Incredible: the former Baptist minister and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee claims divine providence as the reason for his surge in the pollsin a convocation at Jerry Falwell's conservative Bible college, Liberty University. He's asked why he's rising in the polls, heavenward. His answer:
"There's only one explanation for it and it's not a human one. The same power that helped a little boy with two loaves and five fish feed a crowd of 5,000 people and that's the only way that our campaign could be doing what it's doing. And I'm not being facetious nor am I trying to be trite. There are literally thousands of people across this country who are praying that a little will become much and it has, it defies all explanation. It has confounded the pundits and I'm enjoying every minute of their trying to figure it out. And until they look at it from a just experience beyond human they'll never figure it out. And that's probably just as well. That's honestly why it's happening."
Afterward, according to a report in the Liberty student paper online, Huckabee backed up - only an inch:
"It was Ghandi who said there are four stages in the process of a politician," Huckabee said at the news conference. "First, they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they attack you. Then they attend your swearing in. We're in stage three. We're looking forward to stage four in January 2009."
Much of the news conference focused on Huckabee's reference to God as a major driving force behind his increasing popularity. When asked if God was solely responsible for his surge in the polls, Huckabee clarified: "I'm saying that when people pray, things happen."
"I'm not saying that God wants me to be elected. The last time I checked, he hadn't registered in any of the states to vote. If he does register, be sure to let me know, because I will ask for his vote."
Well, if people pray to have you elected and your polls rise as a result, doesn't that mean you think that God's on your side - or that prayers don't matter? I'd say he's saying that God's rooting for the Huckster.
Here's the video:
At the same time, a group in favour of the separation of church and state has complained that Jerry Falwell Jr, son of the televangelist founder of Liberty, violated federal law by endorsing Huckabee under the name of a religious charity.
One also wonders whether this rise in the polls could have just a little something to do with conservative, religious Iowans - and God, for that matter - being scared of Mitt Romney's Mormonism, which Romney is addressing in a speech later today.
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