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Huckabee and the Religious Right
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Talk to Action - Dec 10, 2007
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/12/10/11422/957
Huckabee: Dark Horse's Rise Tied to Backing of Religious Right
By Bill Berkowitz
Although several of the leading Republican Party presidential
candidates have won endorsements from Religious Right leaders and
organizations, no one has brought more Christian conservative leaders
into their camp than former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
"Mike Huckabee has worked hard to get the Religious Right's backing and
it seems to be paying off," the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told me.
Huckabee's campaign advertisements open with the words "Christian
Leader" in large white capitals. "Faith doesn't just influence me. It
really defines me. I don't have to wake up every day wondering, what do
I need to believe?" he says in the ad.
Now that he's at, or near the top, of the pack, his record is being
closely examined by the media. So far, it's not a pretty picture.
'Christian Leader' boosted by host of religious right bigwigs
"At the Values Voter Summit in Washington last October, he gave a very
well-received speech hitting on all the themes that are important to
the Religious Right," Lynn pointed out. "It clearly energised the
crowd, and in fact he later won a straw poll of attendees by a wide
margin.
Just a few weeks ago, Huckabee was viewed as just another third-tier
candidate who hadn't made much headway. Now, however, with the Iowa
caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries coming up
quickly, he has been creating buzz.
In addition to being available for numerous media ops, he performed
well in various Republican debates, and he received an increasing
number of endorsements from important conservative Christian
evangelical leaders.
While Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani secured an unexpected
endorsement from Rev. Pat Robertson (stirring up a hornet's nest in the
Religious Right), Huckabee -- who is closest politically and
ideologically to the Religious Right -- has received a series of
endorsements from such lesser known but nevertheless significant
Christian right leaders as Janet Folger, president of Faith2Action,
Rick Scarborough, founder and president of Vision America, the Rev. Don
Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association.
Jerry Falwell, Jr., the chancellor of Liberty University and the son of
the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, has also come on board, as have Jerry
Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, authors of the best-selling "Left Behind"
series of apocalyptic novels. LaHaye's wife, Beverly - another Huckabee
endorser -- is the founder and chairman of the board of Concerned Women
of America, which claims to be the largest women's political
organization in the U.S.
"During the 25 years I have known Mike Huckabee, he has proven himself
to be a Christian conservative who stands without apology for the
pro-life, pro-marriage platform that is so important in this time of
moral collapse," Tim LaHaye said during an early December appearance
with the candidate in Iowa.
An ordained Southern Baptist pastor, Huckabee has charted a course that
not only includes orthodox conservative Christian positions --
anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage -- but one that also appears to
reveal a certain level of compassion.
The former Arkansas governor's rise in the Iowa polls is largely due to
his courting a statewide network of evangelical pastors and to
emphasizing his own faith.
Lynn noted that Huckabee has been "speaking in a lot of fundamentalist
churches around the country, which, while it doesn't always receive
media attention, has moved his candidacy forward."
Last week, Huckabee announced the formation of the Iowa Pastors
Coalition and the endorsement of Iowa family values leader Chuck
Hurley, the president of the Iowa Family Policy Center.
The compassionate Huckabee surfaced during CNN's recent YouTube
Republican debate during a question about immigration. Although
generally supporting a hard line on immigration, Huckabee clearly
separated himself from the field by saying that it was wrong to punish
the children of undocumented workers for the illegal actions of their
parents. That kind of stance didn't sit well with his opponents,
particularly former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who slammed him
for seeking to "giv[e] scholarships to illegal aliens".
In one recent interview, the former Arkansas governor declared, "I am
like a lot of folks who are tired of thinking the Republican Party is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street." He has denounced "immoral" CEO
salaries, and warned, "People will only endure this for so many years
before there is a revolt."
Huckabee's so-called populism has riled the right. The conservative
anti-tax Club for Growth is angry with Huckabee, and Robert Novak has
called him an advocate of "class struggle. "In a recent column entitled
"The False Conservative," Robert Novak maintained that while "Huckabee
is campaigning as a conservative ... serious Republicans know that he
is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand
in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans."
Scrutinized ... and not liking it
Although he raised his hand at a debate last May when asked which
candidates disbelieved the theory of evolution, he has lately bristled
at being asked over and over again about evolution. At a recent Iowa
press conference he pointed out that while he "believe[d] God created
the heavens and the Earth," he (Huckabee) "wasn't there when he did it,
so how he did it, I don't know."
He added that it was "an irrelevant question to ask me -- I'm happy to
answer what I believe, but what I believe is not what's going to be
taught in 50 different states. Education is a state function. The more
state it is, and the less federal it is, the better off we are."
While Huckabee still has a number of formidable hurdles to leap over --
he needs to raise lots more money, and he still has a relatively small
staff -- the fact that the field is so divided is clearly to his
advantage.
And, as he has moved up in the polls, his record is being examined a
lot more closely.
AIDS, drawing a blank on the NIE and the pardon of a rapist
The Associated Press reported that as a candidate for a U.S. Senate
seat in 1992, Huckabee advocated isolating AIDS patients from the
general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a
cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health
risk." Responding to the AP story, Huckabee said that his "comments
came at a time when the public was still learning about HIV and AIDS
and promised to do `everything possible to transform the promise of a
vaccine and a cure into reality.'"
In Iowa last week, he was asked for a comment on the just-released
National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that found that it had given up
its nuclear weapons program four years ago. Appearing befuddled,
Huckabee said that he was not familiar with the NIE, hadn't read it,
been briefed on it, or even heard of it.
The Associated Press reported in early December that a group affiliated
with Huckabee has been "making automated phone calls that favor
Huckabee and criticize his rivals." Huckabee has urged an end to the
calls, while Romney asked Iowa's attorney general to investigate the
group's activities.
Huckabee is also under fire for his involvement in, and repeated
denials, that while governor, he recommended parole for Arkansas rapist
and murderer Wayne Dumond.
Still, an Associated Press/Ipsos nationwide poll released Friday
indicates that he has vaulted into second place after Giuliani. While
the former New York City mayor has 26 percent among Republican and
Republican-leaning voters, about where he has been since spring,
Huckabee is at 18 percent, up from 10 percent in an AP-Ipsos survey a
month ago and three percent in July.
Arizona Sen. John McCain has 13 percent, Mitt Romney 12 percent and
Thompson 11 percent.
"Huckabee's rise should dispel claims that the Religious Right is
dead," Americans United's Barry Lynn added. "This movement remains a
huge bloc in the GOP [Republican Party] and, under the right
circumstances it is quite capable of handing him the nomination."
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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Hash: SHA1
Huckabee and the Religious Right
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Talk to Action - Dec 10, 2007
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/12/10/11422/957
Huckabee: Dark Horse's Rise Tied to Backing of Religious Right
By Bill Berkowitz
Although several of the leading Republican Party presidential
candidates have won endorsements from Religious Right leaders and
organizations, no one has brought more Christian conservative leaders
into their camp than former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
"Mike Huckabee has worked hard to get the Religious Right's backing and
it seems to be paying off," the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told me.
Huckabee's campaign advertisements open with the words "Christian
Leader" in large white capitals. "Faith doesn't just influence me. It
really defines me. I don't have to wake up every day wondering, what do
I need to believe?" he says in the ad.
Now that he's at, or near the top, of the pack, his record is being
closely examined by the media. So far, it's not a pretty picture.
'Christian Leader' boosted by host of religious right bigwigs
"At the Values Voter Summit in Washington last October, he gave a very
well-received speech hitting on all the themes that are important to
the Religious Right," Lynn pointed out. "It clearly energised the
crowd, and in fact he later won a straw poll of attendees by a wide
margin.
Just a few weeks ago, Huckabee was viewed as just another third-tier
candidate who hadn't made much headway. Now, however, with the Iowa
caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries coming up
quickly, he has been creating buzz.
In addition to being available for numerous media ops, he performed
well in various Republican debates, and he received an increasing
number of endorsements from important conservative Christian
evangelical leaders.
While Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani secured an unexpected
endorsement from Rev. Pat Robertson (stirring up a hornet's nest in the
Religious Right), Huckabee -- who is closest politically and
ideologically to the Religious Right -- has received a series of
endorsements from such lesser known but nevertheless significant
Christian right leaders as Janet Folger, president of Faith2Action,
Rick Scarborough, founder and president of Vision America, the Rev. Don
Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association.
Jerry Falwell, Jr., the chancellor of Liberty University and the son of
the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, has also come on board, as have Jerry
Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, authors of the best-selling "Left Behind"
series of apocalyptic novels. LaHaye's wife, Beverly - another Huckabee
endorser -- is the founder and chairman of the board of Concerned Women
of America, which claims to be the largest women's political
organization in the U.S.
"During the 25 years I have known Mike Huckabee, he has proven himself
to be a Christian conservative who stands without apology for the
pro-life, pro-marriage platform that is so important in this time of
moral collapse," Tim LaHaye said during an early December appearance
with the candidate in Iowa.
An ordained Southern Baptist pastor, Huckabee has charted a course that
not only includes orthodox conservative Christian positions --
anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage -- but one that also appears to
reveal a certain level of compassion.
The former Arkansas governor's rise in the Iowa polls is largely due to
his courting a statewide network of evangelical pastors and to
emphasizing his own faith.
Lynn noted that Huckabee has been "speaking in a lot of fundamentalist
churches around the country, which, while it doesn't always receive
media attention, has moved his candidacy forward."
Last week, Huckabee announced the formation of the Iowa Pastors
Coalition and the endorsement of Iowa family values leader Chuck
Hurley, the president of the Iowa Family Policy Center.
The compassionate Huckabee surfaced during CNN's recent YouTube
Republican debate during a question about immigration. Although
generally supporting a hard line on immigration, Huckabee clearly
separated himself from the field by saying that it was wrong to punish
the children of undocumented workers for the illegal actions of their
parents. That kind of stance didn't sit well with his opponents,
particularly former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who slammed him
for seeking to "giv[e] scholarships to illegal aliens".
In one recent interview, the former Arkansas governor declared, "I am
like a lot of folks who are tired of thinking the Republican Party is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street." He has denounced "immoral" CEO
salaries, and warned, "People will only endure this for so many years
before there is a revolt."
Huckabee's so-called populism has riled the right. The conservative
anti-tax Club for Growth is angry with Huckabee, and Robert Novak has
called him an advocate of "class struggle. "In a recent column entitled
"The False Conservative," Robert Novak maintained that while "Huckabee
is campaigning as a conservative ... serious Republicans know that he
is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand
in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans."
Scrutinized ... and not liking it
Although he raised his hand at a debate last May when asked which
candidates disbelieved the theory of evolution, he has lately bristled
at being asked over and over again about evolution. At a recent Iowa
press conference he pointed out that while he "believe[d] God created
the heavens and the Earth," he (Huckabee) "wasn't there when he did it,
so how he did it, I don't know."
He added that it was "an irrelevant question to ask me -- I'm happy to
answer what I believe, but what I believe is not what's going to be
taught in 50 different states. Education is a state function. The more
state it is, and the less federal it is, the better off we are."
While Huckabee still has a number of formidable hurdles to leap over --
he needs to raise lots more money, and he still has a relatively small
staff -- the fact that the field is so divided is clearly to his
advantage.
And, as he has moved up in the polls, his record is being examined a
lot more closely.
AIDS, drawing a blank on the NIE and the pardon of a rapist
The Associated Press reported that as a candidate for a U.S. Senate
seat in 1992, Huckabee advocated isolating AIDS patients from the
general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a
cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health
risk." Responding to the AP story, Huckabee said that his "comments
came at a time when the public was still learning about HIV and AIDS
and promised to do `everything possible to transform the promise of a
vaccine and a cure into reality.'"
In Iowa last week, he was asked for a comment on the just-released
National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that found that it had given up
its nuclear weapons program four years ago. Appearing befuddled,
Huckabee said that he was not familiar with the NIE, hadn't read it,
been briefed on it, or even heard of it.
The Associated Press reported in early December that a group affiliated
with Huckabee has been "making automated phone calls that favor
Huckabee and criticize his rivals." Huckabee has urged an end to the
calls, while Romney asked Iowa's attorney general to investigate the
group's activities.
Huckabee is also under fire for his involvement in, and repeated
denials, that while governor, he recommended parole for Arkansas rapist
and murderer Wayne Dumond.
Still, an Associated Press/Ipsos nationwide poll released Friday
indicates that he has vaulted into second place after Giuliani. While
the former New York City mayor has 26 percent among Republican and
Republican-leaning voters, about where he has been since spring,
Huckabee is at 18 percent, up from 10 percent in an AP-Ipsos survey a
month ago and three percent in July.
Arizona Sen. John McCain has 13 percent, Mitt Romney 12 percent and
Thompson 11 percent.
"Huckabee's rise should dispel claims that the Religious Right is
dead," Americans United's Barry Lynn added. "This movement remains a
huge bloc in the GOP [Republican Party] and, under the right
circumstances it is quite capable of handing him the nomination."
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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