Huckabee and the Rapist’s Parole
Sunday, October 14th, 2007
It’s an attitude that drives much of Huckabee’s political agenda, including the assertion - unusual for a conservative Republican - that prisons are full of people who would be better off in drug treatment than behind bars. But there is one man Huckabee believed deserved a second chance, convicted rapist Wayne Dumond, who continues to haunt Huckabee’s burgeoning presidential campaign.
Huckabee, whose self-deprecating humor and easy candor have charmed many on the campaign trail, bristles when asked about the case, in which Dumond - now dead - was paroled from an Arkansas prison, with then- governor Huckabee’s endorsement, only to sexually assault and kill a woman in Missouri.
“It was one of those things I just feel horrible about. You just ache all the way to the bone over what happened,” the former Arkansas governor said in an interview. “But nobody could know that” Dumond would attack again, he said.
You couldn’t? I think if the guy did it once there is a good chance he could do it again.
Huckabee is an awkward candidate for me. On one hand he supports the Fair Tax which is outstanding, but I have my doubts he could get it passed. On the other hand he sounds far too much like George Bush and I don’t want another four to eight years of “compassionate conservatism.” He really needs to be scrutinized more because he is definitely a contender now.
