Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator John McCain are now on the verge of taking the first two primary states. Huckabee is in a dead heat or even slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in Iowa, while McCain’s momentum may carry him to victory in New Hampshire. A victory for either of these candidates would be a dagger to the heart of freedom-loving, limited government, fiscal conservatives who want to secure America’s borders. 

Criticizing Governor Mike Huckabee doesn’t come easy to a FairTax advocate like myself. After all he’s shown great courage by adopting the FairTax as a major part of his fiscal platform. The messenger in this case is fatally flawed. He shamelessly panders to whichever audience he happens to be speaking. 

I watched the Oct.9th, CNBC/ Wall Street Journal debate from Dearborn, Michigan. The audience had a healthy number of out-of-work union members who are largely responsible for Michigan’s economic woes. Michigan is currently an economic basket case and much of the blame can be placed at the doorstep of the United Auto Workers. Consider this exchange from the closing minutes of the debate: 

Chris Matthews: Are the unions good for America? 

Mike Huckabee: The real fact is, unions are going to take a more prominent role in the future for one simple reason: A lot of American workers are finding that their wages continue to get strapped lower and lower while CEO salaries are higher and higher. And the reality is that when you have the average CEO salary 500 times the average worker, and you have the hedge fund manager making 2200 times that of the average worker, you’re going to create a level of discontent that’s going to create a huge appetite for unions. So unions are the natural result of workers finally saying, “Look, I can’t go from a $70,000 a year job to a $15,000 a year job and feed my family of four.” That’s when unions are going to come back in roaring form. 

Aside from the fact that Governor Huckabee’s answer is pure, unadulterated economic populist tripe, am I the only one who wanted to shout, “why do you think that worker lost the $70,000 a year job in the first place?” His class warfare answer was unworthy of a fiscal conservative and has a natural home in the Democrat party. 

Governor Huckabee also has a well-established soft spot for illegal aliens. As the governor of Arkansas he pushed for in-state tuition for illegal aliens and their children, and he continues to defend that misguided policy to this day. He also refuses to commit to building a double wall protecting our southern border. In other words, if he is elected the invasion will continue! 

Mike Huckabee is just as cool and smooth as the other side of the pillow…and he’s a populist. What exactly are the core convictions of a man who shamelessly tells one crowd one thing, and another crowd something entirely different? Is there something tainted about the Hope, Arkansas municipal water supply? 

Liberal newspapers far and wide have endorsed John McCain because he's easily the most liberal Republican in the field outside of the kook Ron Paul.

Conservatives like myself honor McCain for his heroic service in Viet Nam and at the same time want him nowhere near the White House for a long list of reasons:

1. He's done grievous damage to the 1st Amendment by co-authoring the McCain-Feingold BCFRA, also known absurdly as "campaign finance reform." It directly limits political free speech in the run up to an election. When the Founders wrote of free speech do you think they meant political elections? Or was it their intention to protect Robert Maplethorpe's bullwhip porno?
 
Why did he do it? The National Rifle Association was putting the heat on him during one of his re-elections because Senator McCain kept crawling into bed with the gun-grabbers on the political left. The NRA shone the light on his record and it made the Senator mad. So he and left-wing extremist Senator Russ Feingold co-authored the one piece of legislation that limited the free speech of everyday Americans while empowering foreign-born billionaires like George Soros. Thanks John! Many people think we should call McCain-Feingold the “Incumbent Protection Act." I couldn't agree more.

2. The terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been one of our most effective weapons in the fight against Allah's gangsters. Three or four years ago when the New York Times and the entire left-wing press was in an uproar about the so-called "torture" we were supposedly engaging in at Gitmo, John McCain and his Republican In Name Only (RINO) buddies in the Senate wanted to shut down the facility. The truth is that he was courting his favorite constituency: The liberal press!

McCain couldn't care less that the intelligence we got from the terrorist animals held there was vital to our war effort. John got favorable press coverage and that's all that mattered to him! Until of course, he went into campaign mode. Then he reappeared as a hawk. Boy I'm convinced. 

3. John McCain has opposed every attempt to shut the border with Mexico. He's absolutely in favor of an open border and co-sponsored the Amnesty Bill. We are being invaded and Senator McCain doesn't seem to care. He wants the votes of illegal aliens and the money that flows from the Arizona farmers and builders. That's all.

4. John McCain has undermined President Bush’s conservative agenda from the comfy confines of the Senate for about 5 1/2 years. John and the other RINOS joined forces with the Democrats regularly to frustrate the President. He finally backed off when he decided he would need conservative support for his Presidential campaign. That's why the liberal press adoringly called him a "maverick" and continues to endorse him to this day. It wasn't lost on us conservatives.

5. Last but not least, John McCain was never on board for the President's tax cuts. He has a thousand different excuses, but the fact is that he doesn't like the thought of individuals being able to keep more of the money that they earn! He loves the power that comes with high tax rates.

Ladies and gentlemen there are many things that matter to us as conservatives. If fiscal conservatism, securing the border, and regaining your 1^st Amendment rights are among those issues you deem important, John McCain and Mike Huckabee must be stopped!

Morgan Orlins