Yeah! Winner Huckabee Deviates from "Republican Orthodoxy"
Iowa Democrats gave liberal Sen. Barack Obama a big win in Thursday night's caucuses, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has many liberal views, was the clear winner on the GOP side.
Michael Luo and David Kirkpatrick checked out the Iowa aftermath from the GOP side in Friday's "At Huckabee Central, Prayer Ushers Candidate to the Top." Twice they called Huckabee and his economic liberalism "populism" in a piece that flattered Huckabee's liberaltone on many issues (The Times has yet to refer to Huckabee's economic rhetoric as "liberal").
"Despite some major stumbles in the final stretch of his Iowa campaign as he endured a ferocious assault on his record from Mr. Romney, Mr. Huckabee struck a chord among Iowa Republicans with a distinctive mixture of humor, Christian conservatism and economic populism.
"His stump speeches evoked comparisons to the prairie populism of William Jennings Bryan. And he charmed audiences with a witty and extemporaneous speaking style honed over 10 years in the pulpit as a preacher and local televangelist before he entered politics; he is a former governor of Arkansas. He told voters to pick a candidate who was 'consistent' and 'authentic,' an unstated contrast to Mr. Romney's recent conversion to opposing abortion rights."
....
"In the final days of the race, Mr. Huckabee deviated further from what has been Republican orthodoxy. He stopped merely trumpeting the taxes that he cut in Arkansas and started defending the taxes he raised to pay for better roads, schools, health care, or parks that he said benefited working people."
Do only Republicans suffer from stifling "orthodoxies" on various issues? The Times has used the phrase "Republican orthodoxy" seven times since Jan. 1, 2007. Nexis records no entries for "Democrat orthodoxy" or "Democratic orthodoxy" during that same period.
