LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Dec. 11, 2007
Huckabee Haunted By 1992 Questionnaire
Republican Presidential Hopeful's Answers Now Differ From Those Of His First Campaign
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Republican Presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov., Mike Huckabee, makes comments during a press conference in Dallas, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. (AP)
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His statements are among 229 answers Huckabee offered as a 36-year-old Texarkana pastor during his first run for political office in 1992. In that unsuccessful race against Sen. Dale Bumpers, Huckabee offered himself as a social conservative and listed “moral decay” as one of the top problems facing the country.
Now that he's a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, he's being asked anew about some of the views and comments he expressed in the survey by The Associated Press. Over the weekend, he said he wouldn't retract answers in which he advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased funding for finding a cure and said homosexuality could pose a public health risk - though he said today he might phrase his answers “a little differently.”
Some of the words in his answers to the questionnaire are indeed strong.
Asked about gays in the military, for example, he didn't just reject the idea but added: “I believe to try to legitimize that which is inherently illegitimate would be a disgraceful act of government. I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk.”
Earlier this year, Huckabee said, “Nobody's going to find some YouTube moments of me saying something radically different than what I'm saying today.”
The full questionnaire offers in written form a chance for voters to see what he was saying as he bagan his political career.
In the questionnaire, he:
As Arkansas governor, Huckabee formed a political action committee based in Virginia to raise money for non-federal candidates that allowed him to travel and raise his profile for a potential presidential run. The Hope for America PAC shut down earlier this year as Huckabee entered the White House race.
Huckabee's vocal opposition to gay marriage and abortion have attracted evangelical Christians' support and vaulted him to the top of the field in Iowa.
But some of his earlier comments offer a harder-edged presentation of those stances than he has presented as he's tried to portray himself as a conservative who won't “scare the living daylights” out of moderates and independents.
“I think the model he saw that had been successful in other Southern states was this very hard right message and that's what seemed to be the most natural for him,” Hendrix College Political Scientist Jay Barth said when asked about the AP questionnaire.
“He's become much smarter about successfully using language that expresses views without being hard-edged,” Barth said.
Now that he's a front-runner, Huckabee himself said Tuesday he expected more attention to be paid to his years in Arkansas.
“When you're a governor for ten and half years you make thousands of decisions every year,” he said. “In office that long you're going to have a lot of decisions people can pore through. The good thing for me is a lot of campaigns instead of spending money on advertising or even campaigning, since they don't seem to have a lot of activity, are spending an enormous amount of money hiring researchers to dig through every piece of paper that was filed in Arkansas.”
Huckabee's 1992 comments on isolating AIDS patients run counter to a statement he released last month calling for increased federal funds to find a cure. Huckabee says the earlier remarks came at a time when there was confusion about how AIDS could be transmitted.
He said Tuesday he would be willing to speak with the family of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who died of AIDS in the 1980s and whose mother has objected to the 1992 Huckabee comments.
“It's so alarming to me,” Jeanne White-Ginder said in an interview with the AP.
Huckabee said when asked about the family on Tuesday, “I would be very willing to meet with them. I would tell them we've come a long way in research, in treatment. I certainly never would want to say anything that would be hurtful to them or anyone else. I would have great regret and anxiety if I thought my comments were hurtful or in any way added to the already incredible pain that families have felt regardless of how they contracted AIDS.”
On other subjects in the questionnaire, Huckabee:
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 27 CommentsFool me once (Nixon) shame on you. Fool me twice (Bush) shame on me. Fool me three times not a prayer in hell.
Gotta love those Christian GOPers and their values...GREED, DISHONESTY, GET OR CLING TO POWER AT ALL COST, NO ACCOUNTABILITY, and always with a hand out at the ready to accept gifts, bribes, or other favors!
Posted by ozilot at 08:38 AM : Dec 12, 2007
So true and well said I almost spit my lunch out reading the word Fred Phelps = Mike Hillbilly!
Posted by realpatriot1 at 08:16 AM : Dec 12, 2007
(I heard his preacher with my own ears and read his ''church''s manifesto with my own eyes! Perhaps it is a case of you only seeing what they want ''outsiders'' to see....not the ''behind the curtain'' dirty truth?)
Republicans always have to backpeddle from their REAL opinions to get elected. In other words LIE!
There was a Great book out a few years ago called - Take them at their word.
It''s time we start making Republicans Practice what they preach. Make them stand up and EXPECT to be judged by what they say and do. Not just what they do.
Remember, all good Facism starts with Lying Republicans! Germany, Iran, Iraq, North Korea etc........
Posted by dutchman57 at 08:23 AM : Dec 12, 2007
How are we to trust Ron Paul when his followers make assumed accusations? In effect; lies? So you''re lying to get Ron Paul elected based on his integrity? What a moronic, hypacritical position.
Ron Paul very well might be a good leader for this country. I wouldn''t know as I''ve quit reading after the first day or two fo hijacks and spam.
Obama doesn''t have to be haunted because his church is not a black separatist church. As I''ve pointed out to you before that charge is total ***.
I''ve attended United Church of Christ services with primarily white, primarily black, and totally mixed Congregations. It''s a mainline protestant church with a decidedly liberal take on the gospel but it preaches inclusiveness for all people(that''s the liberal part).
Hillary isn''t haunted because she apparently doesn''t have a soul(that''s a joke Hillary supporters);however, her involvement with Hsu was well covered as it should''ve been.
Huckabee''s religion is not relevant to him seeking the Presidency but his statements in seeking public office are relevant.
Someone tell CBS that a statement in one context does NOT mean the same in another though worded the same... Folks need to take things into perspective.
You folks need to take a look at Duncan Hunter. The guy''s got a strong foundation.
I know why. It''s because the LAMEstream media is biased to the left.
I said he was wrong in 1992, what exactly do you disagree with. My point to you all was that, unlike true gay bashers he''s changed since 1992. That doesn''t excuse his earlier stance which should be factored in when people judge his candidacy.
I just don''t see him as someone who in 2007 wants to put gay people in concentration camps. I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignornace, for him and for you.
One disclaimer; I''m not a Huckabee supporter and there''s no chance in hell that I''ll vote for him but I don''t think he''s the great Satan either(I save that designation for Guliani & Romney).
Called the federal welfare system %u201Cdisgraceful%u201D and said the burden should be shifted from the federal government to local communities.
Except when he wants to give taxpayer money to illegal aliens'' free education. He will be another "compassionate" big government neocon. Ron Paul refused to take the lucrative congressional pension and returns his unused office budget money to the treasury every year. That''s character. No boondogle will get past his veto. RP is a real christian, not a "christian leader" hypocrite, and keeps it in the closet as Jesus advised.
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Posted by SgtRDS
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That is absolutely right. By 92, everyone knew how you got AIDS, and more importantly, didn''t. He is lying, again.
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Please Republicans, pick this guy, please......
Posted by realpatriot1 at 09:20 PM : Dec 11, 2007
I disagree. In 1992 it was widely known that AIDS couldn''t be spread through casual contact and only the most rabid anti-ga*ys were still spreading that myth around.
11. He believes in creationism, which makes him a religious wacko.
The important point to note is that he''s demonstrated a capacity to change. That''s a capacity that''s been
in short supply in his party recently and especially in the White House.
As liberals we should applaud that and hope that he can inspire other conservatives to learn to do the same.
It also wouldn''t hurt for liberlas to broaden their perspective and lose some of their small-minded and sterotypical thinking either.
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