Pat Buchanan Calls It A “Religious War”
I wish Pat Buchanan’s Real Clear Politics piece today were not entitled “The Mitt-Mike Religious War.” If there is anything like war going on, Romney did not seek it or start it, and calling it war does a disservice to the entire debate.
And yet . . . once Huckabee started down this path, he either had to know what would result, or he is a fool. Either way, Huck doesn’t look good at all. If he knew he would start a religious battle, then he is a political cynic of the first order. If he thought his tactics would have no ill results, then he is not smart enough to be president. I think Huckabee is plenty smart; that’s not the problem here.
I also think Buchanan’s analysis of the race, and of the significance of Iowa, is compelling (and I don’t often say that about pundits). If he is right, then unlike in past campaigns, Iowa is very significant to the future course of the race, and so is The Question.
Who would have ever thought we would come to this point? I view this all with a mixture of dread, amazement, sadness and excitement. As Buchanan states:
This is not the wonkish stuff of which so much politics is now made. This is high-voltage, and faith and morality are likely to be major issues in political debate in the weeks between now and the first engagements of 2008.
Read the whole thing.
John comments: Huckabee has made this very hard for me. On the one hand I have a number of friends and associates that are working for Huckabee, people I truly respect, admire, and have worked with in the past. This makes me very circumspect when it comes to the rhetoric I choose regarding Huckabee. A lot of people backing him do so out of sincerity and the best of motives.
However, the way he has chosen to invoke religion in this campaign and his political career is so wrong, so un-American. He is not the first, of course. Pat Robertson would be a prior example, and, frankly so would be Joseph Smith.
But it is very different in this campaign, this campaign features for the first time in history, a serious Mormon candidate, and at least as defined by some, perhaps many, rightly or wrongly, the first serious “non-Christian” candidate in history.
Romney’s significance in the race is what has given Huckabee serious traction himself. Without Romney, Huckabee would be no more than Robertson, a political oddity with some influence and an Iowa win. However, in this race, with Romney present, his blatant appeals to his faith play directly on the faith suspicions of many.
Rather than allow America to grow, as we have done in the past with things like race and gender, Huckabee, ably aided by the press, stands as an impediment to that growth. He played the religion card rather than set it to the side, as has been the great American tradition.
As a son of Mississippi, for decades after the civil rights legislation of the early ’60’s I watched racism played in precisely the way Huckabee is playing the religion card. “Oh, of course race doesn’t matter, but look at what a smart white man I am.”
It simply is not enough not to talk bad about the other. The absence of bias means not talking about the basis of the bias at all.
It saddens me deeply that it is my co-religionist that has taken the low road on this issue.
Posted in Political Strategy, Religious Bigotry | 2 Comments » | 
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HaroldHutchison on 11 Dec 2007 at 12:41 pm #
Looking at the latest Rasmussen, it looks as if Huckabee has succeeded.
It means I get to fundamentally re-evaluate my relationship with social conservatism. In essence, Mitt Romney, a candidate with a superb resume for the job of President of the United States has been ruled out in favor of a candidate with an inferior resume and track record, because he is Mormon.
In essence, I have been told by the social conservatives that I am not wanted or welcome unless I know my place.
Screw that.
coltakashi on 12 Dec 2007 at 9:49 pm #
My recollection is that Pat Buchanan’s sister and political collaborator, Bay Buchanan, is LDS. I would therefore assume he has a sincere interest in seeing Mormons being treated fairly and not have their worthiness as Americans denied by those who wish to convert religious partisanship into political partisanship.