With Christian conservatives trying to scramble to find a Republican presidential candidate they can support, some of them seem to be coalescing around former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Janet Folger, especially, seems to be trumpeting his candidacy. But is Mike Huckabee someone Christian conservatives should be supporting? Not everyone thinks so.

Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlafly's national Eagle Forum, said, "We called him a pro-life, pro-gun liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor." Phyllis Schlafly herself was even more direct.

President and Founder of Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly, said this about Governor Huckabee: "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles." She went on to say, "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."

Even one of Huckabee's strongest supporters within the Religious Right, Pastor Rick Scarborough, head of Vision America, admitted, "Mike has always sought the validation of elites." Of course, my question for Rick Scarborough is, With an indictment such as that, how can you continue to support Mike Huckabee?

According to an opinion piece written by John Fund in the Wall Street Journal, "Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge who led the conservative Southern Baptist revolt, told me, 'I know of no conservative he [Huckabee] appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist Convention.'"

Fund went on to say that "Mr. Huckabee's reluctance to surround himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton."

Fund also said this about Huckabee: "'He's just like Bill Clinton in that he practices management by news cycle,' a former top Huckabee aide told me. 'As with Clinton there was no long-term planning, just putting out fires on a daily basis. One thing I'll guarantee is that won't lead to competent conservative governance.'"

Mike Huckabee is also terrible on immigration. According to Jim Boulet, Jr., executive director of English First, "Rudy Giuliani spent years defending the right of New York City to remain a sanctuary for illegal aliens. Yet Giuliani was a veritable Lou Dobbs Jr. on illegal immigration in comparison to Mike Huckabee."

Regarding Huckabee's stance on immigration, Mr. Minton said, "Until of late, he has been an open-borders guy on immigration--amnesty, the whole works. As governor, he wanted to give free college scholarships to all illegals."

Minton's assertion is backed up by Daniel Larison at The American Conservative. He said, "Like his fellow presidential candidate [who recently dropped out of the race], Sen. Sam Brownback, Huckabee regards it as his Christian duty to help subvert and liberalize U.S. immigration laws. Together, they embrace the notion that fidelity to the Gospel requires privileging the interests of non-citizens over those of fellow citizens."

Ann Coulter agrees: "On illegal immigration, Huckabee makes George Bush sound like Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Huckabee has compared illegal aliens to slaves brought here in chains from Africa, saying, 'I think, frankly, the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better than we did before.'

"Toward that end, when an Arkansas legislator introduced a bill that would prevent illegal aliens from voting and receiving state benefits, Huckabee denounced the bill, saying it would rile up 'those who are racist and bigots.'

"He also made the insane point that companies such as Toyota would not invest in Arkansas if the state didn't allow non-citizens to vote, because it would 'send the message that, essentially, "If you don't look like us, talk like us and speak like us, we don't want you."'

"Like all the (other) Democratic candidates for President, he supports a federal law to ban smoking--unless you're an illegal alien smoking at a Toyota plant."

A former state lawmaker, Minton also said, that Huckabee was not a "fiscally conservative Republican." Rather, Huckabee was regarded as just another liberal "tax and spender" in fiscal matters. This is in direct opposition to Huckabee's boast of "90 tax cuts during his tenure." And the facts seem to validate Minton, not Huckabee.

An Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration report showed a "net tax increase of $505 million, a figure adjusted for inflation and economic growth" on Huckabee's watch.

That Huckabee is a liberal "tax and spender" is also affirmed by Tom Roeser. According to Roeser, "[Huckabee] hiked state spending 65.3%, from 1996 to 2004. He supported five tax increases, leading the 'Club for Growth' to call him a liberal in disguise . . ."

Roeser also points out that "The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank with heavy ties to the national GOP, gives him an F grade for spending and taxes in 2006 and an overall grade of D in his governorship. During his tenure, the number of state employees increased over 20% and Arkansas' general obligation debt rose by almost $1 billion."

Furthermore, according to the Washington Times, "Until recently, he [Huckabee] had refused to sign the famous no-tax pledge offered to candidates by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform."

In spite of Huckabee's proven big-government, big-spending, and pro-amnesty record, however, some Christian conservatives are falling for his conservative rhetoric. It seems that all a Republican candidate has to do is start talking "pro-life" and "pro-marriage" and he or she will gain the support of certain Christian conservatives.

First it was Bob Jones III endorsing the liberal former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and now it is Janet Folger endorsing the liberal former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. Why any Christian leader would want to support a man with such a dubious record truly escapes me.

Christians need to beware of Mike Huckabee. He is not a conservative. Even worse, he is not a constitutionalist. He is an opportunist, however. This is demonstrated by the fact that many of his supporters are openly posturing (with Huckabee's consent, obviously) for an opportunity to run Huckabee as a potential Vice Presidential candidate with either Giuliani or Romney at the top of the ticket.

Let me ask the reader something. How could a principled pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-Constitution conservative be willing to run on a ticket with a liberal presidential candidate such as Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney? That's right, he couldn't.

I say again, beware of Mike Huckabee!

Many Christian conservatives see Mike Huckabee as the best candidate to deliver the GOP from an impending pro-abortion presidential nomination of either Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney. Huckabee is doing especially well in Iowa, particularly among evangelicals. Is Mike Huckabee worthy of this support, however? The facts say no. Here are more reasons to beware of Mike Huckabee.

Robert Novak recently wrote a column about Mike Huckabee entitled, "The False Conservative." In the column he said, "Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans."

Novak also said, "There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock as governor. . . He increased the Arkansas tax burden by 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes."

Novak continued saying, "Quin Hillyer, a former Arkansas journalist writing in the conservative American Spectator, called Huckabee 'a guy with a thin skin, a nasty vindictive streak.' Huckabee's retort was to attack Hillyer's journalistic procedures, fitting a mean-spirited image when he responds to conservative criticism."

Calling Huckabee a proponent of big-government is an understatement. "If you listen closely, all the things he supports increase the size, power and cost of government. From subsidies for energy research to increasing money for health care and government housing, the size, power, and cost of government will not shrink under a President Mike Huckabee; they will increase . . . Mr. Huckabee swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution when he became governor, yet many of his proposals are clearly unconstitutional." (Source: David Ulrich, Letter of the Week, World Net Daily, 10/26/07)

In addition, Dr. Jerome Corsi reports that "Financial inducements arranged by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to establish a Mexican consular office in Little Rock may have violated state law, according to an Arkansas attorney."

Writing for World Net Daily, Dr. Corsi exposed the fact that Mike Huckabee "worked with some of the state's most prominent and politically powerful businesses to establish the [Mexican] consulate as a magnet for drawing illegal immigrants to the state to accept low-paying jobs."

Corsi goes on to report that "Arkansas attorney Chip Sexton provided WND a written legal brief arguing the state government's sublease to Mexico of office space for the consulate was illegal under Arkansas law. Sexton contended the deal raised questions about the appropriateness of private citizens and corporations in Arkansas providing financial incentives for the government of Mexico to locate a consulate office in Little Rock."

Corsi also writes that "Robert Trevino, commissioner of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, told WND he and Huckabee helped arrange state and private financial support to induce Mexico to establish the consulate as a business development 'quid pro quo.'

"Trevino signed on July 7, 2006, a 'Facilities Use Agreement' with Mexican consular officials to rent state government office space for $1 a year on the second floor of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Services building at 26 Corporate Hills in Little Rock."

According to Sexton, not only did subleasing state government offices to Mexico violate Arkansas state law under Ark. Code Ann. 22-2-114(C)(i) which provides: "After July 1, 1975, no state agency shall enter into or renew or otherwise negotiate a lease between itself as lessor or lessee and a nongovernmental or other government lessor or lessee," but it was even more offensive in that "there was nothing in the lease or other agreements that would have prevented the Mexican consulate from providing legal assistance to illegal aliens."

In addition, Corsi also exposed the fact that Mike Huckabee worked with Mexican President Vicente Fox to help provide cheap Mexican labor for Tyson foods and other large Arkansas corporations. According to Corsi, "Trevino confirmed he was state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, also known as LULAC, an activist group strongly advocating for the rights of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., when on Oct. 3, 2003, he accompanied Huckabee in a state airplane to visit [President Vicente] Fox in Mexico."

There is more.

The American Spectator reported that "Fourteen times, the ethics commission--a respected body, not a partisan witch-hunt group--investigated claims against Huckabee. Five of those times, it officially reprimanded him. And as only MSNBC among the big national media has reported at any real length, there were lots of other mini-scandals and embarrassments along the way."

Plus, writing for The Washington Times, Greg Pierce quoted Hillyer as saying, "[Huckabee] used public money for family restaurant meals, boat expenses, and other personal uses. He tried to claim as his own some $70,000 of furniture donated to the governor's mansion. He repeatedly, and obstinately, against the pleadings even from conservative columnists and editorials, refused to divulge the names of donors to a 'charitable' organization he set up while lieutenant governor--an outfit whose main charitable purpose seemed to be to pay Huckabee to make speeches. Then, as a kicker, he misreported the income itself from the suspicious 'charity.'"

Mike Huckabee's beliefs and actions even border on the bizarre. According to David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, "GOP presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee suggested that as president he would, for the good of the people, support a federal anti-smoking law. You see, as governor, Huckabee supported such laws because, well, he doesn't like smoking and doesn't think folks should indulge in so heath-threatening an activity. If he could move on up to the presidency, he would continue his abolitionist crusade at the national level without giving much, if any, thought to the question of whether the Constitution or anything else would legitimize a federal ban on smoking."

I have yet one more word of warning for those evangelicals supporting Huckabee because he is pro-life: Mike Huckabee will most definitely support Rudy Giuliani should Giuliani obtain the Republican nomination. Count on it.

I ask you, how could a committed "pro-life" conservative support a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control liberal such as Rudy Giuliani? He couldn't.

At the end of the day, however, there is absolutely no question that Huckabee will support Giuliani (or any other pro-abortion Republican), because, when all is said and done, Huckabee and his fellow big-government Republicans have no real commitment to the life issue or to any other conservative principle.

Let's say it plainly: Mike Huckabee is just another big-government, establishment politician who will do nothing to stem the tide of socialism or fascism (pick your poison) emanating from Washington, D.C., these days.

Dear friend, don't be duped by Mike Huckabee.

© Chuck Baldwin

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