A friend writes:
Here is a quotation from Robert Novak’s column on Mike Huckabee, in which Novak deems Huckabee a "false conservative":The rise of evangelical Christians as the force that blasted the GOP out of minority status during the past generation always contained an inherent danger: What if these new Republican acolytes supported not merely a conventional conservative but one of their own? That has happened with Huckabee, a former Baptist minister educated at Ouachita Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The danger is a serious contender for the nomination who passes the litmus test of social conservatives on abortion, gay marriage and gun control but is far removed from the conservative-libertarian model of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.Now, I’m as big a low-tax free-marketeer as anyone should be: I’ve watched the Acton’s Institute’s documentary, “The Call of the Entrepreneur”, more times than Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”. But what does Novak’s comment reveal about what “mainstream” conservatives and Republicans consider really important. The demand that a presidential candidate oppose killing babies is a “litmus test”, but violating the “Goldwater-Reagan model” on economics makes one a “false conservative”.
I seriously doubt I’ll vote for Huckabee, but I find the readiness to give way on life and marriage issues in favor of low-taxes, etc, to be very disturbing.
Funny, you can be a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights social liberal, but hold to GOP orthodoxy on economics and defense, and the mainstream conservative crowd -- even if it doesn't agree with your positions on this or that issue -- doesn't question whether or not you are basically a conservative. Which accounts for Rudy Giuliani's success. But Mike Huckabee, whose social conservatism entails a rejection of low-tax, free-market orthodoxy, finds himself not just criticized on those points (which is perfectly legitimate), but denounced by no less than Robert Novak as a liberal (or at least a CINO). Similarly with Ron Paul: he is against the Iraq War, therefore he must, in their minds, be some kind of liberal.
November 2008 will be such a clarifying moment....
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Having watched Novak for years, I have always felt he was the leader of (or at least a charter member of) the Wallet Party.
Every issue is decided based upon the amount of money it will put into, or take out of, his own personal wallet.
I'm with Jonah Goldberg, who called Huckabee the bastard child of Lou Dobbs and Pat Robertson. Huck is a likeable guy, but he's my last choice out of this weak Republican field.
"Every issue is decided based upon the amount of money it will put into, or take out of, his own personal wallet."
And this differs from Rep. Orthodoxy - how?
"Every issue is decided based upon the amount of money it will put into, or take out of, his own personal wallet."
And this differs from Rep. Orthodoxy - how?"
Some at least pretend to stand on principle. Or, in some cases, are willing to enrich others, if not themselves. A friend of mine claims to have heard that W reached a deal with the Chamber of Commerce, that they would support him if he promised them low taxes and cheap labor. They did, and he repaid them. But so far, I don't think he has personally benefited.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Novak isn't going to denounce an anti-war candidate as a false conservative. After all, it was Novak who was denounced as "unpatriotic" in a cover story by Rod's then-employer for being insufficiently enthusiastic about the Iraq War.
Now, I'm personally not all that interested in what makes a "true conservative" as I don't see political conservatism (a human ideology) as the ideal to which would should be striving. But it does seem to me that the strain of Southern Evangelical political activism of which Huckabee is emblematic does represent a break from what was typically defined as conservatism up until this decade in the U.S. through its willingness to use federal power to pursue an activist agenda.
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