Monday, December 10, 2007
I Like Mike
First off, as I have been selected for Federal Service, I am no longer in the running for President on the Unity 08 ticket. This has me searching for another Christian Libertarian/Leftist to run instead.
Lately, my online activism has been expressed in writing for The Free Liberal. Carl Milstead posited that Ron Paul might be a good occupant for the territory left empty by the major parties: communal libertarians. I countered that Dennis Kucinich and Mike Huckabee might also occupy this space.
Ron Paul has been doing great fundraising and is certainly attracting many small and large L libertarians. Whether he will win the GOP nomination is another matter.
Dennis Kucinich, although the darling of the progressives, does not seem to be picking up where Mrs. Clinton is stumbling.
Mike Huckabee is taking off, big time. While some of his positions are hardly libertarian, he may be the least objectionable of the Republicans. Here are the points in his favor:
He is a two-term governor, which means he will likely do a better job than any member of the House or Senate (the former are hardly ever elected and the latter are only re-elected 50% of the time).
Unlike the other Republicans, he is not in favor of abandoning 14th Amendment jurisprudence to overturn abortion - meaning he does not believe in a states rights solution, which if used as the key to overturn Roe, would put all federal supremacy on civil rights and equal protection matters in jeapordy. He realizes that giving rights to the fetus, if done, must be a national decision.
He will not create a permanent underclass or put women in the position of being unable to get an abortion while also denying them social services or income support for their children. The hardline conservatives attack him for this. For me, a member of the Christian Left, this is a plus.
Unlike Rudy Guiliani, he does not have a record supporting the denial of civil liberty in the war on terror. The more I hear about Rudy, the more he scares me (from his hardline security stances to his likely choices for judicial nominations).
Given the likely choices, I like Mike.
Lately, my online activism has been expressed in writing for The Free Liberal. Carl Milstead posited that Ron Paul might be a good occupant for the territory left empty by the major parties: communal libertarians. I countered that Dennis Kucinich and Mike Huckabee might also occupy this space.
Ron Paul has been doing great fundraising and is certainly attracting many small and large L libertarians. Whether he will win the GOP nomination is another matter.
Dennis Kucinich, although the darling of the progressives, does not seem to be picking up where Mrs. Clinton is stumbling.
Mike Huckabee is taking off, big time. While some of his positions are hardly libertarian, he may be the least objectionable of the Republicans. Here are the points in his favor:
He is a two-term governor, which means he will likely do a better job than any member of the House or Senate (the former are hardly ever elected and the latter are only re-elected 50% of the time).
Unlike the other Republicans, he is not in favor of abandoning 14th Amendment jurisprudence to overturn abortion - meaning he does not believe in a states rights solution, which if used as the key to overturn Roe, would put all federal supremacy on civil rights and equal protection matters in jeapordy. He realizes that giving rights to the fetus, if done, must be a national decision.
He will not create a permanent underclass or put women in the position of being unable to get an abortion while also denying them social services or income support for their children. The hardline conservatives attack him for this. For me, a member of the Christian Left, this is a plus.
Unlike Rudy Guiliani, he does not have a record supporting the denial of civil liberty in the war on terror. The more I hear about Rudy, the more he scares me (from his hardline security stances to his likely choices for judicial nominations).
Given the likely choices, I like Mike.
