huck, a VP?
by Sandra Kinne
Published: February 12, 2008
While in the shower last Wednesday morning, I had a terrifying thought. Well, besides the daily alarming realization by this 30-something single gal that gravity always trumps underwire.
No, Wednesday’s specific scare was, “McCain will have to pick Huckabee.”
After Super Tuesday, and the mathematical certainty John McCain will be the Republican nominee, the vice presidential nominee has moved up on my “Things-to-worry-about list.” (Things-to-worry-about list: it’s like a Netflix queue but more depressing. And longer.)
Given his surprising success on Super Tuesday and again this past weekend, McCain can’t ignore the former Arkansas governor. With Mitt Romney out of the GOP race, it leaves just the two to battle for voters. (That’s right, Ron Paul supporters. I said two. Get over it.)
Mike Huckabee is hitting the right notes within his party. He has cultivated quite the following, and people who don’t even know who Chuck Norris is are voting for him. With McCain in a fight to re-establish himself as a conservative, Huckabee has to simply open his mouth to prove his conservative credentials.
In an interview with Belief.net last month, which was partially posted on Talking Points Memo, Huckabee was asked: “Is it your goal to bring the Constitution into strict conformity with the Bible? Some people would consider that a kind of dangerous undertaking, particularly given the variety of biblical interpretations.”
Huckabee’s response: “Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what’s been historic.”
It’s one thing to have strong feelings against homosexuality. But to equate two men or two women having sex to humans and animals “doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel” is illogical. (With apologies to Bloodhound Gang.) For a presidential candidate to say this is revolting. That Huckabee is a viable presidential candidate and says this is astounding. Even more astonishing is he seems to be getting stronger the more absurd his comments, and yet there has been little examination of these comments in the mainstream media. His base simply soaks it up, and the conversation returns to Ann Coulter campaigning for Hillary Clinton because McCain’s not a “true conservative.”
At a campaign event, Huckabee also spoke about his desire to change the Constitution. “… I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do - to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view,” Huckabee said, as reported by MSNBC and its website.
Funny, but I thought conservatists were strict-Constitutionalists and that our country was founded on the basis of freedom of religion, which includes freedom from religion. The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Maybe Huckabee is following the GW model and thinks being part of the executive branch means he’s a separate government unto himself; if Congress can’t do it, the President will.
Huckabee’s comments reflect an overzealous, extremist, religious fanaticism - not conservatism. We’re at war because of religious fanaticism. We don’t need more of it, and we especially don’t need a sitting President further inciting a holy war to be replaced by such.
Despite Huckabee’s willingness to provoke the rest of us, his willingness to invoke God and get his base to the polls shows he is a force McCain must address. Though President George Bush has vouched for McCain, quoted in yesterday’s New York Times calling him a “true conservative,” McCain still faces an uphill battle beyond Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. His lackluster showing in this weekend’s races show his battle for the GOP base is not over.
From a conservative perspective, his best option is to bring Huckabee on board, offer him the VP ticket and start the race against an unnamed Democrat now, ending the race against each other.
From a logical perspective, his best option is to become a Democrat, but that’s a losing battle. With all the other crusades on my agenda, including efforts to get my Democratic choice elected, getting the dog to not wake me before the alarm on the weekends and the aforementioned gravity issue, I don’t have time to convince McCain to stop trying to get the conservatives on board with him and see the light by completing the process of changing his convictions.
Instead, I’ll just suggest how he can terrify my party and strengthen his chances in November’s general election. A McCain-Huckabee ticket offers everything the GOP wants in their ticket: military experience, fiscal frugality, and God-like worship of, well, God.
Huckabee as the GOP VP nominee is beyond scary. Of course, if McCain really wants to frighten the country, he can ask Dick Cheney to run on his ticket.
Oh, my. I just got chills.
—
(email this article or post to social network)
—
