Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will officially enter the 2008 presidential race on Monday, he confirmed on NBC's Meet Tim Russert Sunday. The New York Times calls Huckabee "an early longshot contender in the Republican field" and says Huckabee "faces a tough balancing act: competing for a big share of the Republicans' conservative voting base - in competition with such other hopefuls as recently announced official candidates as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and California Rep. Duncan Hunter - while not alienating more moderate voters whose support he would need to win a general election if nominated for president."
Meanwhile, some conservatives are already gunning for Huckabee, criticizing his record on tax increases. I haven't had a chance to review all of their criticisms, but on one tax - the gas tax - the criticisms are ridiculous.
Huckabee address the gas tax in specifics today, pointing out that Arkansas's roads were in terrible shape before that gas tax increase, and the gas tax increase was approved by voters in a referendum, with about 80 percent of the vote. And today Arkansas' roads are in much better shape.
Now, I'm a fiscal conservative and don't like tax increases, but I do like it when voters get to vote on tax increases - and when 80 percent of voters vote to increase their own taxes for a specific purpose, and then the money actually goes to that project and it is effective and successful, there is no legitimate ground for criticism. Far from being evidence of Huckabee's penchant for raising taxes, the Arkansas gas tax increase is a testament to Huckabee's willingness to listen to the people he governs, the essence of democracy and something conservative activists ought to hail rather than condemn.
The Arkansas Times unsheathed the long knives and slashed Huckabee today, and also recaps his Meet the Press appearance here. Exceprt:
Lie of the day: He claimed to be the first Arkansas governor to lower taxes. He'll be working this line out a lot, because Russert produced harsh criticism of his tax increases from the Cato Institute and the Club for Growth. He'll need to refine this defense, though he was much more effective in arguing that taxes had been increased for some worthy purposes, such as highways and schools.
More on Huckabee - who, like former President Bil Clinton was born in Hope, Ark. - from U.S. News here.
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