Huckabee then and now

Faux-populist theocrat candidate Mike Huckabee recently called the Constitution a "living, breathing, document..." and that he would "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards". As bizarre and frightening as the thought of Rev. Mike rewriting the Constitution to fit his fundamentalist beliefs, he is at least consistent in this area. Consistently insane.
Far more damning, yet unbelievably ignored by the mainstream media, are his constant changes of almost every major position. While Mitt Romney is certainly worthy of his flip-flopper tag, Huckabee is at least his equal in dramatic changes in policy stances. Actually, many of Romney's changes have happened gradually, while Huckabee has changed most of his during this Presidential primary campaign. Here are a few of Huck's about-faces.

Immigration

Then: As Arkansas' governor he supported giving instate tuition benefits to illegal aliens. He also accused some anti-illegal immigration Republicans of "demagoguery and racism", and as recently as a few months ago defended his instate tuition plan by saying "In all due respect, we are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did."

Now: He recently unveiled his immigration plan, which gives all illegal aliens 120 days to leave the country. No mention is made of the poor children who will be punished "for what their parents did."

Taxes

Then: Raised taxes in Arkansas by $642 million over his ten years in office, including raises of 37% on sales tax, 16% gasoline tax, and 103% on cigarettes.

Now: Supports the so-called "fair tax", a 23% national sales tax. Also claims that he is the only candidate who wants to get rid of the IRS, which Ron Paul has been discussing for decades.

Personal Freedom

Then: Signed a law which mandates annual body mass index (BMI) measurements for all public school children in 2003. As recently as this summer he committed to sign a nationwide smoking ban in public places, should such a measure win approval in Congress.

Now: Has completely flipped on the smoking issue and says it should "be addressed by state and local governments". Sort of like he did in Arkansas by banning smoking in all public places.

Foreign Policy

Then: Unequivocally supported the Iraq war calling timetables "absurd". Also supported the right of the President to preemptively strike Iran.

Now: Called Bush's foreign policy an "arrogant bunker mentality". However he soon backtracked when criticized by the right, saying that he was only criticizing policy, not Bush himself, and that he was "the one who supported the President's surge".

In short, Huckabee has made drastic shifts on policy in several areas in just the last few months. Most of these changes were on issues that he has been criticized for by conservatives, i.e. taxes, immigration, etc. It is quite obvious that Mike Huckabee is at least the equal of Mitt Romney when it comes to changing positions for political gain, and that is certainly a high standard to live up to.