Rev. Mike Huckabee is supposed to be the most adamant, pure Christian candidate in the race for President. But I think Huckabee seems to be the least truly Christian in the Republican field. I might cite several grounds for that, but mostly I'm saying this because of the sleazy and underhanded way he's demagogically using his religion specifically against Mitt Romney.
For starters, though, it's absolutely asinine the way that Huckabee goes putting God on his side in the Republican primary election. He's repeatedly compared himself and his campaign to that guy that fed multitudes with just a couple of loaves and fishes. That shows a real lack of Christian humility, to put it mildly. Indeed, that he's so willing to vainly invoke his Lord and Savior in his own crass little political campaign is grounds for me to begin doubting the sincerity of his beliefs right there.
Many people have likened Huckabee to the other guy from Hope, describing Huckabee as being like Clinton-but without the wandering eye. Well, Bill Clinton getting laid was not mostly what I would object to about him. It's that demagogue Elmer Gantry or perhaps Lonesome Rhodes populist manipulation and lack of character or principles that characterize both Clinton and Huckabee. Add in his infamous lack of belief in evolution, and Huckabee looks about as self-serving as that textbook religious populist American demagogue William Jennings Bryan.
But most of all, I positively dislike Huckabee for his absolutely knowing and purposeful manipulation of his Christian faith to use as a weapon against even a fellow Christian, purely for his own political gain. In short, Mike Huckabee has repeatedly and carefully, with unmistakably malice aforethought, borne false witness against Mormons and purposefully stoked anti-Mormon bigotry in order to convince the knuckle-dragging type of Christians to support him over Mitt Romney.
Slick Huck is a nasty hick with a distinctly Bill Clinton shade of underhanded politics of personal destruction. He bills himself in early tv ads as a "Christian leader," in implicit contrast to the front runner who is not. Oh no, I didn't mean it THAT way, responds the clever cleric. It's just a reference to his own background as a minister.
Nor will he directly deny that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are Christians, as it's just not his proper role as a candidate to take a position on such an issue. In other words, the PC folk won't let me say it, but you know - wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more True Brother Christians.
But Huckabee really proved himself exponentially too clever and sleazy with the instantly infamous New York Times comment about Mormons. "Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" This guy is one of the slickest tongued people in politics. Then he just accidentally and innocently drops this bit of poisonous speculation casually into a conversation with a reporter from the New York Times.
Running a presidential slate for Ball State student government a quarter century ago, our campaign had our manager stand up in debate to ask a question based on a forgotten little scandal from the year before. "Do you promise not to steal any more campaign buttons?" This of course necessitated the paper explaining the story, and it made us the goats. The bad manager wrote the most self-consciously righteous statement for our candidate to make in denouncing him that he could conjure-and of course had to churn the story one more time through his own theatrical and profusely humiliated apology at the next candidate forum.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Paul
Great article! Finally someone who sees it as it really is!!
2 - Colin Ashley
Unbelievable! Al, are you on the Romney payroll? Seriously. Either that or you are living in a reverse universe!
3 - Al Barger
Colin - No, I'm not on the Romney payroll. I'm probably not going to vote for him. But please elucidate as to how I'm living in a "reverse universe."
4 - sha
this flip flopping flake will say anything to get voted in. go to www.massresistance.org
to get the real scoop on romney. he knows that he has gone to far to the right to ever be respected by the far left that was his base during his term as governer in mass state. he is even more liberal and corrupt than hillary. they are both flip flopping flakes together. the only clear conservative here is huckabee. he has been consistant with his stance and not a flip flopping fluke like mitt. i would never vote for him, not becuase he is a morman but b/c he is a flip flop that can not be trusted. the fact that he continues to attack huckabee, will only drive me closer to him. instead of him trying to say why huckabee should not be winning, he should stop trying to compare himself to him and start telling people why anyone should vote to him. the fact of the matter is that he is going to lose. and in new hampshire, he is going to loose to mccain. then he can finally go home and let the illegal aliens keep working on his home...
5 - Lee Richards
Al,
You nailed it! And I'm no Romney fan, either.
6 - Patrick
I just told my wife last night that something is wrong about Huckabee and you hit the nail right on the head. His pandering to the evangelical right, while acting innocent about his mormon history and knowledge gives it away. Romney is a politician, but his approach to the faith and testimony of others demonstrates the tolerance I expect from a potential President of the United States.
7 - Al Barger
Sha- You're displaying exactly the kind of hatefulness and bigoted lack of concern for facts that I'm accusing your guy Huckabee of. That kind of hatefulness does not turn anybody on, nor does the foolish dishonesty of saying that Romney is somehow to the left of Hillary. That's just silly.
I know that Romney is the candidate on the trail getting most frequently and vehemently accused of "flip flopping," but he seems to be if anything less inconsistent than many of the other candidates - most especially your guy Huckabee on immigration and taxes.
That a Huckabee supporter would call Romney a flake is dumbfounding. Huckabee's the half-assed candidate with no staff or organization, running a national campaign out of his back pocket and just making up any kind of silly thing to say that sounds advantageous at the moment. Flakiest of all, Huckabee's the one who wasn't keeping up with the news even to the bare minimal extent of knowing that there was a big NIE report on Iran a few days ago. This guy would be our next commander in chief?
Lee- thanks for your kind words.
8 - Jason
Well if Romney is a flip flopper, good for him, why can't politicians change their minds or their positions on things. Doesn't everyone, I mean I have changed my mind from Huckabee to someone else. I was truly interested in him and an avid supporter but his underhanded way of using religious overtones to say he is greater than thou and the "true" christian, that scares me, what happens when he talks to the muslim nations, "you guys aint christian enough for my country". This guy just scares me now. And this article is right on. Thanks for right up.
9 - Clavos
Good article.
I confess I had not been paying much attention to Huckabee; I can't give credence to anyone who professes to believe in ID, so had dismissed him.
The sneakiness and underhandedness you describe are particularly off-putting.
Not what I would like to see in a President.
10 - Mike
I have been a Romney supporter for some time but have lately been a little concerned with some of the decisions he has made running his campaign...that said. You nailed Huckabee right on the head. Anyone, that is naive enough to think that his comment to the New York times was anything but pure tactics is in true denial. I spent too much time in Kentucky around Baptist minister's college to believe his question wasn't malicious. And if he truly did think it was a private conversation with a reporter...then you should be even more worried about his ability to be President. He is sneaky and Baptists should distance themselves from his embarrassing representation of their religion.
11 - kent helberg
Al;
You are a sick man.
12 - phhhtttt!!!!
What a load of crap this article and most of the comments are. ok, so you have an anti Jesus bent, and anybody that dares to stick his head up and say he's a Christian, you want to bash him back into the ground (and make yourself sound all righteous for having done so), ok fine. But at least be honest about your motives and quit trying to wrap yourself in some sort of journalistic righteousness. You didn’t like Huckabee's comment about “dont Mormons consider Jesus and the devil brothers”? Well, if your concerned about that, maybe you should actually do some journalistic research and find out what the Mormons do believe. Did Huck waffle on the issue, well, honestly I think he did a little. He should have said "Yes, Mormonism is considered by all of orthodox Christianity to be a cult" "So there". Why didn’t he? don’t know! Should he be the judge of whether a person truly is saved? Nope! No one can judge the heart except God. Should he be able to compare Mormonism with Christianity and say "It is not a Christian Religion"? Yes! Now is it possible to be a Mormon and be a real Christian? Sure it is. The bible is very clear about the requirements (if you don’t know what they are maybe you should actually try reading it and see what it says), however Mormon teaching on it own will not make you a Christian is in fact inconsistent with Christianity. Google "cults" and look at the ones on Mormonism. (here’s' the first one I came upon, it will do http://biblia.com/christianity2/3b-mormons.htm ). They have documented the differences far more thoroughly that I can.
13 - Bill
All I can say is "By their Fruits you shall know them" I can see what Huckabee's fruits are and Romney's are. If I pick between these two I will pick Romney. I feel I can trust him, he has a life long record of being the kind of person I would trust. People need to get their heads on straight and stop being so blind by rhetoric and bigotry.
14 - childetx
Wow Al!
I think you hit the nail on the head. To suggest that he was innocently asking the New York Times reporter about the Satan/Jesus Mormon question is absolutely ludicrous. It was downright sleazy of the Huckster to do that.
People will see Huck in short order. And we'll have another case study in "Howard Dean pyrotechnics" -- how to rocket up and come crashing down.
15 - rather agravated
The man who wrote the article did a good job obfuscating the issue - he used a veil of faux concern, and "journalistic righteousness" to give the appearance of not only being impartial, but also tried to appear as if he knew something about Christianity. He clearly does not if he can confuse a cult for being in the Christian Spectrum. Musilms are as close to being christian as the mormons are. Both error in the exact same way regarding Christ. Granted Islam goes wrong in many other ways, and to my knowledge no mormon would ever want to blow up someone who disagrees with their philosophy/cult. Many of them are very devout, they take their faith seriously - more so than many christians these days. Never the less that is not what gets you into heaven these days.
Should Huckabee be crucified over what he claims is a sincere question? Should Romney be excoriated for being mormon? The answer to both is a resounding No. That said i will stay home on election day if Romney is the republican representative. He may be better than hillary, but he is not someone i would be able to in good conscience vote for.
16 - Don Hargrave
Al,
Only Jesus is perfect. All Christians make mistakes and none of us are perfect- just forgiven. I am still undecided on which presidential candidate to choose. All of them are human & all of them have made mistakes. We as Christians should keep in mind that we are children of God; and in reality are salvation comes from Christ- not theology or the church. Your status as an nonbeliever is certainly your choice, but you like all of us will stand before Jesus one day. The King is coming and the "GOOD NEWS" is that it is not to late for AL to find peace with the Lord. Read Isaiah 55:6!!! This scripture is for you.
God Bless,
Don
17 - Alec
I don't care about either Huckabee's or Romney's religious bona fides. I am voting for president, not Pastor-in-Chief. Those who find this meaningful, or require it as a litmus test, are not as far removed from the Taliban as they would like to believe. The entire notion of who might be the best Christian is stunningly irrelevant.
What part of "no religious test" don't some voters not understand?
Similarly, that there is no hint of impropriety in Romney's background does not speak much to his qualifications to be president.
Lastly, it is not that Romney has flip-flopped on issues. It is that he cravenly panders to whatever he thinks his constituents believe in order to cast himself as a favorable candidate. I guess this works for some people, but it for me it emphasizes the degree to which he is an empty suit, a plastic doll into which deluded voters apply their own desires.
Huckabee is not much better, but I guess is somewhat worse only to the degree to which he more deliberately tries to twist his religion into part of his identity as a political candidate.
18 - Tsion Benjuda
I love this article. The more people who attack Gov. Huckabee the higher he rises. The Word of God says that the last will be first and the first will be last. If you truly look at the history of Gov. Huckabee you will wander how in the world did he get where he is at. It defies any kind of logic.
I am from Arkansas and 6 months ago I was not going to support Gov. Huckabee and same can be said about all of my friends but something happenend, Gov. Huckabee did not attack people and took the same high road that a past Gov. did, one Ronald Reagan. Now that Gov. Romney is pulling out all the stops and attacking Gov. Huckabee many people will see that doing this hurts not helps.
AS a life-long conservative I felt like in the primaries I was going to have to vote for the lesser of 2 evils Guilliani or Romney but now I have someone who sticks to the truth. The bible says that as Christians that if we stand up for Christ we will be attacked and that is definately what has happenend to Gov. Huckabee and if he loses at least he didnt flop around on any of his beliefs or decisions and everyone will remember him as a man of Truth and Integrity.
I will not vote for a Democrat or a Liberal Republican Guiliani/Romney (even though I like Guiliani for sticking with his beliefs and not flopping, he is still to liberal).
Bottom line is if either of these two men get nominated that a majority of Christians--(The Holy Bible Christ Followers; as told about in the KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV)-- The Democrat machine will tear Gov. Romney up over his everchanging positions when he tries to do it to one of theirs.
I have lost all the respect that I have had for Gov. Romney over the last couple of weeks and am disappointed that he has made it his personal strategy to attack other people instead of stick to the issues. All this being said Gov. Huckabee better keep to his game plan and continue to stick to the issues. Even if he is wrong do not flop just admit it and go on.
19 - Al Barger
Dear phhhtttt!!!! - No, I'm not anti-Christian nor did I bash Christianity. Your ideological sensitivities are apparently wreaking havoc on your reading comprehension. I was bashing on Huckabee not for being a Christian, but exactly for not being near enough of one.
I know my KJV Bible pretty well, but don't claim to know a lot about Mormon or Muslim theology. However differently they might take it in some regards though, Mormons do confess the name of Christ. In my best judgment, that would make them Christians, as also are Catholics - whom many evangelical types also wish to deny the label of Christian.
But I can understand being skeptical of the Mormon faith. I'm pretty skeptical of all ghost stories myself. However, it's not theological skepticism of Mormonism that turns me off on Huckabee, but the underhanded and malicious use of those feelings in a political campaign against an opponent. Again, I most particularly object to the under handededness and dishonesty of how Huckabee goes about it, like that "innocent" little comment to the NYT reporter.
As Brother Bill reminds us above, "By their Fruits you shall know them" I'm fuzzy on some of the specific theological issues involved with Romney, but it's plain as day to me that Huckabee is not behaving in a Christ-like manner in this campaign. The guy I read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John would not countenance the hatefulness and malicious backbiting for personal gain that Huckabee has shown. Whereas Romney's always been a pretty straight shooter, and he fight exceptionally clean.
Rather Aggravated - My concern is not faux. I would really hate to see the Republicans commit Huckacide, and doom us to President Hillary. I also really un-appreciate religious demagogues of any stripe. Rev Huckabee's is about as qualified and trustworthy to be president as Rev Jackson or Rev Robertson. He's wicked and truly divisive in his quest for personal power.
20 - Collin 28
Glen Beck said Friday that Huckabee would fall back down. Nice article and I definitely agree with your post.
As of 3pm EST 12-17 -- If you go to Alexa and check out the TR (traffic rating) for the official Ron Paul website --- he has a TR of 7,478.
Mike Huckabee has a TR of 52,977
John McCain -- TR 112,541
Hillary Clinton -- TR 33,338
TR 68,443 for Mitt Romney
According to Huckabee's website he has collected $1,229,712 to date for his forth quarter donations.
At this moment Dr. Paul has $18,247,850 and still coming in.
There is no mention on McCain's site of how much money he currently has raised.
I have stopped listening to the MSM --- they are the old media and are missing the point.
21 - Baronius
Al, it looks like you do have a dog in this fight, or at least one you're rooting against. I mean, you're complaining that a former minister lists it on his resume?
I read his and his wife's comments about loaves and fishes. It seemed like an analogy, not a claim of divine power. What I've seen about his religious statements seem fine (although I'm no expert on Huckabee). He made the comment about Jesus and Satan when a reporter asked him if he thought Mormonism was a religion or a cult. It was an answer to a question, not an off-the-record insinuation.
You say that Romney is a better Christian than Huckabee. Maybe you can argue that Romney better follows "the most basic core Christian teaching of loving thy neighbor". You could also argue that Romney fails the most basic Christian teaching that Jesus is God. Are you the best person to define what is essential to Christian teaching?
I don't know which of these two I would support for President. I'm in a late state, so it really doesn't matter.
22 - Al Verser
Sorry, you are wrong. I went to high school with Mike and he is sincere and honest, what we call a stand-up guy. Are you reading the far left blog? I can see the mud and spin headed his way.. You must be getting scared.
23 - Al Barger
Dear Tsion- What kind of alternate reality world are you living in? Romney has not been attacking Huckabee or anyone else in any kind of personal way, especially about articles of faith. You're just imagining that. Plus, your Governor Huckabee absolutely and undeniably has been doing everything he can in every kind of sleazy backhanded way to stick the Mormon church up into Romney and break it off.
And where do any of you Huckabee people get off on accusing Romney of flip-flopping? He's changed his mind on abortion - and says so directly and with an explanation. That's as much as you could ask for. Other than that, Romney really hasn't had much in the way of major changes in issues, but mostly seemingly in language and spin, maybe nudging a bit more restrictionist on immigration - but not nearly as much as Huckabee. I watched Tim Russert do his worst to him for an hour, and Romney had pretty reasonable sounding explanations for most of the supposed inconsistencies. He's certainly no worse there than Huckabee, who raised taxes and called his critics at the Club for Growth the "Club for Greed" - and then calls for eliminating income taxes as a candidate for president. Like that other Arkansas traveler from Hope, this guy will say pretty much anything to get a vote.
But what I most love is your cheesy martyr complex for Huckabee. "The more people who attack Gov. Huckabee the higher he rises. The Word of God says that the last will be first and the first will be last." Oh yeah, Slick Huck's suffering the horrible martyrdom of being "attacked" ie criticized in print for his ill behavior as a candidate for public office.
See, critics point out that Huckabee's a sleazy huckster, and the knuckle-draggers that he primarily appeals to start carrying on like he's a martyr for Christ. That's just exactly the kind of self-serving bullshit that makes folks cynical about religious people being involved in politics.
Alec - Please don't get me wrong. As a non-believer, I certainly don't demand a religious test for office. However, I would appreciate a candidate who bears some of the personality traits of that groovy mortal guy Jesus of Nazareth. I would at least appreciate if a candidate for office was not a sleazy religious demagogue.
But if I WERE looking for a Bible modeled candidate, I'd be thinking more Old Testament vengeful God, ie Yahweh rather than Jesus. That line of thinking would naturally tend to incline one to Giuliani.
Beyond that though, I did not mean this article as an exhaustive comparison of the two candidates, just an examination of this one underlying religious dynamic which seems to be pretty critical in this horserace. Other than Christian charity, I didn't get into discussions of the issues. That's another point.
And ultimately to me, the point with these religious issues isn't religious faith or doctrine. I don't believe in either or any faith, so I don't necessarily care. But I do care about the kind of basic personal honesty and integrity that religion is supposed to instill. Not to say that Romney's perfect - for all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God - but he sure seems like he does a better job of following the basic Ten Commandments and Golden Rule morality than the preacher does.
24 - John
Al-
I find it interesting that Huckabee can't ask "Don't Mormons believe that Christ and the devil are brothers?" But its fair for you to ask Huckabee "Do you believe in evolution?"
They are the exact same question and that question is "How crazy is your religion?"
Also, saying that you're a non-believer does not make you objective. It makes it clear that your only objective is to attack the candidate who isn't afraid to profess to be a christian unabashedly.
And you do so by making broad statements with no attempt to back them up with a single citation
1. "He's repeatedly compared himself and his campaign to that guy that fed multitudes with just a couple of loaves and fishes." Really? Please tell us, Al, when he ever said he was Jesus Christ.
2. "lack of character or principles that characterize both Clinton and Huckabee" I would define character and principle as holding true to your beliefs and moral convictions regardless of the situation. Which is exactly what you attack Huckabee for.
3. "He bills himself in early tv ads as a "Christian leader," in implicit contrast to the front runner who is not." So which is it Al, is Romney Christian or isn't he? You've spent most of your article proclaiming how Christian he is and how Christian he attests to being. So how is this ad in contrtast to any other candidate? You don't care that he's "demogogueing" anyone. You're real issue is just the fact that a Christian has the balls to say it out loud. Period
4. "Nor will he directly deny that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are Christians, as it's just not his proper role as a candidate to take a position on such an issue.In other words, the PC folk won't let me say it, but you know - wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more True Brother Christians." So which is it Al? Is Huckabee a jerk for proclaiming his faith? or he is he a jerk for toning it down? News flash Al, every religion thinks other religions are wrong. Just like aethiests like you think religion-period is wrong. If you ask Mormon leaders if they think Baptists practice the right form of Christianity they would say "No", too.
5. "Unmistakably, Mike Huckabee has consciously said things to appeal to the most base angels of his constituents' nature to turn them in hatred even against a brother who also proclaims Jesus Christ as his savior" Like what Al? Please cite one source where Huckabee does anymore to Romney, than you're doing to him and christians in general with your little "evolution" line?
6. "I would find it highly unlikely that he would foment hatred against another man for personal gain, much less fomenting hatred against whole groups as Huckabee does." Again, cite something Al. Try being a journalist instead of an ignorant blogger.
I also love how you accuse other people of inciting hatefulness when you write unsubstantiated drivel to mislead your readers and have the gaul to call someone a "nasty hick".
Anyone reading this I urge you to actually investigate the nonsense this guy is spouting. Google search transcripts of Mike Huckabee interviews/speeches/debates, look up clips on youtube. Don't just buy into a hack blogger with an axe to grind.
25 - Al Barger
Baronious, I don't have a horse in the race as between Mormons vs Baptists. I am definitely rooting against Huckabee at this point, though. I thought he was amusing in his completely seat of the pants joke kind of way for a minute, but this hateful underhanded crap has completely turned me off to him personally. But again, I don't necessarily hold that against all Baptists.