, New York Times columnist Gail Collins, who is by no means a Huckabee supporter in the least, rebukes the likes of James Dobson, Gary Bauer, and Tony Perkins.
Why do the leaders of the religious right keep sidling away from a Baptist minister whose greatest political sin seems to have been showing compassion to a prisoner who appeared to deserve it? Why can’t they rally around the candidate who pushed for more government spending to promote poor children’s health and education, and reminded his conservative critics that when they talk about being pro-life, “life doesn’t begin at conception and end at birth?”
Meanwhile, Mike Glover writes on Huckabee for AP. Snippet:
"There have been some major surprises in the past," said Ray Hoffmann, Iowa GOP chairman. "If he does second or third here and then second or third in New Hampshire, people are going to have to take another look."
The Hill is reporting that Senator Sam Brownback is considering whether he will endorse Rudy Giuliani. Says Brownback:
I’m going to meet with him and I’m going to talk to him and hear what he is specifically saying now because he’s changed on a number of the abortion issues[.]
He’s changed on partial-birth [abortion] and he … has said he would appoint strict constructionists.
I have been analyzing Giuliani's promise to appoint strict constructionist jurists, and I have determined that such a promise is meaningless. It is sheer trickery. Giuliani is trying to move the goal posts by using the words "strict constructionists" in a way that is vastly different from the way social conservatives have come to understand that term. Giuliani is muddying the waters on this very important issue, and I suppose I will have to make the case since the pro-life vanguard has dropped the ball.
Look for a post in which I will show why Giuliani's promise of strict constructionist jurists is meaningless.
The final a donation of $1000.00 came in just after 6PM/ET, and the Huckabee campaign has now breached the $450,000 barrier. I suppose it's time for a new contribution goal. Huckabee's on fire. Head on over to make a contribution to this worthy candidate.
Below are three screencaps that will forever preserve the moment:
Boston Globe columnist Scot Lehigh joins the club of folks who say that Huckabee is out of the second tier. He writes:
In a field where the leading candidates have thus far proved unpalatable or unconvincing to the Republican base, Huckabee is a true believer, a committed, consistent conservative. Now that he's outrun his second-tier rivals, don't be surprised to see his candidacy take off.
Of course, Huckabee supporters have known this for a while. The fact that it is starting to be said in the media is very good for Huckabee. What we are likely to see in the weeks and months ahead is the pundits trying to rewrite the history of this race by claiming they knew Huckabee had a chance the whole time. Those of us who know the facts, however, know better. We have known Huckabee had a chance the whole time, and the Media has been, quite literally, in left field.
According to a Foxnews report, Pastor Don Wilton has retracted the endorsement he made of Mitt Romney. Pastor Wilton is was president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and his endorsement of Romney was made on October 19th. Wilton Said:
It was my personal error to agree to support Romney's campaign. Until this incident I had never endorsed any person running for any elected office, Democrat or Republican.
Read Wilton's entire press release here.
I could not help but notice that Wilton's endorsement was made the day before Governor Huckabee's speech at the Values Voter Summit. I wonder if the momentum that Huckabee has generated in the last few days has caused one of his own to give him a second look. Huckabee was, after all, president of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. This is some excellent news!
Today, Dick Morris writes in an article for RealClearPolitcs that Mike Huckabee is "an articulate, principled, knowledgeable, conservative Christian[.]"
Mike Huckabee is beginning to generate national attention, and he has done it the old fashion way. He has not bought his way into contention; he has simply articulated a message and a vision, and folks are lining up behind him. Now if we could just get those pesky "Evangelical Leaders" to back him...
Thanks to the Huckabee campaign for plugging this blog.
For fellow Tennesseeans, we have a facebook group called TennesSEE for HuckaBEE. Feel free to join.
Tony Beam discusses Huckabee in a column for Christianity Today. The bottom line:
As long as Governor Mike Huckabee is in the race thank God we don’t have to compromise. We don’t have to hold our nose and vote. We can march into the voting booth, vote Huckabee, and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have stood by the things that matter most.
If Huckabee can continue to generate this sort of sentiment, watch out over the next few months. Huckabee may not have a lot of money, but he has something much, much better: a message.
Newsweek interviewed Richard Land, who they described as "a leading evangelical [serving] as president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission." Some of the highlights:
NEWSWEEK: So we wanted to ask you, first of all, about the third-party idea and whether it's serious. A number of people are suggesting it's just a threat.
Richard Land: My intuition [is that] this is not a bluff. If Giuliani is the nominee there will be a third party...This is not a bluff.
NEWSWEEK: Is Huckabee's success there a harbinger of things to come? Is he starting to gain some traction?
Richard Land:
We'll see. Everyone says he does great when he speaks; everyone says he does great in the debates. But so far that hasn't translated either into fund-raising success or into a surge in the polls...
I think a third-party campaign is likely to ensure the Democratic nominee the Presidency. All the talk about a third-party run is, in the very least, premature. Mike Huckabee is a candidate who holds values that are not just consistent with those in the Bible, as Dr. Grudem put it, but they seem to be genuinely derived from the Bible, and he has the skill to communicate those values to other people in a way that bridges the gap between ideological lines. This is vertical politics, as the Governor puts it, and his message resounds with anyone who hears it. Talking of a prospective third-party run while Huckabee is still in the race is ridiculous. Instead, evangelicals should throw their support around him.
I follow political happenings closely, and while I have supported Mike Huckabee for quite some time, I did not want to take the time to write a blog. But some things have happened in recent days that have caused my blood to boil. Let's review.
- On October 1st, the New York Times reported that, "a coalition of influential Christian conservatives is threatening to back a third-party candidate." The coalition here referred to was none other than the so-called, media-dubbed leaders of the Christian Conservative block such as James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Richard A. Viguerie.
- On October 18th, the Washington Post, quoting Chuck Colson, summarizd the seemingly prevalent attitude among the so-called, media-dubbed conservative leaders saying, "...there's no one candidate out there around whom evangelicals and conservative Catholics can sort of coalesce around and get excited about."
- On October 18th, none other than the fine theologian, Dr. Wayne Grudem, penned an article entitled, "Why Evangelicals Should Support Mitt Romney" in which he argued that Mitt Romney was the best qualified, morally palatable candidate for Evangelical voters.
- On October 22nd, the Washington Times reported that a meeting of several "conservative leaders" could not find a satisfactory candidate coming out of the "Values Voters" summitt held on October 19-20.
- On October 21st, Gary Bauer discounted Mike Huckabee on the grounds that Bauer believed that Huckabee is only seeking the office of the Vice President.
These five things have led me to vast disappointment with the people who have been thought to be leaders of the Christian wing of conservatives. One purpose of this blog is to argue that Mike Huckabee is the clear and convincing candidate for those who are considered "values voters." As a Christian I am disappointed, to say the least, that those who have been considered leaders in the fight for Christian values are unwisely and unjustifiably embracing a doctrine of political pragmatism that will ultimately derail the advancement of the very values they claim to be trying to preserve.
In posts to follow, I will examine why I think pragmatism will ultimately fail the conservative movement. But in the mean time, please allow me to introduce you to Mike Huckabee.
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