New Post Coming Soon...

I'm in the middle of working on my second post in my "Ranking Their Positions" series. I plan on posting it sometime tonight. So please check back tonight or tomorrow.

Huckabee Starting to Get Some "Big-Name" Christian Support

As a number of Christian leaders and conservative organizations began to pick sides (and James Dobson abstained from making an endorsement yet), I wondered, "Why are no Christians teaming up with Mike Huckabee?"

Well, finally, some are. Yesterday, Huckabee's website announced the formation of the "Faith and Values Coalition for Huckabee." This list of 30 Christian leaders includes such names as Michael Farris (Chair of Home School Legal Defense Association and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College), Randy Alcorn (Founder and Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, best-selling author of 28 books, fiction and nonfiction), and Don Wildmon (Founder and Chairman of American Family Association).

Then, today, Huckabee announced the personal endorsement of Jerry Falwell, Jr..

This is a good start. Hopefully the momentum will continue.

Republican Debate; Tonight, 8 p.m. EST; CNN/YouTube

Ranking Their Positions: Abortion

This is the beginning of a new, massive undertaking I am starting that will summarize, analyze, and rank all the major candidates' positions on key issues. My analyses and summaries will be based almost entirely on the content found on the candidates' official sites.

First up is the topic of abortion. Articles following this one will address the sanctity of marriage, faith, illegal immigration, and any other issues which I feel can be hashed out from a solidly biblical foundation. Candidates who do not rank well will be demoted in or even removed from the "currently supported" and "potentially supportable" link sections. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Rudy Giulani, and Mitt Romney are already excluded from those sections, but Giulani and Romney will be included in this series for confirmation of my (and others') convictions against them.

1. Mike Huckabee

Huckabee claims to be the strongest pro-life candidate in the field, saying, "No candidate has a stronger record on the sanctity of life than I do." He advocates a constitutional amendment to protect life, and vows to fight for that amendment, if elected.Believing in the sanctity of life from conception, he touts a consistently pro-life track-record. Having first gotten politically involved because of the abortion issue, the former governor pushed for and got pro-life legislation through a Democratic Congress in Arkansas. He favors the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and he opposes embryonic stem-cell research. Saying that "there is a lot more that a pro-life President can do than wait for a Supreme Court vacancy," Huckabee promises an active pro-life presidency, if the people elect him.

Key Quote: "The many pro-life laws I got through my Democrat legislature are the accomplishments that give me the most pride and personal satisfaction. I banned partial birth abortion, I required parental notification, I required that a woman give informed consent before having an abortion, I required that a woman be told her baby will experience pain and be given the option of anesthesia for her baby, I allowed a woman to have her baby and leave the child safely at a hospital, and I made it a crime for an unborn child to be injured or murdered during an attack on his mother."

2. Duncan Hunter (**No longer running: dropped out 1/19/08; endorsed Mike Huckabee)

Hunter speaks out boldly--if a little bit arrogantly. He doesn't say he'd try to pass a right-to-life amendment as President. He declares that he simply would amend the Constitution. He himself has introduced an act that would defined personhood as starting at the moment of conception. This act, if passed, would provide the same practical applications of a constitutional amendment. However, it would likely come with less pains than the ratification process.Hunter vows that he would only appoint Supreme Court Justices who have "a heart for the least of us, including the unborn."Although Hunter has a consistently pro-life voting record, including the cosponsorship of several pieces of pro-life legislation, he lacks the accomplishments of Mike Huckabee.

Key Quote: "I would amend the U.S. Constitution and provide blanket protection to all unborn children from the moment of conception by prohibiting any state or federal law that denies the personhood of the unborn."

3. Alan Keyes

Keyes is staunchly pro-life, and he is probably the most eloquent presidential candidate currently running. For that reason, I will allow him to speak for himself on the topic of abortion: "The Declaration states plainly that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with our basic human rights. But if human beings can decide who is human and who is not, the doctrine of God-given rights is utterly corrupted....Some people talk about "viability" as a test to determine which human offspring have rights that we must respect, and which do not. But "might does not make right." So the mere fact that the person in the womb is wholly in its mother's physical power and completely dependent upon her for sustenance gives her no right whatsoever with respect to its life — since the mere possession of physical power can never confer such a right. Therefore, medical procedures resulting in the death of the unborn child, except as an unintended consequence of efforts to save the mother's physical life, are impermissible." Keyes supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the passage of a Human Life Amendment.
Concerning embryonic stem-cell research, he is just as eloquently defiant. "No — we do not have the right to take human life merely because it is unconscious, or because it is undeveloped or damaged, or for any other reason that tempts us to deny the equal dignity of all human persons.When we start making such invidious distinctions, we destroy the principle of equal rights. We can't claim rights for ourselves if we deny those rights to babes at any stage in their development."
Keyes considers himself a pro-life leader, and he does not shy away from making abortion the central issue of his campaign. In his "Pledge for America's Revival," he states that the next President must "appreciate that the single most immoral and catastrophic policy in our nation is tax-funded, legalized abortion — a policy that utterly disqualifies us from God's protection as a people." It doesn't get much more staunch than that.

Key Quote: "I think, in open debate, I could prove it to anyone — that Roe v. Wade was the most obscenely illogical and shoddily-written Supreme Court decision perhaps in the whole history of our country."

4. Tom Tancredo (*No longer running: Ended candidacy on 12/20/07, endorsing Mitt Romney)

Tancredo can't seem to stop talking about illegal immigration long enough to talk about abortion, yet he is strongly pro-life. He states plainly that "innocent unborn enjoy a God given right to life." He plans to protect this right as President by "appointing strict constructionists as judges, reining in the power of the judiciary, and supporting constitutional amendmentsthat respect life."
Unfortunately, Tancredo points to no past accomplishments--or even attempts--in the pro-life arena. However, he did receive an "A" from both the National Right to Life Committee and the Family Research Council. His site says that he has a reputation as a "solid pro-life...Republican."

Key Quote: "As a devout Christian, father, and grandfather, I am a strong believer in the right to life for the unborn child."

5. Ron Paul

Paul defines himself as the pro-life politician of action, stating, "Many talk about being pro-life. I have taken direct action to restore protection for the unborn." As a doctor who's practiced for 40 years and delivered over 4,000 babies (without ever considering performing an abortion), Ron Paul believes he has become "an unshakable foe of abortion" from his experience. He has authored and sponsored pro-life legislation.

Key Quote: "...there cannot be liberty in a society unless the rights of all innocents are protected. Much can be understood about the civility of a society in observing its regard for the dignity of human life."

6. Fred Thompson (*No longer running: dropped out 1/22/08)

Thompson is pro-life, but he is not the pro-lifer's ideal candidate, despite what the NRLC's endorsement of him may lead you to believe. He is somewhat vague on what actions he'd take concerning abortion, stating that he would use the presidency to "promote a culture of life." He supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but he does not support a constitutional amendment. He believes that abortion laws should be made individually by the states. That is a belief--held by several "pro-life candidates"--I cannot reconcile with myself. Murder is not a states' rights issue. Infanticide is not a states' rights issue. Just as slavery should not be a states' rights issue, neither should abortion.
Thompson does claim a pro-life Senate record. Furthermore, he opposes embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning. However, he once lobbied for a pro-abortion group, and he recently made an insulting comment that implied that pro-lifers want to "criminalize" young women.

Key Quote: "Fred Thompson is pro-life. He believes in the sanctity of human life and that every life is worthy of respect."

7. John McCain

During this campaign season, McCain has tried to appeal to conservative voters by magnifying his pro-life status. He is for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it a "flawed decision" (not nearly as strong of language as Alan Keyes), but he is vague on what he would do after Roe v. Wade is overturned. Like Thompson, McCain is apparently not in favor of a constitutional amendment to protect life. His website states that "Constitutional balance would be restored by the reversal of Roe v. Wade, returning the abortion question to the individual states."
He appears to be against embryonic stem-cell research, saying that "the compassion to relieve suffering and to cure deadly disease cannot erode moral and ethical principles." He voted to ban "fetal farming" and made other moves against ethically-questionable modern technology and research, but World Magazine points out that he is still for some level of embryonic stem-cell research.

Key Quote: "At its core, abortion is a human tragedy."

8. Mitt Romney

Romney takes a pragmatic view towards abortion. He wishes Americans were united enough to nationally outlaw abortion, but he knows we are not. So, he would attempt to return the lawmaking authority to the states in the meantime, by overturning Roe v. Wade.Although Romney advertises himself as staunchly pro-life, he believes that abortion can be the right choice in cases of incest and rape, and in the situation where the mother's life is at stake (an almost nonexistent scenario; take it from Ron Paul). Furthermore, he's only been pro-life for about 2 1/2 years. There's not much track-record there. In 1994, he ran to be Senator of the Massachusetts, claiming in a debate, "I do not take the position of a pro-life candidate." Since he is a Mormon, and since his transformation happened conspicuously close to this election cycle, I cannot place trust in his conversion on this issue.

Key Quote: "What became clear during the cloning debate is how the harsh logic of an absolute right to abortion had cheapened the value of human life to the point that rational people saw a human embryo as nothing more than mere research material to be used, andthen destroyed."

9. Rudy Giulani

Giulani "personally opposes" abortion, but he believes the decision should be left up to the individual pregnant women, and he has said that he would not sign a bill that bans abortion. Giulani's site states that "Rudy understands that this [abortion] is a deeply personal moral dilemma, and people of good conscience can disagree respectfully." Sorry, Rudy, but I can't disagree with you respectfully and vote for you, when you are so off-base on this issue. Giulani believes in "reasonable" restrictions on abortion. Again, Rudy, sorry, but the only "reasonable" restriction on abortion is a complete ban. He makes a very deceptive statement that he will "protect the quality of life for our children." He won't protect their lives in the womb, mind you--he will just protect the "quality" of their lives if their mothers are willing to have them in the first place.
Furthermore, he makes no mention of embryonic stem-cell research, cloning, or euthanasia.

Key Quote: "I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children."

"...Christian President..." Linked from Mike Huckabee's Website

Okay, so it's not all that big of a deal, since the link is found at the bottom of a list of a couple hundred blogs at least. But, still, I thought it was worthy of note as I try to increase the visibility of this site, one blog at a time. Huckabee's site may be the biggest one this blog ever gets linked from.

~Kingdom Advancer~