PERRspectives: Palin Fights Huckabee for the Hand of God

November 17, 2009

Palin Fights Huckabee for the Hand of God

Neither Mike Huckabee nor Sarah Palin believes in the theory of evolution. But with the posturing for the 2012 Republican presidential primaries already underway, each will soon learn about the principle of impenetrability. That is, when it comes to the GOP's religious right base, two White House hopefuls can't occupy the same space at the same time. And as her book makes clear, Sarah Palin seems certain that God is on her side, a position that Mike Huckabee has already staked out for himself.

As the Washington Post summed it up in its review of Going Rogue, Palin's worldview is "an Alaskan frontierswoman's trinity" of "God, Todd and dominion over animals." And to be sure, the Quitta from Wasilla sees the hand of God everywhere in her life:

Right away, Palin posits her faith as the pillar of her career, as if her successes have unfolded according to a grand divine plan. Her selection as McCain's running mate was a "natural progression," she writes in one section. "I don't believe in coincidences," she writes in another.

But as it turns out, Sarah Palin doesn't just have the Lord in her corner, she's also His spokesman.

The war in Iraq, as then Governor Palin told students at the School of Ministry at the Wasilla Assembly of God, is "a task that is from God." And when it came to the multibillion natural gas pipeline she hoped would span her state, Palin lectured, "I can do my job there in developing our natural resources...But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God," adding:

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that."

A jaw-dropping expose in Vanity Fair revealed the shocking extent of Palin's divine narcissism:

When [her son] Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig's condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God's, and signed it "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

Of course, Sarah Palin apparently has long believed she was touched by the voice - and hand - of God. In May 2005 process complete with a laying on of hands, Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee prayed over Palin, imploring Jesus to protect her from "the spirit of witchcraft." As Election Day approached last fall, the GOP vice presidential claimed to be unconcerned by her ticket's dismal poll numbers. Victory, she insisted, was in God's hands:

"To me, it motivates us, makes us work that much harder. And it also strengthens my faith, because I'm going to know, at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4. So I'm not discouraged at all."

Apparently, it was God's plan to put Barack Obama in the White House. But not, Mike Huckabee is convinced, to keep him there.

For Huckabee, who repeatedly cited divine intervention to explain his surprising early success during the 2008 GOP presidential primaries, such visions are now routine.

Joining Gingrich and Iran-Contra villain turned Fox News regular Oliver North at Rock Church in Hampton Roads, Virginia in June, the former Baptist Minister and 2012 White House hopeful testified to God's role in furthering both the American Revolution and Huckabee's own reactionary social policies. As the Virginia Pilot recounted:

"The notion that we are just one of many among equals is nonsense," Huckabee said. The United States is a "blessed" nation, he said, calling American revolutionaries' defeat of the British empire "a miracle from God's hand."
The same kind of miracle, he said, led California voters to approve Proposition 8, which overturned a state law legalizing same-sex marriages.

Voters "did it because some things are right and some things are wrong and they had to make a stand."

And God, in the Governor's telling, stands with Mike Huckabee.

Back in December 2007, Huckabee attributed his dramatic surge in Iowa, a state he later won, to His divine intervention:

"There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people and that's the only way that our campaign could be doing what it's doing.
And I'm not being facetious nor am I trying to be trite. There literally are thousands of people across who are praying that a little will become much and it has, and it defies all explanation. It has confounded the pundits, and I'm enjoying every minute of their trying to figure it out. And until they look at it from a just experience beyond human, they'll never figure it out. And that's probably just as well. That's honestly why it's happening."

Huckabee similarly gave the Lord props for his strong debate performances during the GOP primaries. Asked by BeliefNet if there were any moments during the campaign when he felt God's presence, Huckabee replied:

"Oh, absolutely. Especially some times in the debates when I get asked some question and I'm thinking, 'Oh my'...I felt like the Lord truly gave me wisdom and responses that were truly needed at that time."

As it turns out, Huckabee's communication with the Almighty goes both ways. Mike Huckabee doesn't merely follow Him on Twitter; he sends God direct messages as well.

Addressing a 2004 gathering of Republican governors, Huckabee playfully took a cell phone call from God, promising Him GOP support of His platform while assuming His backing for the Republican Party and President George W. Bush:

"We're behind [Bush], yes, sir, we sure are. Yes, sir, we know you don't take sides in the election. But, if you did, we kind of think you'd hang in there with us, Lord, we really do."

And as he revealed over a decade ago, the Governor doesn't just speak to God, he speaks for Him. At the CNN/YouTube debate in November 2007, Huckabee adroitly deflected a question on Jesus' position on the death penalty, announcing to applause from the GOP faithful that "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office." But ten years earlier in 1997, Huckabee claimed unique insight into Christ's likely support for capital punishment:

"Interestingly enough, if there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, 'This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency.'"

And so it goes. But Mike Huckabee isn't content to appropriate God to insult millions of his fellow citizens or abuse U.S. history. As he showed by urging Americans to be "soldiers for Christ" in "God's army" and create a faith-based Constitution, Mike Huckabee is looking to the future as the right hand of the Lord.

Not if Sarah Palin has anything to say about it. That seat, each will soon be telling the Republican faithful in Iowa, is already taken.

—Perrspective 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) |