Suitably Flip

Not Buying Huckabee's Fiscal Bona Fides?

I know he's not Club For Growth's favorite and his fiscal record in Arkansas is mixed, but back in March I noted that Mike Huckabee became the sixth Republican Presidential candidate to sign the Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", the gold standard in counter-tax assurances.

Sixth, you say?  How unexceptional.

Perhaps.  But it's worth pointing out that four of the other signers were Gilmore, Brownback, Tancredo, and Hunter - the first two of whom have withdrawn, the other two of whom are barely blips on the polls.  Among the five serious contenders (Romney, Giuliani, Huckabee, Thompson, and McCain), to date, only Mitt Romney joins Huckabee in signing the pledge.

Three Republican presidential candidates have not signed the pledge, which one strategist said might hurt them during the primaries.

"I worked on Bob Dole's campaign in 1988 and he didn't sign and it killed his campaign in the final week," David Johnson, a Republican strategist and president of Strategic Vision. "That's how the first President Bush was able to turn around and win the New Hampshire primary."

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have not signed the pledge.

Those three argue that their fiscal records speak for themselves and Rudy makes the decent point that, "You take one pledge as president of the United States. It's to uphold the Constitution of the United States."

Well... actually, that's not the decent point specifically (upholding the Constitution and holding the line on taxes aren't mutually exclusive), but rather its logical extension, namely that if you start signing some pledges, then not only do you invite countless other groups to shove pledges in your face, but you might create a tacit disavowal of any pledge you then elect not to sign.

Still, Americans for Tax Reform is no fringe-dwelling, fly-by-night advocacy cult and the pledge is signed by hundreds of Senators, Representatives, state legislators, and Presidential candidates.  The unspoken extension of Rudy's point notwithstanding, none of the unsigned GOP candidates would be harmed by a boost to their fiscal credibility at this point and their refusal to sign the pledge is a legitimate issue on which they should be pressed by primary voters.

And if you're still not convinced Huckabee is someone worth considering, talk to Chuck.

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Not Buying Huckabee's Fiscal Bona Fides?

I know he's not Club For Growth's favorite and his fiscal record in Arkansas is mixed, but back in March I noted that Mike Huckabee became the sixth Republican Presidential candidate to sign the Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", the gold standard in counter-tax assurances.

Sixth, you say?  How unexceptional.

Perhaps.  But it's worth pointing out that four of the other signers were Gilmore, Brownback, Tancredo, and Hunter - the first two of whom have withdrawn, the other two of whom are barely blips on the polls.  Among the five serious contenders (Romney, Giuliani, Huckabee, Thompson, and McCain), to date, only Mitt Romney joins Huckabee in signing the pledge.

Three Republican presidential candidates have not signed the pledge, which one strategist said might hurt them during the primaries.

"I worked on Bob Dole's campaign in 1988 and he didn't sign and it killed his campaign in the final week," David Johnson, a Republican strategist and president of Strategic Vision. "That's how the first President Bush was able to turn around and win the New Hampshire primary."

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have not signed the pledge.

Those three argue that their fiscal records speak for themselves and Rudy makes the decent point that, "You take one pledge as president of the United States. It's to uphold the Constitution of the United States."

Well... actually, that's not the decent point specifically (upholding the Constitution and holding the line on taxes aren't mutually exclusive), but rather its logical extension, namely that if you start signing some pledges, then not only do you invite countless other groups to shove pledges in your face, but you might create a tacit disavowal of any pledge you then elect not to sign.

Still, Americans for Tax Reform is no fringe-dwelling, fly-by-night advocacy cult and the pledge is signed by hundreds of Senators, Representatives, state legislators, and Presidential candidates.  The unspoken extension of Rudy's point notwithstanding, none of the unsigned GOP candidates would be harmed by a boost to their fiscal credibility at this point and their refusal to sign the pledge is a legitimate issue on which they should be pressed by primary voters.

And if you're still not convinced Huckabee is someone worth considering, talk to Chuck.