Halperin’s Take on Huckabee’s ‘92 Answers on AIDS, Gays

There is so much of Mike Huckabee’s background — in and out of politics — that has never been scrutinized at the presidential-campaign level. So far, the media has focused on just a few matters — DuMond, taxes, and a handful of others too complicated, or small, to cause Huckabee much damage. This morning’s AP story changes that.

As a candidate for the Senate in 1992, Huckabee submitted responses to 229 questions posed by the Associated Press. Among them:

• “If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague.”

• “It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents.”

• “I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk.”

Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

The AP’s story on Huckabee’s views on AIDS and gays from 1992 might not hurt him with some conservatives in Iowa, but reporters will pounce hard on it, and how Huckabee handles the matter will be key.

For days, the press has been covering Huckabee on two tracks: marveling at his polling rise while questioning certain aspects of his background and current campaign.
Through it all, Huckabee has remained unflappable in one television interview after another. He will likely remain unflappable initially about this latest story, saying his views have changed. And indeed, since becoming a presidential candidate Huckabee has said he supports increased federal funding for AIDS research through the National Institutes of Health.

At least two campaigns are deeply threatened by Huckabee’s rise — Thompson’s and Romney’s, and they and their allies, like the Club for Growth, are stepping up their efforts to stop him.

The accumulation of stories — more details about the DuMond case, his ignorance about the NIE and Iran, and now the AP on AIDS — will test Huckabee, this weekend more than ever. As reporters covering the race know intimately, the well-meaning operation he has — in terms of size and experience — is like community college compared to the graduate school operations of his Republican rivals. (For those who prefer sports metaphors: the Huckabee campaign plays AA ball compared to the major leagues.)

But as long as there is fresh data that prompts the media to continue along the “gee whiz” track, Huckabee has a chance to keep his positive narrative humming along, even as the new, inevitable stories — some spurred by his rivals — pop up.