
 |
|
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Dec. 17, 2007
/ 8 Teves 5768
Huckabee the divider
By
Kathryn Lopez
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Presidential primary elections can be an ugly season for anyone who actually loves politics. It is a time when friendships can be strained, or worse over a candidate. It is a time where folks on the same broad teams are split. It is a time where coalitions are strengthened or torn asunder.
It's the latter that Mike Huckabee is on the path to doing. Almost a year ago, when I talked to him about his book, "From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Stops to Restoring America's Greatness," no one seriously thought the former Arkansas governor would be anywhere near the front in any major poll on the road to the White House. Believe me, if I thought he was a potential front-runner, I wouldn't have wasted time asking him if he watches the television show "24."
But right now, the former Southern Baptist minister is a contender. The media spent months talking him up, saying he had the potential to shake up the presidential race, and their collective wish for the guitar-rockin' smooth talker has finally come true. In his role as an aspiring "Christian leader," as one of his campaign commercials put it, he is doing nothing to raise the level of the public conversation about those running for president and the issues facing our nation. He has an utter lack of knowledge on foreign-policy issues a reality he tries to laugh off and on the issue he knows most, religion, to say he is completely unhelpful would be profoundly understating the case.
As the media focuses on the fact that fellow candidate Mitt Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Huckabee has been presented a real opportunity to bring people together, to take the media obsession off of how religious evangelicals cannot tolerate a Mormon president. But instead of rising to the occasion, Huckabee makes things worse. In his most unfortunate moment, he played innocent with a New York Times reporter and asked, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"
On the other hand, Romney strove to improve the political conversation along with his poll position. Told he should give a "Mormon speech," he instead gave a speech about us. He focused on religious liberty and America's founding. He focused on his commitment to the freedom upon which our nation was built. It's a message that Mormons and Southern Baptists can applaud, as well as Catholics, Jews, and, yes, even atheists. His speech was one that has the power to unite, unlike Huckabee's divisive, offensive approach. There was a day I was grateful to have Huckabee in the GOP debates; he was the face of a likable social conservative. But once he started playing religious hardball, he undid that good.
My colleagues and I at National Review just endorsed Romney for president. We wrote, "Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest." In this way, he differs most starkly with Huckabee, a big-government tax-hiker who loses economic conservatives and those turned off by Jesus-and-Lucifer-were-brothers talk.
For all of his obstacles, Romney's business and gubernatorial record can appeal to economic conservatives. He's a natural social conservative in his home life who understands the importance of family and who, when faced with marriage and life issues as governor, came down on the Right side. As former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent put Romney's coalition position to me: "Gov. Romney has shown that he can use conservative principles to change attitudes as well as laws. He is the only candidate who has articulated a clear vision and policies for building a stronger America with a stronger military, economy and families. ... Our party cannot beat Hillary Clinton if we do not stand for all parts of the Reagan conservative coalition."
The Republican Party owes the American people the best candidate they can present. The anti-Mormon vote is not going to win anything for Republicans. A uniting, rallying message from a conservative candidate, with a record as a successful executive who knows and believes in the promise of America, can.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2007, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|