Huckabee and Catholics - A Catholic Deacon Pegs it

sI just read a very interesting article on Catholic Online. That is COMMENTARY: Huckabee and Catholics . I recommend reading the whole thing. However the good Catholic Deacon pegs it right on in this part:

It appears that the establishment was wrong. Along comes another former Governor from Hope, Arkansas, with a message that cannot be pigeonholed, an appealing manner and style, and an ability to draw from diverse constituencies, to upset the playbook of both major parties. His name is Mike Huckabee. Now, the real strategy of opposition has begun. One of the efforts, a standard opposition research approach, is to plumb the candidate’s past and attempt to paint the future with a brush dipped in out of context quotes

. I understand this approach. I have been involved in political campaigns and know that every campaign has an opposition research strategy. We can expect a careful reading of the formerly active Baptist ministers’ sermons for weeks to come. Of course, many Americans can quickly discern what is happening. They know that this candidate was a Baptist preacher. They also know we are not electing him to be the Nations pastor but the Nations President. They have listened to him in the debates and they are beginning to pay attention to his public policy positions. This approach has little staying power. No, the real opposition strategy is the one that is only now winding up in the playbook. The effort consists in intentionally evoking fear in the electorate by insinuating that Governor Huckabee is an ‘intolerant fundamentalist’ kind of Christian who will seek to force his narrow faith upon the rest of the Nation.

You see this strategy lurking behind so many of the stories and the statements coming from the establishment of both major parties. The long and the short of this approach will be to paint Mike Huckabee as the candidate of “the Evangelicals”, a term which has sadly become a code word for “the fundamentalists.” It falls just short of accusing the former governor of being a closet Theocrat, a kind of “extremist” of the Christian variety. Not only is the approach anti-Christian and bigoted, it also fails to see the growing ability that this candidate seems to have to reach into many diverse constituencies. His recent crowds have shown his increasing appeal.

They have also shown some unexpected demographics, such as an uncanny capacity to speak to youth. Demographic analysis shows Mike Huckabee cutting across many of the categories. The unexpected shocker that very few of the pundits and prognosticators expect is Mike Huckabees growing support among Catholics. Catholics, at least those who heed the continuing direction from their Church leaders, are obligated to inform their conscience by the social teaching of their Church and vote accordingly. Among the ways that this teaching can be grouped is one that I have used for years. This approach is what I have called the “four pillars of participation”, life, family, freedom and solidarity.

This is what truly disturbs me. PEople are trying to say that Huckabee is trying to divide. Even Rush goes on about ID politics. But this article points out who the real people pushing division are

Also Rod Dehrer at Cruncy Con again brilliantly points out the double standard here at A Huck double standard.

Oh and Fighting Irish Thomas has a good response to a popular Catholic apologist online here at Missing the “Mark”—Oh, Shea can't you see (that Huckabee has heart)