While I agree with Rich Lowry that Mike Huckabee would be a terrible President, this piece was particularly funny:
The GOP’s social conservatism inarguably has been an enormous benefit to the party throughout the past 30 years, winning over conservative Democrats and lower-income voters who otherwise might not find the Republican limited-government message appealing. That said, nominating a Southern Baptist pastor running on his religiosity would be rather overdoing it. Social conservatism has to be part of the Republican message, but it can’t be the message in its entirety.
Someone needs to tell Huckabee. His first TV ads in Iowa touted him as a “Christian leader,” and his target audience of evangelicals has responded. But according to a Pew poll released in early December, only 1 in 7 nonevangelical Republicans support him in Iowa and 1 in 20 nonevangelicals in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Huckabee has declared that he doesn’t believe in evolution. Even if there are many people in America who agree with him, his position would play into the image of Republicans as the anti-science party. This would tend to push away independents and upper-income Republicans. In short, Huckabee would take a strength of the GOP and, through overplaying it, make it a weakness.
Where the hell has Lowry been the last decade? Let’s review this GOP’s greatest hits:
Terri Schiavo
Marriage Amendments
Stem Cell Bans
Doctoring Scientific reports
Evolution Denial
Global Warming denial
Just Us Sunday
Abstinence Only
Faith-based initiatives
Election year anti-gay ballot initiatives
And so on and so on. The GOP is, quite simply, little more than freakish display of social conservatism. And you can go through the NRo archives and see what they had to say about every one of those issues and others (protip- they were supportive). Rather than trying to run from his creation, Lowry should embrace it- he and his cohort had a good hand in making the GOP what it is today. Enjoy, and quit pretending to be surprised when the villagers race to destroy your monster with pitchforks and torches.
*** Update ***
And yes, the title of this post was inspired by Paul Krugman, who insists on working Talking Heads lyrics (specifically from Once in a Lifetime) into his NY Times editorials. He is at it again today.
Dreggas
Republicans want a do over
The article itself is amusing but I suggest reading the comments, one of my favorites:
Billy K
You know, at least Huckabee is running as himself. The knock against Romney, clinton, Edwards, and practically every politician is their phoniness. There’s nothing phoney about Huckabee.
I think it was Joe Conason who used to make the point (I’m sure there were plenty of others), that if the GOP really showed Americans who they are, the party would never win another election. Well, now Huckabee is showing the world who they are. God Bless him for it.
Zifnab
*cough* *hack* *gag* BULLSHIT *cough* *sputter*
The guy is about as disingenuous as they come for every reason that every other faux-Christian Republican Pol recks of dishonesty. He’s George Bush Redux, with the same compassionate conservatism message being played in a different key. He’s up there with Ron Paul as one of those least-bad choices in a bad pool, but I would never go so far as to say Huckabee hasn’t phoney’d up his Christian creds when he’s just another corporate welfare handout queen in a long line of corrupt Republicans from down south.
grumpy realist
I’m really surprised that the business side of the Republican Party has let the anti-intellectual/anti-science contingent run loose for so long. Don’t they realize they’re simply destroying the future basis of the US economy?
Or is it they think the US can outsource all its science and technology development to China? Yeah–I’m sure the Chinese will let us know all they develop when it comes to top-level technology that can be used for military uses.
Have all these idiots gone mad?
PK
Huckabee is the perfect republican candidate. He represents all the ugly values of the republican party and does not run away from them! He does not believe in evolution, is an anti-gay, pro choice, pro death penalty, pro guns, vindictive and mindlessly anti Clinton pastor. He had a rational stance on immigration, but soon backtracked.
As I said the dark side has vomited out the perfect candidate!
cleek
never let facts get in the way of some good partisanship. after all:
facts all come with points of view
facts won’t do what i want them to
facts just twist the truth around
facts are living turned inside out
Pug
Here’s another brilliant comment:
Yet Fox News is biased against him (Huckabee), and the liberal media is attacking him for being a conservative Christian.
Today I’ve seen attacks on Huckabee, directly or indirectly, from Charles Krauthammer, Rich Lowry and Peggy Noonan attacking him “for being a conservative Christian”.
It’s not so much the liberals, but the Republican establishment that is scared to death of Huckabee. I guess they are so programmed to blame “the liberal media” for everything that they just can’t help it. It’s a reflex pounded into them for the last 30 years.
I think the liberals are very happy to see Mike Huckabee as the new Republican front runner.
Jen
As a liberal, I couldn’t be happier to see another guy with no chance at winning catapulting up the Republican fray.
EdTheRed
Actually, it’s “My God, What Have I Done?!”
Hopefully someday Krugman will get to this one:
Don’t think I can fit it on the paper
Don’t think I can get it on the paper
Go ahead and rip up, rip up the paper
Go ahead and tear up, tear up the paper
Mike
The Bushies are more Psycho Killer than Once in a Lifetime:
I can’t seem to face up to the facts
You’re talkin’ a lot, but you’re not sayin’ anything
We are vain and we are blind
And the Cheney-Bush approach to military service:
Run run run run run run run away
demimondian
It’s actually not Huckabee’s conservative Christianity which is upsetting the liberal media. It’s the conservative Christianity that his followers want to impose on the rest of us.
Now, the right wing media…that’s a different story.
merciless
The money republicans are just upset because their candidate(s) are losing. They just assumed that the rubes would go along with anything the moneys wanted, and if the moneys hadn’t exactly kept their promises (notice that abortion is still legal), well, they’ll get around to it.
All of a sudden the rubes’ candidate is doing well, and the moneys’ are tanking. Oh noes!
They hate it when people forget their place.
RSA
Krauthammer is making the same kinds of noises:
Where the hell has he been? It’s not rocket science to trace this movement to its source.
Libby Spencer
I love that Krugman uses Talking Head lyrics. I’ve been doing it for years myself. I’d have to agree that Once in a Lifetime isn’t quite right for GOP today. I’m thinking Burning Down the House works better.
Paul L.
Shouldn’t this be Climate Change denial
See the sign under the all holy Goracle.
Don’t forget
Population Bomb denial
Nick
Thinks less of moving operations to China and more of moving them to Dubai…
Svensker
Anything that makes Noonan, Lowry and Krauthammer unhappy has got to be good. And if it makes the freaks at NRO cry, even bettah! I am really hoping the Repubs nominate the Huckster. Yup, show teh crazy, hang it out there, babee.
Anybody know who Savage and Limbaugh are backing?
Cripes! I used to subscribe to National Review. If vomiting on myself in shame would help, I’d do it.
jcricket
He’s been cheerleading the thing the entire time. It really is a case of expecting their to be no negative consequences when you make a deal with the devil(s).
Dumbasses deserve the party and candidates they ended up with.
jcricket
Whichever candidate promises to subsidize Viagra and flights to the Dominican Republic for molesting boys.
The Other Steve
I so hope Huckabee gets the nomination.
grumpy realist
Nick–that’s probably for tax and location purposes. I’m thinking more of the number of science and engineering grad students India and China are producing vis-a-vis the US.
I know we’ve still got a great education system at the college/grad level here; the question is whether those coming out with doctorates/whatever will remain here in the US (as they used to do) or go elsewhere. If the rest of the US slumps into an anti-intellectualism basket-case, where do you think entrepreneurship will take place? We’re already seeing foreign researchers not come to the US for conferences and/or post-docs, because they hate the visa hassle…bye-bye US, hello Europe/Canada/Asia.
A population refusing to believe in evolution isn’t going to produce that much in the way of biotechnology.
Gus
Hmmm. Did Rich the haircut have a problem with Dubya’s answer to the 1999 Republican debate question about which political philosopher or thinker most influenced him?
RSA
Per Steve Benen, Huckabee’s statement
appears to be a lie. Who’d have thought a preacher could lie to us?
Cindrella Ferret
John, please Stop Making Sense. (I thought that one up, all by myself! Now I can go over to Hot Air and join the right wing intelligentsia.)
I would not be happy if Huckabee got the nomination. That would mean he actually had a chance (albeit a slim one) of being elected. A President who believes the Earth was created 1000 years after the Sumerians invented glue isn’t my idea of a new direction for the country. And, with his record on Pardons, Clemency, etc would anyone believe he would investigate prior wrong doing by the Former Cheerleader? That is not to say a Democrat would, but at least me might have a chance.
Anonymous Liberal
John,
The Rich Lowrys of the world want a candidate who is capable of pandering effectively to the religious right, but not someone who actually shares the religous right’s beliefs and priorities. Hence, they endorse Mitt Romney. The social issues are and have always been fodder for the rubes, a way of getting candidates elected who will pursue the interests of business and the affluent. Huckabee scares them because he actually cares about the social issues.
dslak
The problem being, of course, that Romney turns out not to be so effective at pandering to the religious right, because they’re rather bigoted against Mormons.
Bigotry in the religious right?! Who’d have thought?!
John S.
I suspect Al Gore had something to do with the Duke lacrosse case. Maybe even global warming was just a hoax cooked up by Nifong. Enlighten us, Paul. Inquiring minds want to know.
binzinerator
Don’t forget to add “Don’t Worry About the Government” to the list of Bushie-appropriate Heads titles.
binzinerator
And as things fell apart
Nobody paid much attention
You got it, you got it
More Heads lyrics that describe these times.
jukeboxgrad
I once did an analysis of the words Bush used pre-9/11. This is how many times he used the following words:
faith-based 535
religious 366
faith 339
church 206
pray 197
christ 133
religion 77
pope 73
salvation army 62
worship 39
jesus 11
As has been said by others, this is a case of chickens coming home to roost.
Pug
Who’d have thought a preacher could lie to us?
He lied his ass off about the Wayne Dumond pardon. You better believe this Baptist preacher can lie.
Emma Anne
I’ve got one:
I wouldn’t live like that if you paid me.
And it’s true, too.
low-tech cyclist
Yesterday, I was midway through Krugman’s column when I wondered, “Why do I have the Talking Heads running through MY head?” Then I looked up at the title.