Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s camp says that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has two different messages on social issues, one for Blue states, another for red states. That is true, but not for the reason Huckabee says. It is because he and Cruz look at abortion and “gay marriage” from two different points of view. The Cruz position is the same as Ron Paul’s was in 2012. It is essentially libertarian. The reason Cruz can appear to be on both sides is because he can tailor his message to the audience. He can tell blue states audiences that they can keep their liberal laws, and red states that they can keep their conservative ones. He is not flip-flopping. He is being consistent, as Shane Vander Hart has shown
The “state’s rights position” is totally unworkable on marriage, for previous laws have always required that states accept every other state’s standards. The Cruz position is actually a step backwards for the pro-life movement, as well. Morally, abortion is a national sin. Cruz can say he has done all he can to stop abortion. But Ron Paul’s pro-abortion supporters knew that his position would not stop abortions at all. He could brag all he wanted about proposing laws that would outlaw abortion nationally, but he knew they would never see the light of day,
Huckabee should hammer this home during the remainder of the presidential primary season. 2015 is the time to make this clear, not 2016. Cruz position is pro-choice, Huckabee is the pro-life alternative.
(Disclaimer: Governor Huckabee wrote the Foreword for my book, With Christ in the Voting Booth. I will likely support him again this time around)
Editor’s note: I offer a rebuttal to David’s remarks about Cruz’s pro-life record.