Who’s More Conservative, McCain or Huckabee?
I came across the following post at http://lighthouseblog.blogs.com/ and got permission to share it with you. I think David makes some great points.
With McCain and Huckabee fighting it out, I thought it would be interesting to compare the two based on their adherence to Conservative principles. Let’s take a look:
Life: McCain is pro-life but to my knowledge has done nothing as a senator to sponsor legislation for the cause. He supports embryonic stem cell research and voted against funding abstinence education. Huckabee is unabashedly pro-life and speaks about it frequently on the campaign trail. He would end taxpayer funded abortions and would actively work to make our nation more pro-life.
Death Penalty: Huckabee has carried it out as governor. McCain supports it.
Environment: McCain is a believer in global warming, and likens drilling in ANWR to drilling in the Everglades and Grand Canyon. Huckabee has yet to jump on the global warming cause.
Faith/Religion: Huckabee is a former Baptist minister. McCain does not speak of his religious conviction much on the campaign trail, though he is a man of faith.
Compromise: McCain has worked well with Senators Feingold and Kennedy, two of the Senates leading liberals. Huckabee worked with a Democrat legislature in Arkansas in order to lower taxes and improve the state. Because of this, he is being labeled a liberal by some conservatives.
War on Terror: McCain has no equal.
Immigration: McCain sponsored McCain/Kennedy which most consider a from of amnesty for illegals. Huckabee wants all illegal immigrants to head home and get in line to come back.
Judges: McCain was leader the Gang of 14 which was designed to roadblock “the most extreme judicial candidates.” Those extreme candidates were some of the brightest, most qualified conservative jurists in the nation. Huckabee will appoint strict constitutionalists.
I think Huckabee overshadows McCain when is comes to who is more conservative. McCain is and has long been a moderate. While Huckabee’s fiscal record needs some explanation and he need to adhere to more conservative free market fiscal policy, on the whole, he is far more conservative than John McCain.
January 22, 2008 at 5:47 am
Very intresting reading. I love the way it was written. Easy to compare canidates. After reading this article it’s obdivios that Huckabee is the more conservative one.
January 30, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Huckabee initially supported the same immigration policy as McCain, but changed course to garner votes. McCain fought to keep right wing activist judges off the court. Personally I think most traditional conservatives would say that ALL judicial activism is bad. Also, McCain has the most solid economic conservative credentials in the field of candidates. He’s not a “compassionate conservative” that thinks it is perfectly acceptable to bloat entitlement programs to buy votes.
I typically get turned off by heavy social conservatives like Huckabee, but I can overlook it if they have good economic conservative credentials. Huckabee’s populist social message doesn’t sound promissing. Romney’s proven record in Massachussett’s shows that his lip service to economic conservatism is just that: lipservice. McCain has a 100% rating from Eagle Forum and get the top “Hero” rating from Citizens Against Government Waste.
So it really depends on what you use to determine what a “conservative” is. The modern neoconservative/religious right crowd really don’t appeal strongly to the small government conservative. Our primary criteria for determining conservative credentials is cutting spending, reducing programs, and cutting taxes (without running up the national debt in the process by ignoring the first two items). Unfortunately, the Republican party seems to have stopped listening to people like me. McCain isn’t perfect at all, but he seems to actually care about reducing the scope of government. He’s had his spending cut proposals called “immoral” by some Democrats, which can’t be a bad thing.
January 31, 2008 at 1:37 am
How many times has Mike Huckabee been criticized for not being a “true conservative” because he does not carry the water of those who for so long have ruled a Party which rebuilt itself on the backs of pro-life religious voters but never really found a “place at the table” for them.
If the Republican party wants to ever regain power, it better wake up and realize that social conservatives CARE about issues like hunger and education. Mike Huckabee speaks for us — and we will never GO ALONG with a party that does not honor the principles we hold dear.
February 13, 2008 at 6:13 am
You may want to double check Huckabee’s position on illegals … I believe he said we now have a chance to basically pay for our sins of slavery … not sure exactly what that means but it doesn’t sound like he wants them to all go back to their country and get in line. Do a little more research on Huckabee, he isn’t as conservative as you may think.