Huckabee speaks without speechifying

LA Times - Some compare him to Reagan in the way he spins tales, especially stories about everyday people.

If Huckabee's campaign has a secret weapon, it could well be the candidate's gifts as a communicator. Using Southern charm and storytelling, Huckabee's stump speech is more entertainment than oratory. Sharp jabs are cloaked by a smile and a joke, and offered in a cadence reminiscent of a warm-talking preacher -- which he has been -- and a radio host -- which he also has been.

Huckabee enters the room, his name on a banner hung behind a lectern, but he doesn't use the lectern as anything more than a place to rest his arm while he talks.

Huckabee is looking for an intimate engagement with a room full of people -- up to 200... In a speech in Coralville, Huckabee stressed his views on the sanctity of life.

'The sanctity of human life goes to the heart and to the soul of our civilization,' Huckabee said. 'Every human life has intrinsic worth and value, whether it's in the womb or whether it's in the hospital bed late in one's 80s.'

'He has the same values that we have,' said Don Phillips, 74, of Norwalk, who saw Huckabee speak in a packed Des Moines shopping mall community room. 'If they're going to run down his Christianity, that's their problem, not his.'

Guest Commentary:The Only 'Catholic' On the Ballot: Mike Huckabee?

By Robert Stackpole, STD
1/29/2008
Catholic Online

Gov. Mike Huckabee is the only candidate running for the presidency who has fully, clearly and consistently been Pro-Life and Pro-Family throughout his public career.

...Governor Huckabee proposes not just tax credits, but in fact the complete elimination of personal and corporate income taxes, and their replacement with a national sales tax, coupled with a “prebate” for basic human needs. This removal of the taxation obstacles to wealth accumulation and savings by the working poor could go a long way to finally restoring “the American Dream” to many families now stuck in low-wage employment.

The Bishop’s document calls for fairness and compassion toward immigrants, “both documented and undocumented…including immigrant children” (section 83). Governor Huckabee pushed for his state to allow children of illegal immigrants access to in-state tuition at Arkansas colleges, and in the Republican You-Tube debate this fall, in response to Gov. Romney’s hard-line stance on the issue, Huckabee refused to pander to anti-immigrant fever:

“In all due respect,” he said, “ we are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did.”

...What united Americans from the beginning, and is clearly expressed in the Declaration of Independence, is what Catholic scholar Michael Novak has called a common commitment to a basic Judeo-Christian “metaphysic”: belief in one, transcendent, Creator God who has created all people in his image, and therefore of equal value and with inalienable rights.

...The Huckabee campaign marks something of a welcome revival (excuse the pun) of this Evangelical heritage, and one that promises to lead the Evangelical movement into closer harmony with the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

When Robertson endorsed the pseudo-Catholic Rudy Guiliani for president, and thereby sacrificed vital Evangelical social principles on the altar of “electability” and “national security,” that proved to be “the last straw” for many younger Evangelicals, who jumped on the Huckabee bandwagon as a result.

The time has come for Catholics to find a spot on that bandwagon too, for in this exciting, and at times confusing election year, ironically, the best Catholic running for the highest office in the land seems to be the best Evangelical too.

McCain and Huckabee form alliance against Romney

The Boston Globe

John McCain and Mike Huckabee have become unusual allies, united by their desire to stop Mitt Romney from winning the early presidential nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

While Huckabee and McCain have repeatedly criticized Romney, they have showered each other with affection. McCain has lauded Huckabee as 'a man of integrity, honesty, and decency.' And Huckabee has praised McCain as 'a true, honest-to-God American hero.'

Neck and Neck: Guliani, Huckabee and Romney

Catholic Online - Deacon Keith Fournier

The contenders are the once seemingly invincible former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, the former Governor from the State of Arkansas named Mike Huckabee and the former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney. Huckabee has passed the one time front runner Guiliani on the inside nationally and is gaining what may be an unstoppable momentum...

In this new highly compacted Primary schedule the once dismissed Iowa Caucus has become a coveted prize.What may make the Huckabee phenomenon even more interesting is its financial strategy.

Money is called the “mothers milk” of politics.

Yet, the Huckabee campaign has so far spent less than $400,000 in Iowa. Mitt Romney has spent $7 million. However, the Governor from Arkansas has passed Guliani nationally on the inside. And, with only days left, he is racing for the finish line in Iowa, leaving Romney and others watching the dust.

COMMENTARY: The Huckabee Phenomenon

And the fall of the old 'religious right' by Deacon Keith Fournier
1/4/2008
Catholic Online

Even within Huckabees support in the broader Christian community, one must consider the breadth of his appeal. This candidate has a growing base of Catholic support. Obviously, Catholic Christians cannot be called 'fundamentalists.'

Additionally, he has a growing base of populist supporters, showing himself to be not unlike Democratic candidate John Edwards. The HUGE difference, among several, is that Huckabee hears the cry of the poorest of the poor, children in the first home of the whole human race, their mothers womb. Edwards has bought the Democratic frontrunners’ line of calling their intentional killing through procured abortion an exercise of 'freedom.'

Next, it was Rush Limbaugh... Rush also neglects to consider that others, like Catholics, who are coming behind this candidate in increasing numbers, do not identify with the fact that the Governor was once a Southern Baptist Minister as necessarily a positive. They were concerned when he visited the mega-church of a certain anti-Catholic minister. Yet, increasingly they support him.

These two commentators reveal a growing concern over a tectonic plate shift lying beneath the emergence of Mike Huckabee. We may be seeing the end of the old 'religious right'.

Whether he takes the Republican nomination or not, Mike Huckabee may be an emerging leader of a new issue focused alliance of voters. These folks are not capable of being pidgeon holed and can exercise their prudential judgment, placing the multitude of political, economic, social and policy issues which form the backdrop for this campaign, within a hierarchy of importance.

These voters never felt comfortable being lumped under the assorted vacuous verbal political labels used by the media such as 'religious right', 'conservative', 'right wing' or 'neo-conservative'. Oh, do not get me wrong, these folks also do not fit the contemporary American use of the word 'liberal' either.

They also never liked the effort to marginalize their intelligence or dismiss their deeply held religious convictions by using disparaging labels to lump them together such as 'fundamentalist', 'evangelical', or even 'traditionalists' in a manner that is eerily reminiscent of past anti-religious bigotry such as the 'no-name' anti-catholic party of America’s past.

These folks place the dignity of every human person and the right to life from conception to natural death at the head of every concern. It is not a 'single issue' for them but a framework through which the entire race must be seen.

They argue that without the right to life there are no other rights and that persons must always take precedence. They will never accept the idea that a society should allow the killing of it’s young in the womb and, worse yet, celebrate it as a 'right' when it is wrong.

They value marriage and family as the first cell of society, the first school, first economy, first church and first mediating institution. They reject the misguided notion of 'freedom' hidden behind the smiling mask of the new libertines who seek to redefine several aberrant chosen sexual lifestyles as the equivalent of marriage and then use the power of the State to enforce their new cultural revolution. Marriage is what it is to these folks and it serves the common good.

Nor will they be won over to a model of the market which forgets that it is a servant and not a master.

These folks care about those who have not experienced the benefits of the engine of freedom that is supposed to be the market economy; the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten. They see a proper role, limited though it may be, in the exercise of 'good' government in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.

They are not 'anti-Government.' They believe that we are, in a real sense, 'our brother’s keeper' and want to serve the common good by not only caring for their own families but reaching out in solidarity to the poor and the needy.

These folks are also concerned about a lot of other issues. However, they are able to order those issues in a hierarchy through the exercise of prudential judgment...

They are finding their voice and they may be the beginning of a new political phenomenon. This phenomenon may represent the fall of the old ‘religious right' and the emergence of a true populist movement which crosses the old, tired lines and labels.

They also may explain the Huckabee phenomenon.

***

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recent commentary on The Bride and the Dragon

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Mike Huckabee to speak at strongly anti-Catholic preacher's church

Mike Huckabee On the Critical Issues

COMMENTARY: Huckabee and Catholics

By Deacon Keith Fournier
12/13/2007
Catholic Online

The last Republican primary debate before Iowa is over. The emergence of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to front runner status is the story of the hour. Catholics are starting to look seriously at this new former Governor from Hope named Huckabee. Many like what they see...

How Will Huckabee's Populism Play?

Time

Huckabee's fellow Republicans might have called this sort of talk the language of 'class warfare,' the bread and butter of John Edwards... But as Huckabee now mounts his closing argument for the Iowa caucuses, he has moved full bore into the rhetoric of economic populism. 'I am out to change the Republican Party. It needs changing. It needs to be inclusive of all those people across America for whom this party should stand,' he said Sunday, on CBS's Face The Nation. On the trail, he speaks regularly of challenging the 'Washington to Wall Street power axis.' He frankly acknowledges the suffering of the stagnating middle class, and even offers up government as a part of the solution.

Republican Debate: Thompson calls Huckabee a Liberal

Catholic Online: Thompson attacks Huckabee, using the “L” Word.
By Deacon Keith Fournier
1/12/2008

Like a scene out of the film “Awakenings”, Fred Thompson, a candidate who has been all but asleep since he entered the primary race, came out of his slumber and attacked Mike Huckabee in the last debate. With the South Carolina primary looming large and his standing in the National polls all but imperceptible, the conservative candidate decided it was time to make his move.

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee: 2012 GOP Race to be 'Demolition Derby'



Huckabee: The Obamacare 'Frankenstein Should Never Have Left the Lab'

Huckabee Angers Some Catholics

Newsmax.com

Huckabee delivered a Christmas season sermon at Cornerstone about Christ's birth and embraced Hagee, calling him 'one of the great Christian leaders of our nation.'

recent commentary on The Bride and the Dragon

Guest Commentary: A Vote For Huckabee is A Vote For McCain?
By Robert Stackpole, STD
2/2/2008
Catholic Online

There is still an opening here for Huckabee, if Pro-Life and Pro-Family Republicans will wake up and rally around the only candidate who has fully and consistently been on their side from the beginning. - Professor Robert Stackpole

a note from Mike Huckabee

Yesterday, I flew to Little Rock to cut three new television ads with our campaign team. The first "Our Values" will air in Iowa and discusses my unwavering commitment towards a Human Life Amendment. The second ad which will air exclusively in New Hampshire called "Tax Cuts Matter" discusses the first broad based tax cut that I passed in Arkansas' history. You can view both ads here.

The third ad was a negative attack against Governor Romney. We prepared it, sent the ad to the television stations here in Iowa, and it was supposed to start running at noon today. This morning, I ordered my staff to pull the ad; I told them I do not want it to be run. If it was run at all, it would be until the stations pulled it off their schedules. And we are now committed, from now through the rest of the caucuses, that we will run only the ads that talk about why I should be president, and not why Mitt Romney should not.

Back in October when I stood in Washington, DC before the Values Voter Summit delivering a speech to the attendees I reminded them that "we stand for some things, we believe in some things..." We do indeed:

I believe in the Human Life Amendment and will work tirelessly for it's passage.

I believe the FairTax is the best way to unleash our economy in the 21st century.

I believe and have always supported the passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

I believe we must secure our borders, end amnesty and end sanctuary cities.

I believe our country must be energy independent.

I believe that we are currently engaged in a world war. Radical Islamic fascists have declared war on our country and our way of life.

I believe in the Surge.

And I believe that Americans aren't interested in politics that divide us, they want their leaders to focus on what will lift them up and make things better.

I almost forgot that today in the face of the withering barrage of criticism we have endured over the last few weeks from my rivals. I say almost, because our negative ad won't run.

I know we believe in the same things. It is these things, these ideas, that have bound us together in this campaign for President. These ideas are why you first became interested in me and these ideas are why I am running for President. Let everyone know, that we are campaigning for these ideas and that we are working overtime to lift America up.

With deep gratitude,
Mike Huckabee

BREAKING: Governor Huckabee Addresses Anti-Catholicism and Abortion

Deacon Keith Fournier
12/29/2007
Catholic Online

Does your position in opposition to abortion admit of any exceptions?

GOVERNOR HUCKABEE: “First, let me say I have appreciated that Catholics led in the pro-life issue and were firm on this even before the Baptists...

In regard to exceptions, experience has shown that health of the mother exceptions are so broad that they result in ‘carte blanche’ abortion on demand.

Consequently, I do not support an exception in those terms.

Commentary: Let Huckabee Speak, Let Huckabee Run… and check his pockets

Deacon Keith Fournier
1/26/2008
Catholic Online

The likelihood of the Governor from Hope taking on the Goliath of the Republican establishment and winning the Republican nomination seems minimal. However, has anyone checked his pockets? There just might be five smooth stones in there.

DMN editorial board recommends Mike Huckabee for the GOP nomination

Dallas Morning News

Mr. Huckabee established a respectable record of fiscal responsibility in Arkansas. Rather than run up deficits, he backed raising taxes to pay for needed infrastructure, health care and education. That's called prudence, and it was once a Republican virtue...

Squirrel a la Huckabee?

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee recently said that while in college, he cooked squirrel in a popcorn popper. Samantha Henig wonders: Is it safe to prepare and eat squirrel like that?

A Christian Partnership Bears Fruit

On the Square - A Christian Partnership Bears Fruit by Timothy George and Thomas G. Guarino

...It is unlikely that Huckabee’s fraternal solidarity with Catholics would have been quite so ardently stated a few decades ago. After all, Evangelicals and Catholics, the two largest religious groups in the United States, had never been close Christian companions. On the contrary, they often regarded each other as opponents, with Evangelicals seeing Catholics as captive to strange, unbiblical traditions such as the worship of Mary and the veneration of saints and relics. Catholics, for their part, saw Evangelicals as fundamentalist yahoos, little familiar with the great tradition of theological development through the centuries.

Those attitudes began to change with the establishment of Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) by Chuck Colson and Fr. Richard John Neuhaus some twenty years ago. While their first public statement was not released until 1994, the initial meeting on the question of Evangelical-Catholic relations occurred in September 1992, when the issue at hand was the fractious relationship between Protestant and Catholic Christians in Latin America. As Neuhaus and Colson later wrote, they were hoping to avoid “a Belfast of religious warfare” south of the Rio Grande. But how could they speak a useful word to South American Christians if they had not seriously addressed the theological questions of common belief and mission?

Thus began the careful clearing away of prejudices that had developed over decades, with the purpose of showing that Evangelicals and Catholics, for all their differences, still share basic theological premises: a firm belief in the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob uniquely revealed in Jesus Christ; a consistent adherence to biblically based morality; and a determined commitment to ordered liberty wherein the church, while respecting the state’s proper sphere of competence, never bows the knee to the government on religious matters...

Related Post - Timothy George's Evangelicals and Nicene Faith

Family Research Council’s “Values Voters" Conference

You can watch the entire conference on-line for free.

Washington Briefing: Transcripts of Presidential Candidates

My preference is for former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The Huckabee Factor

NYT Magazine