In a media-driven political environment, the ability to communicate difficult and complex issues with grace and ease is essential. For all his virtues, it is a skill that our current president lacks, which has proved nearly disastrous for our current war.
Last night, Mike Huckabee demonstrated his surpassing ability to communicate those difficult issues with the sort of delicacy and sensitivity that the other candidates are short on. When asked, "What would Jesus do?" with respect to capital punishment, Huckabee gave perhaps the best answer to any question in the debate series so far--on either side, I might add.
You can watch the video here.
Huckabee has been accused of being a lot of things during this campaign cycle, including being "too Christian" to win the general election. When baited to deploy religious language and imagery with respect to a difficult issue, Huckabee clearly demurred and instead offered a clear and compelling non-religious answer for how pro-lifers can support the death penalty. Clearly, the man knows how to make non-theological arguments for the positions he holds.
We talk a lot about the war of ideas within America, both politically and culturally. That war will not--can not--be won without effective communicators who know how to articulate those ideas in persuasive and compelling ways. Huckabee is clearly leads the Republican pack in this regard, as last night's performance amply demonstrated.
Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.
