Mike Huckabee can't (and won't) shed his Baptist Minister identity while he is running for President. The Evangelical already has one massive victory in Iowa under his belt and is gunning for South Carolina in a few short days from now. Instead of talking about policies, issues and for the most part, empty rhetoric, Huckabee forgot about GOP politicking and went straight for the rabidly religious' guts. He started preaching.
From the AP:
"The criteria to get into heaven is you have to be not good, but perfect. That's the real challenge in it," he said at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a megachurch with 6,000 members.
"On that day, when I pull up, I'll be asked, `Do you have what it takes to get in?'" Huckabee said. "And if I ask, `Well, what does it take to get in?' 'Gotta be perfect.'"
"Well, I'm afraid I don't have that, but you know what, I won't be there alone that day. Somebody is going to be with me. His name is Jesus, and he's promised that he would never leave me or forsake me," he said.
Huckabee didn't ask for votes or discuss the campaign, but senior pastor Michael S. Hamlet encouraged the congregation to vote according to how they try to live their lives, by the principles of Bible scripture.
"I'm going to tell you something, when you go vote, you ought to follow those principles," Hamlet said.
Welcome to Evangelical land, where the belief is that religion and government go hand in hand, and those silly founding fathers had no idea what they were talking about. For years Republican candidates placated these people, singing to their choir while they crossed their fingers and toes at the same time. Evangelical votes were great, but not enough to adhere to their every desire.
Now that Huckabee, one of their own is running, many bible belters see the promised land ahead and are coming out in droves for a very likeable guy. Now, what scares the shit out of a progressive like me is music to their ears. He is very open about turning our democracy into a Christian nation, and there are plenty of parishioners that are willing to follow along.
|