Posted: 21 Jan 2016 08:45 AM PST
Simon Brown
While it’s not surprising that Huckabee is upset, it is a bit shocking to see him biting the base that fed him.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) has decided the Religious Right isn’t actually religious enough for his liking.
As you may have noticed (or not noticed), the GOP presidential hopeful is doing poorly in the polls. In the latest Real Clear Politics average of national polls taken January 4-18, Huckabee is second to last among the remaining candidates with just 2 percent. Only former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), another one-time Religious Right darling, is doing worse.
The former Baptist preacher and Fox News star, who won the 2008 Iowa Caucus as well as six other state primaries before eventually ending his campaign to clear the way for U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), seems flabbergasted that his allies in the Religious Right are not throwing their support behind him this time.
In a recent interview with Fox radio correspondent Todd Starnes, Huckabee railed against the Religious Right with a long list of grievances (thanks to Right Wing Watch for the transcript).
“[I] think they’re scared to death that if a guy like me got elected, I would actually do what I said I would do, and that is I would focus on the personhood of every individual, we would abolish abortion… we would ignore the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision. And you know what the result would be? A lot of these organizations wouldn’t have the ability to do urgent fundraising because if we slay the dragon, what dragon do they continue to fight? And so, for many of them, it could be a real detriment to their organization's abilities to gin up their supporters and raise the contributions….”
But Huckabee didn’t stop there. Perhaps summoning the most damning criticism he has to offer, he called some far-right religious conservatives a bunch of phonies (gasp!). He said some groups and individuals are operating by “secular standards,” don’t truly trust in the power of God and “will talk about prayer but [they] really don’t necessarily believe that it will change things.”
While it’s not surprising that Huckabee is upset, it is a bit shocking to see him biting the base that fed him. He certainly had a lot of support in 2008, but that was an eternity ago in political time and there has never been any indication that the Religious Right intended to rally behind him in 2016.
Maybe Huckabee expected the Religious Right to function as a disciplined voting bloc, but has that ever really been true? It’s certainly the dream of many far-right groups, but so far this election cycle Religious Right supporters seem torn between a few candidates, most notably Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). In early January, a NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll found that 33 percent of white evangelical Christians said they supported Trump, 20 percent said they like Cruz and even 12 percent were for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. There is anything but a consensus, here.
It also doesn’t help Huckabee that he hasn’t held elected office since 2007 and his only other recent claim to fame is a television show.
Barring some sort of divine intervention, Huckabee will likely return to television after this presidential election is over. When that happens, he may come crawling back to his old friends on the far right – this time in pursuit of ratings rather than votes.
As you may have noticed (or not noticed), the GOP presidential hopeful is doing poorly in the polls. In the latest Real Clear Politics average of national polls taken January 4-18, Huckabee is second to last among the remaining candidates with just 2 percent. Only former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), another one-time Religious Right darling, is doing worse.
The former Baptist preacher and Fox News star, who won the 2008 Iowa Caucus as well as six other state primaries before eventually ending his campaign to clear the way for U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), seems flabbergasted that his allies in the Religious Right are not throwing their support behind him this time.
In a recent interview with Fox radio correspondent Todd Starnes, Huckabee railed against the Religious Right with a long list of grievances (thanks to Right Wing Watch for the transcript).
“[I] think they’re scared to death that if a guy like me got elected, I would actually do what I said I would do, and that is I would focus on the personhood of every individual, we would abolish abortion… we would ignore the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision. And you know what the result would be? A lot of these organizations wouldn’t have the ability to do urgent fundraising because if we slay the dragon, what dragon do they continue to fight? And so, for many of them, it could be a real detriment to their organization's abilities to gin up their supporters and raise the contributions….”
But Huckabee didn’t stop there. Perhaps summoning the most damning criticism he has to offer, he called some far-right religious conservatives a bunch of phonies (gasp!). He said some groups and individuals are operating by “secular standards,” don’t truly trust in the power of God and “will talk about prayer but [they] really don’t necessarily believe that it will change things.”
While it’s not surprising that Huckabee is upset, it is a bit shocking to see him biting the base that fed him. He certainly had a lot of support in 2008, but that was an eternity ago in political time and there has never been any indication that the Religious Right intended to rally behind him in 2016.
Maybe Huckabee expected the Religious Right to function as a disciplined voting bloc, but has that ever really been true? It’s certainly the dream of many far-right groups, but so far this election cycle Religious Right supporters seem torn between a few candidates, most notably Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). In early January, a NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll found that 33 percent of white evangelical Christians said they supported Trump, 20 percent said they like Cruz and even 12 percent were for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. There is anything but a consensus, here.
It also doesn’t help Huckabee that he hasn’t held elected office since 2007 and his only other recent claim to fame is a television show.
Barring some sort of divine intervention, Huckabee will likely return to television after this presidential election is over. When that happens, he may come crawling back to his old friends on the far right – this time in pursuit of ratings rather than votes.
Issues:
No comments:
Post a Comment