Speaker Howell Endorses Huckabee
By Greg L | 17 August 2007 | National Politics, Virginia Politics | 10 Comments
House Speaker William Howell has endorsed Mike Huckabee for president, according to a DC Examiner article which was posted this evening. On the heels of Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling endorsing Mitt Romney, it looks like the political establishment is in a rush to get involved in the presidential primaries, and we’re going to learn a little bit about these elected officials in the process.
Huckabee is a pretty solid candidate, and I think he’s worthy of some serious consideration. He might not be my top choice at the moment, but of the top tier and emerging top-tier candidates, this is someone I would vastly prefer to someone like Mitt Romney, who tolerated three separate jurisdictions with sanctuary policies towards illegal aliens during his governorship and who now is claiming to have “found religion” on this issue, just as he is claiming to have discovered the same unwaiverable convictions toward protecting life after having been a supporter of abortion on demand. I can’t trust Romney, since his convictions seem to shift whenever the political winds blow in a different direction. Huckabee at least has been consistent, and generally right on the issues, and while he is not one of the candidates who seem to completely understand the significance and scope of the illegal alien problem in America, he at least gets the general outlines pretty well and has been consistent.
While Bolling is trying to get in early form someone he’s probably convinced is going to be a winner, Speaker Howell definitely seems to be acting out of conviction here. That to me puts Speaker Howell up a notch in the political sweepstakes, and should make folks start wondering if he’s going to take a shot at statewide office in the next election — something he demonstrably would be well qualified for after herding cats for so long in the General Assembly with good results. An endorsement like this isn’t going to enable Speaker Howell to envision dreams of an important White House appointment, as Huckabee still is significantly an outsider in the presidential sweepstakes, but to me that’s the point here. I’d rather see politically influential Virginians go out on a limb for the underdog, rather than jump on a bandwagon of someone considered by many to be a front-runner here in what appears to me as a political power play. It’s a demonstration of character over calculation.
I’d still prefer that Speaker Howell had come out supporting Duncan Hunter or Tom Tancredo, but Huckabee isn’t a bad pick at all, and making that pick now is a gutsy, and probably politically courageous move. We could use more of that. Huckabee and Howell are pretty consistent politically, which makes this a heck of a lot more reasonable than Bolling’s endorsement of Romney, who demonstrably has significant disconnects with Bill Bolling’s professed conservative positions on the issues, unless you selectively consider his more recent statements and disregard his past performance.
Of note, Attorney General Bob McDonnell is still considering the different candidates and hasn’t endorsed anyone yet. Might he be the wisest of the bunch?
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This is all nonsense…. Fred will steamroll these guys when he announces around labor day. Among other things, Fred has said: “You can’t have national security without border security.” and “Those who want to immigrate into America need to knock, identify themselves, and ask permission first.”
source: http://imwithfred.com
see also: http://FredForPresident.com
http://Vets4Fred.net
http://PWC4Fred.com
just a note from the AP:
Governor Huckabee risks political fortunes to denounce immigration raid
Date: Thursday, August 18 @ 21:19:38 CDT
Topic: immigration and customs enforcement
You can forget the run for President now Governor Mike Huckabee
LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Gov. Mike Huckabee says he’s not afraid of risking his political future by speaking out against a recent immigration raid at an Arkadelphia poultry plant even though calls to his office have been “about 1,000 to one” against his stance.
Governor Mike Huckabee, sellout, pro-illegal immigration, illegal, immigrants, Legal Americans, campaigns, Republican, Democrat
By MELISSA NELSON
Associated Press Writer
August 5, 2005
“Most of the people that call are irate and using profanity. This is a very emotional issue. It evokes not only deep emotion, but causes irrational emotion,” Huckabee told The Associated Press on Friday.
The move has strengthened support for the governor among national Hispanic civil rights advocates and could bode well for a Republican leader of the National Governors Association with presidential ambitions.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents arrested 119 illegal workers July 26 in the raid at a Petit Jean poultry plant, sending 107 out of the country either voluntarily or through deportation. The raid drew the ire of many in the community because about 30 children were left behind when their parents were arrested.
The governor’s office has joined with the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, Catholic Charities and the League of United Latin American Citizens to ensure the well-being of the children.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister, said his support for the state’s growing Hispanic population has to do with compassion, not politics. But longtime University of Arkansas at Little Rock political science professor Art English said there could be a political upside for Huckabee.
“It seems like immigration is not the most popular issue in the world to take a stand on but we are talking about kids,” English said. “It looks like the federal government is being a great bully and these people are not committing great crimes. The outcome is these people don’t have their mom or dad.”
Friday, Huckabee said his repeated calls to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement officials about the raid have gone unanswered and he has asked the Bush administration to investigate the circumstances of the raid.
“(Federal agents) seem to be as indifferent in dealing with us as they are in dealing with children,” he said.
Temple Black, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans, said the office was not avoiding calls from the governor and would be happy to talk with him.
“We are always open to good communications,” he said.
Immigration officials have said they raided the plant after auditing the company’s records. The raid followed the February identity-theft conviction of an Arkadelphia woman who admitted she unlawfully sold identity documents and Social Security cards.
Immigration agents said many workers illegally purchased U.S. birth certificates and Social Security cards, then used the documents to obtain ID cards, bearing their photos, from the state of Arkansas. The cards were used to obtain employment.
Huckabee said he supports the prosecution of the woman involved and does not support illegal immigration but takes issue with the way the raid was conducted.
“How is our government benefiting from an abandoned 1-year-old? I’m thinking as a parent, if I was in that position and my only crime was plucking a chicken to feed my family. I didn’t hurt anyone,” he said. “It would be different if the crime was robbing a bank with a gun or making methamphetamine.”
Hugo Juarez, deputy consul general for the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, called Huckabee a good friend of Mexicans and the Mexican government.
The governor’s pro-immigrant stance was also praised by LULAC president Hector Flores, who called Huckabee’s efforts for the children a testament to progress in racial attitudes.
“I marvel at the changes in a Southern state like Arkansas where the governor actually called out the troops to keep the schools from being integrated in 1957. What a turnaround and especially for it to come from a Republican,” he said.
Huckabee also took an unpopular pro-Hispanic stance earlier this year when he fought for legislation that would have granted in-state tuition and state-funded scholarships to the children of illegal immigrants. The bill failed by a close margin in the last days of the legislative session.
In addition the RNC chairman has just finished reprimanding both Giuliani and Romney for taking a stand (in their minds) against illegal immigration.
I suggest we need to look a little deeper.
Ouch!!!
Huckabee is a good man whose sense of compassion may be getting in the way of his common sense. I think he holds some solid positions on the issue (border fence and deporting illegals who commit crimes) but what concerns me him and most of the candidates on the GOP side is where the issue falls in their priority list. Are they actually passionate about dealing with this problem or is it just another plank in their platform.
We want a pro-sovereignty, pro-LEGAL immigration president who will not be content to sit back and wait to sign legislation he promised to support in his campaign, but will lead the way with a come hell or high water kind of vigor.
I want a president who will have the same passion for stopping illegal immigration as President Bush had for passing the Amnesty bill.
Couldn’t agree with you more, Dan!! However, important as that issue is, there are other important issues as well. I believe that the correct “presidential material” has yet to surface.
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that if and when that person bubbles up and decides to join in the fray, the leftists and the left leaning moderates, those who favor wealth redistribution, national health care, tax-funded pre-school and “not all Muslims are bad, so don’t worry about terrorism” will not allow it. Our country is in crisis at the moment!
I don’t want to go down a rathole discussing Ron Paul’s position on our foreign policy (which, when you take hysterics out of the equation is quite interesting), but his stance on American sovereignty is pretty darn impressive:
“The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. This is my six point plan:
Physically secure our borders and coastlines. We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals.
Enforce visa rules. Immigration officials must track visa holders and deport anyone who overstays their visa or otherwise violates U.S. law. This is especially important when we recall that a number of 9/11 terrorists had expired visas.
No amnesty. Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 million people are in our country illegally. That’s a lot of people to reward for breaking our laws.
No welfare for illegal aliens. Americans have welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules. But taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services.
End birthright citizenship. As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong.
Pass true immigration reform. The current system is incoherent and unfair. But current reform proposals would allow up to 60 million more immigrants into our country, according to the Heritage Foundation. This is insanity. Legal immigrants from all countries should face the same rules and waiting periods.”
A good, smart, and safe move on Mr. Speaker’s part. After the Abuser Fee debacle, he needs to do SOMETHING that won’t piss off conservatives. A Rudy or McRomney move would have had everyone wondering if he had finally left the ranch.
Howell with Huckabee, Bolling with Romney, and Kilgore with Rudy. That just leaves McDonnell who needs to have his own candidate now….looks like he’s going to Fred-town.
Perhaps the stupidest thing Howell has done since the abuser fees.
Perhaps McDonnell is waiting for Fred Thompson to step up to the plate…that’s what I would do.
The important question to ask Huckabee, Thompson, Romney, Guillani and others is where they stand on the “Responsiblity of Iraqi Refugee’s Act of 2007″ H.R. 2265. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2265:
If they can’t answer that, then we need to move on.