Huckabee calls religious right to account

Preaching to the preachers is not to be confused with the famous metaphor, ‘preaching to the choir.

As we know, that metaphorical choir listens. I doubt that the same will prove true for the preachers.

Huckabee has admonished Christian leaders to hold Republican candidates to the same character standards they castigated former President Bill Clinton over during his campaigns and his presidency.

A former Baptist preacher, Huckabee says its not fair to subject Clinton to scrutiny and lambasting for his character failures generally categorized under the label of philandering then give GOP hopefuls a pass on their sins of the flesh.

Make no mistake, Huckabee the presidential contender is not necessarily interested in being fair to a Democrat. Hes interested in a side-by-side comparison of his ‘family values credentials with those of Republican front-runners Rudy Giuliani and John McCain.

Heres the crux of the comparison:

Huckabee, one wife, still married to her, no hint of scandal involving character issues wrapped up in holy matrimony. They even remarried in one of those evangelically popular covenant ceremonies.

Giuliani is thrice married, with a current wife who can compete with him in the multiple race-to-the-altar sweepstakes, and hes estranged from his son.

McCain, also divorced and remarried in such a way that one might expect unfavorable reviews from the promote-the-sanctity-of-marriage crowd. His first wife raised his three children alone while he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. (No, he couldnt help that.) But he later took up with a much younger woman, with family wealth, the courtship of whom pre-dated his divorce. Mrs. Moolah bankrolled his early political career. Despite the tackiness, the first wife and children remain fond and supportive of McCain.

Huckabee, being from tiny Arkansas, cannot compete in the celebrity category with Giuliani and MacCain unless Jenny Craig dumps Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli and features the seriously slim-downed ex-gov in the commercials. A sort of regular on Imus, Huckabee cannot count on that exposure either.

Just about all he can do to appeal to many of those voters who got and kept George W. in the White House is to get their religious leaders to cleave to the Christian standards they contend they were trying to restore to the presidency.

If Christian leaders fail to apply the standards uniformly, that will translate into a perception that Christian leaders prize political power above precepts of the faith, Huckabee said. He stopped short of using the H word hypocrite.

I commend Huckabee for pointing out this contradiction, even if I dont believe hes doing it out of purely altruistic motives. I suspect, though, Huckabee will fall short of winning this point at least among Christian leaders.

Like the Pharisees of Jesus time, they have had a taste of the fruits of political accommodation, and it is intoxicating. They are mere mortals, after all.

Besides, they can always say they are obligated to forgive. No ones beyond redemption especially if they vote the right way.