The Huckster

Deception and Misrepresentation on the Campaign Trail

Compare the positions from these two 2008 Presidential candidates:

One candidate, a former governor advocated issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens in his state. He denounced a bill that would deny state benefits to illegal immigrants as un-Christian, un-American, irresponsible and anti-life. He supported a “path to citizenship” for illegal aliens living in the US. He denounced an ICE raid on a poultry processing plant in his state that arrested 119 illegal aliens, most of whom had forged documents and stolen social security numbers; his stand was so unpopular in his state that observers warned he was risking his political future. Amnesty advocacy organization LULAC repeatedly praised his actions as governor. He promoted a bill that would allow in-state tuition to illegal aliens at state colleges. He used state money to help open up a Mexican consulate in the capital city, despite concerns that it would only make his state that much more of a magnet for illegal immigrants. Political observers described him as an illegal alien’s best friend.

By contrast another candidate on Friday (12/8), released a nine point plan to end illegal immigration. The plan was copied almost entirely from a 2005 article by immigration enforcement activist Mark Krikorian, although he wasn’t involved. It calls for, among other things: building the border fence, enforcing the laws on employers, promoting local law enforcement assistance with immigration law and preventing amnesty. Indeed the plan sounds like everything enforcement advocates have been asking for.

So who are these two candidates who sound like polar opposites on the illegal alien issue? The first candidate sounds like Bill Richardson but that paragraph is not about Governor Richardson. The second sounds like Tom Tancredo or Duncan Hunter but he is neither one of these men. Actually both of these candidates are the same man: former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. So why would a candidate do such a complete, 180 degree, reversal on issues about which he appeared so passionate?

The obvious answer is that Huckabee is now running for the Republican presidential nomination and he knows how unpopular his former positions are. Only 19% of Americans and about 9% of Republicans supported the 2007 senate amnesty bill; John McCain’s campaign was ruined by supporting it. Huckabee, in years past, attributed his tolerance and encouragement of illegal immigration to Arkansas to Christian compassion but his real motivation was much more practical. Huckabee was an unfailing servant of his states biggest corporate employers. Tyson Foods and other big businesses had become addicted to illegal alien labor and Huckabee did all he could to protect that illegal workforce. Huckabee appeared with John Tyson at the 2005 LULAC convention where the CEO announced that his workforce was now 35% Hispanic; he didn’t say how many were illegal workers. Huckabee didn’t seem to have much Christian compassion for Americans who’d seen their wages stagnate or drop due to the flood of illegal workers. Huckabee was fond of challenging critics to name anyone who was unemployed because an illegal alien took his job, but Huckabee’s challenge completely mischaracterized what was happening. Plenty of workers saw their wages drop to where they no longer wanted jobs that Americans won’t do for slave wages. Take meatpacking: these days it pays about $9/hr; twenty years ago it paid twice that.

Huckabee’s new positions don’t contradict his record as much as they seem. The governor has adopted George W. Bush’s practice of defining words to suit his purposes and misleading people as to what he intends to do. Bush and now Huckabee define “amnesty” as an immediate, blanket offer of citizenship to all illegal aliens in the US, with no restrictions or fines of any kind. They cling to this definition despite the fact that nobody has proposed that. To any reasonable person, amnesty means granting permanent residency to those who are in the country illegally; Bush and now Huckabee call that “path to citizenship” and support it. Huckabee’s calls for securing the border are no different from what the leading Democratic candidates have proposed.

Huckabee’s rise in the polls has been masterful. Huckabee remained around 1% in the national polls until August when he started to rise slowly. The first week in December his national poll numbers doubled from about 9% to 18%. In July, with almost no money, Huckabee saw a opening in Iowa. He knew that evangelical Christians make up a large part of the Republican party in Iowa; Pat Robertson managed a second place finish there in 1988. As a Baptist preacher he spoke to small groups in churches with talks that were part political speech and part religious revival. He emphasized his opposition to abortion and gay marriage and his message played very well. He slowly built a buzz in the small state and used his rise in the polls there to build a nationwide campaign. His timing was perfect. Just as the flaws of all of the other hopefuls were becoming frustratingly obvious, Huckabee made news and said all of the right things. December is the month for fantasies and socially conservative Republicans were indulging a fantasy that Huckabee was the next Ronald Reagan. Huckabee supporters talk about what he has said recently but none of them likes to talk about what he did as governor, at least not on immigration (or pardoning criminals, or misusing state funds, or raising taxes, etc.).

It is always a bad sign when those who know you best like you least. This year only 8% of respondents in the annual Arkansas Poll by the University of Arkansas said Huckabee was their choice for President. On November 7, the Arkansas Republican Assembly (a group of socially conservative Republicans) voted in a special convention to endorse a candidate. They chose Fred Thompson; Huckabee got 4.4% of the vote.

Huckabee is no Ronald Reagan; he’s not even Jimmy Carter. Instead he’s George W. Bush all over again. Huckabee alone has adopted Bush’s failed “compassionate conservatism.” Huckabee has even copied Bush’s misleading rhetoric and outright lies on illegal immigration. Like Bush, Huckabee would defend the profits of America’s largest corporations at the expense of the American taxpayer, the American worker and American sovereignty. Wednesday (12/12) marks two years since Bush has had a net positive approval rating, making him the most unpopular President in American history. Seeking the equivalent of Bush’s third term, Huckabee is the worst possible Republican nominee. Running him would be tantamount to handing the election to the Democrats on a silver platter. Huckabee’s rise in the polls has been stunning; anyone who wants a real choice in next year’s election should hope he disappears just as rapidly.

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