You underestimate the offense Huckabee gave to Mormons just before the Iowa caucus. This is probably because you and most people are completely unfamiliar with anti-Mormon literature and so can not understand the code.

Huckabee’s ‘question’: “Don’t [Mormons] believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?” is a direct lift from the anti-Mormon book and movie “The Godmakers” written by Ed Decker. (I happen to know a lot about all of this because I’m from Seattle and so I know all about the Deckerites- my father was actually business partners for a while with Ed’s cousin).

A copy of “The Godmakers” is owned by almost every Baptist Church in Oklahoma (I know because I traveled all over Oklahoma for two years and talked with multiple Baptist pastors about the subject). I doubt Arkansas Baptists are any different.

The question “Don’t you think Jesus and Satan are brothers?” is Ed Decker’s recommended opening attack- particularly in public debates.

Furthermore it is the opening attack in a very specific accusation that Ed Decker makes against Mormons: Mormons are a secretly Satanic cult that worships the Devil.

So when Huckabee used that question, he knowingly and deliberately signaled to all the Baptist pastors in Iowa that he was with them on the anti-Mormon front- and suggested that he considered Mormons to be Satanists.

How do you think Mormons are going to respond to this?

Perhaps Huckabee was unaware how aware Mormons are of anti-Mormon literature, and that therefor he would avoid offending us. I have found it to be quite common for Baptist pastors to assume I had never heard “The Godmakers” line of attack before, despite it being almost 2 decades old.

While it is true that most Mormons do not follow anti-Mormon literature closely (just like most rank and file Baptists don’t either), there is always one or two Mormons in each congregation that does keep tabs on these things and so as soon as Huckabee said that, every Mormon went and approached that person in their congregation to get their take on it. I know I was approached.

I want you to understand, I liked Huckabee previous to that statement. I was on the fence between Fred and Romney, but I was thinking that a Romney/Huckabee ticket would be pretty attractive.

But when a politician labels my faith as “Satanic”- he becomes dead to me. Most Mormons feel the same way- and I think that is perfectly understandable.

Huckabee as VP means McCain will lose Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico- for sure. It will also close the door on Washington and Oregon, (although those are already long shots). It’s even possible that McCain could lose Utah over Huckabee. Unlikely I think, if only because of the strong conservatism there, but it’s not impossible. Remember that conservatives are already unhappy with McCain.

Huckabee is bad news. If Huckabee is picked as the VP candidate then the the Republican party in the West will be severely damaged. Huckabee should never appear on a national Republican ticket.

Huckabee sowed the wind, and reaps the whirlwind.

Sackett on June 12, 2008 at 11:24 AM