The Huckeye State?

Posted by arclightzero in January 5th, 2008

(Check out Part 1 for my general take as well as my shameless continued promotion of Fred Thompson)

As you are already well aware, I am not the biggest Huckabee fan. While I find his momentum out of nowhere to be interesting, I also find it to be disturbing to say the least. While I am aware that Iowa is hardly representative of the nation as a whole, any Republican caucus that propels Huck to the top is deserving of some well deserved scrutiny.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the man. I’m sure he is a decent enough guy and has the best intentions at heart; but the question that needs to be asked is how well his best intentions gels with us. While he calls himself a Reagan Conservative, ever fiber of my conservative being tells me otherwise. I mean, the guy has got moxie and is a smooth talker that connects with people… But are we electing people based on personality, or policy?

Here are some things that concern me:

He criticized the SCHIP veto, which any of my regular readers knows I feel very strongly about.
He reduced Arkansas income tax but increased the overall tax burden by 47% and received an overall “D” rating from the CATO institute
He increased state spending by 65% - three times the rate of inflation
He supports a federal ban on abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned
He supports a federal ban on smoking in public places
He has a confusing and concerning view on climate change as a “moral issue” or “biblical duty.” He also promotes more subsidies for biofuels
He referred to No Child left Behind as “the greatest education reform effort by the federal government in my lifetime,” and has some curious views on education and teachers unions

Well, anyway, you get the idea. Much of what Huck has done and stands for flies in the face of not only conservatism, but federalism as well. What’s worse is that his ordinary “jovial” mood is quickly replaced with a fierce vindictive streak when his policies are scrutinized - as evidenced by his attacks against the Club for Growth (especially over “Tax Hike Mike!”), Glenn Beck (see the video above), Mitt Romney et al.

Now I am by no means telling people not to vote for the man as the most important thing that you can do is to vote your conscious. But it’s important to listen to your conscious and ignore the cult of personality that is being constantly thrust upon us. If you are truly a conservative and a federalist, your conscious should be screaming to you that Huck is not your man. If you are strictly a social conservative (i.e big government conservative or “compassionate” conservative), then maybe Huck is the man you’re looking for. Just don’t cast your vote based on personality or based on your religious values. Doing so will get you a President that you might not want.

So what happened to the GOP in Iowa? Has Conservatism been run out of the Iowa Republicans and replaced with compassionate conservatism? Or has Huckabee’s strong religious overtones combined with his lust for biofuels overrun common sense in the Hawkeye state?

I don’t know. I just hope that other states reveal more common sense when it comes to votinf for a Conservative Republican. Time will tell.