'Anti-science and anti-gay'

Science and gayness go naturally together, see?

Why I Left the Right, Exhibit P for Pawlenty
Newsweek has an interview with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the very model of a modern GOP candidate, considered by many as a possible front runner for the Presidency in 2012: Anti-science and anti-gay.

What follows from that Charles Johnson introduction are quotes from Pawlenty's Newsweek interview, including this:

Well, you know I’m an evangelical Christian. I believe that God created everything and that he is who he says he was. The Bible says that he created man and woman; it doesn’t say that he created an amoeba and then they evolved into man and woman. But there are a lot of theologians who say that the ideas of evolution and creationism aren’t necessarily inconsistent; that he could have "created" human beings over time.

Tto which Johnson responds:

Pawlenty has no problem with teaching creationism as science, but he wants to protect children from cross-dressing elementary school teachers, whether they actually exist or not. And he wants to make sure that gay couples don't receive medical benefits -- a position he's reversed as the GOP has moved farther and farther to the right.

But the GOP has not "moved . . . right" on this issue. Was the Republican Party more in favor of same-sex marriage benefits (or cross-dressing school teachers) in 2004? Or 1994? Or 1984?

Certainly Charles Johnson is not the only one peddling this "hijacked by extremists" myth about the GOP -- Frank Schaeffer seems to be making a career of it -- but it simply doesn't square with the facts.

What's really more interesting about the Newsweek interview is why the reporter felt the need to interrogate Pawlenty about his religious beliefs. Maybe they want to be extra-careful for 2012, after getting burned on that Jeremiah Wright deal last time around . . .

NY23: It's your call, Mike

Erick Erickson at Red State scooped me today on the Pawlenty story, but that's OK:

With the news today that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the three-way congressional race in upstate New York's 23rd District, now the pressure is on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to follow suit. . . .

You can read my latest at The American Spectator, and let me call your attention to the real juicy stuff:

Huckabee finds himself in an awkward position . . . Huckabee is due to speak Tuesday night in Syracuse at a New York Conservative Party awards dinner but, as he told [Neil] Cavuto, he won't be giving "an endorsement speech."
Huckabee's speech was scheduled before the NY23 election became the focus of a national political maelstrom. Most New York media expect Hoffman also to attend Tuesday's dinner, although the congressional candidate has not yet publicly announced whether he will attend.
Some Hoffman campaign officials are concerned that, if Hoffman shows up at the Syracuse dinner, it might be viewed as distracting from Huckabee's spotlight. Conservative Party officials don't want to put pressure on their Republican guest of honor. Huckabee won't endorse Scozzafava, and he certainly wouldn't support the little-known Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Therefore, Huckabee's status as a "friendly neutral" in the three-way election may be the best the Hoffman campaign can hope for. . . .

You see the difficulty here for both Huckabee and Hoffman. Huckabee's now a Fox News superstar, and endorsing Hoffman might be a bit too much at a time when the network is fighting the Obama administration's charges that Fox lacks journalistic credibility.

Erick plays rough by including Huckabee together with Mitt Romney in his ultimatum to 2012 hopefuls. Although I've often criticized Huckabee for his political deviations, he seems like a nice guy who means well and, if the Hoffman people don't want to put him on the spot, I'm inclined to go easy.

BTW, my sources don't expect Romney to endorse Hoffman. Ain't gonna happen, I'm told. Still, to recall a famous phrase, do you believe in miracles?

UPDATE: Remind me to chew my sources a new one for not giving me the heads-up on this:

(Hat-tip: Hot Air.) So much for the Huckabee-can't-endorse-because-of-his-Fox-contract theory, I suppose . . .

HOFFMANIA: CATCH IT!

Our complete coverage of the NY23 special election

NY23: Pawlenty and Huckabee MIA?

Rachelle Friberg points out:

Tim Pawlenty and Mike Huckabee have something in common other than the fact that they are prominent Republican men. The commonality these men share is the fact that they have yet to endorse the third-party Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd District Race. . . .

Read the whole thing. I don't know what Pawlenty's excuse is; perhaps Huckabee's Fox News contract might prevent him from openly endorsing candidates. But as TPM notes, Huckabee did everything but endorse Hoffman during an appearance last week on Neil Cavuto's show:

"Certainly his views represent more closely to mine," said Huckabee. "I'm not taking a role in that with my PAC, simply because I feel like it would be inappropriate with me at this point -- mainly because I'm already speaking to the Conservative Party next week. But it is not an endorsement speech, it is an awards speech, and I don't want to get the two confused."

Speaking of liberal Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, Huckabee said he couldn't "support somebody who does not believe that every human life has value and meaning," and also criticized Scozzafava's support for the TARP bailout. Here's the video:

Huckabee will speak Tuesday in Syracuse at the Conservative Party's annual recognition dinner. I haven't spoken to Mrs. Other McCain yet about plans for further coverage of the NY23 special election, but if y'all want me to go back, please contribute to the Shoe Leather Fund.

Actually, I might need to start calling it the "New Tire Fund." This last road-trip was more than 1,300 miles, and the tires on the 2004 KIA Optima are starting to look a little worn, which could be risky when I'm making the Watertown-to-Plattsburgh run at 95 mph.

Y'all may think I'm kidding about how fast I drive when I'm in a hurry (and I'm always in a hurry) but I take notes while I'm on the road to help me keep track of where I was and what I was doing during my trips.

At 1:53 p.m. Friday, I left Watertown, N.Y., en route to Saranac Lake. At 2:41, I stopped at Nice 'n' Easy Shoppe #2802 in Harrisville, and 12 minutes later -- at 2:53 --was on the road again. By 3:46, I was at Tupper Lake, 60 miles to the east. Google Maps estimates the drive time as an hour and 31 minutes, but I did it in 53 minutes -- on a two-lane highway clogged with slow-moving morons and where some small towns have local speed limits as low as 30 mph.

And to the old lady in the burgundy Ford Probe who flipped me off when I blew past her on State Route 3: I forgive you.

HOFFMANIA: CATCH IT!

UPDATE: Just scored an exclusive for The American Spectator: Hoffman Campaign Seeks 'Boots On the Ground' vs. ACORN.

Linked at Memeorandum. Meanwhile the Reaganite Republican blog comments:

For the Republicans to offer such a liberal candidate as Dede Scozzafava -- thereby inspiring this competitor from the NY Conservative Party -- truly boggles the mind . . . and sure helps make the case that the GOP is often out-of-touch with the party's base

.Our complete coverage of the NY23 special election