Redstate

By jannelsen Posted in User Blogs — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

On Wednesday, June 15, the Senate Finance Committee will convene to consider two important topics.

The first: The future of Medicaid.

The second: Political ambitions.

Appearing on the hearing's first panel are Democratic Governor Mark Warner of Virginia and Mike Huckabee, the Republican governor of Arkansas.

Come 2008, the two could be together again, only this time on stage at a presidential debate.

Read on.

Warner's ambitions are well-known. Virginia's limit of one four-year term on the governor's office means its holders are always angling for some new job, and Warner has angled early and often. His recent moves - hiring a full-time political advisor - have brought him coverage in the Washington Post, the Virginia newspapers and national outlets like the Los Angeles Times. (Registration required.)

Governing as he does in Little Rock, far from the Beltway crowd, Huckabee has maintained a lower profile. An article Monday in Roll Call - paid subscription required - is the most prominent speculative piece on a candidacy I've seen in the political trade press, and it's bound to prompt other, similar pieces.

The signs are clear, to be sure.

Several years ago Huckabee started positioning himself to become chairman of the National Governors Association, SOP for a governor considering higher office. A chairmanship allows you to profile yourself nationally, introduces you to national reporters, and can get you on PBS News Hour. Clinton chaired the NGA, as did former Republican presidential aspirants, John Engler and Tommy Thompson. (They had their dreams.) Warner is the current chairman; both he and Huckabee are testifying this week under the auspices of the NGA.

Huckabee, once a roly pol, took off more than 100 pounds through diet and a new running regimen, which includes running marathons. He's received great coverage for his efforts, which fostered a book, "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork."

Now, diet and exercise alone are not a mandate for governing, and there are those Republicans among us turned off by excessive example-ism. But Huckabee is a genuinely nice guy who doesn't come off as a scold (unlike, say, former HHS Secretary Thompson, who also dieted and ran). And, for Republicans, there is much more to like than his physique.

(OK, enough about girth and all that, before we get weird. Still, the difference is stunning. Look at the photos in this CBN piece versus his official photos today.)

Huckabee has truly worked for the party. When he came in as lieutenant governor in the mid-90s, he was the only Republican in statewide office. The Secretary of State nailed his door shut to prevent him from moving in, for goodness sakes. With the felony-induced resignation of Jim Guy Tucker, Huckabee took over the governorship in 1996 and, more than anyone else, is responsible for the rise of the two-party state in Arkansas. He won election in 1998 - his first run for governor - with 60 percent of the vote. He won re-election in 2002, during a dip in his popularity, with 53 percent of the vote.

Huckabee also worked for others nationwide, attending the speaking engagements, rubber chicken dinners and state conventions that are a burden, but gain appreciation and build support. And, as said, he's a good guy.

Furthermore, as governor of Arkansas, Huckabee kept a reasonably tight rein on state finances. Didn't he?

To the anti-tax purists like Paul Weyrich, back in 2003, the answer is, no, indeed he didn't.

He sought an income tax surcharge. He sought huge tax hikes on cigarettes, and a whole raft of other tax increases. A spokesman for Americans for Tax Reform, a group which rates the states on their tax and spending policies, has three categories for governors: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. "Huckabee's tax and spending policies are ugly," the ATR spokesman said. That's not the only critical review. Tim Carney, reporter for the Evans - Novak Political Report, delivered a cutting analysis of Huckabee's record in National Review Online last month, accusing the governor as one who "looks more like a Bill Clinton for the new millennium."

Huckabee no doubt has a full briefing available that defends his record as a fiscal conservative - yes, here it is -- but as Weyrich suggests, Huckabee's political raison d'etre is faith-based. A Southern Baptist and ordained minister, Huckabee came to politics in part through a religiously inspired call to public service. As the CBN story linked to above demonstrates, he is comfortable witnessing.

As this February story from a homestate newspaper contends, the religious background is a mixed blessing:

Huckabee's background as a preacher could be a plus or a minus.

Bass and English contend that Huckabee would play well with the Christian right in Republican primaries. Even Baer, the Democratic strategist, concedes: "From what I can tell, he would have a lot of cachet with religious conservatives."

On the other hand, Barone says, "I think there is some resistance to having a preacher in politics generally, and in the presidency in particular."

Adds Larry Sabato, political analyst at the University of Virginia, a conservative Southern preacher "reinforces all the worst stereotypes of the Republican Party."

I also tend to think the religious aspects of his campaign work against Huckabee. If he emerges as a serious candidate after the early primaries, where religious conservatives do indeed play a prominent role, the mainstream media will unleash all their clichés, innuendoes, words of conventional wisdom and full-out attacks about "the Christian right." The CBN article will be quoted over and over again, and not for the purposes of shedding light.

Huckabee stands a real chance, though. In person, he is a skilled speaker and an appealing character, offering the likeability that means so much in politics these days. He has a record that provides some logical basis for running for president. And as shown by his record - both political and fitness record -he has what it takes to mount a serious, well-organized and, above all, disciplined campaign.

The challenge, of course, will be to get Republican volunteers and primary voters to wait, take a deep breath, and not recoil when they hear the words "Arkansas" and "president" in the same sentence.

Let's start today. Deep breath: "Mike Huckabee of Arkansas would make a good president."

And...exhale....

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?