Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, surging in Iowa polls in the Republican presidential race, wrote on a questionnaire while running for U.S. Senate in 1992 that homosexuality is "aberrant" and "sinful."
"I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk," Huckabee wrote in the questionnaire for The Associated Press, which reported the answer on Saturday.
In another answer that could damage his standing in the presidential race, Huckabee wrote on the questionnaire that AIDS research was receiving an unfair amount of federal money. Instead, he said celebrities should pay for the research themselves.
"In light of the extraordinary funds already being given for AIDS research, it does not seem that additional federal spending can be justified," Huckabee wrote, according to the AP.
"An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research."
The revelations could dampen the enthusiasm for the candidacy of Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, because the language clashes with his image as a compassionate, sunny leader.
It also could cause Republican voters to reevaluate whether he would be effective at winning swing voters in a general election that looks trying for the GOP.
Huckabee also wrote that he wanted to quarantine AIDS patients, according to the AP:
"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.... It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."
Huckabee's written public statements came during his initial run for public office, which he lost to incumbent Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers.
Huckabee is not renouncing the comments, but is seeking to explain them by pointing to the context of the times.
The former governor told reporters Saturday in Asheville, N.C., that there were “a lot of questions” about AIDS when he filled out the AP survey in 1992, according to Joy Lin of CBS News. Huckabee brought up a case in 1991 of a patient who had contracted AIDS from her dentist and said the nation was in “real panic."
“What I mentioned was that the only time in human history that we had not quarantined people who were carrier of a disease for which we didn’t know where it was going was this time,” said Huckabee.
“If I were making those same comments today, I might make them a little differently,” he added. “But obviously I have to stand by what I said. ... Medical protocol typically says that if you have a disease for which there is no cure and you are uncertain about the transmission of it, the first thing you do is quarantine or isolate the carriers.”
Still, the report is a second distraction at a time when Huckabee has tied or passed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in polls in Iowa. A Newsweek poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers taken Wednesday and Thursday found Huckabee leading Romney by a 2-1 margin, 39 percent to 17 percent. Newsweek’s last poll, in late September, had Huckabee at 6 percent and Romney at 25 percent.
Even before the revelation about his incendiary 1992 views on AIDS policy, Huckabee was facing questions about whether he will be a durable candidate and is prepared for commander-in-chief responsibilities.
The scrutiny has been harsh, leading some Republicans to wonder if Huckabee peaked too soon.
This week in Iowa, he left reporters agape when he said he had not heard about an intelligence report on Iran that had been dominating newscasts and front pages for two days. He later blamed his staff.
Perhaps more damagingly, he has not warded off questions about his role in the 1999 parole of a rapist, supported by Arkansas pastors, who went on to kill a mother of three.
Huckabee said on NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that he “didn’t put pressure” on the parole board. The former governor acknowledged to CBS’s “The Early Show” that he considered – but denied – a commutation, although the convict was eventually freed, anyway.
“It wasn't so much his innocence, but it was the sentence and the fact that while he was awaiting trial, someone broke into his home,” Huckabee said. “It was a horrible case from start to finish for everybody – for the victims, for him.”
Nevertheless, heavy television attention to the case – with its shades of the Willie Horton case that was so damaging to Michael Dukakis in his 1988 presidential race – has undercut Huckabee’s law-and-order credentials and raised questions about his candor and judgment.
In a quick check of Republican reaction after the AP story broke, some conservatives said they viewed Huckabee’s answers as a blunt statement of views held by many in his Southern Baptist flock, and an antidote to the waffling that pervades politics.
So it may turn out that his more damaging answer was not the one about his view of homosexuality but rather his foray into federal policy – quarantining AIDS patients and cutting funding for research. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7270.html
Whether or not I support the guy aside (and I don't), I really don't think this guy can keep up the kind of support he has right now. If there's anymore history like this and Dumond in his closet, he doesn't stand much of a chance.
He believes abortion is a state issue, not something the Federal Gov. should be involved in. I've had him for Governor for 8 years , anything you wanna know just ask. He is not the ideal "perfect" choice but who is.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee refused to retract a statement he made in 1992 calling for the isolation of AIDS patients.
Surging in the polls, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee campaigns Saturday in Asheville, North Carolina.
Responding to an Associated Press questionnaire, Huckabee said steps should be taken to "isolate the carriers of this plague" during his failed run for a U.S. Senate seat from Arkansas 15 years ago.
He said he probably would not make the same statement today because of what is known about how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted.
"I had simply made the point -- and I still believe this today -- that in the late '80s and early '90s, when we didn't know as much as we do now about AIDS, we were acting more out of political correctness than we were about the normal public health protocols that we would have acted," Huckabee told Fox News on Sunday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in 1985 that AIDS was not transmitted by casual contact. But Huckabee said at the time, "there were other concerns being voiced by public health officials."
He disputed the characterization that he was calling for individuals infected with HIV to be quarantined.
"Now, would I say things a little differently in 2007? Probably so," Huckabee told Fox News. "But I'm not going to recant or retract from the statement that I did make because, again, the point was not saying we ought to lock people up who have HIV/AIDS."
Huckabee did not explain how individuals with HIV would have been isolated.
During his Senate run, Huckabee also told the AP in the questionnaire that he found homosexuality to be "an aberrant, unnatural and sinful lifestyle."
Speaking Monday in Miami, Florida, Huckabee said he still stands by his earlier remarks on homosexuality.
"Let's understand what sin means," Huckabee said. "Sin means missing the mark. Missing the mark could mean missing the mark in any area. We've all missed the mark."
The former Baptist minister said the "proper relationship" is one between a married man and woman having children.
"If we didn't have that as the ideal, we wouldn't have a civilization that was able to perpetuate," he said. "So, rather than read into something incredibly out of line, just read into the fact that I believe that the ideal relationship is one-man, one-woman, pro-life."
The former Arkansas governor has come under increased scrutiny since his rapid rise in the polls, particularly in Iowa, where a McClatchy-MSNBC poll conducted December 3-6 has him leading the GOP field with the support of 32 percent of likely caucus-goers.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had been leading in Iowa for months, was the second closest rival for the GOP presidential nomination, at 20 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Huckabee also has come under scrutiny for his role in the parole of a convicted rapist who later went on to rape and kill another woman.
As Arkansas governor, Huckabee supported the parole of Wayne DuMond, who was convicted and sentenced to a life term for raping a 17-year-old girl. After DuMond's parole in 1999, he killed a woman in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2003. DuMond died in prison two years later.
Huckabee wrote a 1996 letter to DuMond supporting his release from prison, but the candidate said the decision was made by a parole board dominated by appointees of his predecessors, Jim Guy Tucker and Bill Clinton.
Former members of the Arkansas Parole Board at the time also said that Huckabee pressured them to approve DuMond's parole, though Huckabee denies doing so.
Last week, the mother of the woman DuMond killed in 2003 said she would actively campaign against Huckabee.
In an interview with CNN, Huckabee called it "heartbreaking" that the rape victims' deaths had become politicized.
"There are families who are truly, understandably and reasonably, grief-stricken," Huckabee said. "And for people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret politics is reduced to that." http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/...ids/index.html
He did write a letter to the parole board saying that he should be released early, and he stumped for his early release on many occasions.
No sir he did not, Gov. Tucker gave Dumond his clemency 2 weeks before being escorted out of the governors masion by state police. It was done when Huckabee walked in office the next day.
There is alot of "out of context" material and just flat out lies going around, of course that is politics. As for the articles you have posted above I fail to see the problem. (other than the source....CNN ?? come on ) They are pulling quotes from the late 80's to the early 90's. No one knew much about how AIDS was spread back then. I remember it was said you could get it from a toliet seat. He speaks against homosexuality, whats the problem.
Here is why he will not be president, he tells the truth, like it is , then challenges you to back up your own statements with action.
Lets see , when was the last time we had a President like that..........hhmmmmmmm.......... oh yeah, JFK...
What ever happened to that guy.
If you don't like Huckabee don't sweat it, it's gonna be like a new preacher that comes in and steps on your toes with the truth,,, he won't be around long.
__________________ You can't reach the world with your talents. People are sick and tired of religious talents. People need a Holy Ghost annointed church with real fruits to reach out and touch their lives. ~ Pastor Burrell Crabtree
In fact I think that the insinuation of "hateful" Pentecostals is coming mostly from the fertile imaginations of bitter, backslidden ex Apostolics who are constantly trying to find a way to justify their actions. ~ strait shooter
I know , thats the down fall, having to settle for less in values in order to gain in popularity....
Good picture of society today, we vote on a president based on his/her popularity to win as opposed to being the right person for the job.
Like I said , thats why Huckabee will never win.
Weigh the few negatives that have been raised against the many negatives of Hillary and yet we have to find someone else to beat her.
Whats wrong with that picture.?
__________________ You can't reach the world with your talents. People are sick and tired of religious talents. People need a Holy Ghost annointed church with real fruits to reach out and touch their lives. ~ Pastor Burrell Crabtree
In fact I think that the insinuation of "hateful" Pentecostals is coming mostly from the fertile imaginations of bitter, backslidden ex Apostolics who are constantly trying to find a way to justify their actions. ~ strait shooter
I know , thats the down fall, having to settle for less in values in order to gain in popularity....
Good picture of society today, we vote on a president based on his/her popularity to win as opposed to being the right person for the job.
Like I said , thats why Huckabee will never win.
Weigh the few negatives that have been raised against the many negatives of Hillary and yet we have to find someone else to beat her.
Whats wrong with that picture.?
well, some of the negatives put him in the same boat with the other guys IMOH.
the immagration thing is a big deal.
I am not nearly as worried about the raising taxes issue as he is for a consumpiton tax which I like.
However on the religion front, it sure seems that he has said some things that bug me. That comercial where he calls himself "the christian" leader will be turned against him.
I still like the guy and am still leaning his direction but there are some things that just flat bug me.
Drudge is reporting that the Democrats have issued an order that no one is to attack him because they WANT him to win the Republican primary. Their polls are showing he is the most beatable.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
Like I said , popularity will win over issues. As for the rest of it , I'll quoate Huckabee himself from the post above.
"There are families who are truly, understandably and reasonably, grief-stricken," Huckabee said. "And for people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret politics is reduced to that."
__________________ You can't reach the world with your talents. People are sick and tired of religious talents. People need a Holy Ghost annointed church with real fruits to reach out and touch their lives. ~ Pastor Burrell Crabtree
In fact I think that the insinuation of "hateful" Pentecostals is coming mostly from the fertile imaginations of bitter, backslidden ex Apostolics who are constantly trying to find a way to justify their actions. ~ strait shooter
Like I said , popularity will win over issues. As for the rest of it , I'll quoate Huckabee himself from the post above.
"There are families who are truly, understandably and reasonably, grief-stricken," Huckabee said. "And for people to now politicize these deaths and to try to make a political case out of it rather than to simply understand that a system failed and that we ought to extend our grief and heartfelt sorrow to these families, I just regret politics is reduced to that."
Scotty, thati is a non-answer.
the Republicans have certain standards that they have to live by. Does the name Willy Horton ring a bell?
Huck needs to provide some detailed answers.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
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