David Brooks gets much right in this column on Mike Huckabee. "Huckabee," writes Brooks, "is the first ironic evangelical on the national stage. He’s funny, campy (see his Chuck Norris fixation) and he’s not at war with modern culture." I think ironic is sort of the wrong word there. He's comfortable. It's not just that Huckabee isn't on the offensive against contemporary culture, he's not defensive before it, either. If he loses the presidency, he'd be an excellent choice to host the first Christian talkshow with broad crossover appeal. Put him on after Letterman and you'd have a real broadcasting coup.Brooks then goes into Huckabee's populism, arguing that Huckabee, unlike the other candidates, recognizes that "a conservatism that pays attention to people making less than $50,000 a year is the only conservatism worth defending." And it's true. Watching Chuck Norris warm up the crowd is an object lesson in tomorrow's populist conservatism. "The tax structure is completely outdated," exclaims the bearded actor known best for his roundhouse kicks. "Middle American shouldn't be paying 80% of taxes! Corporate America needs to pay their fair share! That means I'll have to pay more. But that's okay, so long as when corporate America buys their yachts, and their jets, they pay their fair share."The language of tax fairness is, of course, associated with the Left. It's been constructed as a rejoinder to the language of tax rates. But Huckabee doesn't talk about rates. He doesn't talk, at least much, about lowering taxes. He talks about making them fairer. He talks about making corporate actors shoulder their share of the burden, and making pimps and dealers and gamblers pay as well. And he doesn't know what he's talking about. THE CONFUSING POPULISM OF MIKE HUCKABEE.
David Brooks gets much right in this column on Mike Huckabee. "Huckabee," writes Brooks, "is the first ironic evangelical on the national stage. He’s funny, campy (see his Chuck Norris fixation) and he’s not at war with modern culture." I think ironic is sort of the wrong word there. He's comfortable. It's not just that Huckabee isn't on the offensive against contemporary culture, he's not defensive before it, either. If he loses the presidency, he'd be an excellent choice to host the first Christian talkshow with broad crossover appeal. Put him on after Letterman and you'd have a real broadcasting coup.Brooks then goes into Huckabee's populism, arguing that Huckabee, unlike the other candidates, recognizes that "a conservatism that pays attention to people making less than $50,000 a year is the only conservatism worth defending." And it's true. Watching Chuck Norris warm up the crowd is an object lesson in tomorrow's populist conservatism. "The tax structure is completely outdated," exclaims the bearded actor known best for his roundhouse kicks. "Middle American shouldn't be paying 80% of taxes! Corporate America needs to pay their fair share! That means I'll have to pay more. But that's okay, so long as when corporate America buys their yachts, and their jets, they pay their fair share."The language of tax fairness is, of course, associated with the Left. It's been constructed as a rejoinder to the language of tax rates. But Huckabee doesn't talk about rates. He doesn't talk, at least much, about lowering taxes. He talks about making them fairer. He talks about making corporate actors shoulder their share of the burden, and making pimps and dealers and gamblers pay as well. And he doesn't know what he's talking about. 
