Wednesday, December 12, 2007

MIKE HUCKABEE, MITT ROMNEY

Ingraham, Not Pleased With Huckabee's Theological Assessment of Mormonism

Laura Ingraham begins her show by ripping into Mike Huckabee.

The trigger was this:

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church.

"Doesn't somebody sound desperate?" Ingraham asked. "Why is he sounding desperate when he's going up in the polls?"

UPDATE: Some ask if the comment sounds better in context. The Times story is up; here is the relevant paragraphs.

Chapter 3 also contains the admonition to ‘‘keep sound wisdom and discretion.’’ Huckabee is, indeed, a discreet fellow, but he has no trouble making his feelings known. He mentioned how much he respected his fellow candidates John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani. The name of his principal rival in Iowa, Mitt Romney, went unmentioned. Romney, a Mormon, had promised that he would be addressing the subject of his religion a few days later. I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. ‘‘I think it’s a religion,’’ he said. ‘‘I really don’t know much about it.’’

I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: ‘‘Don’t Mormons,’’ he asked in an innocent voice, ‘‘believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?’’

After this, the story jumps to "In this unpredictable primary season, Mike Huckabee’s surge in Iowa — and beyond — is perhaps the greatest surprise..."

I'm not sure the context is all that exculpatory...

12/12 09:25 AMShare