First, his proposal for a national sales tax to replace the income tax would be an utter disaster.
Second, he thinks the Constitution should be rewritten to conform to "God's standards"--presumably as determined by him.
Third, there's this:
Other than Giuliani, Huckabee is the most dangerous candidate in a wretchedly bad Republican field. That says something.
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I agree that Huckabee is one of the worst in that field re social issues, that his foreign policy knowledge is absolutely nonexistent, and that his national sales tax proposal is batshit.
But he is extremely charismatic and witty, and I would argue the most intelligent candidate in the Republican field. I feel compelled to listen when he speaks. His economically moderate and populist record as governor of Arkanss is something many pro-growth progressives like myself can get behind; this could help build a bridge between the parties better than almost anyone I can think of.
The premise of an (although unlikely) Huckabee presidency has the neocons shaking in their boots; their years of building evangelical GOP support in the heartlands is finally coming back to bite them in the butt. Electing McCain, Guiliani, Thompson, or even Romney would be an open invitation for Bush Co. to waltz right back into the White House. Electing Huckabee, no matter how much he and W agree on social issues, would not give the neoconservatives as strong of a footing in 2009.
Which leads me to my next point: how much of his reactionary goals can he actually get done in office? Not much. A national sales tax would NOT go over well with the general public, no matter how much media spin is applied and regardless of our discontent with the IRS. A complete ban on abortion like he maintains as one of his first priorities in office? Bush would only dream of such a day, and even with Rove and some of the most deviantly brilliant minds the GOP has ever seen, he didn't even attempt it (insert your own reasons here).
Ideologically, I couldn't disagree with him more. But practically, I think he's absolutely the least of all evils. Maintaining his liberal-friendly economic stance would be likely, as he to this day refuses to apologize when called out by Rudy McRomney. If he can resist the neocons' efforts to guide his agenda while in office, I think President Huckabee wouldn't be all that bad.
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