When Ronald Reagan rolled in his grave

This past week a few conservative Christian leaders prompted political pundits to either swallow their tongue in shock or rejoice in a victory dance. Wrote one reporter, "Wednesday's newspapers carried two headlines so improbable that they almost made me spit out my coffee."

The issue? Certain conservative Christian leaders discarded key suites of religious belief and folded their hands by endorsing more liberal presidential candidates. While the left are staying left, the right are shifting left – and even the left are saying it's not right!

Those on the left hail this alteration as the creation of "a crack in the conservative religious firmament." Another described it in much more cataclysmic terms: "… a tectonic shift, not just in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, but in the party's very identity and agenda."

Even those on the right are perplexed as to how any of their own can vote for "a lifelong pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-gun, self-described 'liberal' for the Republican nomination."

The heart of the issue

At the forefront of the confusion and distress is the issue of human life in the womb. So key is the view of embryos as human that to abandon an anti-abortion view has become almost synonymous with the desertion of the conservative platform.

So how can a long standing foe of abortion support a Republican candidate who is an advocate for a pro-choice position? The answer is twofold.

First, one places other issues higher than abortion. An example would be Pat Robertson's statement, "To me, the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists."

Second, one becomes so concerned about democratic opposition winning the election that they are willing to forfeit some of their own principles and beliefs to bring a Republican candidate to victory.

In short, such a person fears loss, compromises their core values and is driven almost exclusively by a passion to win. In the end, however, they abandon their principles and even their own trust in God to bring about a political outcome that doesn't appear possible.

Former Arkansas Gov. and GOP candidate Mike Huckabee disagrees with this philosophy of decision-making. He further explains these "surprise" endorsements by saying, "Some people have become more process focused, than they are principle focused. And they look at it from the stance, who does it look like might be ahead in the game."

When major Christian leaders sacrifice children in the womb on the altar of politics, I think it's clear to say many conservatives are at risk of losing their hearts and distinction. If I can play slightly with Jesus' words, "What does it profit a man to win the election, but lose his soul?"

It's a good thing a couple Christian conservatives don't define the entire evangelical movement.

Huckabee on abortion

As some candidates waffle in their conservative views, Huckabee remains clear and consistent in his anti-abortion position:

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I support and have always supported passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the right to life. … I believe that Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

I applaud the Supreme Court's recent decision in Gonzales v. Cathcart forbidding the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion.

I first became politically active because of abortion, when I helped pass Arkansas' Unborn Child Amendment, which requires the state to do whatever it legally can to protect life.

As governor, I did all I could to protect life. The many pro-life laws I got through my Democrat legislature are the accomplishments that give me the most pride and personal satisfaction.

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To me, life doesn't begin at conception and end at birth. Every child deserves a quality education, first-rate health care, decent housing in a safe neighborhood, and clean air and drinking water. Every child deserves the opportunity to discover and use his God-given gifts and talents.

I believe in using existing stem cell lines for research, but I do not believe in creating life for the sole purpose of destroying it.

Mike believes Americans need to take a renewed look at life in the womb and revalue it as 100 percent human:

I believe there will come a time when we hopefully will mature enough as a nation that we will decide that every human life – whether it's white, black, male, female or in the gestation stage, or whether it's 80 years old and unable to speak – is a life that is deserving of respect and dignity.

That's where Mike Huckabee stands on abortion – and I support him for it. One more reason why he's my choice for president, and I believe we should all join his team, spread word about him and support him financially.

WWRD?

Last March, Time ran a cover story titled, "How the right went wrong," with Ronald Regan on the front cover with a tear in his eye. The article concludes with a word of wisdom:

The Gipper would probably have had little patience for all the fretting his party is doing over its brand. But he also understood because he embodied the idea that progress comes from going up against the status quo. To become "creators of the future," as he called his compatriots, he might have suggested that they look back to their past.

I agree. So what would Ronnie do? Reagan was unapologetically anti-abortion and thought every American leader and citizen should be. His now classic comment in the New York Times (9/22/80) still resounds, "I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born."

Win or lose the election, Huckabee and his supporters win, because we have not sold out our views, values and principles for our preferences and politics. And we can sleep well at night, knowing it's not us who are making Reagan roll in his grave.

Let's help Reagan and Huckabee rock – not roll

I'm not one to go down easy – never have been. Not on my watch! I call upon the conservative army across this nation to rise up and fight the tides of compromise and liberalism by standing strong on the core issues and showing its true colors now!

In the spirit of Ronald Reagan, "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."

Now let's win one more for the Gipper! Vote Huckabee in '08!

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