“We believe that Mike Huckabee , (former) Governor of Arkansas, should be elected the next President of the United States ,” [Home School Legal Defense Association] President J. Michael Smith said in a call-to-action letter to members. Smith said [the 80,000 member] HSLDA is taking this “historic step of an early endorsement” because [] the process of electing the president is based on a radically different timetable in this election.
Smith touted Huckabee’s record as governor of Arkansas, pro-life, pro-family conservative values and presidential campaign platform, which includes a pro-defense plank and support for the FairTax, as reasons his organization stands behind Huckabee. There are a few other candidates in the race who are properly described as principled conservatives, but none of the media’s “frontrunners” would qualify for this designation, he stated.
“We believe that Mike Huckabee is by far the best communicator in the race – he is able to articulate his conservative principles in an incredibly winsome and articulate manner,” said Smith.
Noting that Americans have not elected a member of the House or Senate to the office of President in nearly half a century, Smith said: “Moreover, among the principled conservatives, Huckabee is the only one who has been a governor.”
Hello world!
7 years ago
4 comments:
Since J. Michael Smith said that there are other candidates who are solid conservatives, I wonder why HSLDA PAC did not simply list those at this point. Hmmm. It would have been cool for HSLDA PAC to sponsor a debate among those whom Smith was thinking about. That would have been good experience for Generation Joshua.
It's hard to say, but I would guess they knew enough to pick their candidate. At the same time, it is wise not to denigrate all the candidates you're not picking . . . you might have to throw your support to them later on.
As far as Generation Joshua, are you saying that hosting a debate would be good experience or that hearing what the "principled Conservative" candidates had to say would be a good experience?
I meant hosting a debade would be good experience.
It seems HSLDA PAC has two purposes and that may be confusing me. It endorses candidates that support homeschooling and parenting. It provides a mechanism for teens to work in politics.
It seems Mike Smith was being careful not to denigrate other candidates, unless we count narrowing endorsement to Huckabee a denigration of the others.
I trust the HSLDA Mikes. Yet, I did not find their letter convincing. Most of the issues mentioned did not have to do with homeschooling. (It might be that those issues are important to the parents of the teens that participate in HSLDA PAC activities.)
Of course, hosting a debate is tricky because you can't force people to participate, and as people opt out, your debate's credibility diminishes, and if it doesn't have credibility, the coverage suffers, so . . .
And I think you're right about the import of an HSLDA endorsement--it is much broader than homeschooling (who, among the GOP candidates, would speak disparagingly of homeschooling? Maybe Giuliani in his heart doesn't like it, but he's too smart to take anti-homeschooling positions (or carry the banner on any previous such sentiments) in this primary, so the HSLDA endorsement is likely to have a broader basis.
Post a Comment