Any objective look at Huckabee's record as Arkansas governor or at his previous campaign for president suggests that he does not have what it takes to do that job.
The Christian case against a Mike Huckabee candidacy
Rob did a pretty nice job on Monday of summarizing why a Mike Huckabee candidacy for president isn't likely to excite much of anyone, but presumably there is some segment of evangelicals who will get behind a Huckabee candidacy.
Let's talk about that. I'm about as evangelical as you're going to find, much to the consternation of some of our favorite commenters, and while I like Mike Huckabee's personality and appreciate his commitment to Jesus, I can't imagine for the life of me why anyone would want him to be president. It matters not whether you are pro- or anti-abortion, pro- or anti-gay marriage, believer or non-believer. Any objective look at Huckabee's record as Arkansas governor or at his previous campaign for president suggests that he does not have what it takes to do that job.
And I said so seven years ago:
For anyone who takes a serious look at his record, his policy positions and his handling of life in public office, it should be painfully obvious that Mike Huckabee is not qualified for the presidency. His populist economic rhetoric sounds like Ross Perot. His bemoaning of the Bush administration’s “arrogant bunker mentality” in foreign policy sounds like Dennis Kucinich. His lectures on health and exercise sound like Richard Simmons.
He displays no depth on questions of spending, taxation, national security and energy policy.
Worse, he seems to see his position of authority as a mechanism to impulsively apply his evangelical agenda. As governor, he pardoned or otherwise advocate the earlier release of more than 1,000 criminals, with beneficiaries including 13 murderers (one of whom went on to kill again), Huckabee acts as though his seat in the state house is license to bestow a Christ-like gift of grace to anyone he chooses.
Even Jesus didn’t cut the thieves down from their crosses. He just offered them a place in Heaven. And that place where the caucus-goers gave Huckabee a win isn’t Heaven. It’s Iowa.
I am disappointed in my fellow evangelicals because, while I can understand wanting a person of like mind serving in the Oval Office, that person of like mind should have minimal qualifications for the job. He should demonstrate a depth of knowledge of the issues. When a hugely important National Intelligence Estimate is released, he should at least be aware of it.
If Mike Huckabee wins the presidency, what do evangelicals think he will be able to do to advance the cause of Christ? He can’t sign any laws granting Christianity any special legal status. The federal government can do little to promote stronger families (although it can spend a lot of money to try, and probably fail, and surely bloat the federal budget in the process). The president can influence abortion law by appointing Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, but do evangelicals understand that Supreme Court justices have other cases to consider? Do they care? And if they don’t, doesn’t the rest of the country have a right to question whether evangelicals appreciate the question of constitutional law in its full flavor.
The idea, I guess, is that evangelicals would be inclined to back him because he's like them, and they want to back someone like themselves. That makes no sense to me and never has. I don't want someone like me to be president, because I don't think I would make a good president at all. I don't possess the right skill set and I'm not interested in doing it. So why would I want someone "I can relate to" in the Oval Office?
The person who serves this nation as president should be someone extraordinary, elite, a cut above. It should not be someone that most people could relate to because most people are not that capable or smart.
I actually can relate to Mike Huckabee. We have similar beliefs in the area of faith, and we both work in media. He plays bass in a band. I play drums in my fantasies. He seems like the kind of guy I'd like to be friends with. But there's only one friend I have that I think is capable of being president, and he already gave it a shot. As for the rest of the chuckleheads I hang around with, I love them but I shudder at the thought.
Evangelicals should back someone who is capable of doing the job. Being a man of faith is certainly a plus, but if you're a man of faith and you're not qualified for the job, you shouldn't be seeking the job. Maybe Roger Ailes hasn't filled Huckabee's slot at Fox News yet and he can let him know he's changed his mind. That's what he should do.
