Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Real Reason Not to Vote For Mike Huckabee

As we all know, Mike Huckabee's campaign has managed to reach a point that none of us thought was possible. He was considered a hopeless candidate months ago, and yet has managed to still remain a serious contender for the GOP nomination. I've followed with morbid fascination the media hype factory that has been generated around the former Governor of Arkansas. It seems that the many in the media establishment have warmed up this guy, totally ignoring his wholly problematic policy positions, because he's likeable, and a somewhat laid back guy. I've even caught myself almost falling for it in my weaker moments. I no longer have that problem, for reasons I'll discuss in a second. Many on the Right want the Huckabus stopped, because they feel he's not sufficiently conservative. To the right-wing GOP base, and because of his quasi-populist appeals, Huckabee my appear to be somewhat liberal, but to most of the country he is pretty darn conservative. He is a solid socon, which explains his support among many evangelicals, but many Republicans feel he's soft on immigration, taxes, and foreign policy. Many moderates are turned off my his social conservatism.

One can oppose Huckabee because he's too far to the right. Righties will oppose him because of his slam against Bush, or his raising taxes. One can oppose him for his idiotic FairTax proposal, or his flip-flops on immigration, or his appeals to quasi-theocracy. For my money, his hard-right social policies, and his pretty right policies elsewhere make it impossible for me to vote for him (even if I wasn't a Democrat), even if he is likeable.

If those aren't enough for you, Christopher Hitchens gives us the real reason not to even consider voting for Huckabee, and laments the media's refusal to highlight it.

Read the whole thing.

4 comments:

DaveG said...

Best reason not to vote for the Huck as far as I'm concerned is that I didn't think very much of the last Arkansas governor we elected.

YMMV, of course.

Rafique Tucker said...

Well, I happen to be something of a fan of that last former Governor (and would have voted for him if I had been old enough then), to each his own.

Roland Dodds said...

I truly believe that every time a candidate takes on the cause of the confederate battle flag, they are really trying to send a message that good-old-boys still allowed in the party.

Why anyone would think it acceptable to fly the flag of a treasons racist organization over the very nation it wished to destroy is beyond me. Huckabee has been a shill from day one, but this just illuminates it further.

Rafique Tucker said...

Why anyone would think it acceptable to fly the flag of a treasons racist organization over the very nation it wished to destroy is beyond me. Huckabee has been a shill from day one, but this just illuminates it further.

Exactly.