SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
Just hours before anti-gay GOP Presidential aspirants Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz were due to swoop into Rowan County, KY to lead a rally protesting the jailing of Kim Davis, the controversial county clerk was released from jail by Judge David Bunning on the condition that she not interfere with her staff issuing marriage licenses to all couples regardless of gender.
With their hopes of a “Free Kim Davis” rally cry dashed, Cruz and Huckabee then turned on each other, with Cruz reportedly refusing to share the same stage as Huckabee. Mee-ow! Huckabee, in what will probably be the high point of his Presidential effort, made sure to get there early as Davis was about to be released. Cruz also made it to the jail and got his obligatory photo, but when he exited the building, his dreams of headlines were cut short. From today’s New York Times:
When Senator Cruz exited the jail a throng of journalists beckoned him toward their microphones, but an aide to Mr. Huckabee blocked the path of Mr. Cruz, who appeared incredulous.
Moments later, Mr. Huckabee appeared, joined by Ms. Davis. He stuck close to her side as she approached the reporters, and again when she took the stage, and cast her fight as a choice of tyranny or religious freedom.
Oh brother.
To the strains of “Eye of the Tiger,” Davis took to the stage with Huckabee to speak of her higher calling and repeatedly broke into tears. Cruz, meanwhile, was relegated to a far-away spot amid Davis’ dozens of supporters. It’s certainly embarrassing for Cruz, who had hoped to use his support for Davis as a calling card to cement support among the evangelical voters who make up so many of the Iowa caucus-goers who determine the winner of the first-in-the-nation contest. But for Cruz, it’s just a missed opportunity, not a campaign-killer.
This photo-op was much more important, even crucial, though, to Mike Huckabee. It’s really sad what has happened to ole Mike. In 2008, he campaigned as The Happy Warrior, always with a smile on his face, a sort of Hubert Humphrey if Humphrey was a right-wing loon. He espoused his same staunch anti-gay marriage position then as he does now, but the U.S. was in a different place in 2008. Now the country’s mood has changed, but Huckabee’s hasn’t. In 2015, that smile has turned to a scowl. He just seems angry all the time, as he snarls that the Supreme Court has no right to determine which laws are constitutional and that Obama will take the Israelis and march them to the doors of the oven. This is his inspirational message for 2016? No wonder he’s shown up at Kim Davis’ jailhouse door to snag some free publicity. Is he that desperate to get his Fox News show back on the air?
As for Davis, the release appears to indicate that she has agreed not to interfere with her staff’s issuing of same-sex marriage licenses. Will he hold true to that assurance? If I were a jailer in Rowan County, I’d keep that jail cell ready for her.
