The year of the RINO

It appears that 2008 will go down as the year of the RINO.  For those mind numbed libs that means “Republican In Name Only”.  With high profile candidates in the field like Rudy, Romney, and McCain I didn’t think there was room for anymore RINO’s but it appears I was mistaken.  Mike Huckabee has been surging in recent weeks as he goes the Romney route with extreme makeover Republican Edition.

Huckabee claims conservative credentials but it is common knowledge that basically he appears conservative on abortion but that’s about it.  He, like Rudy, Romney, and McCain before him, seem to have this great love for raising taxes and expanding government.  Earlier this year Jennifer Rubin at National Review Online had an informative article that in light of Huckabee’s recent surge is worth another read.

“By the end of his second term he had raised sales taxes 37 percent, fuel taxes 16 percent, and cigarettes taxes 103 percent, leading to a jump in total tax revenues from $3.9 billion to $6.8 billion. The Cato Institute gave him a failing grade of ‘F’ on its fiscal report card for 2006 and an only marginally better but still embarrassing ‘D’ for his entire term.”

Last month John Fund at Opinion Journal opined about Huckabee and noted .

“I have known and liked him for years; on the stump he often tells the story of how we first met outside his boarded-up office in the state Capitol, which had been sealed by Arkansas Democrats who refused to accept he had won an upset election for lieutenant governor in 1993. But I also know he is not the “consistent conservative” he now claims to be.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement but the opinion of Huckabee’s “consistent conservative” creds continues to get worse Fund went on to report:

Betsy Hagan, Arkansas director of the conservative Eagle Forum and a key backer of his early runs for office, was once “his No. 1 fan.” She was bitterly disappointed with his record. “He was pro-life and pro-gun, but otherwise a liberal,” she says. “Just like Bill Clinton he will charm you, but don’t be surprised if he takes a completely different turn in office.”

This is not what the Republican Party needs, this is not what the country needs.  We have had nearly seven years of no conservative leadership.  While President Bush has done mostly great things with regard to terrorism and dealing with the threats ignored in the Clinton years he has been a disaster in terms of spending and reducing the size of government.

They biggest problem with Romney, McCain, Rudy, and now Huckabee is that they are simply light versions of Hillary.  Rudy on social issues, Romney on Healthcare, McCain on immigration, and Huckabee on taxes.  Hillary recently noted that this country can’t afford all the ideas she has, she’s right but we also can’t afford to allow conservatism to be redefined to try to run towards the middle, we don’t win elections in the middle, we win elections when we are true to the conservative principles articulated by Ronald Reagan.