The End

Should have posted this several months ago... I have no plans to continue this blog, unless Mike Huckabee runs for President again in the future. I want to thank everyone who has visited, read, and commented, even the cranks. I especially want to thank my brother - The Calvinator - for being a co-writer with me. We had a good run, better than almost everyone expected.

We encourage everyone to go vote on or before next Tuesday. I am personally recommending John McCain (i assume Calvinator is too, but i haven't asked him) for President.

But let us also remember that our salvation - neither the profound sort nor the earth-bound - does not come from our politics. Let us not afford too much credit or blame to our governments. While they are indeed important, and we should choose our leaders wisely, they cannot transform hearts. They cannot be a substitute for hard work, for helping your neighbor, or for making the world a better place. That is our job, each of us.

We do also have a continued political job. We cannot sit back and let the moneyed class run roughshod over our country. The influence of money is pernicious in Washington, on Capitol Hill, in the race for the White House, in this bailout ridiculousness. And it won't get any better if the people don't stand up and say ENOUGH! Enough of deficit spending! Enough of wasteful pork! Enough of lobbyist driven vote trading! Enough of secret government! Enough of increasingly complex laws designed to thwart citizen activism!

We tried here to Huck the System. Let us continue to Buck the System.

Farewell...

Issue: Economics

I'm not going to type a long defense of Governor Huckabee's Economic record or plan. Instead, I'm simply going to point everyone to the video of Governor Huckabee's speech to the Detroit Economic Club last Friday.

There should be a new rule that any critic must address what the Governor said in this speech before being allowed to attack him as a "Liberal."


Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:



Part 5:



This is one of the best speeches I have ever heard, and I have two degrees in Speech Communication, so I've studied some of the best.

David Brooks with another winner

David Brooks has another great column in the NYT. It's not specifically about Mike Huckabee, but it directly addresses the theme of Republican Party shifting that needs to occur, and is in fact happening, at least for some Republicans who get it.

He closes with a reference to the groundbreaking insight from Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, which i have mentioned a few times. Soon to be a book, it started with an article called the Party of Sam's Club.

Here's a good excerpt from the Brooks column...

The political situation has changed, too. Republicans used to appeal to the investor class with economic policies and the working class with values, crime and welfare policies. But that formula has broken down. The workers are walking away from the G.O.P., and the only way to win them back is by listening to their economic concerns.

As a result, smart Republicans are groping for a new economic model, and as they do, Republican economic policies are shifting. The entrepreneur is no longer king. The wage-earner is king. As the presidential campaign rolls into Michigan, it’s clear that Republicans are adjusting their priorities to win back the anxious middle class.

The Republicans who are reaching toward this new model still sound very different from Democrats. They never describe American workers as victims. They never describe globalization as a remorselessly punishing process. They argue that individuals can still control their own destinies, provided they work hard and get educated. They believe it would be a catastrophe if the U.S. abandoned free trade or adopted a European-style safety net and suffered European tax rates. But they envision a different role for government than the 1980s Republicans.

Brooks outlines 4 "spheres of policy innovation" that Republicans must address to be successful.

1. Human capital agenda
2. Health care reform
3. Resiliency agenda
4. Fiscal rectitude

I had this epiphany more than a year ago after reading that Sam's Club article, and it's one of the things about the Huckabee campaign that appeals to me. If the GOP wants to build a new winning coalition, it must figure this out. Then perhaps, perhaps, the chattering class will get on board, too.

Issue: Spending

In one of the debates this weekend, Fred Thompson used the term "revenue neutral" to talk about any changes in the tax system. Why are Conservatives worried about being "revenue neutral"? It seems to me that Conservatives should be willing to support a tax plan that brings in fewer dollars because they foresee reducing the amount that our Federal Government is spending.

I just did a quick hit of all five of the major Republican Candidates' websites. The only candidate who actually proposes specific reductions of current levels of Federal Government spending is Rudy Giuliani. McCain and Thompson make broad claims about removing earmarks and increasing transparency. Thompson says we need to reduce wasteful spending but doesn't make any specific proposals. Mitt Romney's plan is merely to slow the rate of growth for spending.

Governor Huckabee talks about ensuring balanced budgets by giving the President a line-item veto. That's something of a start, and it is a point shared with Giuliani and Romney. This is an area where our favorite candidate could strengthen his position and perhaps allay some of the fears of the traditional fiscal conservatives.

Governor Huckabee's tax plan is unquestionably the most conservative, but he needs to back it up with a concrete plan to reduce spending. This is an area where Governor Huckabee could gain some traction, but he has to be willing and able to spell out the cuts that can and should be made.