How Many Constituencies Can Huckabee Annoy?

This Sunday, Mike Huckabee is going to visit John Hagee's Cornerstone Church. Who is John Hagee? Kathryn Jean Lopez breaks down his beliefs in this column.

In Hagee’s “black history” of the Catholic Church, for example, Catholics were far from only guilty of sins of omission when it came to the Nazis, they also gave Hitler his blueprint, according to Hagee. In a speech this year, Hagee pointed to the Catholic Church as having provided the jumping-off point for the Holocaust, claiming: “That was really drawn by the Roman church. [Hitler] did not do anything differently. He only did it more ruthlessly, and on a national scale.” The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has long been concerned about Hagee’s rhetoric, calling him a “veteran bigot,” accusing him of distorting Catholic teachings and misrepresenting Church history. The League has cautioned that, “Tone matters … and Hagee’s tone is nothing but derisive.”

Although Utah isn't completely Mormon, the state contains a very large percentage of them. In 2004, 71% of voters in that state went for Bush/Cheney, their strongest showing in any state. As we well know, Huckabee hasn't done a lot to endear himself to Mormons.

Now, I'm not asking Huckabee to endorse theology with which he personally disagrees, but is it too much to ask that he not go out of his way to irritate Catholics and Mormons who might otherwise be inclined to vote Republican?

posted by Slublog at 09:56 PM

| Access Comments