In the 2004 presidential election, Republicans decided that changing one’s position on a major policy issue is perhaps the single worst thing a presidential candidate could possibly do. On any given matter, being “against something before I was for it” was tantamount to a kiss of electoral death. Consistency, the GOP insisted, was the be-all, end-all of presidential qualifications.
Well, if those are the rules Republicans want to play by, so be it. After all, the four top candidates in the GOP field have been frequently, and shamelessly, flip-flopping all over the place. Rudy Giuliani is practically unrecognizable compared to his mayoral tenure. John McCain now opposes legislation he co-sponsored en route to a dramatic reinvention of himself. Mitt Romney was practically a moderate Dem up until a few minutes ago.
And now that Mike Huckabee is a credible challenger for the Republican nomination, he’s decided it’s time to reverse himself on a few major issues, too.
As governor of Arkansas five years ago, Mike Huckabee joined a bipartisan chorus of politicians who concluded that the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba was bad for businesses. Now that he’s a top-tier candidate for president, Huckabee has decided he favors the embargo — so much so that he vowed Monday to outdo even President Bush in strangling the regime of Cuban President Fidel Castro and punishing those who do business there.
It was a change of heart sure to please hard-liners among the Cuban exiles who could make up 10% or more of the electorate in Florida’s crucial Jan. 29 Republican primary. But it also reflected the latest move by a once-obscure candidate now grappling with how to transform a burst of momentum into a sustainable bid for the White House. […]
“Rather than seeing it as some huge change, I would call it, rather, the simple reality that I’m running for president of the United States, not for reelection as governor of Arkansas,” he said.
On Monday in Miami, Fred Thompson chided Huckabee for changing his stance on Cuba “on a dime to appeal to a particular group of people right before an election.” To which Huckabee seems to be saying, “Yep.” (The reversal/pander is apparently working — the Florida House Speaker endorsed Huckabee “based largely on Huckabee’s new views on Cuba,” which are the opposite of Huckabee’s old views on Cuba.)
But to really appreciate Huckabee 2.0, consider his new take on immigration.
As governor, Huckabee was more or less “compassionate” when it came to immigration. He supported in-state college tuition for children of illegal immigrants and he opposed an immigration raid of a poultry plant that led to the deportation of illegal immigrants. More recently, he endorsed Bush’s immigration policy, denounced in right-wing circles as “amnesty.” Huckabee insisted that he supports measures that “provide[s] a path for workers to become legal.” He denounced conservative critics of immigration reform, condemning them for being “driven by racism or nativism.”
Now, Huckabee has been Tancredo-ized. His new immigration policy vows to crack down on illegal immigration, close the borders, and deport all illegal immigrants within 120 days.
Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant rights group, said he was stunned last week when Huckabee released a new plan calling for all illegal workers to register with federal authorities and return to their native countries within 120 days.
Those who did would face no penalty under Huckabee’s plan if they later applied to immigrate to or visit the United States. Those who did not return home would be barred, when caught, from future reentry to the United States for 10 years.
“To me, it’s like night and day,” Sharry said. “One day he’s saying children of [illegal] immigrants should go to college, and the next day he’s saying there should be mass expulsion.”
Of course, it’s not a mystery. One day he a second-tier candidate with weak standing in the polls, and the next day he’s a credible challenger for the nomination.
I’d just add that Huckabee isn’t even subtle about any of this. Indeed, his new immigration policy is little more than an article National Review’s Mark Krikorian wrote a couple of years ago, except now it has Huckabee’s name on it. (In some instances, the plagiarism is so direct, the campaign didn’t bother to change some of the wording from Krikorian’s article.)
In the broader context, we’re looking at four main candidates who have to hope Republican voters forget all about their previous policy positions. May the best flip-flopper win.