The GOP, Mike Huckabee, and Me

It might come as a shock to some that I am not, right now, a Republican.

I eagerly registered as a Republican days after my 18th birthday, though I only remained so for about three years. In January of 1995, I left the GOP. I was bitter and angry at the party I had been eager to join since I was about 12.

However, the 1994 elections were a challenge for me. I had worked with my College Republicans group in North Carolina to help the David Funderburk campaign (one of the famed 1994 “House freshmen”). He was a great guy, and I still cherish the memory of working with and for him.

We had banners up at the time reading “Character Counts.” More than the Contract for America, “Character Counts” was what excited me about the 1994 campaigns. In 1992, we had elected as President a guy whose character left a lot to be desired, shall we say. I was excited to be part of turning that decision around.

Then, we won. And then the Republicans started filling Congressional offices. Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker … when his character left almost as much to be desired as the President’s. Bob Packwood was named chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, while in the process of obstructing an Ethics Committee investigation that later led to his departure from the Senate. And Jesse Helms was made chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Helms, for those who don’t know, still referred to those with black skin as “Nee-gris” (to try to get the pronunciation right). Supposedly, this was “Negro.” Knowing that Helms was a rabid segregationist right up until the last, I rather suspect that he was going for something else.

I had written about Robert Byrd, a senior Democratic leader, as proof of how the Democratic Party doesn’t care about character. I found that impossible to reconcile with the presence of Jesse Helms in a powerful office.

I quit the party. I have been, ever since, an independent. In New Hampshire, that means I can vote in any primary I choose, and retain my independent registration.

This year, though, I might rejoin the Republican Party. Governor Mike Huckabee is the kind of person I’ve always wanted to vote for — good character, wonderful principles, and every bit as intelligent as I’d like. Just as Gingrich, Packwood, and Helms drove me out of the Republican Party, someone like Mike Huckabee might be able to draw me back. That is no small feat, but that should only testify to how much respect and admiration I have for this man.

For what it’s worth … what I’m saying is that Mike Huckabee has the unqualified endorsement of the True Believer blog and its author.