You know how some Huck haters call him "Hickabee," as if the only people who support him are red-state Evangelicals who are poor, uneducated and easy to command? This just in from a reader I hadn't heard from since my NRO days:
I am running as a Huck delegate in Queens, New York and have corresponded with you before. I like Huck because he is pro life and because I think he gets it when people are freaked out by their Con Ed bills, cable bills, etc. I also became tired of rich guys running for office and yes, that includes Mike Bloomberg! I don't like the fact that some of the "conservative" press thinks that Huckabee supporters are dumb kicks or yahoos - I happen to have a Ph.d. from Brown in Spanish literature!
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Rod:
As someone new to blogs, I've been shocked at some of the vitriol aimed at evangelicals who support Mike Huckabee. I am a second year grad student in theology, hold a law degree and have 25 years as a working journalist on my resume'. Since I left newspapering to answer a higher calling, my family and I are now among America's "working poor." Painting Mike Huckabee -and for that matter evangelicals --with a broad brush --is to practice the same intolerance that those on the left so readily accuse conservatives of practicing.
Paul,
Your problem isn't with liberals. It's your fellow conservatives who think Huckabee is a hick. There's a lot more scorn and condescension for you and Huckabee at the National Review than there is at Huffingtonpost.
The intolerance is coming from fellow-travelers.
Daniel, I beg to differ. While you're correct that the condescension toward Huck is rampant at National Review (and shameful, IMO), it's based more on his economic populism than his religion. The left still has the market cornered when it comes to intolerance of evangelical Christians.
Thanks for weighing in on my feeble post. For the record, let me say I've been a longtime fan of NR and specifically Bill Buckley. As a kid, while waiting for my Dad to give up the sports section, I read the editorial page with a dictionary nearby. Buckley helped my vocabulary and stoked a love for words.
That said, it is correct that evangelical conservatives are battered by condescension from all quarters. My biggest issue is that in this country, we have lostr the ability to reach consensus for the good of the nation as a whole. Sadly, self-interest rules.In terms of economic policy, he seems to me to be trying to move the GOP more toward the center.
Thanks again for enduring this. And thanks for a blog that is respectful of the views of others.
It's not just Huckabee's economic populism that many conservatives have against Huckabee, but it's also his blatant use of his religion as a tool to help him get elected. Between his use of churches as a platform to get votes, and his use of surrogates as way to do his "dirty work", he has tainted himself greatly in the eyes of many many conservatives, including myself. This bothers me alot more than his populist ideas. It speaks of his character. Romney could never get away with this blatant use of churches and religion to help in his campaign. Even the very slightest hint of it would irretrievably sink his campaign. Yet somehow the media doesn't wink at it when Huckabee does it all the time, blatantly.
Regarding religions getting "battered" from all sides, certainly Romney's religion has the corner on that. One look at the Huffington Post site, many evangelical web sites, and even Huckabee's own web site (bloggers on his site), one can find very vicious, unfair, and bigoted attacks on his religion.
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