| − | He came under attack as a "tax-and-spend liberal", especially by rival [[Fred Thompson]].<ref>See criticism reported by Jennifer Rubin, "Romney and Huckabee: Club for Growth Comparisons," [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22081 from ''Human Events'' Aug. 24, 2007] </ref> Huckabee's funding base was meager, with his family providing much of his organizational support. | + | He came under attack as a "tax-and-spend liberal," especially by his unsuccessful rival [[Fred Thompson]],<ref>See criticism reported by Jennifer Rubin, "Romney and Huckabee: Club for Growth Comparisons," [http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22081 from ''Human Events'' Aug. 24, 2007]</ref> whose candidacy ended up helping [[John McCain]]. Huckabee's funding base was meager, with his family providing much of his organizational support. |
| − | Conservatives in Arkansas and nationally have attacked his very lenient policy of pardoning criminals, some of whom went on to commit horrendous crimes, such as Maurice Clemmons, who murdered four police officers in Seattle in November 2009. Other conservatives defend his actions in terms of Christian forgiveness. "This disaster is just one of Huckabee’s ill-considered clemency legacies," said [[Michelle Malkin]], while [[Rush Limbaugh]] referred to Clemmons as "Huckabee's Willie Horton." Huckabee faced conservative criticism during the 2008 primaries for granting a pardon to convicted rapist Wayne DuMond. Like Clemmons, DuMond returned to a life of crime, earning a second conviction before dying in prison in 2005.<ref> Conservatives lambasted Democratic presidential nominee [[Mike Dukakis]] in 1992 for his actions as governor in allowing Horton to go free. See [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/30014.html Andy Barr, "Conservatives hammer Mike Huckabee over shooting," ''Politico'' Nov. 30, 2009]</ref>
| + | Some have criticized grants of clemency by Huckabee while he was governor, although the media have distorted the record. Huckabee never released from jail Maurice Clemmons, who was unanimously released by the Arkansas parole board and nearly a decade later (and multiple imprisonments and releases) murdered four police officers in Seattle in November 2009. Huckabee faced criticism during the 2008 primaries for granting a pardon to convicted rapist Wayne DuMond. Like Clemmons, DuMond returned to a life of crime, earning a second conviction before dying in prison in 2005.<ref>In 1992, conservatives lambasted Democratic presidential nominee [[Mike Dukakis]] for his actions as governor in allowing Willie Horton to go free. See [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/30014.html Andy Barr, "Conservatives hammer Mike Huckabee over shooting," ''Politico'' Nov. 30, 2009]</ref> |