“Sure, he’s a wonderful person … He’d make a great vice president.” - Mitt Romney, December, 2007

1. His Experience and Record: He has ten and a half years experience running a government as the Chief Executive. This is a longer tenure of governmental Chief Executive experience than any other 2008 Presidential candidate and is longer than the tenure of any current governor of either party. In 2005, he was named by Time Magazine as one of America’s five best Governors.As Governor, Huckabee managed to deal with many of the major issues that Americans are asking the next Administration to handle. He was the first Governor in his state’s history to institute a broad-based tax cut and was criticized for refusing to raise taxes at a time of budget deficit. He created a program that offered health insurance to poor children. He reduced the percentage of uninsured Arkansans so that it was a fourth less than the national average. He cut welfare rolls in half and even with all of these things, his state’s economy grew at a rate faster than the national average.
2. His reputation among his peers: He was trusted by his Governor peers of both parties to serve as the Chairman of the bipartisan National Governor’s Association, one of the nation’s most respected public policy organizations.
3. His Chief Executive experience: Because historically, Presidents who have been Governors have performed better than those who were not, McCain would be wise to pick a long-term Governor like Huckabee. Presidents who never held Executive offices but who had running mates who did have performed better than Presidents who never held Executive offices but did not have running mates with Executive Experience either.
4. His Youth: Although he has more experience running a government than any other national politician, he is actually less than six years older than Barack Obama. And in spite of this, his presence on the ticket won’t blunt McCain’s argument that Obama isn’t experienced enough (the “if experience is important, how can you make this person one heartbeat away from the Presidency” response). Despite their closeness in age, Huckabee has four times as much experience as Obama.
5. His Clean Lifestyle: In a time when many politicians of both parties have been ensnared in tawdry personal scandals, Huckabee has a very stable family life, having been married to the same woman for 34 years and being the father of three grown children who are still close to him and who have helped run his campaign.
6. His Leadership Capabilities: In addition to his long experience in Government, Huckabee has a variety of leadership experience outside of politics. He was a successful and popular Pastor and was also elected to be the President of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. He is also the author of six books and is in the process of completing his seventh.And as the national Republican Party is still suffering image problems in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Huckabee is an example of what people want their leaders to do in a time of crisis. During the disaster, Huckabee’s government helped do all that it could do to accommodate the evacuees. It helped make room in hotels and motels for needy families. Huckabee released state funds to assist some of the shelters. He also provided free emergency prescriptions and access to dialysis machines to those who were in medical need.
7. Their Combined Electability: There have been five bellwether states - Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas - that have correctly predicted the winner of the General Election for each of the past eight elections (dating back to 1976). Of those, in the GOP Primaries, Huckabee won the popular vote in two of them (Arkansas and Louisiana), coming in second to McCain in the other three. McCain won the popular vote in three of them (Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky), coming in second to Huckabee in the other two. The margin between the two in the state of Missouri was extremely narrow. And in the state of Kentucky, Huckabee even managed to come in second to John McCain three and a half months after he suspended his campaign and endorsed McCain. So, the McCain/Huckabee ticket is the one that performs best in the places that matter the most.
8. His Long-Held Support Among Conservatives: Huckabee’s national support among conservatives is not just a recent phenomenon but a constant. In 1998, Huckabee came in second (to John Ashcroft) in a Christian Coalition Presidential Straw Poll. (He actually came in higher than then-Governor George W. Bush). Edward Walsh wrote for the Washington Post on 2/17/1998 that “It’s settled. The Christian Coalition has surveyed its leadership and decided that Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.) should be the next president and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) should be his vice president.”
9. His Support among Influential Politicians: J.C. Watts, who represents both the concerns of Evangelicals and conservative African Americans, has expressed dismay at the Republican Party’s failure to reach out to both groups. But the inclusion of Huckabee on the ticket would do a lot to shore up this support and even lure voters from some traditional Democratic groups to the Republican ticket.
10. Even His Enemies Want Him Around: Remember the Club For Growth and their endless attacks on Mike Huckabee? Isn’t it interesting that some of these same people, who called Huckabee a liberal, were begging him to run for the U.S. Senate – or even to become the head of the RNC – within a week of him ending his Presidential bid. One might ask “why would self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives want a liberal to take over the party?” The answer is that their opposition to him was not substantive in nature. And just as they wanted to promote Huckabee into higher levels of responsibility, they would very likely get behind a McCain/Huckabee ticket, no matter how much they’re kicking and screaming now.
11. His Geographical support: With Barack Obama making progress in the south, Mike Huckabee, as a long-term and popular southern Governor, secures this backbone of Republican support. There was even a story in the news about some Alabama politicians almost fighting over which one of them would get Huckabee’s endorsement.
12. His Media Savvy: Mike Huckabee has many years of experience in communicating with the public over the mass media. His first job was reading the news on the local radio station at age 14. He started two full-time television stations at the churches he pastured and has recently been awarded a contract at Fox News.
13. His ability to win in hostile environments: He achieved cross-party popularity, becoming only the second Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction and remaining in the job until term limits forced him out. He won two elections for Lieutenant Governor and two as Governor – in the heart of the Clinton political machine and at a time when Clinton was a popular President who supported his opponents.
14. His success in winning many voter segments: In Arkansas, Huckabee won with voters of every age group, all voters making more than $15,000 a year, and won or nearly tied voters of every education level. He also won almost all Republican voters, the majority of Independents and more than a third of Democrats.
15. His unusual (for a Republican) success with black voters: He has the greatest support among African Americans of any national Republican politician in decades. He won 48% of the black vote in Arkansas. He is very highly regarded by black voters nationwide. Since several of the southern states that have large black populations are showing surprising strength by Obama, Huckabee would appeal to these many of these voters who are conservative, disagree with Obama on the issues, but feel rejected by the Republican Party.
16. Many fiscal conservatives actually do like him: In addition to Evangelicals, blacks, blue collar voters and southerners, Huckabee is a favorite of the ultimate fiscal conservatives – supporters of the Fair Tax. These are the people who don’t just complain about the unfairness of the tax code but actually want to do something about it.
17. He brings social conservatives and then some: As some journalists who have bothered to actually talk to Huckabee supporters have discovered, we’re not all Evangelicals. Huckabee won four million votes but did it without even getting the majority of the Evangelical vote, which was split among multiple candidates.
18. His loudest critics realize that he resonated with voters: Even Huckabee’s harshest critics, such as Rich Lowry of the National Review, grudgingly acknowledge that Huckabee would be “just the right Republican for this particular moment, when pocketbook concerns are looming so large.” Even though they continue to slam him and question his economic credentials, they clearly understand that his message has resonated with the public that is so disenchanted with the status quo.
19. His success in dealing with the health care crisis: At a time that the nation is concerned with health care, Huckabee is both an advocate for preventive health through a healthy lifestyle and an example of it – he lost 110 pounds after being diagnosed with diabetes. He wrote a book on losing weight and launched a childhood obesity campaign with the American Heart Association. And he even offers a personal example of lowering health care costs – he stopped needing to take diabetes medication when he lost weight.
20. He knows how to campaign competitively while at a financial disadvantage: Huckabee spent less money per vote than any candidate in the 2008 Campaign and perhaps less money per vote than any candidate in the past three decades. In a time that McCain finds himself severely underfunded in comparison with Barack Obama, Huckabee has experience in capitalizing on free media and stretching campaign dollars to the extent of outperforming better funded rivals.He also never had to take any campaign loans and ended his campaign in the black - after outlasting and outperforming almost all of his better-funded rivals.
21. His online grassroots network: On any ticket that includes Huckabee, his bloggers come with him. Huckabee has a massive web of grassroots activists, including Huck’s Army, a dedicated group of volunteers who like to share with other people why we think this guy is so cool. We aren’t paid. We spend some of our valuable free time advocating issues that are important to us, doing lots of research and in some cases providing the type of good press that no ad agency or political consultant can buy.During the primaries, whenever anyone said anything false about Huckabee, we were on it within minutes. We also ran phone banks, made our own bumper stickers, etc (and yes, thank you, we actually do have lives). And if our guy is on the ticket, we will work just as hard for McCain/Huckabee as we did for Huckabee.
22. His other grassroots networks: It’s not all about Huckabee’s online supporters. There are also truckers for Huckabee, Homeschoolers for Huckabee, conservative blacks for Huckabee. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. While a good number of these people might vote for a ticket that didn’t include Huckabee, they definitely would vote for one that would include him. And more important than that, they would get out and fight and work hard for it. In a close election, there is a big difference between having a good number of lukewarm supporters and a greater number of fired-up supporters.
23. He knows how to campaign with class: Huckabee’s urging of his party to approach their differences with Senator Obama with civility and focus on the issues instead of personal attacks has earned him praise from a wide variety of groups whose support will be important in the General Election.
24. He is liked even by people who totally disagree with him on issues: Although Huckabee has unshakable socially conservative credentials, a lock on the south, and support from many who oppose the Federal Tax Code, he is also personally liked by many who disagree with him on almost every issue. On the liberal blog the Huffington Post, Drew Westin wrote “from the first time I watched Huckabee, he made me nervous, because I disliked most of what he said but I liked him anyway” and called him “the most politically intelligent of the candidates on the Republican side in 2008” and praised his “sense of humor” and “genuineness.” Many Democrats have spoken kindly of Huckabee especially as he urged his party to campaign against Obama on the issues instead of through personal attacks and as he defended Hillary Clinton against pressure to drop out.
25. He has shown class and respect to McCain - even when they were rivals: He hasn’t made statements against McCain that could be used against McCain by the Obama camp during the General Election.

and …

There actually is one more very important reason for including Huckabee on the ticket, beyond the factually verifiable reasons listed above. Chuck Norris wants him on the ticket. Stop smiling - he means it. (You didn’t just read this last reason. Chuck Norris just read it to you.)

“The Values Voter”

(This article also posted at Real Clear Politics and Digg)

One of our members, James Baxter, sent this to me this morning. May we all reflect on what this day truly commemorates and thank God for His providence in establishing and defending our nation’s freedoms. I would encourage each of you to thank those that you know that are engaged in the continual fight to preserve those freedoms. If you know a soldier, thank them; if you don’t know one personally, perhaps a trip to your local VFW hall would be in order. I have a cousin that celebrates the 4th that way each year. He stops in to the local VFW and thanks those that served their nation so honorably. I think it’s a great idea.

Enjoy this day with your family and friends and I hope that you find the following a timely reminder of Who is really in charge of this nation.

THE DECLARATlON OF INDEPENDENCE

“Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are dinged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him (Isaiah 51:1, 2).”

When it comes to celebrating this most American of holidays, it is interesting to note that our Founding Fathers didn’t consider the 4th of July a holiday at all. No, to them this day represented far more than just another festival to acknowledge in the myriad of special days Americans honor. According to John Adams, the second President of the USA, the 4th of July, “Ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. “ Surprisingly, John Adams believed Independence Day was to be a Holy Day to be spent in Thanksgiving to the Almighty for His mighty deliverance that He wrought on the behalf of our fledgling nation.

His son, John Quincy Adams, our 6th President, declared, “Why is that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day (July 4th). Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the Progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon Earth ? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity…”

According to Mr. Adams, it took the spread of Christianity 1,800 years to finally culminate in the establishing of America. He believed the highest glory of the Revolution permanently linked the principles of Christianity with the principles of civil government. He viewed the Declaration as the first social compact and governing document in the history of man to establish its foundation on the mission of Jesus Christ in the earth. Obviously America is dreadfully void of that perspective today.

Yes, there is much evidence that points to the fact that America is a unique nation amongst the nations of the earth. It is evident that the land itself was preserved for a special purpose in God’s Providence. Although America was prime “real estate” in the earth and filled with natural resources, it remained virtually untapped for thousands of years. You do not see the pyramids of Egypt, the glory of Rome, nor the grandeur of Greece upon these shores. Why is it that there was no great civilization established here until a persecuted people longed to be free to worship the God of Heaven in Spirit and in truth came to America’s shore? If you can answer that question then you are on the road to understand the vision for America and her destiny that stands in peril today.

Another unique mark upon this nation that is exclusively American is the fact that we are the only nation on earth that was founded on a creed. All the other nations on earth were essentially established upon ethnicity, nationality, or race. Not so with America. Regardless of skin color or any other physical attribute that distinguishes human beings, what makes an American an American is a creed. A creed that is articulated in a document we call The Declaration of Independence.

Before we explore some vital points of that creed, we need to understand, whereas the Constitution is the letter of the law, (that has been twisted, bent, and perverted through judicial activism to subject Americans to legalized evil today) the Declaration is the Spirit of the Law. The Declaration supplies the premise, the presupposition, and the underlying principles that we have forgotten to the Constitution’s harm. You will see this clearly as we examine a few of those foundational principles contained within the Declaration that was to be the heart, soul, and source to establish and sustain our Christian Republic called America.

On July 4th, 1776, the delegates of the Continental Congress voted to ratify the Declaration which began with these profound words, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature God entitles them.. ” Stop right there and hold the presses. It is extremely important to understand and it cannot be emphasized enough that our Founding Fathers cited the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God as the sole basis for breaking ties with England and to become a separate nation in the earth. To comprehend the magnitude of that particular phrase utilized by Thomas Jefferson, one must look to Sir William Blackstone who was the first one to coin that phrase.

Sir William Blackstone was a renowned English jurist who wrote the highly influential work called, “Commentaries on the Laws of England ” He was one the most quoted sources, besides the Bible, John Locke, and Baron de Montesquieu, which our Founding Fathers cited as the basis for law in America.

Blackstone defined the laws of nature and of nature’s God as, “Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator, for he is entirely a dependent being … And, consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his Maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his Maker’s will … this will of his Maker is called the law of nature. These laws laid down by God are the eternal immutable laws of good and evil . This law of nature dictated by God Himself; is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this… The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found in the Holy Scriptures … {and} are found upon comparison to be really part of the original law of nature. Upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the law of revelation (Thomas Jefferson penned of nature’s God as a substitute for the law of revelation) depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these.”

According to Blackstone who was the inspiration behind the laws of nature and of nature’s God, the creation itself testifies and teaches man that there is a Supreme Designer that created the universe. The immutable laws contained within nature reveal a Creator that man is to be subject to by virtue of being a dependent creature. Apparently, Blackstone was a jurist who studied the only sure basis for law that is found in Holy Writ. Both Romans 1:20 and Psalms 19 :1-3 verify this truth.

According to Blackstone, even though man has reasoning capabilities, it has been made corrupt by sin. The Lord did not leave revelation to chance however. No, He made a direct appeal to mankind through what Blackstone called the “law of revelation,” in which the Declaration interprets “of nature’s God.” The Ten Commandments, God’s moral Law, was God’s way of appealing to man objectively to confirm within man what he instinctively knows to be true. Yet, due to man’s fallen nature again, we inevitably suppress the truth and exchange it for a lie. Undeterred, in God’s great mercy, He sent the second person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most perfect revelation and we are therefore without excuse.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the expressed image of God (Hebrews 1:3). He was the Word (God’s direct revelation to man) who was God in the flesh and dwelt amongst us. Jesus stated, “If you’ve seen me, you have seen the Father (John 14:9).” In other words, Jesus was the visible manifestation of the invisible God. According to Blackstone, unless laws was based upon these truths, they were not laws at all and “no human law should be suffered to contradict these. ”

Our next stop along the way as we explore the Declaration is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” Can you believe in this moral relativistic age in which we live, that our Founding Fathers actually had the audacity to believe in a concept called truth? Now truth by its very nature lends itself completely to the notion that there are moral absolutes. Obviously, our Founding Fathers would be laughed to scorn today, if they brought that archaic view to our ‘enlightened” humanistic temples we call public schools.

We don’t teach children that there is such a thing as self-evident truth, moral absolutes, and a definite right and a definite wrong. No! we teach the kids to decide for themselves what is right or wrong with no standard except what their own greedy, selfish, and unregenerated hearts crave. As a result, millions of American children are left to construct their own “truth” and values apart from the God of the Bible that our Forefathers trusted in. Can there be any doubt that this mentality has opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box that is savaging our young today? The school shootings are a direct result of rejecting the time honored wisdom of our Founding Fathers and embracing a pagan, moral relativistic philosophy instead.

Yes, our Founding Fathers believed in self-evident truth that was not based upon the subjective experience of fallen man, but on God’s objective truth that is transcendent and authoritative over man. Yes, they believed in truth because they longed for freedom. They knew Biblically, you can’t have freedom without truth, for only the truth can make you free (John 8:32). America would do well to remember from whence she came and what those who birthed her actually believed.

The next important phrase contained in the Declaration goes like this, “That all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Notice it doesn’t say that man evolved into equality and by virtue of evolution Americans have certain unalienable rights. Why is it our Founding Fathers believed in creationism, and yet, we can’t teach our children in America that they were created in God’s image with with a God-given destiny, instead of being a cosmic accident?

Ideas have consequences, my friend. Evolution has been the intellectual underpinnings of every atheistic, totalitarian government that has committed unspeakable atrocities against the very people they claimed to serve. Communism, Nazism, and Fascism are just a few of the regimes that rejected the concept of Creator and opted for evolution as a support for their mass murder. Their bloody history aptly displays the bitter fruit of an atheistic state that utilizes evolution as the intellectual underpinning to justify their horrific oppression. After all, evolution teaches that the strong survive, so it is ethical to exploit, abuse, and destroy the weak to get what we lust for in life, right? No! A thousand times no!

We see this mentality so clearly manifest with the struggle over abortion. Men use and abuse women by virtue of their superior strength and now women demand to have that same power and right to abuse someone weaker then themselves, their own helpless children. God help us! Christianity on the other hand teaches that the strong are to help the weak, not exploit them. This Biblical concept is one of the reasons that made America great. How many times has America invested our blood, treasure, and toil to aid weaker nations that were subjugated to tyranny by stronger nations?

What has happened to America since we have officially rejected our Creator that our Founding Fathers looked to as the basis of establishing America as an independent nation amongst the nations of the earth? Are we not becoming what we fought against in World War Two? As I write, America seems hell bent on using our superior strength, political clout, and finances to spew the filth of Hollywood, abortion, the feminist doctrine, and the homosexual agenda throughout the globe. Is it any wonder why Islam calls America the “Great Satan” and seeks our destruction?

The Declaration proceeds with these words, “That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (not a guarantee of happiness that the government as Savior’ programs promise). That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed “ Our Founding Fathers believed that man’s rights came from God, the Creator, and that civil government was established to protect those rights. This is the clear teaching of Romans 13:1 which states, “Let every soul he subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Historically, Americans believed that we were One Nation under God. Our national motto is “In God We Trust.” It is not the gods, but the One true and living God, the God of the Bible, the triune God of Holy Scripture, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When mankind rejects this Biblical truth of God’s sovereignty, however, man has only two other failed options available. First, the state is sovereign and the ultimate authority, which historically has led to the murderous regimes previously mentioned that has crushed the freedoms, lives, and property of many. In fact, the 20th century alone, has witnessed hundreds of millions of innocent people massacred by this monstrous lie. The second option is man as an individual is sovereign, which has led to anarchy, chaos, and confusion. Only One Nation under God can secure the delicate tension between the social order on the one hand and individual freedom on the other. All else is sinking sand and cisterns that can’t hold water.

Indeed, God is the supreme authority and civil government is a delegated authority established by Him for His pleasure and for our benefit. The Declaration then warns civil government, ‘that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government.” This particular phrase is why we are crying out for a “Gentle Revolution.” Either America experiences a spiritual, godly, and moral revolution that lands us squarely back upon the “Rock” from which we were hewed, or I shudder to think of what may befall us.

Finally, our Founding Fathers make their appeal,

“to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions… With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

In the Declaration, the God of the Bible is acknowledged as Law-giver, the source of Law, Creator, the Source of life, the Supreme judge, the highest authority, and the Protector of America’s rights. Without this revelation beating in the heart of every true American, then all the 4th of July represents is eating, drinking, and watching fireworks. I pray that each of you that read this article will consider these historical truths and their implications. They represent the righteous foundations upon which America once stood. We must awaken and recognize that these foundational truths are beginning to crumble as we abandon God, our righteous heritage and the principles that made us great. Our history is being deleted or rewritten to further the “foes of our own American household’s” agenda. We must therefore, look to the Rock that hewed us and the Patriarchs that bore us before it is too late. GOD SAVE AMERICA AND NO KING, BUT KING JESUS!

IN KING JESUS’ SERVICE,

Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas

Podcast Show Notes

Barack Obama’s statement on abortion shows pro-lifers are winning the debate by defining the issue.

John McCain’s campaign works to get around the laws he made.

The Islamist war on dogs. (Hat Tip: Instapundit.)

Nobel Prize winners discuss Global Warming. Some don’t agree with Al Gore that the debate is over. (Hat Tip: Greenie Watch.)

The ACLU’s anti-gun bias exposed.

More of the NEA’s liberal agenda.

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