Back when we interviewed Mike Huckabee on Sept. 20, not all that many folks were interested in him. Now, it seems he’s the hottest thing going.
It occurs to me that some of y’all might be interested in seeing some of the video clips I posted from our interview way back when he was "HuckaWho?" If so, here you go.
We start with "Introducing Mike Huckabee," linked above, which sort of serves as the "Meet the Beatles" of this genre — get-acquainted stuff that speaks to his down-home appeal. He talks about his background, from his ability to get along with Democrats to the fact that he’s "a conservative that’s not mad at anybody over it."
Then there is the clip that pairs with my column, "Mike Huckabee on the obligation to govern." It was so refreshing to talk to a governor who still holds to the old-fashioned notion that government serves a useful purpose, and that it is the responsibility of the governor to play a constructive role in it. Here’s that one:
A few days after we met Mr. Huckabee was the 50th anniversary of the integration of Little Rock schools, so I edited this clip about that, about which he had some pertinent things to say:
Finally, a couple of weeks later, Cindi asked me to see if I had any footage with Mr. Huckabee sharing his views on health care, which I did. She remembered he’s said some stuff she thought sounded good, but her notes were incomplete. Cindi did a column that drew on the clip. Here’s the clip:
You’ll note that there’s no footage on what he thinks about evolution. or about homosexuals in the military. That’s because it would never occur to me to ask a presidential candidate about those things.
If I get time over the coming days, I’ll go through the rest of my footage to see if I can find anything else that might be of interest.
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We now take a break to discuss an issue that my generation once would have deemed of far greater interest than our usual topics.
Above you will see that I mentioned “Meet the Beatles,” and provided a totally gratuitous link to its 59th-place slot on Rolling Stone‘s all-time top-500 albums list. Once I was done linking it, I of course went to peruse the list.
It’s respectable. Three Beatles albums in the top ten is fine, and I suppose the proper, orthodox thing to do is put “Sgt. Pepper’s” in first place.
But whoa! “Exile on Main Street” is in the top ten, but “Sticky Fingers” is No. 63?
No way, man. Exile is great, but “Sticky Fingers” was the album in the latter days of my senior year of high school. So they definitely got those reversed.
We now take a break to discuss an issue that my generation once would have deemed of far greater interest than our usual topics.
Above you will see that I mentioned “Meet the Beatles,” and provided a totally gratuitous link to its 59th-place slot on Rolling Stone‘s all-time top-500 albums list. Once I was done linking it, I of course went to peruse the list.
It’s respectable. Three Beatles albums in the top ten is fine, and I suppose the proper, orthodox thing to do is put “Sgt. Pepper’s” in first place.
But whoa! “Exile on Main Street” is in the top ten, but “Sticky Fingers” is No. 63?
No way, man. Exile is great, but “Sticky Fingers” was the album in the latter days of my senior year of high school. So they definitely got those reversed.
Good vids, Brad. Thanks for sharing … Here are some quotes from Huckabee, of the kind that seem to be disappearing from his rap as the campaign tightens:
STUDENT: Recent polls show you surging… What do you attribute this surge to?
HUCKABEE: There’s only one explanation for it, and it’s not a human one. It’s the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people. That’s the only way that our campaign can be doing what it’s doing. And I’m not being facetious nor am I trying to be trite. There literally are thousands of people across this country who are praying that a little will become much, and it has. And it defies all explanation, it has confounded the pundits. And I’m enjoying every minute of them trying to figure it out, and until they look at it, from a, just experience beyond human, they’ll never figure it out. And it’s probably just as well. That’s honestly why it’s happening.
“I’m not going to go around saying God wants me to be president, because the last time I checked God isn’t registered to vote in any of the primary states.” Now if he shows up to vote, I am certainly going to solicit his support.”
O’REILLY: Do you believe in Adam and Eve? Do you think Adam and Eve were around?
HUCKABEE: Yes. I think they were a real person, Adam and Eve. I have no reason to doubt that.
O’REILLY: But so you believe that God just said, OK, here is the man, I’m going to take his rib, and there is Eve. And then everybody evolved from there.
HUCKABEE: As I said that night with Wolf Blitzer, I do not know how he did it. Honestly don’t know how long it took. Wasn’t there. I could not give you the details. But I just believe he did it. And so, you know, if it turns out that I am wrong, I have lost nothing. If it turns out I’m right, it is a good thing.
“Oh, I believe in science. I certainly do. In fact, what I believe in is, I believe in God. I don’t think there’s a conflict between the two. But if there’s going to be a conflict, science changes with every generation and with new discoveries and God doesn’t. So I’ll stick with God if the two are in conflict.”
“I don’t separate my faith from my personal and professional lives.”
“I didn’t get into politics because I thought government had a better answer. I got into politics because I knew government didn’t have the real answers – that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives.”
“I had to come to the conclusion that I only had one client … when I laid my head on the pillow, I’d say, ‘Lord, are you pleased?’ … even if I get voted out of office, I’ll never get voted out of heaven.”
“Don’t [Mormons] believe Jesus and the Devil are brothers?”
“A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband…”
“Hillary is a strong, strong candidate, much stronger than a lot of Republicans want to accept. But the reality is that if we put someone up whose views on some of the issues that rally our base don’t rally our base, then we’re going to be in big trouble.”
“I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk.”
“I believe God created the heavens and the Earth. I wasn’t there when he did it, so how he did it, I don’t know,”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”
— Huckabee’s response to Wolf Blitzer, who asked if the creation of the Earth occurred six thousand years ago and only took six days, as stated in the Old Testament
This comes dangerously close to imposing a religious test, the very thing that Kennedy rejected so eloquently (and Romney so lamely). Huckabee is being judged on the way he expresses his beliefs as a Baptist.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this “religious test” stuff, from Chris Matthews, from George Will, etc.
Here’s the thing. The Constitution restricts the government from establishing a religious test. It does not place any restrictions on the voter (nor can it). It does not require a candidate to conceal information about the faith that informs his or her worldview.
That’s not to say that I believe voters should use religion as the overriding factor in their choices. I’m simply saying, the Constitution doesn’t limit my freedom to vote for someone, say, because I like his tie, or for whatever reason I want. Of course, most religious people should realize they are ultimately accountable for their vote, and so they should evaluate seriously the overall competence, experience, and positions of any candidate.
A good column on this issue by Father Jonathan Morris can be found here.
Let me also note that though I prefer Huckabee, I would happily vote for Mitt Romney in a general election, were he to be the nominee.
Brad,
First you accuse me of inferring Huckabee’s beliefs, when I have been paying very close attention to him all along, because a lot of what he says is, to me, frightening and inconsistent and intolerant and exclusive, not to mention intellectually weak.
Then, when I document Huckabee’s own words as a basis for concern, you state that it is “dangerously close to imposing a religious test.”
Well, it is a test, and one far more important than where he stands on health care or taxes or other “important” issues of the day, because Huckabee is campaigning on a platform of conservative religious values — these are the underlying principles that HE says will guide his decision-making.
In fact, when a candidate says that his faith is THE strongest influence in his life, including beliefs so strongly held that he would adhere to them to in the face of intellectual evidence to the contrary, he invites voters to scrutinize his personal belief system. Fundamentalist Christianity IS Huckabee’s foundation for decision-making and personal policy, by his own statements, no matter how he may now try to soften his stances to broaden popular appeal.
And when a candidate changes/softens/alters his position on THE issues HE says are most important to him, we as voters have a right (some say duty) to question his veracity, not to mention his ability to even commit to a position.
Hell, that’s 90 percent of what the media focus on in any campaign — trying to “catch” candidates who waffle on or straddle important issues.
I understand completely your concern about making religion the sole basis for acceptance or rejection of a candidate. But Huckabee has made it clear that his religion is inseparable from his personality. That makes his religion CRUCIAL to understanding Huckabee, the man who would be president.
Brad,
First you accuse me of inferring Huckabee’s beliefs, when I have been paying very close attention to him all along, because a lot of what he says is, to me, frightening and inconsistent and intolerant and exclusive, not to mention intellectually weak.
Then, when I document Huckabee’s own words as a basis for concern, you state that it is “dangerously close to imposing a religious test.”
Well, it is a test, and one far more important than where he stands on health care or taxes or other “important” issues of the day, because Huckabee is campaigning on a platform of conservative religious values — these are the underlying principles that HE says will guide his decision-making.
In fact, when a candidate says that his faith is THE strongest influence in his life, including beliefs so strongly held that he would adhere to them to in the face of intellectual evidence to the contrary, he invites voters to scrutinize his personal belief system. Fundamentalist Christianity IS Huckabee’s foundation for decision-making and personal policy, by his own statements, no matter how he may now try to soften his stances to broaden popular appeal.
And when a candidate changes-softens-alters his position on THE issues HE says are most important to him, we as voters have a right (some say duty) to question his veracity, not to mention his ability to even commit to a position.
Hell, that’s 90 percent of what the media focus on in any campaign — trying to “catch” candidates who waffle on or straddle important issues.
I understand completely your concern about making religion the sole basis for acceptance or rejection of a candidate. But Huckabee has made it clear that his religion is inseparable from his personality. That makes his religion CRUCIAL to understanding Huckabee, the man who would be president.