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Huckabee moves away from Bush, moves on from evolution Thursday, Jun 7, 2007 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Wednesday distanced himself from the Bush administration in the aftermath of a New Hampshire debate, while seeking again to move past questions about his beliefs on divine creation. In the debate among GOP presidential hopefuls Tuesday in New Hampshire, Huckabee said Republicans have lost credibility with voters through corruption scandals, poor job performance and Iraq War mistakes. He also said President Bush was a poor communicator and followed up Wednesday by adding he has never been shy about criticizing the Bush administration for its botched response to Hurricane Katrina. The former Arkansas governor hoped to emerge from a crowded field of candidates with a breakout performance in the debate, the third assembly of GOP contenders in recent weeks. In Washington on Wednesday, Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, said Americans don't care about his thoughts on evolution. He has been questioned by reporters about his beliefs several times since he was among three candidates who indicated they believed in creation during a May 3 debate in California. "I had to ask myself how many people sitting around their dinner tables asked themselves, 'I wonder what the next president thinks about evolution?'" Huckabee said Wednesday. "I didn't know I was running to design an eighth-grade science text book." He said the issue should be irrelevant to his campaign for the presidency. He said the nationally televised debate should have included questions on topics like the economy, problems with the national transportation infrastructure, education and gun rights Huckabee maintains he has been encouraged by the response to his brief national debate airtime, he said. His showings have helped generate more money to a campaign that garnered just $534,000 in the first quarter of this year. "We did notice after the debates, as soon as they were over, people visited our Web site and donated," he said. "The debates have been very helpful. I think they could have been more helpful if we could answer more substantive questions." Huckabee on Wednesday got a reminder that he continues to face a tough battle for next year's GOP nomination: A scheduled address at a National Press Club luncheon Thursday was postponed because of poor ticket sales. Angela Greiling Keane, head of the club's speakers committee, said 32 reservations for the address had been made as of Wednesday morning. At least 100 would have been needed to make the event financially feasible, she said. Huckabee, who guided the state's large-scale organized response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said the federal government's handling of the disaster contributed to massive GOP losses at the polls last year. "The Republican Party, as a whole, deserved to get beat," he said, blaming faulty war strategy and lackluster border security. In a defense of his creationism beliefs, Huckabee told debate viewers that he believed God created the Earth, but wasn't sure when he did it or how long he took. Such a view is out of the Southern Baptist mainstream, said the Rev. Rex Horne, president of Huckabee's alma mater, Ouachita Baptist University. Horne said he and many rank-and-file Baptists believe that God literally spent six days on creation, though he said other views were not incorrect. "There is recognition among many that the days could mean periods of time," not identical to how "days" are defined presently, Horne said. "There are a lot of connections that would seem to lead to a six-day creation, but I think to recognize that there are other views is certainly accurate." Horne, who counts Huckabee as a friend, said he did not want to criticize the candidate. He said no one Baptist should speak for another. David Allen, dean of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said "there is every reason linguistically to refer to a literal 24-hour day," according to the original Hebrew. "However, even though most of the majority of Baptists believe that, it is possible that something other than the literal 24-hour day can be intended there." Huckabee said after the debate that his beliefs are not out of step with mainstream Baptist doctrine. "My answer was, 'I don't know,'" Huckabee said. "Do I have personal convictions that God can do it in six days? A God who can bring Jesus out of the ground can do anything he wants in six seconds. But do I know how he did it? No, and that's my point." Huckabee has drawn fire from evolution proponents. One group, The Center For American Progress, issued a news release Wednesday accusing Huckabee and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. - another candidate who has said he does not believe in evolution - of dismissing science as a rival to faith. |
