"I am pleased he has made a commitment not to raise taxes in the future," said Norquist. "I would feel better if he spoke of his previous record as a mistake. Instead he defends it."
During his years in office, the media scrutinized numerous mini-scandals, including an allegation that he used public funds for private purposes, and failed to properly report gifts and income. Huckabee was cited five times for violating ethics rules by the Arkansas Ethics Commission.
Toward the beginning of Huckabee's governorship, the Arkansas Times, an alternative weekly, reported that his family had used a fund meant for upkeep of the governor's mansion for expenses like out-of-town trips and dry-cleaning.
As he was preparing to leave office, local media reported that bridal registries had been established at two stores for the governor and his wife, even though they had been married for more than 30 years. State ethics laws prohibited Huckabee from receiving gifts of more than $100 as a reward for doing his job. But there was an exception for wedding presents. The Huckabees had registered for nearly $7,000 in housewares as they prepared to move to a private residence.
Arkansas Times Executive Editor Max Brantley -- a longtime nemesis of Huckabee's -- said Huckabee's ethics violations and other gaffes probably stemmed from his preacher's background, in which "love offerings," or gifts to the pastor, were encouraged.
Huckabee said he was unfairly targeted by liberals who tried to turn the slightest mistake into a scandal. He noted that one of his ethics infractions was failing to report as a gift a blanket a woman gave him to keep warm at the 2002 Cotton Bowl.
Arkansas voters will have a chance to make up their mind about Huckabee's record yet again -- and judge that record against his rhetoric as a presidential candidate. Despite vetoing Holt's anti-immigration bill in 2005, Huckabee today is running as a staunch foe of illegal immigration. "No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals," his website states.
Lane Pope, 42, a conservative rancher from rural Howard County, didn't complain about Huckabee's stance on immigration. Instead, he griped about the higher taxes he paid under Huckabee that cut into margins on the farm.
Still, Pope plans to vote for Huckabee for president, offering the two judgments that the candidate would probably be most pleased to hear these days: "He seemed to be a good guy," Pope said, adding that overall, "he ran the state in a conservative-type way."
richard.fausset@latimes.com
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Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this report.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Michael Dale Huckabee
Hometown: North Little Rock, Ark.
Born: Hope, Ark., Aug. 24, 1955
Family: Wife, Janet; three children
Religion: Southern Baptist
Education: Ouachita Baptist University, B.A., 1976; Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1976-77
Experience: Elected governor of Arkansas 1996, served until January 2007; lieutenant governor 1993-96; president of Cambridge Communications, 1992-1996; president of KBSC-TV, 1987-1992; president of ACTS-TV, 1983-1986; Baptist minister, 1980-1992
Source: Times reports
