Why I'm voting for Mike Huckabee

A few months ago I was looking for a cop-out. I asked my political scientist husband whom I should vote for in the primaries. I mean, why should I do all the work when he's got the information tucked into his brain? Well, like any good professor he didn't allow me to slack. When I complained that he should just tell me who to vote for because I wasn't up on all the issues he replied "well, get educated."

At first I was annoyed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of puppet. I have many views of my own. My husband happens to know my views so I wasn't looking for his opinion as much as I was a shortcut. However, I took his challenge and got educated. He gave me a list of Web sites that would help me find the basic information I needed.

Since I already knew the issues that are most important to me, I was pretty sure that I would be voting in the Republican primary this year, but just to be fair, I researched several leading Democrat candidates as well.

I went into the research process pretty confident that I would come out as a McCain supporter. After all, I did vote for him in the primaries eight-years ago and still hold his "straight-talkin'" candid style in high regard. However, while researching, I became familiar with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. After I saw him participate on a few National debates I decided that he was the candidate whose beliefs and values most closely mirrored mine.

I admire his firm Christian convictions and how he will not compromise them for power. He speaks with intelligence, integrity, and wit. I think he is one of the few professional politicians who has his finger on the pulse of working Americans. Also, I think he has a very good chance for winning the presidency.

If you live in South Carolina, I encourage you to go to the polls tomorrow and vote for Mike Huckabee. If you first want more information, I applaud you. Just click on the link above or to the right. For more information about other candidates, Napp has some great links on his site. And even if you don't agree with me, get out there and vote for someone. Most primaries will be held on Feb. 5th, but for South Carolinians there are two dates. Sat. Jan. 19 for Republicans and Jan. 26 for Democrats.

Here are some additional fast facts on the points with which I agree with Mike Huckabee.

War in Iraq

• No forced timetable to withdraw.
• Forming a regional summit so that Iraq's neighbors become militarily and financially committed to stabilizing Iraq.

National Security

• Top priority of the president should be to protect the country's citizens
• A focus on diplomacy and inclusion to better work with other nations
• Expanding the army and defense budget (currently our service men and women do not
  
• have what they need to properly do their jobs).
  

Illegal Immigration

• Make our borders stronger by: building a more secure fence with an interlocking camera surveillance system and completed by 2010; increase number of border patrol
• Prevent amnesty
• Provide all illegal immigrants a 120-day window to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and leave the country. Those who register and return to their home country will face no penalty if they later apply to immigrate or visit; those who do not return home will be, when caught, barred from future reentry for a period of 10 years.
• Do not penalize children whose parents entered the country illegally
• Impose steep fines and penalties on employers that violate the law.
• Institute a universal, mandatory citizenship verification system as part of the normal hiring process.
• Prevent the IRS and the Social Security Administration from accepting fraudulent Social Security numbers or numbers that don't match the employees' names
• Better empower local authorities
• Eliminate the visa lottery system and the admission category for adult brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.
• Increase visas for highly-skilled and highly-educated applicants.
• Improve our immigration process so that those patiently and responsibly seeking to come here legally will not have to wait decades to share in the American dream.
• Expedite processing for those who serve honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Sanctity of Life

• Over-turn Roe V Wade
• Oppose research of embryonic stem cell

Energy Independence

• Help farmers lead the way to energy independence
  

Taxes/Spending

• Establish Fair Tax
• Free trade but FAIR trade
• Reduce Governments over-spending

Marriage

• Oppose anything that suggests marriage can be a union between anyone except a man and a woman

Crisis Management

• Remove FEMA from Homeland Security and make it a cabinet position