Hypocritical Huckabee Dodges the Mormon Question
After collecting the endorsement of 60 religious leaders today, newly minted Iowa frontrunner Mike Huckabee dodged the question about whether he considers Mitt Romney's Mormonism to be a cult. But while Huckabee declared he would not "go off into evaluating other people's doctrines and faiths," his campaign seems content to do just that. And when it comes to Islam, the former minister has proven rather eager to stand in judgment.
Claiming he respects "anybody who practices his faith," the former Arkansas Governo was careful to distance himself from a group affiliated with Huckabee supporters accused of making automated phone calls targeting Romney:
"I'm just not going to go off into evaluating other people's doctrines and faiths. I think that is absolutely not a role for a president...I don't think it's relevant to the presidency. I really don't. You know, I get all these questions about somebody else's religion. I only want to address the ones about my own..."
Unless, that is, those questions concern Islam. Minister Huckabee is quick to champion his degree from tiny Ouachita Baptist University as uniquely qualifying him for the White House. Apparently, his faith-based presidency would fight the dual threats from Charles Darwin and Osama Bin Laden. In November, Huckabee tried to claim the mantle of the GOP's leading terror fighter, arguing:
"I think I'm stronger than most people because I truly understand the nature of the war that we are in with Islamo fascism. These are people that want to kill us. It's a theocratic war. And I don't know if anybody fully understands that. I'm the only guy on that stage with a theology degree."
Still, the man who took a phone call from God in 2004 and claimed in 1997 that Jesus supported the death penalty while on the cross insists he would never weigh in on another's Christian faith. His campaign is another matter.
Even as Mitt Romney prepares to deliver his make-or-break speech on his Mormon faith Thursday, the Huckabee campaign is running television ads in Iowa proclaiming their man to be (in capital letters), a "CHRISTIAN LEADER." With the strong anti-LDS sentiment among many evangelical voters in the Hawkeye State, the spot was the equivalent of proclaiming, "NOT A MORMON." Huckabee was being more than a little disingenuous today when insisted, "As you heard me say, I repudiate anything that attacks another person. It does not help us. I believe it hurts us."
Perhaps on one occasion. In one of campaign 2008's most ironic moments, this summer a Catholic-turned-evangelical supporter of the former Arkansas Governor attacked the evangelical-turned-Catholic Sam Brownback. The Reverend Tim Rude of Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights, Iowa emailed colleagues:
"I know Senator Brownback converted to Roman Catholicism in 2002. Frankly, as a recovering Catholic myself, that is all I need to know about his discernment when compared to the Governor's. I don't if this fact is widely known among evangelicals who are supporting Brownback."
Although Rude eventually apologized, the Christian fratricide between the Huckabee and Brownback camps continued. When Brownback demanded an apology from the Arkansas governor, Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman offered this distinctly un-Christ-like response:
"It's time for Sam Brownback to stop whining and start showing some of the Christian character he always seems to find lacking in others."
The damage apparently wasn't serious. After all, among those Iowa pastors endorsing Mike Huckabee today was Chuck Hurley, an influential Iowa conservative who had backed Sam Brownback until the Kansas Senator quit the race in October.
On the eve of Mitt Romney's address on the role of his Mormon faith in his politics, an increasingly confident Mike Huckabee laughably proclaims his indifference. As Huckabee said during his playful 2004 conversation with God:
"Yes, sir, we know you don't take sides in the election. But, if you did, we kind of think you'd hang in there with us, Lord, we really do."
yea, Huckabee dodged the "cult question" but Mitt dodged tbe "Jesus and the devil are brothers" question. LDS writings, Gospel through the Ages (pgs 14-16), Gospel Principals(pgs 17&18), and Mormon Doctorine by Bruce R McConkie(pg 192) all have this teaching.
Read this from Arkansas Times ref Huckabee:
Mike Huckabee Destroyed Governor's Office Records After Questions Of Gifts And Personal Use Of Funds Arose
Posted by Paul Hooson
Published: Dec 10, 07 09:30 AM
Behind that small town charm of Mike Huckabee, with that "Mayberry" name, Gomer Pyle looks and "aw schucks" demeanor, is far less appealing story of raised allegations of using some official Governor's budgets for personal use, accepting huge gifts from wealthy campaign donors and destroying computer hard drive evidence of the trail of gifts or personal spending that took place while he was Governor of Arkansas.
And that small town charm also wears thin as many who know Huckabee actually claim he is both "petty" and "thinskinned", and far from the nice person that many have been fooled into believing that he is. And unfortunately the conduct of Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee while acting as Governor of Arkansas is way too similiar to that of too many corrupt TV evangelists in way too many ways. Both are known for their widespread use of funds meant for specific activities for personal use, such as clothes and furniture, etc.
Huckabee's trail of ethics problems really broke to the Arkansas public when the ARKANSAS TIMES ran a story on how Huckabee used Governor's Mansion Expense Account Funds to buy clothes for the personal use of his wife. And in a worst example, Huckabee accepted a $70,000 expensive furniture gift from a wealthy cotton farmer political donor, which was later found out to be unacceptable as well. When a staffer first raised concerns about the $70,000 gift, Huckabee used strongarmed legal threats against the staffer to quiet them down and attempted to suppress the story. And upon leaving office, Huckabee made sure all the computer hard drive evidence of his spending record of budgets as Governor were destroyed, effectively ending any future ethics or conduct investigations.
And even the Huckabee campaign has been scandal plagued with allegations of staffers using dirty tactics such as negative "push polls" to harm other candidates or the use of religious bigotry to attack the religion of Mormon candidate Mitt Romney. Huckabee attempts to make himself look like the good guy and denounce these tactics, but only after the dirty conduct becomes public.
Mike Huckabee has it all wrong if he believes that the average American wants to elect a president who uses official budgets for their family's personal use or accepts huge gifts from powerful donors. At the state level in Arkansas, Huckabee was able to get away with this unethical and questionable conduct due to the laws of that state. And serious questions have to be raised about how a religious right Baptist preacher would harm civil liberties or the seperation of church and state as well. Huckabee may have been able to get himself elected Governor in a poor conservative Christian right state like Arkansas, but his televangelist type beliefs and ethics problems are all wrong for America.
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