Another Man From Hope
Republicans have won five of the last seven presidential elections by running candidates who broadly fit the Ronald Reagan model--fiscally conservative, and firmly but not harshly conservative on social issues. The wide-open race for the 2008 GOP nomination has generated two new approaches.
Rudy Giuliani, for example, isn't running away from his socially liberal views, although he has modified them. But he is campaigning as a staunch, even acerbic economic conservative. Should he win the nomination, conventional wisdom has it he may balance the ticket by picking former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a running mate.
Mr. Huckabee, on the other hand, is running hard right on social issues but liberal-populist on some economic issues. This may help explain why the affable, golden-tongued Baptist minister was the clear favorite at the pro-life Family Research Council's national forum last Saturday. And why Mr. Huckabee's praises have been sung by liberal columnists such as Gail Collins of the New York Times and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.
John Fund
The evangelicals (Dobson, et al) who keep trying to sell us these “conservatives” are all very popular with liberal Christians. People who follow their lead should really stop and ask themselves why that is. This article echoes just about everything I’ve read elsewhere about Huckabee. Everyone acquainted with him tells the same story: he is just a Republican Bill Clinton. The fact that he wants to nationalize health care and pass a federal smoking ban should be enough to send real conservatives running for cover.
Rudy Giuliani, for example, isn't running away from his socially liberal views, although he has modified them. But he is campaigning as a staunch, even acerbic economic conservative. Should he win the nomination, conventional wisdom has it he may balance the ticket by picking former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as a running mate.
Mr. Huckabee, on the other hand, is running hard right on social issues but liberal-populist on some economic issues. This may help explain why the affable, golden-tongued Baptist minister was the clear favorite at the pro-life Family Research Council's national forum last Saturday. And why Mr. Huckabee's praises have been sung by liberal columnists such as Gail Collins of the New York Times and Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.
John Fund
The evangelicals (Dobson, et al) who keep trying to sell us these “conservatives” are all very popular with liberal Christians. People who follow their lead should really stop and ask themselves why that is. This article echoes just about everything I’ve read elsewhere about Huckabee. Everyone acquainted with him tells the same story: he is just a Republican Bill Clinton. The fact that he wants to nationalize health care and pass a federal smoking ban should be enough to send real conservatives running for cover.
posted by Anonymous | 9:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home