"But only Buchanan enjoyed significant electoral success combining economic populism with cultural conservatism. The problem for Huckabee is that a conservative alternative to the GOP front-runners will need support from both the economic and social right. And fiscal conservatives aren't fond of men from Hope who accuse tax-cutters of greed."While I think Antle correctly characterizes Huckabee's message, I think he overstates the significance--in practical terms, of Huckabee's rhetoric.
I think there is a difference between (a) using the bully pulpit of elected office to influence the culture and (b) using one's office to impose your values through laws and regulations. I think Huckabee fully appreciates the difference. And while I don't think Huckabee is disingenuous in speaking up for values like "greed is immoral," I don't think he has any plans to outlaw greed.
A candidate's values and character--even if not directly translated into policy, can bolster his credibility and assuage or blunt the edge of policy proposals. For those candidates of the Libertarian or Conservative persuasion, it can be especially important to give the voter confidence that your rationale for not wanting to, for example, open up the public coffers for any and every supplicant is not rooted in enmity or hard-heartedness. And if a voter is convinced--by looking at Huckabee's life and record and rhetoric, that he is sympathetic to "middle class" or "blue collar" concerns then that voter will be more inclined to accept Huckabee's Conservative solutions, solutions which rarely are as "generous" as their Liberal counterpart.
I think people like Nashville blogger Sarah Moore appreciate this quality about Mike Huckabee, and I it is perhaps his greatest strength as a candidate.
Also over at WisdomisVindicated.
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