Dick Armey on Huckabee’s Sweet Talk
January 8th, 2008 by Peter SudermanThe New Hampshire presidential primary is today, and our own Dick Armey weighs in on one of the candidates, Mike Huckabee, at RealClearPolitics. Here’s a sample:
Fiscal conservatives have spilled gallons of ink decrying his record, and for good reason. Yet the social conservatives who support him should be concerned as well, for Huckabee undermines the GOP’s longstanding unity between its traditional and economic wings, a coalition built to serve the goals of social as well fiscal conservatives.
This coalition, solidified in the Reagan years, rests on the principle that freedom–individual and economic–is not in conflict with virtue, but rather is the key to it. Social conservatives are served by promoting economic freedom, and vice-versa. Moreover, the alignment of these interests is the foundation for the GOP’s electoral successes, no small thing in the realm of politics. The enthusiasm for Huckabee from the party’s socially conservative wing is not just misplaced; it’s counterproductive.
January 8th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Huckabee left Arkansas with a budget surplus, while the GOP that Armey was a part of have given us nothing but bigger government and massive deficits, while failing to accomplish anything at all on social issues.
If Huckabee is the enemy of the big-government party who does not deliver when it promises to do something, then I am all for him becoming our next President.
January 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I have been a Republican all my life. Growing up in the 80’s I like most, idolized Ronald Regan, and how we rallied around his message. We had campaigns like “Bring It Back Home to America”. We were proud to be Americans again.
Today, that is not the case. If you think that the typical or at least your definition of a conservative is going to win in 2008, then you are sadly mistaken. There is such a vile hatred, and mistrust of the party right now even in what used to be solid red states.
We have to become more of a broad based party that reaches out to people from all walks of life. I really think that you suffer from group think, and have no clue to what is going on in the American mainstream.
Mike Huckabee is trying think outside the box, to be innovative, and bring real change to a system that is broken. I do not know why you and the old school leadership are trying so hard to tear him down.
I am not an Evangelical Christian, but I know that we can know longer win on the politics of fear. We need a candidate that can win spreading a message of hope. Mike Huckabee to me is that candidate.
January 8th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
It’s going to fun watching you Wall Street “conservatives” trying to lure your God-fearing wing nuts back into the fold…LOL… Honestly, I get more of a kick watching the GOP spin out of control this cycle than I do watching who the Democrats will eventually pick.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:09 am
I find it interesting that somehow those who have roamed the halls of Congress for years bearing a conservative label, and that were a part of a group that couldn’t control spending even while in the majority are somehow the annointed ones to define conservatism.
It is also amusing to me that the best idea as far as tax reform from people at freedom works and other inside the beltway organizations, is the flat tax. Apparently your idea of tax reform is one that basically says we still want the IRS just with less paperwork. In other words they want to protect a whole industry created by the government, if that’s not a form of welfare I’m not sure what is.
I also find it amusing that the one issue that is missing from your the freedom works website is the issue of the sanctity of life. None of the candidates, outside of Mike Huckabee, that are favored by your group have a stellar or consistent record on this issue. Yet somehow having your version of conservatism that is only focused on money is more important than life itself.
I believe that the key reason you don’t like Huckabee, is because he isn’t beholden to the republican purse strings. His donations come from people like me, working in a profession I love,married, father of 2, making $30,000, not spending more than what I make, supporting our troops, concerned about taxes, concerned about fair trade, concerned about our borders, concerned about practical and comprehensive solutions to illegal immigration, and concerned about the moral decline of our culture. I am educated with a college degree, and beginning to pursue a Masters. I get my news and information from a broad spectrum of sources. The reason why you guys inside the beltway don’t get it is because you have forgotten from where you came, you’ve lost touch with the people like me who actually understand what grassroots movements are all about.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:40 am
The people that run this website only care about monetary issues…the jig is up on this baloney social/fiscal “conservative coalition”.