Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

The Des Moines Register gives some coverage to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and the issues of faith and evolution in the presidential campaign. Huckabee was one of only three candidates (out of 10) who during the Republican presidential debate Thursday night said they didn't believe in evolution. (The others were Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo.)

Huckabee expands on his answer in the Register article:

Huckabee was one of a few candidates who signaled they didn't believe in evolution. He said he wished time had been allotted Thursday during the debate to elaborate. "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that's fine. I'll accept that," he said Friday. "I just don't happen to think that I did."

As for what should be taught in public schools, Huckabee said he wants "schools to acknowledge that there are views that are different than evolution." Huckabee downplayed the role evolution should have in the election. "Is a president going to sit in the Oval Office and really make a decision on what's being taught in a third-grade class in Dubuque, Iowa, on creation or evolution?" he said. "The answer is no."

I'm beginning to understand how Huckabee managed to win a number of statewide elections in heavily Democratic Arkansas. His handling of the issue - standing up for what he believes without demanding that anyone agree with him - is a deft way to handle the issue. And while Huckabee's disbelief in evolution may cause snickers in some quarters, it's likely to resonate with Christian voters in conservative Iowa and South Carolina, who may be pleased by a candidate who won't shrink from his own faith views just because they aren't politically correct or may invite ridicule.

Beyond Huckabee's own faith views on the origins of mankind, he's smart to turn the discussion to the issue of what should be taught in our public schools. Most Republicans, regardless of whether they believe in evolution or in a literal reading of Genesis 1, agree that local governments and local people - not Washington - should control the curriculum of their local schools.