Wiping the mud from my eyes: Why I am supporting Mike Huckabee.

When Josh and I started this blog a few months ago, we had just one thing in mind: finding a 2008 Presidential candidate we could get behind and writing about how that candidate fits as our leader. Well, we might have had a few other things in mind, but largely we wanted to in some small way contribute to the ongoing conversation in a blogosphere that is largely void of conservative voices.

Josh and I are unashamed conservatives. I'm so conservative, I actually took an 8x10 glossy photograph of Ronald Regan to my kindergarten class in 1986 for show and tell. No lie. Ask my kindergarten teacher... I promise you she remembers it.

Now, I will give you that Ron Paul says a lot of things that make sense. The only problem is that he has absolutely zero credibility and quite honestly comes of sounding like more of a pip-squeak than a leader.

I was originally a "Fred-Head". I really thought that from what he said before he entered the race he had a fresh outlook on things and probably could take the nomination. I guess I still have some respect for Fred. I think the ideas are still there, I think he could be the right man for the job in some ways, but I have been disappointed with his lack of visibility. He was supposed to cannon-ball into this race, but instead he slowly waded down the steps in the shallow end of the pool.

Guiliani is about as conservative in my view as someone who wears birkenstocks, drives a VW Bug that has a sticker that says "Pro-Choice" and regularly voluntarily eats tofu.

Romney gives me the creeps. I can't really explain it. I guess there are some questions I would want answered about his faith. The LDS church isn't exactly open about their true beliefs, and while I guess he probably wouldn't do a horrible job, I'd be more comfortable with someone who believes in things that we all have open access to. I also hate that everyone wants to make a big issue about people like me wanting answers about someone's faith. No one bats an eye at someone who is a Baptist or a Methodist being questioned about their faith. Why should the LDS church be any different?

I digress.

I met Mike Huckabee a couple of times while he was Governor of Arkansas. When I worked in Little Rock he came through once a month or so and did a live radio show from one of my studios. He's a nice guy. Seems alright to me. From the beginning of the race I didn't really think he had the appeal to take the nomination, much less win the general election but after Fred Thompson fizzled, I think a lot of people did exactly like I did and took a look at Huck.

Gov. Huckabee so far hasn't said anything I passionately disagree with. As with anyone, there are things we don't agree 100% about, but no candidate is perfect. I like his answers on faith issues. So far i'm good with his answers on Immigration. I don't like that he was in favor of the scholorships for children of illegal immigrants, but I can see his point: They are going to be here, they should be able to contribute to our society, not just leech off of it.

I think that ultimately the thing I like most about Huck is that he doesn't sling mud, or hasn't yet at least. Sure, he'll take a jab at someone about something but there have been no multi-million dollar ad campains telling you that "some other candidate does certain things with certain farm animals, but i'm just sayin...."

Huck seems to be keeping it all above board, and I like that. I think that a true sign of a good leader is the ability to accept criticism, but only hand it out when you have a logical and well thought out statement that is factual and above reproach. I think that the quote of undetermined origin that says "It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt" is a great way to sum up what I want to hear from a politician who wants my vote. Keep it simple, keep it truthful, don't say things that you will have to apologize for... the media will create enough of those for you.

I'm sure at some point his campaign will say something about someone and at that point i'm sure i'll be left with no other choice but to ignore it or just accept it and move on. The fact that we've made it this far without falling into the pit of mud is amazing.

I guess time will tell, but with Hillary falling further behind, I think a Huckabee - Obama race could turn out greatly in favor of the GOP.

I"ll post more later on why I think the moderate-conservative Democratic base (yes I think they exist) won't vote for Barack Huessein Obama.