Liberal Talk Radio

I’ve always had a soft spot for Arkansas Gov. and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, despite the fact that I disagree with him on a bunch of social litmus test issues (i.e. abortion, gay marriage). Perusing a month-old copy of Time in the doctor’s office yesterday, Joe Klein reminded me why:

“I’m a ‘grace’ Christian,” Huckabee told me over lunch recently, “not a ‘law’ Christian. The Second Commandment–do unto others–is the basic tenet of my faith. And so I believe that life begins at conception, but I don’t believe it ends at birth. I believe we have a responsibility to feed the hungry, to provide a good education, a safe neighborhood, health care … That’s why I talk so much about the need for music and art programs in our schools. I know some conservatives think it’s foolish, but I just believe it’s necessary to build whole, creative individuals.”

Huckabee walks the walk — he’s one of those rare “conservative” Republicans who seems to actually think about What Jesus Would Do. He also plays the bass (hence the line about music and art), and it would be pretty sweet to have a bassist for a president. Talk about providing steady leadership! If you can keep a 4/4 beat at a constant 120bpm, you’re probably at least as qualified as anyone to be commander-in-chief!

Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be the year for candidates who look good on paper (i.e. Richardson). After nominating a soldier candidate who looked and acted like he’d never fired a gun in his life (Kerry) and an MBA-executive candidate who couldn’t balance his own checkbook (Bush), maybe America’s realizing that a good resumé isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.