One of the premier conservative leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention said last week that he “didn’t know of any conservatives” Mike Huckabee named to positions while the former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential hopeful headed up the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989-91.
Retired Texas Court of Appeals Justice Paul Pressler, a past first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Told me Friday that he “had a general impression Mike’s appointments [as Arkansas Baptist State Convention president] were ‘establishment’” - a synonym in Southern Baptist circles for moderate or non-conservatives. Pressler, a much-respected conservative in Texas, recently endorsed Fred Thompson for President because, as he told me, “he appears to be the most acceptable and the most electable” conservative in the ’08 Republican race.
But Pressler quickly added that there were several other Republican hopefuls he could also support if any became the Republican nominee next year. Among them, he said, were Mitt Romney and Huckabee himself, “whom I have known for twenty five years. He is a Bible-believing Christian, nice, capable - I could support Mike enthusiastically.”
But on the issue of who Huckabee named to key committees while overseeing the Arkansas Baptist Convention, the retired jurist echoed yesterday’s New York Times profile of Huckabee which said that “he carried the flag for the so-called moderates, arguing that the Arkansas Baptists were amply orthodox.” Concluded the Times, “Mr. Huckabee’s emphasis on tolerance and inclusiveness rallied opponents of turn to the right.”
I tried to reach Huckabee spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa but her cellphone mailbox was full.
In 1991, Huckabee resigned the presidency of the Baptist conclave to run for the Senate the following year. Today, I ran into his winning opponent, former Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers, at the Capitol Grille Restaurant in Washington. Recalling their 1992 campaign vividly, Bumpers dubbed Huckabee “ a worthy opponent.”
