As Mike Huckabee has risen in the polls, so has the scrutiny his campaign and record increased. Among the recent areas of concern to pundits, opponents, and the Republican base:
More on pardons? Apparently the Dumond pardon of a brutal convicted rapist who went on to rape and kill again isn't the end of the controversy. There is a long pattern of clemency for violent murderers, as Philip Klein reports at The American Spectator, some of which we have already posted.
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His campaign has also been accused of attempting to use anti-Mormon bias in Iowa to woo Christian conservatives. Now Huckabee is being quoted as questioning Mormon beliefs - in a misleading way, reports Libby Quaid for the Associated Press:
Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The authoritative Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992, does not refer to Jesus and Satan as brothers. It speaks of Jesus as the son of God and of Satan as a fallen angel, which is a Biblical account.
The full story is at the above link, but the assertion has been made in the past by those attacking the Mormon beliefs.
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Then, a new website is questioning Huckabee's inspiring personal story of losing 100 pounds, which he claims he did through diet and exercise. The brand new Plutarch's Weblog questions that with observations and medical details. He makes a strong case, if all the information is accurate, but I want to hear more from those with more expertise than I in the area.
WHY would that be important at all? It wouldn't be, except that Huckabee denies he had surgery, and wrote a book on diet and exercise. It would inform us about his trustworthiness if his representations were to turn out untrue.
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Welcome to the Big Time, Governor Huckabee!
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Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, Huckabee, Primaries, Republican
Tags: Huckabee, presidential campaign, primaries, Republicans
Comments (1)
You have left out a few fac... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Alan Orfi | December 12, 2007 9:48 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You have left out a few facts:
Dumond was not pardoned, he was paroled... by a board, not Huckabee. In fact, his sentence was commuted to a pardonable one by Tucker during the Clinton term. Yes, Huckabee supported his review by the parole board, but it was not within his domain of authority or responsibility to render the final decision.
The rate of recidivism for the convicts pardoned or commuted during Huckabee's tenure is less than one percent to this day. This rate is actually lower than the incarceration rate of the general population in our country. On the larger scale, they obviously knew what they were doing. The vast majority of the cases were NOT violent offenses as you suggest.
Obviously, Mike Huckabee's commutation of any criminals' sentences was a huge liability. The politically expedient thing to do would have been to deny each and every petition. But his charge as governor did include the review of such petitions and he determined that mercy was warranted in some cases. NONE of the pardons or commutations resulted in repeat offenses. You really need to mention that in your next hatchet job.
1. Posted by Alan Orfi | December 12, 2007 9:48 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 12, 2007 09:48