I’m not part of the tinfoil-hat brigade that reflexively freaks out at the idea of a former preacher as President. I’ve known good pastors and lousy ones, just like I’ve seen good and bad Senators. So I’m neither excited nor fearful. As long as the guy (or gal) is honest, consistent, and doesn’t try to hide the ball, his/her position on Jeebus shouldn’t really matter.

Enter Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas Governor was a Baptist minister for 12 years before entering politics. The reason he gave for that big career change was a desire to make the United States as Christian as possible.

This from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, back in 1998:

“Government knows it does not have the answer, but it’s arrogant and acts as though it does,” Huckabee said. “Church does have the answer but will cowardly deny that it does and wonder when the world will be changed.” …

“I didn’t get into politics because I thought government had a better answer. I got into politics because I knew government didn’t have the real answers, that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives.”

“I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ.”

Again, fair enough. At least he put it out there and said, essentially, “this is who I am.” If you pull the lever for the other guy (or gal), at least you’ll definitely know why. Heck — back in 1998, Huckabee signed a USA Today ad agreeing with the platform of the Southern Baptist Convention. Part of that platform is getting him into trouble today, because it bitch-slapped gay marriage advocates and said that the proper role of a wife is “to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.”

(To be fair, the discussion at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground is ignoring the rest of the statement, which says that “the husband and wife are of equal worth before God.” But I’m quibbling.)

The real point is this: Why is Huckabee somehow less enthusiastic about his Christian message now that he’s a candidate for the top job? Today, Mother Jones reported that it tried to get copies of some of Huckabee’s old sermons from his altar-calling days. No dice:

When asked for copies of the sermons Huckabee delivered at Immanuel Church, an employee there claimed none could be found. A Beech Street Church pastor’s assistant maintained that much of the archival material from Huckabee’s tenure as pastor had been destroyed during a remodeling. The rest, she said, was not available to the press.

When Mother Jones contacted the Huckabee campaign and asked if it would help make his previous sermons available, the campaign replied in a one-sentence email that it had received multiple requests for such material and was “not able to accommodate” them …

In all the sermons Huckabee delivered before jumping into politics, he no doubt revealed beliefs and ideas that would be of interest to voters today. But his campaign, looking to attract evangelical Christian voters without alienating others, is not interested in seeing that material become part of the current political discourse. Huckabee the candidate is shunning Huckabee the pastor.

Mark 14:30? Or is that too harsh?