Today's Washington Post editorial raises serious question about Mike Huckabee's campaign and whether or not he counts non-Christian Americans as worthy of his message (full citizenship?). I have clients of diverse faiths and all are hard working and assets to the larger community. As a result - putting aside Huckabee's rampant anti-gay mindset which is an issue in and of itself for a moment - I find it insulting, as no doubt do many Americans of Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or other religious backgrounds. After seven years of a president who has fomented division and hate, we do NOT need another president of that type. Here are some column highlights (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/20/AR2007122001941.html?hpid=opinionsbox1):
IS MIKE HUCKABEE running to be president of all Americans, or just the Christian ones? The former Arkansas governor, who has catapulted into the front ranks of GOP presidential contenders, is broadcasting a television ad this week that raises the question. As a technical matter, the ad is a beauty. "Silent Night" plays softly in the background. The camera focuses on Mr. Huckabee, clad in a red sweater. Behind him is a bookcase, its intersecting shelves lighted up in the form of a glowing white cross.
"My faith is my life -- it defines me," Mr. Huckabee likes to say, and we respect that conviction. What gives us pause is a continuing theme in Mr. Huckabee's rhetoric that does not seem to give equal respect to -- or, at times, even acknowledge the existence of -- those of other faiths, or of no faith at all. As much as Mr. Huckabee would like to dismiss them as such, these concerns have nothing to do with a politically correct "war on Christmas."
We don't have any problem with candidates taking time to wish voters "Merry Christmas," as several other candidates are doing in ads this week. But unlike Mr. Huckabee's, their ads do not send an explicitly and exclusively Christian message -- and while Mr. Huckabee says people who imagine a gleaming white cross are suffering from overactive imaginations, we invite you to look at the ad and judge for yourself.
In 1998, Mr. Huckabee spoke of the need to "take this nation back for Christ," though he told Tim Russert this year, "I'd probably phrase it a little differently today." Would he?
Personally, I do not think he would. In my opinion, this man is trouble for anyone who is different and who believes in freedom of religion for all citizens. Here are some of the things Huckabee boasts about on his campaign website, starting with "Marriage":
I support and have consistently supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As Governor of Arkansas, I led the successful effort to pass a similar state constitutional amendment in 2002. As Governor of Arkansas, I led the successful effort to make our state only the third to adopt "covenant" marriage. I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life. What's the point of keeping the terrorists at bay in the Middle East if we can't keep decline and decadence at bay here at home?
On Immigration:
I will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals.
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