I’ve been hyping Huckabee here for the past few months and it’s not something I have done lightly or flippantly. Our country is at a series of morally consequential crossroads that will require a strong and competent leadership to successfully navigate. America must decide if it wants to reclaim its Judeo-Christian values, the root of its glory, or forsake them for secular, "progressive" values. These are the two polar opposite directions America is being pulled and, eventually, its going to break predominantly in one of these directions or another. 

 

I am personally convinced that Huckabee is the exact man to lead in such a time. I’ve highlighted these reasons in the past and I’m sure I will do so again. The main question I see among evangelical Christians is not whether Huckabee is capable or competent or everything they desire in a presidential candidate, but if he can actually win the Republican nomination and general election. 

 

At the end of my “The Impending Pro-Life Dilemma” post, where I stated pro-life voters needed to stand for the sanctity of life principle and not vote for a pro-choice candidate from either party, Stephen commented:

 

“Everyone’s assuming that Giuliani is going to win the Republican primary. Instead of asking ourselves if we should vote for him or some other third party candidate, we ought to be asking ourselves how we can get Giuliani to lose the primary. How can we get a pro-life presidential candidate to win that election? Two things: 1. We have to pray. Pray. Pray. 2. Who is Giuliani’s number one greatest threat in the republican race?  It’s Mitt Romney. Romney is pro-life, and has a good war and foreign policy, and has a good illegal immigration stance, and is conservative in many ways that Giuliani is not. If the same 14% of voters that would otherwise vote for a third party candidate would vote for Romney in the primary then that would easily make the difference between having this dilemma in the first place and not having it at all. Don’t get me wrong. I like Mike Huckabee too. But it would be too risky to vote for him in the primary when everyone else is voting for Romney or Giuliani. If we all put our support behind Romney, he will have a better chance of defeating Giuliani then Huckabee and definitely Hillary.”

 

First, let me say that, inherent within a democratic political process, there is an unending process of compromise – on behalf of the voters and lawmakers. As voters we constantly have to weigh our options between voting for our own ideal candidate and voting for a candidate with a realistic chance of being elected. This is the sentiment Stephen, and countless others, have expressed regarding Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. For instance, Bob Jones III, president of the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University, recently endorsed Mitt Romney for president. “If it turns out to be Giuliani and Hillary we've got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster,” Jones stated. “I'm not voting for a preacher. I'm voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs.”

 

I don’t necessarily disagree with either statement. I would much rather vote for Romney than either Giuliani or any current Democratic frontrunner. The only thing I do disagree with is the timing. Last time I checked it was still October with several months before the first vote is cast. My question, then, is: Why compromise so easily and so early?

 

The fact remains that Mike Huckabee can still win. Is he an underdog? Yes. Are the odds stacked against him? Yes. But does he still possess a realistic chance of capturing the Republican nomination? Yes!

 

In fact there are several reasons why the idea of Huckabee capturing the nomination is not far-fetched:

 

1)      The inevitable winnowing of the field: Last Friday, October 18^th, Senator Sam Brownback dropped out of the race. He’s the first of what will certainly be many to follow. Brownback, a senator from Kansas, had been running on a social conservative platform but failed to garner wide support and campaign financing. Other lesser-known candidates like Tancredo and Alan Keyes are not likely to last much longer either. As these so-con candidates drop out, Huckabee is in an excellent position to attract many of their supporters. 

 

·        “For the electorate, Huckabee might be very compelling. Bush fatigue is attached to Clinton fatigue. The electorate might want to get out of the Bush Clinton double helix that the country has been in for two decades. It seems to me that if he were to get nominated, he could be a very compelling choice for the electorate.”

 

·        “You want to know who the strongest GOP candidate would be, the one that would make me lose sleep at night?

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The guy is a scary good politician and the more Republican voters see him around the country, the more support he’ll get.”

 

·        “Huckabee is the most natural campaigner in the bunch. Unlike one member of the top tier, there's no danger that he'll doze off in mid-sentence. Unlike other members of the top-tier, Huckabee's a social conservative's dream. You want someone rock-ribbed on the social issues? Huckabee's your guy. He doesn't even believe in evolution. His taxing and spending in Arkansas may not be every conservative's ideal, but Huckabee probably has fewer policy skeletons in his closet than anyone else in the field.” – Dean Barrett in the Weekly Standard

·        “Huckabee floored them. He could do no wrong. His third sentence summarizes the natural advantage that guaranteed him adulation and freed him to talk about whatever he wanted to:

      "I stand here not as one who comes to you, but one who comes from you."

      To varying extents, everyone else here had to sell himself to the audience, which took time and focus away from their platforms. Huckabee just got down to preaching.

      Well, sort of. The first thing he did was drop an Al Gore joke (probably the 14th I've heard here) and then make fun of hippies. After that, though, it was a sermon to a swaying choir. Standing ovations were frequent, sharp whistling pierced the dark air, and the audience sounded like the evangelical congregations I remember from my time in Huckabee's Arkansas. It wasn't just "amen," it was "that's right," and "yes", and "come on, Mike!"

      The congregants spent a lot of time on their feet, and I didn't always understand why. But it was clear that these people love the holy rolling populist preacher. Beyond abortion, same-sex marriage and war!, he talked about some off-beat issues like rebuilding America's arms-manufacturing base, "feeding ourselves" (agriculturally speaking) and the Fair Tax. No matter what he said, the audience cheered and cheered.

      Oh, and he said we might not need so many immigrants if we didn't abort so many babies.” - Dan Nejfelt in Faith in Public Life on Huckabee’s recent speech at the Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C

5)      Huckabee is the only candidate who Chuck Norris (yes that Chuck Norris) endorses: Yes, you might have thought Norris would have come out in support of Ron Paul, since Ron Paul wants to do away with the Dept. of Homeland Security and replace it with Chuck Norris. Or you might have thought he would have endorsed former Law & Order actor Fred Thompson, since Norris is allegedly suing the NBC series, claiming the names of his right and left legs are Law & Order. But the martial arts and tough guy legend recently wrote: 

Though Giuliani might be savvy enough to lead people, Fred Thompson wise enough to wade through the tides of politics, McCain tough enough to fight terrorism and Romney business-minded enough to grow our economy, I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee…

Part of our backward culture is reflected in the fact that we measure and value people by what they do, instead of first who they are. As a result, we nominate charisma, cast votes for articulation and repeatedly elect too many paper-thin corrupt politicians. Of course, I want a president who gets things done, but I first want one who has lived a life of integrity, commitment, truthfulness and respect. Mike is that man.

Mike hasn't lived an isolated, out-of-touch life like so many politicians. He was raised in Hope, Ark., with a dad who was a firefighter and always had a second job. Mike and his sister grew up poor, not privileged. He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school. And he worked two jobs in college and graduated in two-and-a-half years.

Mike is a committed husband and father. He has always prioritized his family before politics. His wife, two sons and daughter speak his highest praise.

Mike has also faced unique adversity, from helping a young wife endure the trials of spinal cancer to aiding the victims of hurricane Katrina as the governor of Arkansas. He has a heart for helping and will fight for the causes of average citizens. He is known for having a compassionate heart, genuinely caring for all people.

Mike is also a respected and fearless leader, and he does not cower to the cries of any majority or minority.

There might come a time this election cycle when social conservatives will have to compromise their choice for the Republican nomination and cast a vote for Thompson or Romney or McCain. But that time has not yet come; so let’s enjoy Huckabee’s ride a little bit longer before we decide to get off. After all, the ride just might not end until it reaches the White House.