Huckabee’s Big Tent
A conservative Jewish New York state legislator, Dov Hikind, has kind words for his traveling companion in Israel, Mike Huckabee. A press conference in Jerusalem this week found Hikind “jokingly announcing he supported Huckabee for president” and adding:
“I don’t know where the governor’s going, but he’s going big places,” Hikind said at the conference. “He’s young; he’s going to be around, playing a role, and talking this straight talk.”
In explaining his support for Huckabee and other Republicans, Hikind told Anglo File: “I’ve been elected 13 times by a 90-percent Democrat community of 150,000 Jews and non-Jews. I’m running for reelection this year as a proud Democrat, but not a blind one. For me, it’s about supporting people whom I think are best. I support Republicans and many Democrats.”
Responding to criticism of his siding with Republicans, Hikind said, “When it comes to politics, crossing party lines is a greater sin than being a crook.”
U.S. Democrats living abroad in Israel are unhappy with Hikind’s Huck-love, and the assemblyman comes in for some criticism from Dems quoted in the story for his past allegiance to a controversial Orthodox rabbi.
In March of this year, Hikind warned in the New York Post that a Barack Obama victory over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary could result in a “mass movement toward Sen. McCain” on the part of Jewish voters. The Post notes that Hikind backed Ronald Reagan in 1980 and ’84.
And, hey, Huckabee had a nice sit-down interview with CBN while in Israel:
