It’ll come as no surprise that I personally think Mike Huckabee is the absolute worst choice Republicans could possibly make next year as their presidential or vice presidential candidate, but the criticism he’s getting over his latest TV ad strikes me as a bit ridiculous.
The ad - which I haven’t seen since I don’t live in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina - reportedly shows Huckabee standing in front of a Christmas tree (yes, a Christmas tree, not a “holiday” tree), saying…
“Are you about worn out by all the television commercials you’ve been seeing, mostly about politics? Well, I don’t blame you. At this time of year, sometimes it’s nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and friends.”
What’s wrong with that?
Christmas is, in fact, a federal holiday. Christmas is, in fact, a celebration of the birth of Jesus. And Christmas should be, in fact, time to spend with family and friends. That the Huckabee campaign decided to communicate that in a TV commercial isn’t some dangerous mixture of religion and politics. It’s a “Merry Christmas” message for crying out loud.
Nevertheless, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, reportedly sees a clear and present danger in the ad. According to the Associated Press, Donohue is “especially disturbed by a cross-like image created by a white bookcase in the background of the ad, saying he believed it was a subliminal message.”
Oh, puh-lease. Paranoia will destroy ya, Bill.
Even if the shelves of a background bookcase WERE intended to send a subliminal message that Huckabee was the one, true Christian conservative in the GOP race, who cares? I mean, get a grip, dude.
There are PLENTY of reasons for limited-government conservatives and Republicans to support a candidate in the GOP presidential race other than Mike Huckabee. This is decidedly NOT one of them.
Posted on December 19th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
from rawstory I note;
” Asked if the ad was “too much,” Donahue said it was.
“Because there’s a pattern here,” he added. “Every other word out of [Huckabee’s] mouth is that ‘I’m Christian.’ He’s calling into question Romney’s Mormonism…let people talk about there faith, but don’t sell it on your sleeve.”"
I, too, am confused! Is this the same Donahue whose Catholic League called for the boycott of the movie, “The Golden Compass”, declaring “Let this be a lesson to militant atheists like Pullman: keep your hollow beliefs to yourself. And ease up on demonizing Catholicism-no other religion has done more to promote human rights, science and goodwill.”
It’s like inserting pork barrel earmarks into an appropriation bill and then voting against the appropriation bill.
I have my criticisms of Governor Huckabee, one of which you will momentarily see. But I thought the TV Ad was tasteful and gracious. I also think that running on a religious platform is a dangerous adventure. But if Mike wants to do it, I think he should go to it.
I’m not really an opponent of multiculturalism in the broad sense. It’s America; we ought to be free to say what we feel and think. No minority should have to fear that it will be punished for expressing its position or exposing its core beliefs. So why is it now wrong for the majority to do so?
But another fact that I learned today troubles me more. Because my wife is an NEA member, I got a little note today from Reg Weaver in my e-mail. He described the wonderfully non-partisan process NEA has for choosing the candidates it will endorse, including an interview with eash of them. He then listed the eight presidential candidates who had subjected themselves to this process during this campaign: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson — and Mike Huckabee.
If Governor Huckabee is a conservative, why is he the only Republican seeking the endorsement of the liberal public employees’ union, the NEA?