Who I Won’t Support For President and Why Series: Mike Huckabee
First, let me get this out there: this isn’t a post to rip on Huck and I don’t have any personal feelings towards the man one way or the other. The only thing that I have against him, on a personal level, is the fact that he gave clemency to those inmates that ended up looting, raping, and killing several people (and yes, that does factor into my decision regarding this article). I know, I know, I’ve read the plethora of comments in his defence and why it “wasn’t his fault”. Spare me, please. That isn’t that main point of this series.
That good solid point against him aside, I have other reasons why I can’t throw my support behind him.
First of all, I dislike that fact that he is in favor of trade sanctions. I feel that free trade is the best way to go, and if it were up to me we would have no sanctions on trade period. I’ve went further into this topic in past posts, so I won’t bore you all, but his trade protectionism is a sore point on my list of problems.
I also dislike his recent trip to Israel where he basically told them not to listen to President Obama regarding their construction of buildings on the Gaza strip. I’m not nearly the foreign policy stickler that Kevin is, however I do agree with him on this issue: Huck should not, under any circumstance, be doing things of that nature. However much I may agree or disagree with different things that our President is doing with foreign policy, if I were a former presidential candidate I would NOT bad mouth our nations foreign policy overseas. After all, conservatives wanted to hang that Dixie Chick that bad mouthed us overseas; this incidence and the acceptance of it stings of hypocrisy.
His abismal fundraising numbers are another factor. A realistic political candidate should be able to raise the needed funds, and for one reason or another Huck PAC just can’t do it.
And last, but not least, is the fact that he comes off as such a populous, one wonders how much flip-flopping he would do on the issues. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that part of this stems from the fact that he is a pastor and because of his strong Christian values can empathize like no other. My issue with this is just that, however: will he empathize so much that his mind could easily be changed? I know I advocate on different posts that I’m in favor of working things out and finding middle ground. However finding middle ground on issues and working towards realistic goals is one thing: flip-flopping and not being able to take a solid stance is another.
To be fair, Huckabee at least beats out a majority of the other candidates that will be examined/have been examined. I love his support of the Fair Tax, and although it took some time for me to come around, I think that his TV show could be very helpful for him. However, right now, at this point in time, I can’t throw my endorsement behind him.
Written by Travis Gearhart and cross-posted at www.ktracy.com
