Lessons Learned

I read two interesting commentaries about Mike Huckabee yesterday. One from WSJ.com contributor, John Fund and one by Pat Toomey representing the tax reform group, Club for Growth.

I'll start with John Fund's piece, because it was better, and the point made is that Huckabee while touting his social conservative cred, being pro-life especially, is a liberal/populist on the economic issues. Sounding familiar? So, while he's a smooth talking Baptist minister and cheered on by the religious right, he is also praised by liberal columnists.

"Rick Scarborough, a pastor who heads Vision America, attended seminary with Mr. Huckabee and is a strong backer. But, he acknowledges, "Mike has always sought the validation of elites".

"Mr. Huckabee's reluctance to surround himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton."

Huckabee claims he has to fight the obstacle of being a 'man from Hope', as Clinton is known to be, though Clinton was only born there and lived there only briefly. We know that was all about slick political campaign commercials. Hollywood loved Hope.

The most disturbing quote, though, is the opinion held by a former Huckabee aide on his style of governance: "He's just like Bill Clinton in that he practices management by news cycle." "As with Clinton there was no long-term planning, just putting out fires on a daily basis. One thing I'll guarantee is that won't lead to competent conservative governance."

According to the piece by Pat Toomey, "Huckabee makes no secret of his desire to turn the GOP leftward, calling himself a 'different kind of Republican,' adopting protectionist positions, and peppering his campaign speeches with the kind of class warfare rhetoric one expects to hear from John Edwards. No doubt, this is the reason that the liberal media is so smitten with him."

Toomey goes on to point out why the Republicans lost some many seats in 2006. It wasn't because the country suddenly lurched left. We are still very much a center/right country. The Republicans and Independents were, however, quite fed up with the liberal spending policies of this administration and the corruption that has seeped into the culture of the party politicians. Republicans and Independents don't want conservatives to act like liberal Democrats. It was the easy common commentary that said it was all about Iraq. Iraq was a part of the frustrations but the reality is this: Democrats didn't win, Republicans lost.

So, I think it's right that Huckabee is no where near ready for prime time in Washington. I'm not even so sure he should be looked at as VP. We need strong national defense policy in Washington. If Huckabee is spouting off about his isolationist tendencies, that is not a good sign. He may as well be Ron Paul.

And the religious right having the temper tantrums over the abortion policy? If they are so concerned about a social conservative in the White House, why haven't they mobilized behind Huckabee and made him the top tier candidate? No candidate is going to fill the bill 100% for anybody. That's human. The voter has to cast a ballot for the person most in line with his or her reasoning on how the country should go forward.

For me, it's all about national security. Without that, nothing else will matter. I don't want a squish or a woman with her finger in the air. My family deserves better and our country depends on it. Hillary and Bill's policy of treating terrorism as a legal matter brought us to 9/11. It's harsh but true.

Did they learn nothing from the Bush terms? Clinton carried a bible to church each Sunday, for the cameras. Hillary speaks of her faith. Neither are moral people in my book. The rhetoric and trappings of faith in politics is interesting but we don't elect the preacher in chief.