Mike Huckabee knew plenty of people at Syracuse University would disagree with his views. Yet the well-known conservative figure said that’s the reason he enjoyed speaking not just here, but at all college campuses.
At a past visit to Cornell University [11], where his hosts said 100 students were against his visit, Huckabee recalled asking to be dropped off in front of the protestors. Much to their surprise, Huckabee thanked them for reminding him why he loves America, and felt the same way when visiting S.U.
“We don’t learn much when the only people we ever talk to are the people we agree with,” Huckabee said, “We learn something when we talk to the people with whom we think we have nothing in common.”
Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, 2008 candidate for the republican presidential nomination, and current host of the Sunday talk show “Huckabee” on Fox News [12], made this a major part of his message for the S.U. campus. Speaking and taking questions about “The Future of Conservatism” on Feb. 7 in an event organized by the SU College Republicans [13], he stressed while conservatives today should retain their core values, both sides must focus more on solving problems than disagreeing.
“Please don’t think for a moment that I think conservatives should be less conservative,” Huckabee said. “The real issue is that politics has become, in this country, on both sides, far too horizontal and not nearly enough vertical.”
A prime focus was the economy, and his free market belief that all Americans should be able to live a good life with enough hard work. He believed there shouldn’t be penalties for productivity or subsidies for reckless behavior, and people must remember to work, save money, take risk, and invest.
He also said he’s not against entitlements such as food stamps since they assist people in need, but citizens should gradually have to get off them through training and getting back to work.
“If we build a system that won’t let them out,” Huckabee said, “then that’s a system that does not empower them, it enslaves them.”
Abortion and gay marriage were also discussed, as they relate to Huckabee’s strong beliefs on religion.
On gay marriage, he said he doesn’t believe homosexuals are less equal than heterosexuals, but believes strongly in traditional marriage between one man and one woman. While he did acknowledge and accept an increasing number of states have voted differently, a majority of them have still voted against it.
On abortion, Huckabee argued that science shows DNA and life begin at the moment of conception, so no one can deem an unborn child’s life worth less than others. He said he understands the financial difficulties of unplanned pregnancies, but argued this logic could be applied to elderly citizens we’ve already committed time and money to support.
“For me, this is a logical issue. It’s not that I’m trying to ram some spiritual belief down somebody else’s throat. It’s an issue that, for me, becomes a matter of simple, fundamental equality and justice.”
There were several issues where Huckabee showed more moderate conservative views. One he emphasized was racial equality, and how conservatives have “miserably failed” with this in the past like in the 2012 election, where the Hispanic vote helped Barack Obama get re-elected.
He made his case for equality by quoting the Declaration of Independence, which says all men are created equal. Yet in the past the U.S. has made African Americans worth only three-fifths of a person. This helped create a legacy of segregation he feels must be changed.
“No matter how white or how black or how brown or how red or how yellow you may be, we believe your life matters,” Huckabee said. “And you have a right to fulfill what you’ve been created to be.”
Huckabee said he also favored a tough yet fair path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the U.S. with more border security. He also supported not punishing children, since they didn’t control if they immigrated illegally or not.
“If a cop pulls you over driving a car, and your kids are in the back, the cop doesn’t give the kids the ticket. You don’t punish kids for what the parents do.”
James Ward, a junior mechanical engineering major and president of the S.U. College Republicans, said afterwards he felt the event had a great turnout and was able to clear up many of the popular misconceptions about conservatism.
However, Ward also said this won’t solve everything, and the feelings of the event need to be remembered to make more progress.
“Acceptance is going to be a process over time,” Ward said. “They’re probably going to forget a lot of what he [Huckabee] said, but at least it’s going to, for today, bring up some conversations that are very hard to bring up.”
Mike Demkiv, a junior political science major and treasurer for the group, says the group reached out to Mike Huckabee for his broad conservative values and local, grassroots appeal, which he thinks is important for conservatism going forward.
“They’ve been saying that it’s dead, they’ve been saying that it’s over, that we really need to change,” Demkiv said. “I don’t think its dead.”
Demkiv also felt having Huckabee speak would expose students to new ideas about conservatism. He said that he has nothing against liberal students, but their opinions are often over-represented on college campuses such as S.U.
“We [conservatives] are not these crazy people out there,” Demkiv said. “Hopefully we open up some eyes.”
Mike Stikkel, a senior Computer Engineering major and conservative columnist for the Daily Orange, agreed that the best outcome of Huckabee speaking at S.U. would be broadening the views of a dominantly liberal campus.
Sean Kennedy, a sophomore political science and pre-law major and member of the S.U. College Democrats, also felt Huckabee was a successful speaker. Despite disagreeing on virtually every topic, Kennedy said he agreed with his emphasis on both sides coming together regardless of their different views was most important.
“We need more conservatives like Mike Huckabee,” Kennedy said, “and we need more democrats with the same attitude as him: coming in open and willing to have a discussion.”
Ward had a similar feeling about conservatism moving forward, saying Huckabee may not be right on every issue, but no one needs to believe or agree with him on everything. What’s more important is having a serious discussion about them, even if it’s just on the S.U. campus.
“Every issue should be discussed, every issue should be compromised on,” Ward said. “Once we start arguing about issues, there’s not a right or wrong.”
