The inimitable Democratic advocate and aforetime Michael Dukakis campaign manager, Susan Estrich, was recently quoted on Fox News as saying: “But when the Republicans nominate Huckabee? Honey, I’m dancing at the Inaugural ball.” Dancing? Honey, if Huckabee is selected by the GOP crack out your limbo poles in January 2009. Buy enough Twister mats for 10,000 socked feet. And tell Howard Dean to stop his childish hoarding and to share his Xavier Cugat LPs with us all! But exactly how ebullient should Democrats and others be about last night? Howard Dean must be happy because Democratic voters came out in droves. The Obama people, for their part, have every reason to be delighted. True, the Democratic caucusing ritual is so convoluted that its results must always be interpreted with caution.
But one forgot all about "viability" and "realignment" as the junior Senator from Illinois delivered his victory speech. Conveyed with poise, intensity, eloquence and even a touch of surliness, the entire address could be aired as a promotional video for the campaign, if not the Party itself. But what to title it? “Liberalism Born Again”?
Rudy Giuliani can crack a smile because his patented Iowa Evasion Strategy: a) does not seem to have fatally impaired his candidacy, and, b) may have won him a few admirers if only because so many Americans yearned to evade Iowa too over the past few months.
I also am satisfied with the outcome. Speaking as an author who coincidentally released a book yesterday about the use of the Bible in this year’s presidential campaign, I must say that a triumphant Mike Huckabee--a relentless thumper of Christ’s sweet gospel--is flat out good for business.
In any case, we learned last night that the former governor of Arkansas is skilled at connecting with White Evangelical voters. As for others, not so good. If CNN’s entrance polls were accurate, only 14% of Huckabee’s support consisted of non-Evangelical and non-Born Again voters. New Hampshire, permit me to observe, ain't Iowa.
Let his campaign manager take notice. Unlike Romney, Huckabee presently has no ecumenical game plan, no well crafted appeal to any group other than his own. Little as of yet suggests that he will carry Catholics, as Bush did in 2004. As for Mormons (who also voted overwhelmingly for the current president) Huckabee’s musings about Jesus and Satan’s fraternal bonds will never be forgotten or forgiven.
Huck is a populist to be sure. But the soft underbelly of populism is, on occasion, imbecility. Few readers of his recent platform statement in Foreign Affairs are wont to feel confident about his grasp of international relations. After discussing Huckabee’s awfully informal geopolitical ruminations with a dozen or so DC policy makers and analysts, I find few who are impressed by his command of foreign policy--and many who are alarmed.
On the bright side, Huckabee has shown himself to be an extremely canny politician. Aware that 75% of the nation’s voters are not Evangelicals, he has been toning down his over-the-top religious rhetoric on the stump in the last few days. He is also a likable and refreshingly serene candidate. Most importantly, he just may have patched together an attractive quilt of liberal and conservative positions that could cover up some his aforementioned weaknesses.
With the possible exception of Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney perhaps we should all consider celebrating. Because nothing screams “Democracy is a glorious thing!” like a middle school cafeteria packed with Iowans in baseball caps and frumpy sweaters. And nothing is more gratifying than knowing the Iowa caucuses are over.
Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Chair in Jewish Civilization in Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and senior advisor to the Center for Jewish Civilization, where he was director from 2006 to June 2020. Berlinerblau has published on a wide variety of issues ranging from the sociology of heresy and modern Jewish intellectuals to African-American and Jewish-American relations.
