TO HUCKABEE OR NOT TO HUCKABEE?

Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

It is hard to get a handle on this Huckabee phenomenon. He seems like a regular Joe with not a lot of experience but honest and true to his convictions. Perhaps some of the hype is wishful thinking by the left leaning press who are trying to get a weaker candidate nominated by the Republicans to help whatever Democrat survives that political cluster f_ _ _. Whatever the reason, it is interesting to read in a recent article how he is bashing Bush and his foreign policy, calling it an “arrogant bunker mentality”;

"American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out," Huckabee said. "The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States' main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists."- apnews.myway.com

Mr. Huckabee apparently has fallen prey to eight years of Bush bashing and believes that everyone thinks Bush is a “cowboy” and a diplomatic dunce when it come to dealing with foreign nations. What Mr. Huckabee should be doing is learning from one of the greatest leaders in American history, Ronald Reagan, when he said; "Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican."

President Bush has made plenty of mistakes and his illegal immigration and border policies are a disaster, but for the most part, he is a good leader, and has protected America from terrorism. In retrospect, Bush was certainly a far superior choice compared to the self serving spineless alternatives who opposed him in the last two presidential elections. All Mr. Huckabee is doing by bashing the President is causing fellow Republicans to become defensive to his opinion and giving more political fuel to the left. This could cause concern to anyone thinking of supporting him.

As a former governor of Arkansas, Mr. Huckabee admits he has little if any foreign policy experience;
“Huckabee has previously joked about his lack of experience in international affairs.”I may not be the expert as some people on foreign policy, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night," he said earlier this month.”-apnews.myway.com

This sort of banter reminds me of what those on the left say whenever they are asked how they would handle foreign policies; it is always an answer like, “I will negotiate diplomatically”, or something to that affect.

To put forward his ideas of how he would handle international policies is fine, but not at the expense of others on his side of the political fence. Looking back and blaming and pointing fingers does nothing to instill confidence in a man looking to be the president of the greatest power in the world today. He needs to point out the positives and ignore the negatives. America needs a visionary not another politician running against other people’s supposed flaws. The leader who is constantly looking backwards will fail to see the obstacles ahead and will never be ready to deal with them. As this campaign continues it will be interesting to see if Mr. Huckabee self destructs much like Dean did in 2004. The Holiday Inn might be asking him to stay somewhere else to avoid bad publicity if this keeps up.