Mike Huckabee is already receiving unrelenting criticism from conservatives for granting clemency to Maurice Clemmons back when he was Governor of Arkansas.
Now it appears as if even the American Family Association has turned against him, judging by this blog post from AFA's Bryan Fischer:
If a public servant cannot be trusted with this most basic of all moral responsibilities, how can he be trusted with any other?
We were rightly outraged when President Clinton issued an irresponsible pardon for fraudster financier Marc Rich. But at least nobody died.
The governor has tried to wash his hands of the affair by posting a statement on his website blaming it all on "a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State," as if he had little or nothing to do with it.
It appears that Governor Huckabee could not be trusted with the power of the pardon as governor. Perhaps he should not be trusted with the power of the pardon as president.
Back in 2007, the AFA's Don Wildmon was one of the first Religious Right leaders to endorse Huckabee's presidential campaign:
If you have not already made a commitment on whom to vote for in the January caucus, I hope you will consider Gov. Mike Huckabee. Let me share with you why I’ve endorsed Gov. Huckabee.
Gov. Huckabee believes in our values. He has spent a lifetime promoting them. We don’t have to go to bed at night wondering where he stands on the life issue or the marriage issue.
The next president will probably appoint three judges to the Supreme Court. With Gov. Huckabee as president, we don’t have to worry about the kind of judges he will nominate.
We will not be embarrassed by his personal life.
He is the person whom all social conservatives can rally around.
