Kathleen McCaffrey, Associate Editor
Ideology: Libertarian | Writing from: Berlin, Germany

Last week, I stumbled across a Gallup poll that shook my hopes for 2012. The headline read “GOP Faithful like Palin, Romney, and Huckabee for 2012” and, much to my chagrin, showed the continued popularity of Tax Hike Muckabee within the Republican Party.

I have always had a very poor opinion of Gov. Huckabee. I see him as a religious zealot and a weak fiscal conservative – two strikes that would have lead me to write in “Ron Paul” if Huckabee had secured the nomination in 2008. We elect politicians based on our faith in their ability to make good decisions. Aside from his poor mimicking of Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric, Mike Huckabee has done virtually nothing to deserve the trust of voters. Yet his record of tax hikes were nearly negated by his pledges of fiscal conservative policy. Despite the claims on his campaign website that he “should share and debate faith, but never seek to impose it”, he proclaimed in the Michigan primary, that “it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards.” Huckabee’s career is mired in similar hypocrisies and unimpressive achievements glossed over by his compulsive lying. (Not to mention that awful “Obama gun-dodging” comment.) On top of my qualms with Huckabee in terms of policy, though, were the ethics violations filed against him in his home state that were laughed off by the Governor on the trail. Not even these charges could stop the force of Huckabee – it’s almost as if Bill Clinton left an extra Teflon-coating in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion!

During the 2008 election at a press conference, Huckabee complained about attack ads from the Romney campaign. Being the moral pillar that he is, Huckabee said that he wouldn’t run the countering ads, because that would be wrong. This did not stop him from showing the ads to journalists, who subsequently covered it for free. Yet in a primary survey, people said they liked Huckabee’s “honesty” most! At a recent book signing, a Texas man said he liked Huckabee because he isn’t “all spit and polish.”

For those who are willing to ignore Huckabee’s contradictions, I offer you the insipid, dangerous stream of thought he applied to his responsibilities towards clemency:

James Maxwell, who killed a pastor, worked at the Governor’s mansion when it was announced that he would have his sentence reduced.

Samuel W. Taylor, convicted of drug charges, received clemency from the Arkansas Governor. Conveniently, his sister was a schoolmate of Huckabee. (Taylor was subsequently arrested.)

Robert Arnold Jr was convicted of killing his father-in-law and later received clemency. Robert Arnold Sr. was a former mayor of Hope, AK (Huckabee’s hometown), and a “casual friend” of Huckabee.

A pastor who helped make Huckabee popular within the Black community successfully obtained a smaller sentence for a man who had a 100+ year sentence for armed robbery. The pastor later said that he had achieved “many many” reduced sentences from the governor.

Donald W. Clark, convicted of theft, was the beneficiary of lobbying for a smaller sentence from Huckabee’s pastor. Oh, and his step-mother worked on Huckabee’s gubernatorial campaign.

“New sources, including an advisor to Gov. Mike Huckabee, told the Arkansas Times that Huckabee and a senior member of his staff exerted behind-the-scenes influence to bring about the parole of rapist Wayne Dumond, who Missouri authorities say raped and killed a woman there shortly after his parole”

Of course, none of these embarrassments will strike the national news media as hard as the case against another Huckabee pardon hopefully will. Maurice Clemmons shot and killed four Lakewood police officers at a coffee shop in Parkland, Washington on Sunday morning, which began a hunt that resulted in his death. Of course, this wasn’t his first brush with the law, “Clemmons received a 95-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later. The following March, Clemmons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years. You’d think they’d keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and [was] wanted for aggravated robbery.”

Then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee cited the felon’s age at the time of the initial sentence (17) as his reason for the pardon. He didn’t even bother to mention the letter Clemmons wrote him, detailing his “Christian lifestyle” acquired through prison! Yet a 1998 court document reveals that Clemmons was a brutal force, not a “Christian” and not fit to be placed in society: “… at the earlier trial, a security guard had reported to Judge Lofton that Clemmons had taken a hinge from one of the courtroom doors, hid it in his sock, and intended to use it as a weapon. The hinge was found and taken from him before he harmed anyone. In another incident, Clemmons extracted a lock from a holding cell, and he later threw the lock which hit his mother. During this second episode, Clemmons purportedly threatened Judge Lofton. In a third incident, Clemmons reportedly reached for a guard’s pistol during his transportation to the courtroom. Based on these occurrences, Judge Lofton placed Clemmons in leg irons and seated a uniformed officer near him during trial.”

On his website, Huckabee said that, if Clemmons is found guilty, “it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system.” Yes, the justice system that took over after he released him from a near-life sentence in prison after reading a cock-and-bull story! Nearly as disturbing was an interview on Anderson 360 where Judge Humphrey, who signed off on the release of Clemmons, cited Jesus Christ’s mercy as a defense for his reckless mockery of the justice system. I’m not a biblical scholar, but there’s a reason that the safety of a community is not meant to be subject to interpretation of “Jesus” and not, I don’t know, the law.  (Interestingly, Humphrey officiated Clemmons’ wedding to Nicole Smith, who he was subsequently accused of abusing.) As the AP reported, “Huckabee granted 1,033 clemencies during 10 years in office, more than double the number granted by three governors during the previous 17 years.” Since Huckabee could be compelled to release the psychotic Clemmons on a sappy letter describing his Christian rebirth, it’s almost a miracle that the Arkansas prison system isn’t exclusively left with Jews, atheists, agnostics, and Muslims.

People have compared this incident to Michael Dukakis’ “Willie Horton episode”, yet Dukakis backed the program that released Horton while Huckabee personally vouched for Clemmons. Furthermore, Huckabee’s backing away from responsibility is yet another testament to the character void of principle that lies underneath the hoaksy image he paints to gain political favor. He may not run in 2012, but the fact that so many people are ignorant of what transpired in Arkansas during his governorship is disturbing. I don’t believe Huckabee meant to hurt anyone by releasing these men, but that should call his supporters to question his (repetitive) lapses in judgement. I wouldn’t choose this particular topic to be Huckabee’s undoing within the party, but I’ll take anything to sober up Republicans from their love affair at this point.

Huckabee’s actions, and not words, paint him as a politician who latched onto ideas that support his world view “while failing to grasp the nuances of its application.” The GOP can do better. (Perhaps with Mitt Romney, who pointed this out particular impediment on the campaign trail.)