Huckabauer

In the midst of an engaging back-and-forth with Reihan about Mike Huckabee, Daniel Larison writes:

Incidentally, aside from his having an agreeable personality and executive experience, what substantially distinguishes Huckabee’s social conservatism plus populist streak from a similar Gary Bauer-type candidacy? What policies does Huckabee advocate that should make him more appealing than a Bauer?

Right, that's the rub: Huckabee has the rhetoric of a reformist (Sam's Club?) Republican, but when it comes to interesting domestic policy ideas that distinguish him from the rest of the field, he's got ... um ... this. (The Ponnuru plan, meanwhile, which would be an obvious fit with his rhetoric, languishes without a GOP champion.) Still, even without much in the way of innovative policy proposals, having the whole "agreeable personality and executive experience" thing down isn't small potatoes: Gary Bauer, after all, was a D.C. activist with little charisma and next-to-zero leadership experience, and as such (and I like Gary Bauer!) was a preposterous standard-bearer for any kind of reformist conservatism, whereas Mike Huckabee is a successful and popular former governor of a red-to-purple state, whose track record in government compares favorably to most of his competitors in the GOP field. There's no question that Huckabee would need to flesh out his agenda to make himself anything more than an early-primary spoiler, and I agree with Daniel that there may be more-impressive candidates waiting to take up the "different kind of Republican" mantle come 2012. But even now, he's a vastly more interesting political figure than Gary Bauer ever was.

Comments

There's no question that Huckabee would need to flesh out his agenda to make himself anything more than an early-primary spoiler, and I agree with Daniel that there may be more-impressive candidates waiting to take up the "different kind of Republican" mantle come 2012.

How understated. There may be more impressive Republican candidates out there. That's probably a reasonable inference from the observation that each current Republican candidate is, in one way or another, a huge goofus.

To me, looking at the candidates' organizations and their fundraising thus far, it appears that the smart Republican money is off the table for this round. When it returns in 2012, I imagine Huckabee (and his much despised tax plan) will not be well remembered if he's remembered at all--though, yes, he does seem like a nice fellow.

Posted by southpaw | October 20, 2007 1:35 PM

The agreeable personality Larison dismissively swats away is a huge part of the difference. I'm a pretty secular liberal, and while I may disagree with Mike Huckabee on almost every major issue, but he consistently strikes me as someone I could hold a reasoned, calm, respectful discussion with. He seems to be a genuinely pleasant and /nice/ person. Every time I've seen Gary Bauer speak, he comes across as a shrill, wimpish, bitter man who wants to feel empowered by having the government enforce his likes and dislikes. If he weren't such a flaming wuss, his pretense of fanaticism would be a little frightening.

Posted by allen | October 20, 2007 10:48 PM

I didn't realise that I was swatting anything away. I understand that his personality is a key factor in his greater popularity and success. I asked the question because there seems to be an idea that Huckabee's charm also comes with some significantly different kind of social conservatism in which he cares about arts programs, etc., but in the current campaign Huckabee doesn't seem to be proposing anything boldly reformist or different from the usual social conservative line. Also, his "I grew up so poor I used Lava Soap" populist routine sounds an awful lot like Candidate Bauer talking about his father the janitor at every possible opportunity. There probably are substantive policy differences between them, but they weren't springing to mind.

Posted by Daniel Larison | October 21, 2007 7:41 PM

Huckabee is a neocon through and through. Just look at the "big three": interventionism, trade, and immigration. Huckabee is a hyperinterventionist, wanting to continue neocon wars in Middle East, and has recently been utilizing pseudoChristian rhetoric about "human rights" in Darfur. Regarding free trade, he supports the continuation of our suicidal trade agreements, which are destroying our economy and undermining our sovereignty. And on immigration, he supports the third-world invasion of the U.S., which squarely puts him in the treason camp. No thanks.

Posted by Bede | October 22, 2007 9:04 AM