Huckabee: As Known by His Enemies

Matta Taibbi has an insighful piece about Mike Huckabee in Rolling Stone. (*Be warned; there is significant profanity in Taibbi's piece).

While there's no doubt Taibbi has no use for Republicans or conservatism or Christianity, his opinion of someone he might see as a political enemy (at one point referring to Huckabee thusly: "full-blown nuts, a Christian goofball of the highest order") is revealing:

But all the attention on his salesmanship skills obscures the real significance of his rise within the Republican Party. Mike Huckabee represents something that is either tremendously encouraging or deeply disturbing, depending on your point of view: a marriage of Christian fundamentalism with economic populism. Rather than employing the ?patented Bush-Rove tactic of using abortion and gay rights to hoodwink low-?income Christians into supporting patrician, pro-corporate policies, Huckabee is a bigger-government Republican who emphasizes prison reform and poverty relief. In the world of GOP politics, he represents something entirely new — a cross between John Edwards and Jerry Falwell, an ordained Southern Baptist preacher who actually seems to give a *@$! about the working poor.

I have nothing against "poverty relief." At the risk of tooting my own horn, I donate monthly to a number of "poverty relief" efforts, and to quite a few more throughout the year. I do this--in addition to the tax dollars the government robs from me--because I understand that charity is the responsibility of the PRIVATE sector, not government wealth redistribution schemes. Unfortunately, Huckabee, while both a Christian and a Republican who should, doesn't seem to understand this.

Here's more from Taibbi:

As governor of Arkansas, he outraged Republicans with his plan to expand health coverage for children, his embrace of refugees from Katrina and his support for subsidized higher education for the children of illegal immigrants. Worse still, from a Republican standpoint, Huckabee showed little hesitation in raising taxes to pay for such programs — one analysis claims that new taxes initiated during his tenure resulted in a net tax increase of $505 million. Even Max Brantley, editor of the Arkansas Times and one of Huckabee's most ferocious critics, concedes that the candidate's populism isn't an act.

Taibbi says Max Brantley, editor of the Arkansas Times, likens Huckabee to "moderate" Democrats:

"Huckabee's exactly like the Blue Dogs," says Brantley. "They have the same message."

And here's another mixed review of Huckabee:

Because for all his political waffling in other areas — Huckabee has flip-flopped on a host of earthly political issues, from taxes to local control of school boards — he leaves absolutely no doubt about his commitment to religious wackohood.

Taibbi also cites some ethical questions I've read about from other sources as well:

In his first year as governor, Huck used a $60,000 taxpayer fund for personal expenses like dog food, pantyhose and meals at Taco Bell. (One of his sons — also a very heavy man, as his father was — reportedly joked that "there's not a Huckabee alive that can eat at Taco Bell for seven dollars.") The governor also tried to keep $70,000 in furnishings for the governor's mansion supplied by a local cotton grower, and used inaugural funds to pay for clothes for his wife.

I have no idea whether any of this is true, only that I've heard it from more than one source. To me, this means that in addition to someone who's mushy on personal responsibility and pretty liberal in the tax-and-spend big-government department, Huckabee would be a candidate with some unsavory baggage.

I appreciate Huckabee's stand for life and marriage. These are commendable. But when there are much better conservative candidates like Duncan Hunter who understand core Republican values, I just can't get behind Huckabee.

Christians and other Republicans can do better than a "pro-life liberal."

HT to the Arkansas Journal.