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Monday, January 14, 2008

A Rush to judgment

Posted: January 14, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Chuck Norris

© 2008 

Our country is definitely in a cultural fight for its life. And what's at stake is the very heart and core of America – our founders' dreams and our way of life.

More than any other election in decades, this presidential one has erected a fighting ring in which conservatism will either maintain its title or be stripped of it by the appointment of leadership that will champion secular progressive change.

Corralling the conservatives

To date, many on the right have gone left, and many left, a bit right. Even now our own GOP candidates are wrestling over who is truly conservative.

At the last round of debates, Fred Thompson, degraded by his own dilapidating campaign and threatened by Mike Huckabee's lead in the polls, tried to liberalize Mike by saying:

This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that Gov. Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies.

Even radio host Rush Limbaugh heckled Huckabee with a similar liberal lashing, accusing him of not being a conservative in the line of Ronald Reagan – an unfortunate "Rush to judgment."

The only truth in their words is that they could not be further from the truth.

Come out, come out, wherever you are

Any GOP candidate can be dissected to a point that he is railed for having liberal tendencies.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has waffled enough around his pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro-gun control views to recruit many Democratic supporters.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has flip-flopped so many times on issues of abortion, immigration and gay rights to make one wonder for what party he's running.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul's bent toward being an isolationist who wants to bring home every one of our 572,000 troops abroad makes the anti-terror, pro-military hairs on the back of my neck stand.

Though Sen. John McCain of Arizona is a friend and a true, decorated hero who I personally think would make an excellent vice president for Mike, he opposed the Bush tax cuts and co-authored legislation for comprehensive immigration reform that some believe jeopardizes national security and American sovereignty.

And while former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is also a friend, his record of consistently voting against tort reform, opposing the impeachment of Bill Clinton on perjury, supporting opponents of Reagan (Ford and Baker) in 1976 and 1980, and failing to support federal constitutional amendments that would ban abortion and gay marriage doesn't exactly make him "the only true conservative."

To be fair, even if Reagan himself were running today, he likely couldn't dodge liberal labeling, especially for his signing of the Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to aliens who resided in the U.S. since before 1982.

Will the real conservative please stand up?

As I've already shown in my past WND columns, most liberal accusations against Mike Huckabee's record on immigration, taxes and crime are also biased, out-of-context rushes to judgment.

The complete record and platform of this former Arkansas governor reveals a tried-and-true conservative. He has consistently stood for pro-life, pro-education, pro-military, pro-death penalty, pro-God, pro-constitutional, pro-middle America, pro-small business, pro-marriage, pro-legal immigration, less government, less taxes, fiscal solvency, etc., positions.

As Huckabee himself summarized, "Now if that's not conservative, somebody needs to hand me a new book and show me what conservatism is about."

But who better to discern a conservative than one who knew Reagan better than Limbaugh, Thompson or most of us: Ed Rollins, the man who led Reagan to victory in 1984 and is now the national campaign manager for Huckabee. He already testified about Huckabee: "I was with the old Reagan, and I can promise you this man comes as close as anyone to filling those shoes."

That's why I am endorsing Mike, encouraging others to learn about him through his website and inviting all who can to join me and Mike in person or via the Internet on Sunday, Jan. 20, at my ranch for an old-fashioned Texas-style barbecue and fundraiser in support of "The People's President" – Mike Huckabee. Learn how by going to the Chuck4HuckBBQ website.

On Jan. 15, Chuck's column begins to run in syndication through Creator's Syndicate. Subscriptions can be obtained by e-mailing Creator's Syndicate.