I went back and re-evaluated my support for Mike Huckabee as the Republican nominee for President of the United States.
When you write it out like that, it sounds serious, doesn’t it? Well, a lot of people don’t take Mr. Huckabee too seriously. Or else they do believe he is serious, and they don’t like what he’s serious about. I went to his website again and read his official statements on the issues. Here’s my (re)evaluation:
Border Security and Immigration Enforcement: First Mr. Huckabee says build a fence. This issue is one where Huckabee and I differ. Building a fence along the border is the most expensive boondoggle I can imagine, and if anyone can tell me how it would work to keep anyone out who was smart enough to go over, under or around the fence, please share your expertise. However, the rest of Huckabee’s immigration policy sounds reasonable enough. More border patrol agents. Easier and faster legal immigration. Closer attention to documents. More sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Those all sound like sensible things to do even if they won’t fix the problem completely.
Education and the Arts: Huckabee believes that art and music are an important part of education and that every child should receive a quality education. Those are innocuous positions that probably every candidate for any office could affirm. Huckabe also supports homeschooling, charter schools, and public school choice. Most importantly, Mr. Huckabee says that we need “a clear distinction between federal and state roles in education. While there is value in the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law’s effort to set high standards, states must be allowed to develop their own benchmarks.” I believe that education is first of all the responsibility of the parents, then of the local community, then the states. The federal government should have little or no role in education policy.
Health Care: No universal health care system. Huckabee advocates “market-based approaches” and “consumer-based health care.” His philosophy, again, sounds reasonable to me.
Taxes and the Economy: Fair Tax. I don’t see why this consumption tax is a bad thing nor why some people are making fun of the idea. I’m certainly no economist, but I like the idea of at least trying something different.
We’ll be taxed on what we decide to buy, not what we happen to earn. We won’t be taxed on what we choose to save or the interest those savings earn. The tax will apply only to new goods, so we can reduce our taxes further by buying a used car or computer. . . . Expert analyses have shown that the FairTax lowers the lifetime tax burden of all of us: single or married; working or retired; rich, poor or middle class.
So, yeah, why not?
Counter-Terrorism: Huckabee emphasizes the “war of ideas” while maintaining that we must continue to fight a physical war against terrorists and terrorist enclaves. He wants to expand the army, increase the defense budget, and “fight smart” against terrorists, using all our resources: “political, economic, diplomatic, and intelligence weapons as well as our military might.” I’m with him all the way, and I can’t see what withdrawal will get us other than another 9/11. Specifically, Huckabee thinks we should stay in Iraq until Iraq is a stable ally in the region. I do too.
Guns: On this issue, I’m a Republican heretic. I see no reason why individual citizens should own assault weapons and other guns that are essentially weapons of war. However, no Republicans are with me on this notion, so I have to give Huckabee and the rest a pass on the issue of gun control.
Judiciary: Huckabee says, “I firmly believe that the Constitution must be interpreted according to its original meaning, and flatly reject the notion of a ‘living Constitution.’ The meaning of the Constitution cannot be changed by judicial fiat.” I agree.
Sanctity of Life and Marriage: Mr. Huckabee says, “I support and have always supported passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the right to life. My convictions regarding the sanctity of life have always been clear and consistent, without equivocation or wavering. I believe that Roe v. Wade should be over-turned.”
Also, “I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.”
That’s not wholesale tampering with the constitution, folks. That’s putting into law what should have been there all along. And the fact the Mike Huckabee is unequivocally committed to both life and marriage is the main reason I’m supporting him. Call me a one issue, or two issue, voter if you want, but I believe that the right to life is the defining issue of our generation. I believe that if we do not extend justice to the most helpless members of our society, sooner or later, we will cease to be a functioning society. And Huckabee is the only one of the Republican candidates for president who speaks passionately and credibly on this issue. The others (except for Guiliani who doesn’t bother) seem to me to be toing the party line because they must, but I’m not confident that they will even try to do anything about the horror that allows hundreds of thousands (854,122 in 2003 in the U.S.) of babies to be killed before they are even born every year.
I read God’s Smuggler when I was a teenager. For those who don’t know it’s the true story of a Dutch man, Brother Andrew who smuggled Bibles and other Christian literature behind the Iron Curtain to persecuted Christian believers prior to the demise of Communism in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe. The book made quite an impression on me at the time, and I continue to pray for those believers who are living in countries where freedom of religion is an empty and meaningless phrase.
