Former Governor Mike Huckabee is a nice guy and I’m sure he never meant any harm by granting Maurice Clemmons clemency. But the fact is what happened happened and there’s no changing that. Now RNC strategist Alex Castellanos among others is saying Huckabee’s done.
I’m not going to pretend that I liked Mike Huckabee as a candidate. As a matter of fact I couldn’t stand him, I think he paved the way for Barack Obama, but that’s another story. But the way this whole Maurice Clemmons story has played out it doesn’t look like Huckabee’s going to be around to screw things up when 2012 rolls around.
Huckabee’s been making the rounds trying to pass the buck for the Clemmons clemency debacle at the feet of whoever happens to be closest. Ever since Clemmons was being sought in connection with the four police officer killings, Huckabee’s been playing defense.
Seems he’s a little mad at bloggers for talking about the political fallout instead of grieving for the families of the slain officers. Whatever Huckster, you keep telling yourself we’re all the bad guys here, you’re the one who commuted the sentence of a real monster who would still be sitting in an Arkansas prison if you hadn’t gotten involved.
Huckabee said that Maurice Clemmons sentence of 108 years was disproportionate compared to what a white kid in suburbia would have received with a good lawyer. He also said:
“It’s a lot easier to be a pundit or a commentator or a blogger than to govern the state and have to make tough decisions,” he said. “People are talking about this from a political standpoint, but what they need to be asking is how did the system break down?”
Well Mike, I’ll tell you how the system broke down. You commuted the sentence of a guy allowing him to get paroled when he shouldn’t have been paroled. There, that’s how the system broke down. Maybe others are to blame as well, but it started with you in the Arkansas Governor’s mansion.
I hate it happened this way but for all intents and purposes it appears that Mike Huckabee’s political career died with those four Washington State Police officers.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:17 pm
mike huckabee needs to go. mr. huckabee step down. get the f*ck out, now!
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 am
I agree that his political career is likely over. But I don’t think he was trying to pass the buck, but instead to explain how it works.
Also working with juvenile offenders (having done so for 10 out of my 17 years in youth ministry) I think 108 years was excessive for a crime committed at 16. You may label me soft on crime, oh well, I’m not. I do believe he needed to serve time, but after serving 11 years Clemmons got his sentence commuted to 47 years – it isn’t like he pardoned him. He was eligible for parole, but he still needed to convince the parole board which evidently he did.
Hindsight is always 20/20, could you see into the future and know that he was going to do this? If we don’t want Governors to have the ability to commute or pardon then we should take that power away via changing the Constitution. Almost every Governor does this, and this could have happened to any one of them. It sounds like they had a process in Arkansas that was followed, and unfortunately it backfired on them.
And he is right that at this moment we should be thinking about the families instead of politicizing this, I mean they haven’t even had the funerals yet.
Also to blame Huckabee for the GOP losing the WH in 2008? Let’s blame Senator McCain, Steve Schmidt, and some of his other campaign staff. They ran a crappy campaign, and the only good thing that came out of it was Sarah Palin.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:15 am
Shane the McCain campaign stunk, that’s for sure. What I mean is I think Huckabee split the conservative vote giving us McCain in the first place, which ultimately led to Barry O. And yes, Sarah Palin was and is the only good thing to come out of that ridiculous 2008 campaign season.
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 am
Huckabee, Huckabee, Huckabee…the brutal truth is simply that you will always be known, from now on, as the man who released a cop-killer.
I’m not judging, to be sure. This could have happened to any Governor. But I do believe you are finished as being a person who has any future in politics and/or being a pundit of any sort.
Were I you, I would bow out and return home. Say your good-byes and go. Really. You remaining as a public figure will only bring you and yours unnecessary controversy and derision. Think about your family.
Long Live the Republic.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Your piece is well written and does make a lot of sense. I do respectfully disagree with your assessment that his future in politics is over. I think people have short memories and are willing to go past this incident, despite how bad it looks now. Huckabee still has the potential to appeal to independents because of his personality (even though that alone doesn’t qualify you to be President) – even if conservatives don’t care for him, if they feel he can appeal to the independents, they will warm up to him fast.
Huck chose to stay in the GOP primary race long over his welcome. It was smart, politically, because it did keep him in the GOP spotlight longer on the big stage after Romney suspended his campaign. Even if the Clarett situation is not forgotten, Huck just might be ballsy enough to run anyways.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
True Martin, 2012 is a long way off. But you can be sure that whoever runs against Huckabee in the primaries should he run will definitely remind voters of the clemency decision.