Confirming earlier suspicions, Huckabee is more than happy to lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas… or in this case, anti-Catholic bigots:
I have nothing personally against Mike Huckabee, he seems like a nice guy and a good governor. Now it comes out that Huckabee will be speaking at the Cornerstone Church in Texas. What NRO has discovered is that the pastor at said church, John Hagee, is an anit-Catholic bigot.
Now Chris Beer is a Giuliani supporter (we all have our faults), but he does ring home a salient point. Attacking Catholics — or associating yourself with those who do — is a stupid, stupid political move.
I know Huckabee is under intense scrutiny as the new frontrunner, and I’m more than happy to pile on because of his positions of fiscal policy. But for all the efforts to consolidate the evangelical Christian base, let’s hope that Huckabee doesn’t do this at the expense of sectarianism.
Unfortunately, there are many Catholics who might be compelled to see Romney as “the Mormon Al Smith” and sympathize. Similarily, Catholics as a demographic probably yet to choose their favorite candidate. Someone with strong pro-life credentials and a eye towards social justice will be that person… but not if there is even a hint of prejudice against religious liberty.
One more item: Let’s remember that Bush captured 57% of the Catholic vote, not because of anything he personally did but rather because of the tremendous backlash against a nominally-Catholic John Kerry. Kerry offended, and Catholic voters today will be very cautious, looking for reasons to vote against a candidate rather than for one.
Lesson? Don’t give hearings to anti-Catholic bigots. Chris Beer is right.