[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSQNSlUUoOc]
On Sunday I cited a report alleging that Mike Huckabee is crediting God for his rise in the polls. I have found a video (above) of Huckabee making this claim at Liberty University. (Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)
National Review has a transcript:
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. (Applause) 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.
This is nothing new among the Republicans. After all, George Bush believes God chose him to be President and advised him to go to war in Iraq.
A political candidate pandering to a constituency, i.e., a bunch of fundamentalist at Liberty University?
What a surprise!!! Of course — I’m being facetious. You can’t be taking Huckabee seriously, at face value?
What about Obama’s pandering, i.e., at the Saddleback church in Lake Forest, California, where at least 20,000 conservative Christians gather each week for services led by Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical author of the bestselling inspirational book The Purpose Driven Life Obama said “I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the power of faith in people’s lives. We need to understand that Americans are a religious people. Substantially more Americans believe in angels than in evolution.”
Obama lifted by hand of God
(or maybe he wrote this in ‘The Audacity of Hope,’ I’m not sure).
So, are we to really believe that Obama believes that people who believe in Angels more than Darwin are more right-headed somehow? Come on!
Or how about this: Obama’s pandering to anti-gay bigots in Carolina by providing a stage for an ex-gay freak show, doesn’t *really* mean Obama’s anti-gay, it simply means that Sen. Barack Obama’s decision to tour South Carolina with gospel entertainer Donnie McClurkin, a self-proclaimed “former homosexual” who believes it is his mission to turn gays straight, suggests that Obama can’t live without the support of the homophobic contingent of the black community and the black church in particular.
So — explain to me again? What the big deal with HUCKABEE giving God top billing and first credit when it comes to “explaining” his recent surge in the polls?
Politicians pander because pandering works — people fall for it, i.e, the really take what a politician says or does at face value rather than trying to understand the political value of what they’re saying and doing . . . “tisk tisk” Liberal Values . . .
Huckabee’s an idiot. If he wins the GOP nomination, watch for a massive exodus of fiscal cons and libertarian-leaners out of the GOP into the hands of the Libertarian Party.
The LP better be prepared. They better have a decent Presidential candidate like Bob Barr, Wayne Root or Ed Thompson. If not, they could be losing out on the biggest opportunity of their 35-year history.
I’m telling you all. You know how much of a partisan loyal Republican I am. And I’ve been talking to a lot of fellow GOPers. If Huckabee beats Romney or Giuliani, and manages to win this thing, we’re voting Libertarian!
Charter of Dreams:
Your first error is in taking a partisan position that a statement by a a member of your party can be excused by saying a member of the other party did it. Huckabee’s statement would not be any more justified if a Democrat made a similar statement. I’ve also criticized Obama, as well as other Democrats, for pandering to religion.
Your second mistake is in using typical right wing tactic of making a false equivalence between similar sounding but fundamentally different statements. While I do wish Obama wouldn’t use religion in his campaign as he does you do misrepresent Obama’s use of religion.
Unfortunately polling does show that Obama is probably correct that more Americans believe in angels than evolution. In contrast to Huckabee, Obama does believe in evolution. Obama makes a statement of fact which can be evaluated by review of polls. Huckabee’s claims about god are hardly comparable.
One important aspect of Obama’s statements on religion which you leave out is that when he discussed religion he also discusses the importance of separation of church and state. We don’t hear that from Republicans. Instead we often hear Republicans deny the importance of separation of church and state. More significantly Republicans use the power of government to impose their religious views on others while Democrats such as Obama oppose this.
Obama has rightly received considerable criticism from other Democrats for involving McClurkin but again you misrepresent his views and actions when you take what was a significant error as a reflection of his views. You leave out the important fact that once McClurkin’s views came out Obama made his views on tolerance of homosexuality clear.
Yes, all politicians pander, but the manner in which they pander and the messages they use are also important. When you are forced to defend Huckabee by creating a false comparison to a Democrat and distorting their views it shows the inability to actually defend Huckabee’s statement.
Eric,
So you would be willing to abandon the Republican Party for Republicans running on the LP line. How shocking 🙂
Ron, the Libertarian Party is essentially an arm of the GOP, has been that way since its inception.
Remember, the Libertarian Party was founded by the Chairman of the Colorado Young Republicans in 1971.
Every single Libertarian Party Presidential candidate, except one (Harry Browne), was a former member of the Republican Party.
Three LP Presidential candidates returned to the GOP after their LP Presidential runs, (Ron Paul, Roger MacBride and John Hospers.) A 4th, Andre Marrou is rumored to have returned to the GOP.
Every single elected Libertarian State Legislator in Alaska and New Hampshire in the Party’s 35 year history, was elected as a Republican or served in the “Republican Caucus” upon election.
The Libertarian Party is not a truely separate 3rd party like say the Greens or Reform. The LP serves much the same function as the New York Conservative Party. The LP nominates candidates to oppose GOPers when the GOP strays too far away from libertarian principles.
That’s why if the GOP nominates Huckabee, who’s way on the other side of the GOP spectrum from the libertarian wing, the libertarian wing will react strongly.
The Republicans will be shooting themselves in the foot if they nominate Huck. It won’t be pretty I promise you.