Port and Cigar Club Scared.

December 19, 2007

Limbaugh, Hannity Irk Base on Huckabee, Highlight Top-Down Clash

By Dean Powers


The corporate secularist policy makers for the Republican Party are in the midst of an all-out "Anybody but Huckabee" war chant.

The New York Times, in their "Caucus" blog, points click here to leading conservatives Richard Lowry and Stephen Hayes, both attacking Huckabee in the National Review, as examples of this clash.

Well, what's the problem? Mike Huckabee is actually an authentic Evangelical Christian, who may even have a conscience.

As governor of Arkansas, his second act to signing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004 was a campaign to promote stronger and more binding marriages. These "convenant marriages" are augmented by a contract that makes it harder for heterosexual couples to divorce.

The lack of enthusiasm for covenant marriages, in even the reddest of red states, is one sign that Huckabee (unlike Mitt Romney) adopts his political views as an authentic expression of his faith rather than to exploit the Christian base.

Only Arkansas, Arizona and Louisiana offer couples the option to upgrade their marriage. Legislation was introduced but not passed in, get this: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

What? How could Republican leaders so obsessed with Jesus fail to pass legislation that would strengthen the family? Because it does not effectively mobilize and exploit the Evangelical base.

In fact the only reason that Republicans like Larry Craig, Mark Foley, and Ted Haggard oppose gay marriage is because it makes them look more religious than a year's worth of perfect attendance at the local church. They can have sex men because they oppose same-sex marriage.

Huckabee is different, and the Republicans who represent the values of Larry Craig, Mark Foley and Ted Haggard simply can't stand the fact that there is finally an authentic Christian in the presidential running.

Rush Limbaugh, who likes to use "bending over and grabbing its ankles" in tandem with a invocation of the Congress of the United States of America (on a national broadcast that reaches children), attacked Huckabee today hiding behind the commentary of William Gheen to do the hit job. Gheen is the vitriolic president of Americans for Legal Immigration..

Limbaugh quoted Gheen and by extension warned his listeners that with regard to Huckabee, "A major deception is underway here."

"This is one of the attacks on Huckabee, one of the many one of the complaints is that he is disingenuous, and sort of Clintonesque. Will say whatever he has to say to whatever audience he is speaking to."

Of course Limbaugh could say he is simply reporting what is already out there for public consumption, but attacking Huckabee fits a pattern. Just the day before, Limbaugh fielded a caller who liked Huckabee--many do.

Limbaugh, working as a Republican Company spokesman, tried to subtly dissuade the man by pointing out that Huckabee wrote Bush has a "bunker like mentality" on foreign policy.

He then compared Huckabee and his "cult-like" following to the 1996 presidential campaign of Ross Perot. This time, Limbaugh hopes his listeners will heed his warnings: things are not always what they seem.

Rush and his allies are wrong. Huckabee is the man for the Republican Party ticket, and as Iowa draws near, more and more people are realizing this.

That so many Republican Company spokespeople are so out of touch with their base is a compelling reminder that the Republican Party is in a full-out tail spin going into 2008. These people are getting sloppy and its beginning to show.

Also on Monday, Sean Hannity pulled a "phony soldiers" hit job on one of his callers who was trying to support Mike Huckabee's opinion of President Bush's foreign policy. The caller was clearly a Republican who supported Huckabee's opinion, but all Hannity heard was "If you're pro-life from the womb, why aren't you pro-life in foreign policy."

His caller rebuffed that she simply opposed a bull-headed foreign policy that creates more enemies than it eliminates. Right then and there, Hannity cut her out of the Republican fold by panning to the audience and saying something like, "This is how a liberal thinks."

The message was clear: all Republicans must bow at the altar of Sean Hannity.

I know this is confusing. Some of you are thinking, "How could these Republicans claim that their party embodies the Christian mantle and turn their back on Huckabee? After all, they supported President Bush."

They could support Bush whole-heartedly, because he, through his father, had secularist corporate connections up the tail pipe. All Bush had to do was plug in some key Christian phrases and the populace would elect him and give him free reign to give Halliburton our tax dollars by the billion; to let oil companies evade taxes and get tax breaks while we're paying for it at the pump.

Meanwhile, Evangelicals got left behind. They were used and exploited for their beliefs and all they got was a bumper sticker. In fact, Christians should make a conscious decision to avoid any candidate upon whom the Republican Company spokespeople pin their endorsement.

Evangelicals around the nation must take notice. We are finally seeing a clash between secularist-corporate-interest Republicans who exploit the Evangelical Christian vote and actual Evangelicals who see in Mike Huckabee an authentic spokesperson for their beliefs.

Will Evangelicals allow themselves to be fooled again by the Republican Company media and instead endorse a secularist corporate Republican like Mitt Romney who decided he opposed gay marriage at about the same time he set his eyes on the White House?

Or will they abandon the wolves that are trying to shepherd their flock and vote for Mike Huckabee?