Huck's Rising

Anyone who has been following the Presidential race or for that matter, just listened to the news over the last two days probably knows there was a Presidential primary in Iowa Thursday night and the eventual winners were a bit of a surprise to the political pundits and so called experts. Obama won on the Democratic side with 38% and Huckabee won on the Republican side with 34%

I personally think it is rather silly to put so much weight on who a handful of people in Iowa or New Hampshire and South Carolina think should be the President. But ever since Jimmy Carter won Iowa and went on to win the Presidency our news media seems to think the people in these states have a better grasp over the political climate than anyone else. The news media certainly does not have a grasp as evidenced once again by the "surprising results" out of Iowa.

If you have been a constant reader of the blog, you probably know I am a Mike Huckabee supporter. I know he is not perfect and his record for 10 years as Arkansas's Governor while solid did involve some things I personally would not agree with. At the same time I feel he is best option from the mixed "GOP candidate" bag. I have talked to a number of people who like Huckabee but feel he has no chance to win the nomination so they would rather sit back and see what happens before they make a political decision.

This is, in my opinion a reflection of the lack of backbone in our society. You like a candidate, but you don't think he will win the nomination so you are not going to support him?? Of course he will not win if people have that thought process! In order to enact change you have to be willing to stand up and support a candidate because he is the best candidate for the job regardless of if you think he will win or not. People sometimes are content to let the process move along and then after the conventions are held and Presidential candidates are decided on, then they will support whomever their party's nomination is.

If this is how you operate when it comes to elections, I would encourage you to not be complacent and rely on your political party to pick who they want as President, which will happen if people don't take some time to read about the candidates and their positions. (This does not mean listening to the news media and who they think would be a good choice, as evidenced once again by the Iowa primaries, they rarely have as firm a grasp as they would want you to believe.) Once you have studied all the candidates, make an educated decision on who you personally feel should run for President long before the your party does and then support 100% whomever you choose!

For me that candidate is Mike Huckabee, like I mentioned above, he is not perfect and he has done things I would not agree with but I feel he is the best man for the job regardless of those negatives. I would much rather support Huckabee in a losing cause than be drawn into supporting "Rockefeller Republicans" like Giuliani or Romney. The fact that Huckabee even with paltry fund raising, (2.4 Million vs. $63 million for Romney and $47 million for Giuliani) won in Iowa shows that people are not quite ready to turn in their social conservative badges which is rather encouraging to me.

It is my hope that Mike Huckabee gets the GOP nomination but even after that, the fight against the Democratic nomination, (which I have believed for a while will be Obama, his win in Iowa just caused me to be more firm in my position) will be an uphill battle. As Christians we just have to remember that no matter what happens in November, God is the ruler of the universe and He is in control no matter what happens or who sits in the Oval Office.

Also, regardless if you are a Republican or Democrat tonight would be a good chance to learn some more about the candidates for both parties. ABC is televising debates for both parties starting with the Republicans at 7pm EST tonight. Just remember to push mute when George Stephanopoulos decides to come on and give his thoughts. ;)