Mike Huckabee is a perfect example of just how far left the Democratic Party has moved.  As has been opined before, JFK, if he were alive today, would not recognize his own party.  As recently as the 1984 Presidential election, the demographics of the Southeastern and Southwestern (Texas and New Mexico) regions of the US were considered stalwart Democratic states.  Even though most of the Democrats from these states were substantially more conservative on social issues than those in the Northeast or West Coast, they remained Democrats, a tradition embedded in their history going back over 100 years!  Some of our finest defenders of American Values at home and abroad, such as Senator Sam Nunn (Georgia), and Senator Fritz Hollings (South Carolina) were Democrats who frequently sided with President Reagan on issues of National Defense and Foreign Policy.  Ronald Reagan persuaded many old-time, southern Democrats to cross lines and vote for him for President, even as they sent Democrats to the House and Senate.

“The times they are a changing!” sang Bob Dylan.  How true it is!  These same regions produced Newt Gingrich (Georgia) and Dick Armey (Texas), who led the Republican Revolution of 1994 with the Contract for America.  (See http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/4/25/131113.shtml)

Bill Clinton preceded Mike Huckabee as Governor of Arkansas, but the two did not govern the state very differently.  The fundamental values of Arkansas haven’t changed, only the name of the political party of many Arkansas voters has changed.

Mike Huckabee is as legitimate a conservative, as is any former Blue-Dog Democrat that has joined the Republican Party.  Not to contradict the wise one, Rush Limbaugh, but this is part of Reagan’s Legacy:  The conversion of Conservative Democrats to Republicans.  Of course, the rise of the far left in dominating the Democratic Party may have contributed a little to the change, as well.  When the Democratic Party began to block ALL opposition to abortion at its conventions, embrace same-sex marriage, and characterize anyone who disagreed as knuckle-dragging Neanderthals, more than a few southern democrats feeling unwelcome in the Party of their Parents and Grandparents, became Republicans.

While Mike Huckabee may not carry all three legs of the proverbial stool with which Reagan united the Republican Party, he is a welcome addition to our “BIG” Tent!  Our Goal as “complete” conservatives must be to work on converting our southern brethren to “Fiscal” conservatism, to go along with their already existing social and Foreign Policy conservatism.  And enjoy watching the Democrats continue down the road of irrelevancy!