You Can Never Go Wrong Preaching Hate to South Carolina Republicans

When Mike Huckabee’s poll numbers began to rise in late November, he claimed that his success was equivalent to the New Testament miracle of the loaves and the fishes. (In fact, it was because the Christian nationalist base of the GOP had nowhere else to go.)

“I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal.”
- Huckabee

The Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll of voters in Saturday’s South Carolina GOP primary has shown Huckabee stuck behind John McCain 29 percent to 22 percent for the last three days. The combined factors of troubling poll numbers and three straight primary losses appear to have caused Huckabee to lose faith in the strategy of depending on God to deliver his voters to the polls on Saturday. So today he tossed red meat to South Carolina Talibanis by ramping up his hate speech toward gays:

INTERVIEWER: Is it your goal to bring the Constitution into strict conformity with the Bible? Some people would consider that a kind of dangerous undertaking, particularly given the variety of biblical interpretations.

HUCKABEE: Well, I don’t think that’s a radical view to say we’re going to affirm marriage. I think the radical view is to say that we’re going to change the definition of marriage so that it can mean two men, two women, a man and three women, a man and a child, a man and animal. Again, once we change the definition, the door is open to change it again. I think the radical position is to make a change in what’s been historic.

He also clarified the extent to which he would rewrite the Constitution to bring it into conformity with biblical law:

INTERVIEWER: Do you think that on issues other than marriage and the life of the unborn that the Constitution should be brought into conformity with the Bible, which is what that quote seemed to suggest?

HUCKABEE:No, I was specifically talking about those two issues. Those were the only two issues I spoke about in the speech, and that was the point. I’m not suggesting that we say, “Okay, the Bible says you should tithe, so now in the Constitution we’re going to amend it to say everyone tithes.”

At least we know now that he wouldn’t also outlaw other mortal sins like adultery, premarital sex, working on Sunday, children sassing their parents and saying “God damn.”

Or do we?

Huckabee’s position today on the equivalence of gay relationships, which are consensual, and pedophilia and bestiality, which are not, is a 180-degree flipflop from the position he took on “Meet the Press” about two weeks ago:

RUSSERT: …And, and this is what you wrote in your book, “Kids Who Kill,” in 1998: “It is now difficult to keep track of the vast array of publicly endorsed and institutionally supported aberrations–from homosexuality and pedophilia to sadomasochism and necrophilia.” Why would you link homosexuality with sadomasochism, pedophilia and necrophilia?

HUCKABEE: Well, what I was pointing out is all of these are deviations from what has been the traditional concept of sexual behavior and men and women having children, raising those children in the context of a, of a traditional marriage and family. And, again, taken out of the larger context of that book, speaking about how so many of our social institutions have been broken down.

RUSSERT: But do you think homosexuality is equivalent to pedophilia…

HUCKABEE: Oh, of course not.

RUSSERT: …or sadomasochism?

HUCKABEE: No, of course not. I didn’t say…

It bears repeating that pedophilia, sadomasochism and necrophilia are not “publicly endorsed and institutionally supported” aberrations.

The record should also reflect rightwing Christians do not practice what they preach about “traditional marriage.” Born-agains have a slightly higher divorce rate than normal Americans.