There are mutterings in the ranks of social conservatives. For nearly thirty years, those who joined to Republican party primarily to stop the slaughter of the innocents - but also to support traditional marriage, fight pornography, oppose judicial activism, and protect Second Amendment rights - have been good soldiers.
They have voted by the millions for candidates who were first and foremost economic conservatives, even libertarians, contenting themselves with a few rhetorical crumbs. They have embraced candidates who have had a change of heart on the life issues, such as Bush Senior. They have even gone along with candidates who have suddenly announced that they have had the political equivalent of a death-bed conversion-an election-year epiphany on the evil of abortion.
Now one of their own, Governor Mike Huckabee, has sprinted into the lead in Iowa. And some economic conservatives, their supposed allies, are savaging him for-of all things - not being conservative enough.
There is a double standard at work here. For the sake of party unity, social conservatives are being told by some, they are supposed to overlook Giuliani's public immorality and pro-abortion activism. But because the Arkansas legislature responded to a court order to spend more on education and raised the state sales tax, Huckabee is irredeemable, even though he refused to sign the final bill. Social conservatives are supposed to accept Romney's political-death-bed conversion to the pro-life position, but Huckabee's commitment to low taxes and limited government is constantly questioned, even though he has signed a no-tax-increase pledge and-alone among the candidates - is vigorously campaigning to abolish the IRS.
So why is it that when one of our own breaks out of the pack, social conservatives are asking themselves, so many people are piling on? Part of the answer is innocent enough. Huckabee's surge comes so late in the game that most conservative leaders and many groups are committed to other candidates. The National Right to Life Committee, for instance, endorsed Thompson thinking that he would be the front runner. Instead Thompson no sooner announced his candidacy than his poll numbers began to drop, undercut by his lackluster performance on the stump and his brain freezes during the debates.
A month ago, Pat Toomey of the Club for Growth could dismiss Huckabee, then polling in the single digits, as not ready to "run with the big dogs." Now, however, with the "big dogs" all doing a fourth quarter fade, Huckabee has sprinted to the head of the pack in Iowa and elsewhere. If this continues, we will soon be treated to the spectacle of some of the erstwhile leaders racing to follow their followers.
But it is also true that social conservatives have long been regarded as the junior partner in the Republican coalition. The moneyed, secularized Republican elite distain evangelical Christians, in particular, as poorly educated and easily led. They are good enough to help with voter registration drives, hand out flyers at the mall, and vote the right way at election time. But then they are supposed to go home and let the really smart people-those who know that they only important things in life are money and power - run things.
How many conservatives remember that Reagan was initially opposed by the big money people, and that the Republican party establishment was far from united behind his candidacy? It was a groundswell of support from Joe Sixpack and his wife that won Reagan first the nomination and then the presidency. Similarly, Huckabee's candidacy has flourished because of support from the rank and file, while a sullen party establishment looks on in stunned disbelief.
Republican kingmakers seem to have missed the deep similarities between Huckabee and Reagan that are so apparent and appealing to ordinary people. But it is precisely these similarities that explain Huckabee's sudden rise, and may well propel him into the Oval Office. What are they?
First of all Mike Huckabee, like Ronald Reagan, is a man of genuine convictions, and is entirely comfortable with himself. This comes through in his smile, in his naturalness, in his ready answers to questions.Romney, on the other hand, when asked a question, seems to be sorting through file cards to find the politick answer.
Like Reagan, Huckabee is a man of deep faith in God and in America, and is not afraid to publicly defend his beliefs. Cynical political types tend to dismiss this. The American people, who know that character counts, don't
These traits explain why Huckabee's performance in each and every presidential debate-even the early ones, when few questions came his way-has been so outstanding. He has proven so articulate on the issues that the other candidates-watch them-are often forced to grin and shake their heads in admiration. Some, unable to help themselves, actually applaud when he finishes.
He also shares with Reagan the gift-rare for a politician-of being humorous and decisive at the same time. I am reminded of an earlier presidential debate when Walter Mondale attempted to bring up Ronald Reagan's age as an issue. "I won't use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him," the Great Communicator quipped in response.All Mondale could do was grin helplessly. Issue closed, permanently.Huckabee has the same knack of using humor to take away issues from his opponents.
Finally and most importantly, Huckabee is right on the issues. He equally and eloquently defends the right to life of the unborn, and the right to bear arms of the people. He is pushing for the abolition of that most-hated American institution, the Internal Revenue Service, and its replacement by a simply and fair levy on consumption. As a former governor, he talks about rejuvenating the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution by ceding authority back to the several states. He is a friend of Jeffersonian democracy and a foe of the centralization of power in Washington. If all this isn't Reaganesque, what is?
I knew Ronald Reagan. I once even had the honor of writing a speech for him. And I admit that Mike Huckabee does not have the same star quality about him as the late great President. Who does? But Huckabee has the same ah-shucks demeanor, the same unforced eloquence, and the same grace and good humor under pressure. And increasing numbers of ordinary Americans-the same good folks who voted for Ronald Reagan by the millions-are mighty impressed.
