Election '08: The Huckabee Factor

Recent 2008 presidential polls have former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee coming out of nowhere to lead in Iowa and pull virtually neck and neck with the Republican front runners in national surveys. Clearly, the religious right was not pleased with the choice of candidates, and has thrown support in the corner of an evangelical ally, which has many within the Republican Party scrambling to smear him.

Why attack one of their own, you say? Huckabee represents a break from the traditional GOP way of doing things: He is a actually a true social conservative. Where Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. only pandered to social conservatives to get elected, Huckabee appears committed to the "Christian" conservative cause.

This is troubling to the GOP for several reasons. Huckabee stands to split Republican voters into two factions. On one hand, you have the social conservatives (SC's), and on the other, the fiscal conservatives (FC's), classical conservatives or Goldwater conservatives. Until now, the two factions (while having virtually nothing in common) were able to coexist under a single GOP banner. This was largely due to the SC's distancing themselves from the Democratic party over issues like abortion, civil rights and gay marriage, and from a concerted effort by the FC's in power to give the SC's just enough "faith-based" government to keep them happy.

But now, in walks Mike Huckabee, who is without a doubt a true blue Christian Conservative. If George W. Bush and Karl Rove could have the SC's convinced they're good Christians, Mike Huckabee may have them believing he's the Second Coming. Huckabee is an ordained minister. He is against civil unions, abortion and gun-control. He doesn't believe in evolution. He believes that homosexuality is sinful, and he has credited God for his recent jump in the polls.

It is not difficult to grasp the implications of Huckabee's meteoric rise. Social Conservatives, Christian Conservatives, Evangelicals, or whatever you want to call them may not be able to recognize if a Republican is or is not a Christian, but they sure as hell can tell who is more Christian. Among the pro-choice, cross-dressing adulterer, the cult follower, the Hollywood actor, and the Baptist Minister, I think the SC's can find their guy. And if you consider John McCain to still be in the running, remember that he lost the 2000 primary largely due to his reluctance to pander to the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world.

So what we have is a candidate in Huckabee who may actually be too socially conservative for the FC's. While Huckabee is busy locking up the "I-ain't-come-from-no-monkey!" vote, the "Lower-my-taxes-and-screw-the-middle-class" voter may start to look outside the Republican Party. This is where a moderate candidate like Hillary Clinton gets a boost, as she is clearly the more fiscally conservative of the Democratic candidates. For example, Hillary supports not a single-payer universal health care plan, but a health insurance mandate, much like automobile insurance is required for all drivers. While the government would assist in helping people adhere to the mandate, Americans would now have more of their tax dollars devoted to pure profit for insurance companies. But I digress...

Huckabee's ascent to the top of the polls has started to alarm the FC's, and the FC's are starting to fight back. Presumably worried that Huckabee is not as fiscally conservative as a Republican should be, conservatives are fiercely trying to stave off Huckabee's rise.

Rush Limbaugh claimed that Huckabee is essentially a Democratic plant designed to ensure the Democratic nominee has a beatable candidate to compete against in the general election:

"Why are the Drive-Bys, why are they pushing Huckabee? Because they think that Huckabee is a nut. They think that Huckabee is a Bible-thumping preacher that's going to be marching into every woman's home and telling her, "No, you must not and cannot have an abortion." And then they think he's going to hijack the Constitution and write Roe vs. Wade out of it without even going to the Supreme Court. And then they think he's going to make every liberal kid go to Sunday school. This is what they think of him. This is what they think of any God-fearing pastor or conservative religious person. And, as such, they think that would be easy to beat."

While this isn't necessarily an "attack" on Huckabee, it's an ominous warning to Republicans that Huckabee will be like pigs to the slaughter if he wins the GOP nomination. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

This week, a "prominent, DC-based Huckabee ally" had this to say about why Rush didn't support his candidate:

"Honestly, because Rush doesn’t think for himself. That’s not necessarily a slap because he’s not paid to be a thinker—he’s an entertainer. I can’t remember the last time that he has veered from the talking points from the DC/Manhattan chattering class. If they were praising Huckabee, he would be too."

Of course, truer words were never spoken, but that didn't prevent conservative water-carriers from slamming the Huckabee camp:

Michelle Malkin: "What an unbelievably knuckle-headed move by Huckabee’s minions....I believe this Rush-bashing incident may turn out to be Huckabee’s Howard Dean scream moment."

And in a bizarre twist, conservative author Ann Coulter slammed Huckabee in her blog, despite sharing his disdain for evolution, saying, "Liberals adore Huckabee because he fits their image of what an evangelical should be: stupid and easily led."

And in a truly strange episode, Glenn Beck attacked Huckabee for, of all things, claiming that Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers. Huckabee, the Southern Baptist made the comment to call into question the faith of fellow candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon. Beck, also a Mormon, responded by calling Huckabee a "one-eyed Mullah," in an apparent reference to Islamic jihad. If all this religion has your head spinning right now, you're not alone.

I don't know what is more entertaining: watching Social Conservatives have it out with Fiscal Conservatives, or watching the Republican nomination being decided over whose religious beliefs are less crackpot.

Of course, this is all good news for the Democrats. Huckabee is attacking the policies of George W. Bush, and neo-cons are fighting back, warning the nation of the next coming of Jimmy Carter. Now all the Democrats have to do is sit back and watch the GOP break apart from the inside and 2008 will be a rout.