South Carolina Republican Primary

As I have watched the polls recently, and especially the SC polls, I have been surprised to see McCain either in the lead or tied for it. That makes no sense that a man who has taken such very clearly non-conservative positions (opposing tax cuts, McCain-Feingold campaign reform, Gang of 14 on Supreme Court justice nominations, and amnesty for illegal immigrants) can garner such support. Then it dawned on me. He is basically the only one running in SC that holds to his particular set of positions. He is running against three other candidates who would appear to be the same on conservative issues (i.e. Huckabee, Romney, and Thompson). When all three of these candidates split up the conservative vote, none of them has more than McCain. However, the conservative vote, when combined, beats McCain in a resounding fashion (something like 50 to 25).

Here is why I am writing. As of last night, Huckabee and McCain were essentially tied for first, somewhere around 25%. Romney and Thompson were third and fourth, somewhere around the 13 to 15% range. If conservatives continue to split their vote we could end up with McCain. A similar set of circumstances yielded Bill Clinton as president in 1992 when Ross Perot took 19% of the vote.

I think that Huckabee is the right man for the Presidency. This is why. First, my foremost consideration is character. That he is a believer is not in question. Is he a fundamentalist? No, but neither are any of the others. I don’t believe that Ronald Reagan would have been considered a fundamentalist either. The reason for Huckabee’s character is his faith in Christ. He is unashamed in his faith and openly admits to seeking God’s direction each day. For this reason, he is the strongest candidate on the issues of life, marriage, and family. He is the candidate least likely to be swayed from those positions.

Think about what made Ronald Reagan such a good president. Was it that he was a conservative? Yes, but why was he a conservative? He was a conservative because he had a core set of beliefs which were founded on his belief in God. I don’t think that this can be underestimated in the evaluation of a candidate.

Second, contrary to what the other candidates would have you to believe about Huckabee, he is a fiscal conservative. Some of the leading businessmen of Arkansas just put out a statement that Huckabee was getting “unwarranted criticism” for his record. The complete statement is available at the link below. I am convinced that his record has been completely distorted by his opponents. Even the New York Times felt compelled to take a fair look at his fiscal record and came to the conclusion that the attacks were unwarranted.

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Newsroom.PressRelease&ID=511

Third, Mike Huckabee, again contrary to what his opponents would want you to believe, is for decentralizing the federal government in those areas in which the federal government isn’t specifically authorized to have jurisdiction. He, of course, is no Ron Paul in this area, but takes a good, sound approach.

Fourth, Mike Huckabee has been categorized by Rush Limbaugh as a “populist”. If speaking the truth about the economy and what the federal government has done (or not done) to hinder it, then so be it.

There are three major things that the federal government hasn’t done. It hasn’t addressed the issue of illegal immigrants which is costing taxpayers untold numbers of dollars. Huckabee has a nine point plan on his website, endorsed by the head of the Minute Men, to address this issue.

Second, it has failed to address the issue of energy independence as we are held hostage by oil producing countries that do not have our best interests in mind. Huckabee’s position on this is also on his website. Part of his plan is exploration which we desperately need to tap our own oil.

Third, we have a health care system problem that needs to be addressed by private sector solutions. Government intervention and lack of tort reform have contributed to the skyrocketing costs of health care. Caryn just told me yesterday of the individual that wasn’t concerned about the cost of an unnecessary CT scan that the individual wanted to have for his/her child. Caryn explained that it was medically unnecessary and that there is a significant cost to it. The individual came back with the answer that the cost didn’t matter. He/she was on Medicaid.

This lack of action by the federal government to address these issues makes me wonder what Senators Thompson and McCain were doing to address these things. What plans did they bring forth in the Senate? I guess Thompson comes off better on this because I don’t know of any solutions that he has presented. McCain didn’t help any and was going to hurt us big time on illegal immigration.

So, if you have read all this, I congratulate you. Please give these things consideration.
Chuck