what do chuck norris and i have in common?

i'll give you three hints:

one_i don't have any uzis

two_i don't have a gigantic american flag

three_believe it or not, i don't own a sleeveless denim shirt

the answer:

we are both officially endorsing mike huckabee for president.

this has been one of the most difficult races for me to get behind a candidate.  i haven't been very impressed with anyone and having become a bit more liberal over the last couple of years i've thrown out my default republican status.  i've pretty much stayed morally conservative, but i have become much more fiscally liberal.  i knew finding someone who met those requirements would be a difficult task.

three or four months ago i took a poll on usatoday.com in which i answered multiple question in reference to key issues and then rated the importance of each issue.  upon completion of the poll it told you which candidate you were most like.  here were my results:

i was rather surprised, because a. i thought i'd be closer to some democratic candidates and b. i didn't really know much about huckabee.  at the time i kept him in the back of my mind, but wasn't really hearing much about him.

well, for those who pay attention to the primary races, you know that huckabee is gaining major steam.  because of that, there was a huge article in last week's newsweek.  i picked it up on a whim to read on my flight back to czech.  needless to say i was extremely impressed.

_seminary graduate

_baptist preacher for 19 years

_fiscally liberal (republicans are calling him a "closet liberal")

_lover of justice (as governor he attacked the judicial system for disproportionate sentencing of black males for drug crimes compared to white males convicted of the same crime)

_great leader (loved in traditionally-democratic arakansas)

_focused on education

most pundits are saying that even if he wins the republican primary there is NO WAY he can win the general election.  that leads me to a classic political debate: do you vote for who you think is the best candidate or do you vote for who you think has the best chance of winning for your party.  as a registered independent, this is a moot point for me, but you can look to my alan keyes vote in 2000 as proof of voting for who i think is the best candidate!

we're entering into one of the most exciting times in american politics.  not only is the primary and eventual general election process exciting (i sound like a dork, but did you know that i have my b.s. in political science?), but i have a feeling that this is going to go down as one of the more important elections of our time.  our country is at a crucial juncture and who we elect could have a huge impact on our future.

so, there it is.  huckabee for president.  it has a nice ring to it.  

[IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE READ]

i feel it imperative that you don't regard this as my plea for you to vote for huckabee.  as a political scientist (i paid a lot of money to asu to be able to say that), i believe in the political process wholeheartedly and love the election season.  this was more of an attempt to show you, faithful reader, what my process was for choosing a candidate.