Of course the easy answer is no. But the MSM should ask - the questions are relevant when his base of support believes in the merging of church and state and he capitalized on his socially conservative, bible-based views as guiding his candidacy and how he would govern. How far from the mainstream is he. It's easy to toss off that New Hampshire voters are more libertarian and he's got to repackage himself for those voters, but how about some accountability here?
I've already blogged about GOP clown car occupant, rapist/murderer-releasing Baptist minister-without-a-theology-degree Mike Huckabee's ties to fundamentalist Steve Hotze, who fundraised for the Iowa caucus champion.
Holtze is the Texas-based anti-choice, anti-gay bible beater who signed a manifesto that included beliefs such as:
• A wife may work outside the home only with her husband's consent
• "Biblical spanking" that results in "temporary or superficial bruises or welts" should not be considered a crime
• No doctor shall provide medical service on the Sabbath • Medical problems are frequently caused by personal sin
• Doctors have a priestly calling
• People receiving medical treatment are not immune from divine intervention or demonic forces
• Physicians should preach to their patients because salvation is the key to their health.
The media really needs to ask fast-rising Huckabee about his ties to Holtze and other Dominionists who believe that the bible approves of corporal or capital punishment for adulterers and homosexuals and that the Old Testament should supplant the Constitution.
Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out:
"While Huckabee makes jokes on the campaign trail, his ties to the fundamentalist fringe is no laughing matter. We hope the media will continue to explore the radical associates of Mike Huckabee."
In 1998, Mike Huckabee co-wrote the book, "Kids Who Kill" with Reconstructionist author George Grant. Grant is an ideologue with extreme, even dangerous religious views. The question is, does the former Arkansas governor share Grant's view of the role of Christianity in government? This passage is from Grant's 1987 book "The Changing of the Guard" (Ft. Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987), pp. 50-51.
"Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ - to have dominion in the civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish."
Baptist minister Huck's already trying to run away from his fundie roots for the New Hampshire primary, touting his views on the IRS, the economy and anything other than the socially conservative shilling he was doing to court the Iowa Base.
Will the media continue the love fest, or ask him pointed questions about where he stands on the views of his friends and supporters like these and what his beliefs are on these matters. If he's guided by his faith and beliefs, and he's made it part of his campaign schtick, then he's made this arena fair game.
I'd love to know what the GOP leadership and Republican pundits go on the air and say about what they think of Huck's base of support and whether he'd be the right man to nominate in 2008.
***
Look at Huckabee trying to will away the drop kick he received from Rush Limbaugh, who says the former governor isn't conservative "in the mold of Ronald Reagan."
"I find that ridiculous," Huckabee said of Limbaugh's charge. "I believe in the things like a strong national defense, less government, lower taxes. I believe in the integrity of small business, knowing that's where 80 percent of our jobs come from, that we need to champion those small business owners and give them an opportunity to succeed without the government stepping all over them."
..."I think he's a fine man. He's just not a conservative," Limbaugh said. "And this is what, to be quite honest with you, offends me greatly with this attempt to compare him to Ronald Reagan."
That is, he's not the right kind of conservative, Rush says, and he suggests Huck's a dumbass in the same breath.
Contrasting his views with Huckabee's record as governor, Limbaugh said, "I don't support open borders and amnesty. I don't support the release of hundreds of criminals. ... I don't support repeated increases in taxes. I don't support national health care, whether you call it a children's program or whatever it is. I don't support anti-war rhetoric. I don't support Republican candidates trashing the war in Iraq when we're winning it. I don't support Republican candidates claiming the president doesn't read the National Intelligence Estimates as an excuse for him not knowing what the hell is in one. And that's Governor Huckabee."
Wow. Abandon ship. All the dittoheads are probably wringing their hands right about now.
Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.