Posted on 12/11/2007 1:59:10 PM PST by Tlaloc
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The U.S. shouldn't try to kill Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mike Huckabee declared when he first ran for office. No women in combat anywhere. No gays in the military. No contributions in politics to candidates more than a year before an election.
His statements are among 229 answers Huckabee offered as a 36-year-old Texarkana pastor during his first run for political office in 1992. In that unsuccessful race against Sen. Dale Bumpers, Huckabee offered himself as a social conservative and listed "moral decay" as one of the top problems facing the country.
Now that he's a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, he's being asked anew about some of the views and comments he expressed in the survey by The Associated Press. Over the weekend, he said he wouldn't retract answers in which he advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased funding for finding a cure and said homosexuality could pose a public health risk — though he said today he might phrase his answers "a little differently."
Some of the words in his answers to the questionnaire are indeed strong.
Asked about gays in the military, for example, he didn't just reject the idea but added: "I believe to try to legitimize that which is inherently illegitimate would be a disgraceful act of government. I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."
Earlier this year, Huckabee said, "Nobody's going to find some YouTube moments of me saying something radically different than what I'm saying today."
The full questionnaire offers in written form a chance for voters to see what he was saying as he bagan his political career.
In the questionnaire, he:
_ Called for the elimination of political action committees and campaign contributions from lobbyists. He also said candidates should not be allowed to receive contributions until one year before an election and said there should be limits on the amount of out-of-state money they could accept.
As Arkansas governor, Huckabee formed a political action committee based in Virginia to raise money for non-federal candidates that allowed him to travel and raise his profile for a potential presidential run. The Hope for America PAC shut down earlier this year as Huckabee entered the White House race.
_ Said he would not support any tax increases if elected to the Senate. Huckabee's record of raising some taxes as Arkansas' governor has drawn fire from fiscal conservatives in the presidential race.
_ When asked whether the U.S. should take any action to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Huckabee replied: "The U.S. should not kill Saddam Hussein or anyone else." The U.S. military captured Saddam, an Iraqi court convicted him and he was hanged last December.
_ Rejected the idea of women in combat "because of my strong traditional view that women should be treated with respect and dignity and not subject to the kinds of abuses that could occur in combat."
_ Said living together out of wedlock "is demeaning to the highest expression of human love and commitment. I reject it as an alternate lifestyle, because it robs people of the highest possible relationship one can experience: marriage."
_ Said he believed no one has a constitutional right to an abortion and supported requiring minors to obtain parental consent. Huckabee also said he supported requiring doctors to discuss abortion alternatives and a waiting period.
Huckabee's vocal opposition to gay marriage and abortion have attracted evangelical Christians' support and vaulted him to the top of the field in Iowa.
But some of his earlier comments offer a harder-edged presentation of those stances than he has presented as he's tried to portray himself as a conservative who won't "scare the living daylights" out of moderates and independents.
"I think the model he saw that had been successful in other Southern states was this very hard right message and that's what seemed to be the most natural for him," Hendrix College Political Scientist Jay Barth said when asked about the AP questionnaire.
"He's become much smarter about successfully using language that expresses views without being hard-edged," Barth said.
Now that he's a front-runner, Huckabee himself said Tuesday he expected more attention to be paid to his years in Arkansas.
"When you're a governor for ten and half years you make thousands of decisions every year," he said. "In office that long you're going to have a lot of decisions people can pore through. The good thing for me is a lot of campaigns instead of spending money on advertising or even campaigning, since they don't seem to have a lot of activity, are spending an enormous amount of money hiring researchers to dig through every piece of paper that was filed in Arkansas."
Huckabee's 1992 comments on isolating AIDS patients run counter to a statement he released last month calling for increased federal funds to find a cure. Huckabee says the earlier remarks came at a time when there was confusion about how AIDS could be transmitted.
He said Tuesday he would be willing to speak with the family of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who died of AIDS in the 1980s and whose mother has objected to the 1992 Huckabee comments.
"It's so alarming to me," Jeanne White-Ginder said in an interview with the AP.
Huckabee said when asked about the family on Tuesday, "I would be very willing to meet with them. I would tell them we've come a long way in research, in treatment. I certainly never would want to say anything that would be hurtful to them or anyone else. I would have great regret and anxiety if I thought my comments were hurtful or in any way added to the already incredible pain that families have felt regardless of how they contracted AIDS."
On other subjects in the questionnaire, Huckabee:
_ Said he had never smoked marijuana or "experimented with any illegal drug." In fact, he said he had never used any tobacco products because of "a very sensitive allergy" and would support a smoking ban in public places.
_ Opposed passing a law that would give workers time off to care for an ailing family member. In 1993, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a close relative with a serious health condition or if the employee could not work due to health problems.
_ When asked about the nomination hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Huckabee said: "I watched or listened to many hours of the Thomas hearings and was firmly convinced that the preponderance of testimony backed up Clarence Thomas."
_ Called the federal welfare system "disgraceful" and said the burden should be shifted from the federal government to local communities.
I’d vote for the guy who said all this. Too bad he’s gone.
This guy will just say anything.
The Democrats Dream Candidate.
He’s Jimmah Carter!
I hope he still believes this stuff. I’d be proud to vote for someone who did.
He’s right on the money with most all of that.
I have to say, I support Tom Tancredo, but Huck is a far cry better than Rudy the transvestite.
A guy who doesn’t cheat on his wife, use drugs, thinks welfare is a terrible idea, is winning an election with almost no special interest money. How much worse could it get?
Want to elucidate on why you think Huckabee is not this person any longer?
He's right...spot on.
"The U.S. should not kill Saddam Hussein or anyone else."
Ooops...very bad idea. The US military exists to kill and destroy the enemies of this nation.
Said he believed no one has a constitutional right to an abortion and supported requiring minors to obtain parental consent.
Agree with him here.
"because of my strong traditional view that women should be treated with respect and dignity and not subject to the kinds of abuses that could occur in combat."
Agree with him here.
Said living together out of wedlock "is demeaning to the highest expression of human love and commitment. I reject it as an alternate lifestyle, because it robs people of the highest possible relationship one can experience: marriage."
I agree and he's right...but people have to be able to make this level of choice if we are going to be free. Hopefully, through education and persuasion, and through the proper focus we can once again reach a point where such relationships are recognized for what they are...an offense to God who teches that fornication is a sin.
Called the federal welfare system "disgraceful" and said the burden should be shifted from the federal government to local communities.
Again, agree...it should be shifted to private, charitable entities in those communities.
But, haing said all of this...his position on illegal immigration negates him as my first or second choice in the GOP race. Those choices for me go to Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson, in that order.
That’s what I’ve been saying for a year.
IF THIS GUY GETS THE NOMINATION, WE ARE SCREWED!
Wow...it looks like Huck used to be kind of conservative.
Huckabee is a nanny stater who:
1. would support a smoking ban in public places.
2. was against killing Saddam Hussein
3. wanted to lift sanctions against Cuba
4. raised taxes
5. supported (until, what, yesterday) illegal immigration and am-nasty
Jimmah Carter doesn’t cheat on his wife use drugs, either. Talked about God a lot, too. Still an idiot.
1. cosponsored legislation to ban political speech before elections.
2. Thinks Osama bin Laden deserves "due process."
3. Voted for permanent normal trade relations with China
4. wants to limit carbon emissions
5. supported a "deal" whereby illegals "can have some aspirations of citizenship." (But as McCain will tell you, that doesn't mean amnesty.)
Pfftt. . . at least finish the “due process” quote.
“due process. You know, like we gave Saddam Hussein” (gesture with finger across neck).
It’s on Youtube.
Thompson thinks the Constitution guarantees due process for foreign terrorists, but not unborn American babies.
Huh?
Thompson’s voting record and opposition to Roe v. Wade are very clear.
Indeed, Thompson’s commitment to the pro-life movement is obvious from his life story -— at 17 he got his 18 year old girlfriend pregant. Stupid, of course.
Well, at the age of 17, he stepped up and married the girl and raised their daughter. Most teenage boys in similar situations abandon the girl or seek abortion.
THAT is an action that speaks volumes about Thompson’s character.
There are a lot of good things there to support, but I'm concerned that we simply cannot afford another fiscally irresponsible president after 8 years of compassionate conservatism. There was a lot of good things to support about Bush too.
I'm also concerned that he would be weak on national defense and foreign policy.
Rudy would likely be strong on defense (though illegal immigration is an issue of major concern here) and foreign policy, but has been shown to be morally bankrupt.
I guess I need to look harder at Romney, as distasteful as that is.
He thinks abortion should be up to the states. If he thinks a state can deprive an unborn baby of their right to live, then he must not think that right is protected by the Constitution. Fred’s weak “frederalist” stances on abortion and gay marriage are the reason why he is losing out to Huckabee. He has nobody to blame but himself.
Bit of a misstatement of Fred’s position, there.
The only other option (besides reversing Roe) is the Constitution Amendment. Fred merely points out the bad news that this will not occur any time soon, and current efforts can be re-directed more profitably.
Your take-my-ball-and-go-home approach of holding your breath until you get an amendment kills babies we can realistically save in the majority of the states where abortion would be limited or forbidden.
I would like to save all the babies, too.
But I sure as Hell would rather save MOST, than NONE at all.
Huckabee was for states’ rights in abortion before he flip-flopped:
From RightWingNews:
“John Hawkins: Switching gears again, do you think we should overturn Roe v. Wade?
Mike Huckabee: It would please me because I think Roe v. Wade is based on a real stretch of Constitutional application — that somehow there is a greater privacy issue in the abortion concern — than there is a human life issue — and that the federal government should be making that decision as opposed to states making that decision.
So, I’ve never felt that it was a legitimate manner in which to address this and, first of all, IT SHOULD BE LEFT TO THE STATES, THE 10TH AMENDMENT [emphasis mine] but secondly, to somehow believe that the taking of an innocent, unborn human life is about privacy and not about that unborn life is ludicrous.”
Now that he’s running for President he’s Mr. HLA. As Governor, he was for states’ rights. He has no core values, not even on the bedrock issue of abortion.
“IF THIS GUY GETS THE NOMINATION, WE ARE SCREWED!”
...ROYALLY.
For 31 years the pro-life movement has been “HLA or nothing.” We’ve gotten nothing, and the holocaust goes on. Huckabee can be “for the HLA” ‘til the cows come home, but unless we have a Congress composed of 2/3 pro-life conservative Republicans, the HLA is DOA.
It’s time for a new approach. Overturn R v W, return the issue to the states, and battle it out state by state until we outlaw it in the 2/3 of the states necessary to ratify an amendment. Then introduce the HLA and pressure Congress to accede to the will of the people.
We can try something new that might actually work, or we can be “for the HLA” which is great soundbite and makes some of us feel better about ourselves, but in the real world has accomplished exactly nothing to save the babies.
If only Fred would make the same flip-flop he might not be nose-diving in the polls. Fred has core values, they’re just the wrong ones.
In his defense he is being somewhat disingenious but to the other side. He is saying that Roe is bad because it violates states rights. And then secondly that Roe is bad because it gives privacy a higher value than the right to life. In my view this probably reflects someone who hadn’t thought through all of the legal issues more than anything. He certainly wasn’t being asked whether the thought the federal government should ban abortion.
Well there's one thing I agree with him on.
I would agree with you IF Huckabee would have just owned up to his own former words, just been honest enough to say, “I used to think states’ rights was the way to go, but now I’m for the HLA.” Then I’d have some respect for him. Just tell the whole truth. Instead, he acts like he NEVER had the position that his own words reveal he obviously did have. That’s either incipient Alzheimer’s or galloping hypocrisy. Either way, unbecoming someone who wants to be President.
Huckabee to Fox News:
“It’s the logic of the Civil War,” Huckabee said Sunday, comparing abortion rights to slavery. “If morality is the point here, and if it’s right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can’t have 50 different versions of what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can’t simply have 50 different versions of what’s right,” he said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
Fred has a 100% pro-life votng record in the Senate. That’s action, not empty rhetoric. The states’ rights approach to outlawing abortion has a better chance of working than the Republican Party spinning its wheels waiting for the HLA has.
What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. But when someone comes along with a new approach, those who are happier with the status quo rather than stepping out of their comfort zone are fighting him tooth and nail.
He’s not proposing the take the HLA plank out of the platform. He just wants to try a different approach. And since the decades-long current approach has failed miserably, why not try something new?
What’s new about overturning Roe v. Wade? I’m pretty sure HLA supporters have been working to overturn Roe v. Wade for a long time. The only thing new is Fred’s opposition to an amendment in addition to overturning Roe. Pro-lifers are not about to just accept that their movement has “failed miserably” and give up. Fred has made it clear that they cannot count on his support, so they are voting for someone who supports what they want. That’s what politics is all about. What more can the voters ask a candidate than that they support what we want? Fred is telling them, “just give up, you’ve lost.” That’s why he’s lost.
That ought to help Huck maintain his surge...
Yep, that is what many posters on FR say.
I have no doubt he does. And, that makes him an infinitely better candidate that RINOs like Giuliani and Romney.
What would you call doing the same thing for 31 years with absolutely no discernable progress? Abortion is still legal and available nationwide, and the death toll of millions continues to mount. “Failed miserably” is putting it nicely.
The Constitutional truth is that the President is very limited in what he can do about abortion. He has no role whatsoever in amending the Constitution. He can nominate strict constructionist judges, do his best to get them through the approval process and hope they overturn Roe v. Wade. He can make pro-life appointments and enforce pro-life regulations within the executive branch as long as they conform to law, and he can sign pro-life legislation if any manages to get through Congress. And that’s it. The President, no matter who it is, can’t wave a magic wand and make the nightmare go away. Not Fred, and not Huckabee either, although he’s perfectly content to act like he can.
Fred understands the Constitution, and he’s not going to tell people what they want to hear, even if it hurts him in the polls. In the NRLC endorsement, they said that what impressed them about Fred was that he cleary understood the President’s role and powers vis a vis abortion and had promised to do everything possible within the scope and authority of the Executive to limit it.
That’s the most any President can do.
So be it then. Fred is sticking to his guns, and so are HLA supporters. It’s good that he doesn’t care if it hurts him in the polls, because it has hurt him. Badly. That’s why his numbers are down in McCain territory. Maybe he’ll get a whole lot of pragmatic realistic centrist votes to make up for all the right-wing extremists whose votes he’s spurned.
Oh, it’s definitely hurt him. Sadly, most voters don’t understand the Constitution. They don’t care to learn and they don’t want to bother to think. They want pretty soundbites that conform to their preconceived notions of what a candidate should say, even if that candidate is lying like a rug while he tells them what they want to hear. They want their politics quick and easy and predigested so they can get back to Americna Idol reruns.
All of this, of course, works against Thompson and Hunter, who are thoughtful, complex men who can’t sum up their ideas in 15 words or less.
I fear too many unthinking evangelicals are going to give us Jimmy Carter redux.
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