Huckabee Courts Confederate Vote
Tommy Christopher
Contributor
Posted:
01/18/08
The New York Times reports that former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee came to the defense of the Confederate flag while campaigning in South Carolina:
An independent group called Americans for the Preservation of American Culture is now running radio ads praising Huckabee's stance and attacking fellow GOP candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain. Veracifier has the ads below.
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<br /><br />Interestingly, the announcer in the ad says, "In South Carolina, we're proud to be Southerners," yet he sounds like he's from Indiana.
I don't want to get into the whole debate about the flag. Nobody is saying you can't fly the flag on your lawn or at your business. State property, however, belongs to members of the United States of America. When I want to show that I'm proud to be from New Jersey, I fly the Jets flag, but I don't expect anyone to run it up the flagpole in Trenton. If only.
There may be a legitimate gray area (pardon the pun) with regard to the historical significance of the flag and those who died for it, but the folks I see displaying it don't really look all that much like historians. Any reasonable person would see that whatever weight is on that side of the scale is a feather compared to the weight of terror and misery on the other.
Even if you just want to display the flag because you're a bigot, that's fine. This is a free country, and all in all, I think we'd rather know who you are.
I foresee Huckabee defending this as a purely abstract and principled stand, but there are several problems with that. First of all, he brought it up. By doing so, he demonstrates either a wish to contrast his principles with John McCain's on a purely states-rights basis, or a desire to actively court pro-Confederate voters. The fact that he is silent on his personal feelings about the flag versus his opinion of its legal status speaks to the latter choice.
This story should effectively end Huckabee's shot at the GOP nod. Americans may have been ready for a President who hasn't gotten past the Scopes Monkey Trial, but I don't think any of them wants to fight the Civil War again.
Update: Here are 2 videos on McCain and the Confederate flag. One is from Brave New Films, briefly showing some "classic" McCain straight talk. The other is of pro-flag protesters in South Carolina on Tuesday.
"You don't like people from outside the state coming in and telling you what to do with your flag," Mr. Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, told supporters in Myrtle Beach, according to The Associated Press. "In fact," he said, "if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole; that's what we'd do."He declined to elaborate on exactly what would be done with the pole, but in a general election, the answer for voters may be to not touch Huckabee with the 10 foot variety of it.
An independent group called Americans for the Preservation of American Culture is now running radio ads praising Huckabee's stance and attacking fellow GOP candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain. Veracifier has the ads below.
+
<br /><br />Interestingly, the announcer in the ad says, "In South Carolina, we're proud to be Southerners," yet he sounds like he's from Indiana.
I don't want to get into the whole debate about the flag. Nobody is saying you can't fly the flag on your lawn or at your business. State property, however, belongs to members of the United States of America. When I want to show that I'm proud to be from New Jersey, I fly the Jets flag, but I don't expect anyone to run it up the flagpole in Trenton. If only.
There may be a legitimate gray area (pardon the pun) with regard to the historical significance of the flag and those who died for it, but the folks I see displaying it don't really look all that much like historians. Any reasonable person would see that whatever weight is on that side of the scale is a feather compared to the weight of terror and misery on the other.
Even if you just want to display the flag because you're a bigot, that's fine. This is a free country, and all in all, I think we'd rather know who you are.
I foresee Huckabee defending this as a purely abstract and principled stand, but there are several problems with that. First of all, he brought it up. By doing so, he demonstrates either a wish to contrast his principles with John McCain's on a purely states-rights basis, or a desire to actively court pro-Confederate voters. The fact that he is silent on his personal feelings about the flag versus his opinion of its legal status speaks to the latter choice.
This story should effectively end Huckabee's shot at the GOP nod. Americans may have been ready for a President who hasn't gotten past the Scopes Monkey Trial, but I don't think any of them wants to fight the Civil War again.
Update: Here are 2 videos on McCain and the Confederate flag. One is from Brave New Films, briefly showing some "classic" McCain straight talk. The other is of pro-flag protesters in South Carolina on Tuesday.
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