Jenn January 17th, 2008
A reader posted this question on another page of the blog and I am going to respond to it here because this question is central to the nomination and reflects the effect of mainstream media.
Question
I have a question about Huckabee. Is he for big government or small government? Does he believe that government will give people what they need… The gov. has the answers… they will take care of you…?
I have been a supporter of Huckabee, but I have been questioning my support for him… I listen to talk radio off and on throughout the day. Rush, Hannity… They are telling me he is a big government liberal. I can’t seem to find Huckabee giving a direct answer to these accusations. Can you help me out. Thanks, Gregg
Answer
I think that your question is a good, honest fair question. There have been scores of advertisements, like the ones I mentioned earlier from the Club for Growth, and plenty of media hosts willing to take their turn to cast doubt on the Huckabee campaign.
Mike Huckabee is an authentic conservative. His proposed fair tax would not only help correct our current income tax nightmare, but reduce the size of government as well. As a matter of fact, the only government institution I can see significantly growing under Mike Huckabee, would the United States military. Just today, in an effort to bring truth to this discussion, in a rare endorsement, a number of prominent Arkansas businessman endorsed Mike as a small government, fiscally sound Conservative. Here is an excerpt from their endorsement:
In our support of Governor Huckabee’s truly conservative, small government business outlook and his pragmatic, yet compassionate style of governing, we invite you to look past the shallow rhetoric of yet another campaign season to see what we have experienced first hand - that with the right political leadership in place, businesses and citizens can jointly prosper and as they do, they contribute so much more to the economic and societal fabric of a community than simply tax revenues.
I think there endorsement speaks volumes because they are a self-described, “…bi-partisan group of executives of several of the largest corporations headquartered in the State of Arkansas, each with considerable exposure to the Administration of Governor Mike Huckabee.”
I think the mistake some of the traditional neo-cons are making is to assume that any candidate who, of his own volition, discusses social issues, must by nature be liberal and for big government. Interestingly enough, if you sat down and did a comparison of how Mike has described his vision for America, the major difference between he and the other candidates is detail. Mitt Romney does not have a platform. Go ahead and search his website for answers as to how he stands on the issues, you won’t find them. Fred Thompson is smart and understands the issues, but I don’t think he understands everyday Americans. He doesn’t really want to be president, either. John McCain is the candidate whose name is most commonly associated with the Democrats. Bills named like “McCain-Fiengold” and “McCain-Kennedy” ought to send shivers up the spine of any Conservative voter. Moreover, he did not support the Bush Tax Cuts. I think it is difficult to know where Rudy Giuliani stands on government size. He led NYC through an unusual time with unusual needs.
What the ads don’t tell you is that Yes, Governor Huckabee raised taxes. He raised taxes as a result of a public referendum (that means the voters voted “yes”) to fund a court-ordered highway improvement package. What they don’t tell you is that he left taxes significantly lower than he found them, including both income and sales tax. He also balanced the budget and left the governments with a surplus, advising the incoming administration to return to the people of Arkansas their money.
As for why our favorite Conservative talk show hosts have been so down on Huckabee, I am not sure there is one reason. I think some are afraid to be associated with someone who has such close ties to the evangelical community, afraid that it might make them look intellectually inferior. I think some are trying to save face because they wrote him off early on. I think some are too closely tied to the Republican establishment who has lost touch with the base. Whatever their reasons, I am glad they don’t elect the President, we elect the President.
Overall, you will find Mike Huckabee’s opponents and the media criticizing him because their own platforms lack substance. If they had something to talk about, they would be focusing on their platform rather than opponent.