There's a lot to like about Mike – Huckabee, that is.
He's a great communicator. As a presidential candidate, he has taken righteous stands on some of the key issues of the day. He has risen to the top tier of Republican candidates without the benefit of a massive campaign war chest. He's got a great sense of humor.
It's hard not to like the guy.
Until you start to scratch beneath the surface.
The first troubling discovery is that, as governor, Huckabee was a tax-raiser to put Bill Clinton to shame. Worse than that, now he tries to tell audiences the courts and legislature twisted his arm to sign that tax hike. But there is just no evidence to support that interesting revisionist view of reality.
The second troubling finding is his support (there is really no other word for it) for illegal immigration. As governor, he helped Arkansas serve as a magnet for illegal immigrants who wanted jobs in the Tyson chicken plants or in-state tuition rates unavailable to American citizens from neighboring states or a Mexican consulate generously offered up to the Mexican government for free.
Now, of course, Huckabee understands you can't get the Republican nomination in 2008 if you are perceived as soft on border security and illegal immigration, so he has done his best to portray himself as someone who will change course.
But, just as I have a hard time believing Mitt Romney suddenly changed his views on every major issue of the day since his days as governor of Massachusetts, so do I view Huckabee's pledges to secure the border with some skepticism.
Certainly after the Democratic debates that seemed to paralyze mentally both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over driver's licenses for illegal aliens, no presidential candidate should be surprised to be asked about this issue. Yet, there was the usually smooth-talking Huckabee looking like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights when asked about his support of in-state tuition discounts for illegal aliens.
Too bad.
Mike Huckabee has many of the ingredients for a fine president. But I fear he is another one of these so-called "compassionate conservatives" who believes government can be a force for good in the world, not merely a restraint on evil.
Maybe it is the old Baptist preacher in Huckabee that makes him go soft in the knees for government spending programs and illegal aliens.
If so, he's not only practicing bad politics – he's practicing bad theology.
Huckabee is an old friend of Saddleback Church megapastor Rick Warren, the author of "The Purpose-Driven Life." In fact, he appeared at his recent AIDS conference by videotape message. Me thinks Huckabee is making the same error Warren is when it comes to the role government should play in "helping people."
As Christians, they are confusing the role we as individuals are assigned as followers of Jesus with the role of government.
When Jesus tells us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, He is not suggesting we transfer that personal responsibility to government. He is not suggesting we transfer that responsibility to our neighbors. He is not suggesting, as the old saying goes, we rob Peter to pay Paul.
This is a personal, individual responsibility of the believer. It doesn't count if you get someone else to do the job for you. Christians aren't supposed to say, "Gee, this job is too big for me; I better lobby Washington for money. The politicians can tax everyone and turn the whole country into tithers!"
No, believers are supposed to act on their own initiative, or in concert with other believers, to meet needs as best they can and give all the glory to God.
Period. End of story. That's compassion. It's selfless. It's sacrificial. It costs no one else anything.
Nowhere in the Bible does it suggest government should supplant the church's responsibility to the poor, the hungry, the widows and orphans. Government's job is to restrain evil, not bestow compassion.
I write this column today not to condemn Huckabee.
I write it to share with him a Christian brother's candid view of his amazing run for the presidency to date.
I write in the hopes he may see where he is falling short.
I write thinking there is still time for a course correction.
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