Criss crossing Huckabee

Peggy Noonan:

I didn't see the famous floating cross. What I saw when I watched Mike Huckabee's Christmas commercial was a nice man in a sweater sitting next to a brightly lit tree. He had easy warmth and big brown puppy-dog eyes, and he talked about taking a break from politics to remember the peace and joy of the season. Sounds good to me.

Only on second look did I see the white lines of the warmly lit bookcase, which formed a glowing cross. Someone had bothered to remove the books from that bookcase, or bothered not to put them in. Maybe they would have dulled the lines.

Is there a word for "This is nice" and "This is creepy"? For that is what I felt. This is so sweet-appalling.

I love the cross. The sight of it, the fact of it, saves me, literally and figuratively. But there is a kind of democratic politesse in America, and it has served us well, in which we are happy to profess our faith but don't really hit people over the head with its symbols in an explicitly political setting, such as a campaign commercial, which is what Mr. Huckabee's ad was.

I wound up thinking this: That guy is using the cross so I'll like him. That doesn't tell me what he thinks of Jesus, but it does tell me what he thinks of me. He thinks I'm dim. He thinks I will associate my savior with his candidacy. Bleh.

The ad was shrewd. The caucus is coming, the TV is on, people are home putting up the tree, and the other candidates are all over the tube advancing themselves and attacking someone else. Mr. Huckabee thinks, I'll break through the clutter by being the guy who reminds us of the reason for the season, in a way that helps underscore that I'm the Christian candidate and those other fellas aren't. As a break from the nattering argument, as a message that highlights something bigger than politics, it was refreshing.

Was the cross an accident? Please. It was as accidental as Mr. Huckabee's witty response, when he accused those of questioning the ad of paranoia, was spontaneous. "Actually I will confess this, if you play this spot backwards it says 'Paul is dead, Paul is dead, Paul is dead,' " he said. As Bill Safire used to say of clever moves, "That's good stuff!"

Ken Mehlman, the former Republican chairman, once bragged in my presence that in every ad he did he put in something wrong--something that went too far, something debatable. TV producers, ever hungry for new controversy, would play the commercial over and over as pundits on the panel deliberated over its meaning. This got the commercial played free all over the news.

The cross is the reason you saw the commercial. The cross made it break through.

...

Well, I didn't notice it when I saw the commercial and since it has been pointed out, I still have not thought it was worth looking at again. Making the cross a symbol of worship is not something you find in the Bible. It is post biblical. The Crusaders thought they were invincible when they carried a piece of the "True Cross" until Saladin defeated them and captured it. It was never seen again.

Having an executioners tool as a religious symbol is still kind of strange. There is no doubt that it is an important symbol to many Christians but it can be carried to extreme. When driving into San Antonio there is a large church building with three huge crosses. Whenever I see it, I keep wondering what were they thinking? In the Bible the other two people on crosses were thieves. What kind of symbolism is that for a congregation?

That is enough pseudo theology for a post. I am not a fan of Huckabee, but I think the controversy of the commercial is pretty silly even if he intended to have a subtle message. I still favor the "D-Rats" controversy of a few years ago, where the words flashed so quickly on the screen that you had to see it in super slow motion to even recognize it. Have they tried that with Huckabee's ad yet?

Ann Coulter is less charitable to Huckabee. "... Liberals adore Huckabee because he fits their image of what an evangelical should be: stupid and easily led." Ouch.