AmericanPapist Comments
I like Huckabee a lot. He doesn't rub me the wrong way at all, as he seems to do with some conservatives. And most importantly, his pro-life and pro-marriage credentials seem to be impeccable, from what I can tell. If Ron Paul is clearly out of contention by the time my state's primary comes around, I'll most likely be voting for Huckabee.
AmP,
Why are you uneasy about Huckabee? [If you've answered that question in a previous post, could you please point me to it ... I don't mean to make extra work for you, sorry.]
I'm not sure that I've stated publically my reasons before.
For one he strikes me as a man who is very good on life issues, but absolutely horrid on everything else: he's not a traditional conservative (he tends more towards big government), he possesses basically "zilch" in regards to foreign policy experience, and I think in general he is making up for alot of ignorance and incompetance with his wit and charm, which, unfortantely, doesn't make you a good president.
Again, I'm trying to remain open, but I've been watching him in the debates closely and besides fitting in a mention of God once in awhile, I'm not impressed. At all.
I see Mike Huckabee as the best hope for America to restore dignity, humility and humor to our nation's top executive office. He's intelligent, witty, and most importantly, he is GENUINE. I honestly think he has the best chance to defeat secularists Clinton or Obama in the national election. Huckabee is an American patriot who can unite social and fiscal conservatives, win over broad sections of rural America and led the GOP to victory in November.
By the way, I believe HUCKABEE is appearing on Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central tonight. Colbert, of course, is a native of South Carolina. Should be fun!
And at least we know HUCKABEE has faith and convictions that don't change according to the latest poll. His beliefs are deep, and the've guided him this far. I also think the humor element helps non-religious Americans relate to the guy, which is critical from an electability standpoint. I have friends who wrote him off as an Evangelical nutcase, until they saw him on Leno and Letterman, and suddenly they were like, "He's a regular guy." That's critical... he's a great communicator. And who else on either side of the aisle has his credentials in terms of faith. I'm actually a Buddhist and he has my support.
I like Huckabee a lot. If Paul doesn't get it, then I hope Huckabee does. As an exile from the South, I know how nice Baptists are. I can tell he has been trained very well in the Baptist style. He has to be an able politician, since Baptist churches depend on good political skills of the pastor to stay together, since they have no central theological authority.
I really like everything I have seen him answer. My son says he is anti-Catholic, but that is not his fault. No Catholics have ever bothered to talk with him. Anti-Catholicism is in the air in the South and unconscious. Catholics and Baptists seldom interact, except in the pro-life movement.
And having successfully worked with Baptists in the pro-life movement, they are our natural allies in the culture war we are in.
You should be uneasy about him unless he apologizes for embracing that anti-catholic bigot preacher from San Antonio.
"he possesses basically "zilch" in regards to foreign policy experience, and I think in general he is making up for alot of ignorance and incompetance with his wit and charm, which, unfortantely, doesn't make you a good president."
I agree 100%. He didn't have a clue about what was going on in Pakistan. Any person who picked up the Washington Post had a better idea of what was going on than he did. That alone confirmed my doubts about him.
I happen to think Huckabee is right on about foreign policy and yes, I read the article.
He certainly would be better than anyone advocating instant withdraw of Iraq, anti-Israel, or other isolationist policies. I am very interested in international politics and I think Huckabee's ideas work best with Asia.
And hey, I am a former Baptist turned Papist and I have to say that the faith he embodies is, in political terms, exactly in keeping with Catholic views of social justice.
I find it ironic that the people who would criticize the way his faith influences his foreign policy are themselves making overreaching conclusions on his policies in terms of their religious views regardless of whether it is good diplomacy or strategy.
Not everyone can have the benefit of an endorsement of The Wanderer.
If your vote is for someone genuine and faithful then Joe Schiner is hands down your man...I think his heads on straighter than Huck's. Plus his position papers look pretty good.
www.voteforjoe.com
I am not sure that having foriegn policy experience or for that matter a great deal of experience in anything disqualifies oneself from the Presidency. In reality the Presidency is a complex position. What I would look for from any candidate is who they would turn to for advice. Reagan, as famed conservative George Carey likes to point out, started as a true conservative. He campaigned on dismantling the Department of Education, etc. However, his advisors instead convinced him he could do more good for conservatism if he left the Department. Bush we have seen has been influenced heavily by the neo-conservatives. Its no great secret that most of the Defense and State Departments have been staffed by neo-cons. Clinton would have gotten nowhere if not for Carville, Begala, etc. In short advisors play a key role in the modern Presidency and so voting on a President usually does mean voting for a personality, for lack of a better term we are looking for a "decider". Remember that one of the biggest critiques of George W. Bush in 2000 was his lack of foriegn policy experience, take that as you will.
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