Who is the most vile candidate running today?

I will be posting lightly until Sunday night, but here's an interactive post for all of you: who is the most vile candidate running for office this election cycle? I thought long and hard about chosing GOP Senate candidate Saxby Chambliss (it's bad enough he's a chickenhawk, but to question Sen. Cleland's patriotism though the Vietnam War hero senator lost three limbs in combat was despicable).

But ultimately, I chose the dymanic duo of Arkansas Guv Mike Huckabee and his wife Janet.

First of all, there's the small matter of releasing a convicted rapist because the rape victim was a Bill Clinton cousin. Huckabee was convinced Clinton had railroaded the poor rapist, and set out to free him by twisting some arms at the parole board. When the rapist suddenly raped and murdered at least one woman (possibly two), Huckabee tried to distance himself from the whole sordid affair, but the truth has emerged. He was so quick to believe the rants of the vast right-wing conspiracy that he let lose a killer.

Then there's the governor's close association with the Free Republic. This is from the Feb 4, 2001 Dallas Morning News: (got it off Nexis, sorry, no link)

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee last week declared himself a "confirmed and proud" member of a political group that acknowledges drawing Secret Service attention because of online threats against the life of former President Bill Clinton.

"You're the greatest!" Huckabee wrote last week to FreeRepublic.com, a Web site "conservative news forum" operated by a California man. The governor's oldies-rock band, Capitol Offense, performed at the group's presidential inaugural party in Washington last month.

[...]

The Washington, D.C., affair last month at which Huckabee performed was called the "Count the White House Silverware Party." At least one attendee found it a smashing success.
"My gosh, you know how to party," the governor wrote last week, adding that he is now a "confirmed and proud Freeper."

The Republican governor later added, in a written response to questions about Free Republic, that he "found their people to be some of the most polite, considerate and appreciative people we've ever played for _ they had something most liberals don't, a great sense of humor."

Janet, who is running for Secretary of State, is cut from the same cloth, wielding their Bible as a weapon whenever convenient:

In the [NY]Times article, state Senate Republican Leader John Brown of Siloam Springs and state Rep. Randy Minton, R- Ward, said voters don’t approve of Janet Huckabee’s running for secretary of state. Minton said it cost the governor as much as 5 percentage points. "I do think people look at having a married couple holding two of the highest elected offices in the state, and there is a negative connotation to that," Brown told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette when asked about the Times piece. "Mike Huckabee has to have the crossover and the independent vote. That’s where I think both of them have been hurt."

Janet Huckabee said in the Times article that her critics have bothered her. "If it wasn’t for the grace of God, I’d have shot a few people already," she said. "Jesus wasn’t liked either. And Jesus was mistreated and called names."

So she's like Jesus. Because Jesus talked about killing off his enemies.

I rest my case.

Posted November 02, 2002 04:35 PM | Comments (29)