"The Greater Communicator"

"The Greater Communicator"

A review by Amy Walker

Reagan was said to be "the Great Communicator," well here is another that is his equal, if not greater!! The LORD has given Governor Mike Huckabee the amazing CHRIST-like ability to talk to and interact with people in such a way as to lift them up, without compromising his own core values, regardless of whether the others agreed or were diametrically opposed and disagreed with him, on any number of issues.
When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
—Proverbs 16:7

Mike doesn't flatter people for points or tear down people because they are of a particular political party, religion or ethic group. It is this phenomenal gift of showing others their intrinsic worth and value that enables Mike to connect with others of all stripes, demographics, and stature and actually open dialogue and start a process where, after all is said an done, he hadn't compromised, and yet the others were actually considering his viewpoints!

I have watched and listened to hundreds of hours of speeches, interviews and talks of Governor Huckabee on a very large variety of topics. One of the most enjoyable aspects of listening to him is his irrepressible humor no matter the subject or seriousness of it. However, I have rarely seen him have a more serious discussion without once giving a hint of a smile or amusing antidote. The wisdom, common sense and sagacious (keen mental discernment) ability that GOD has imparted to Mike Huckabee is truly astounding and of a value beyond worth. No wonder he served 3 and 1/2 years as Lt. Governor, then was elected twice and served almost 11 eleven as a Republican governor of an overwhelmingly Democratic state! It is an absolute honor and privilege to know, listen and learn from such a Godly disciple of JESUS CHRIST!

After speaking to the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 1, 2011 Governor Huckabee took and responded to unscripted questions. To the question of how to tell the American people how to solve some of the most pressing issues such as the deficit, unfunded liabilities and others as a candidate for office, Governor Huckabee responded: "I'm not sure the political election process is the environment in which it can be told. Our election environment has become incredibly toxic to the point that I am not sure the country is presently governable. I know that is a very bold statement. But I am telling you now, it is becoming to where it is impossible to actually govern. Not just because of the other side is going to take you on because of everything that you say and parse every word and bring nuances to everything thing that is said because your own party will do that. One of the processes that I was going through in deciding whether or not to run in this election cycle was whether or not the environment in the Republican Party was really about moving the country toward where we had pragmatic solutions to governing the country or whether it was about can we poke out the eyes of the other guy before they poke out our eyes. And I will be honest with you. Right now, I'm convinced that it is all about poking out each others eyes. It's not about solving real problems, and until we change that—when I say we—we as a culture—as a country, have to
utterly reject that one party is always right and the other party is always wrong. That's nonsense.

Taking you back to my own tenure are a governor: I inherited a legislature had 89 Democrats and 11 Republicans. We had 39 Democrats in the Senate and we had 4 Republicans in the Senate. The other was the House of course. You know, I didn't major in math in college but I was pretty well capable of figuring out what 50 percent means and I knew if I went out there and said, "we're going to have a Republican agenda here," we wouldn't pass anything. And it became very obvious that if something like an ARKIDS FIRST would pass and if we were going to get a road program to change that hideous piece of highway between here and Memphis, or the one between here and Texarcana or the one between here and Fayetteville, or any of the other roads, it meant we were going to have to have Democrats and Republicans who saw a common problem and were willing to get to a common solution. It worked because we had Democrats—as much as we had a Republican governor—we had responsible Democratic members of the legislature who said, "yeah, those are real problems and we will work with you to fix them." If they had just bowed up and said, "as long as you're here, we won't pass a doggone thing!," none of that could have happened. And when it did happen, [working together] it was incumbent upon me, to me, to give them the respect that they were due. And to go to their civic clubs, and their home towns, and to praise them as examples of bipartisan public spirited good servants. That made people in my own party mad, because they thought that I should never have given, in essence, that much accolade to people of the other side. There's still people mad at me for that.

My job, once I was elected was not to tell people how bad Democrats were; it was to try to find solutions to real problems. Now, Washington isn't of that mindset right now. It is of the mindset that our side is always right and their side is always wrong. I find that disgusting, deplorable, and absolutely inaccurate. You know, I have said many times, Republicans are not right all the time and Democrats are not wrong all the time... They're wrong most of the time, but not" [OK, his humor couldn't be repressed any longer, huge laughter erupts, !] "What did you expect huh?!! All kidding aside, Ronald Reagan... I'm not sure he could get nominated today, much less, elected because Ronald Reagan understood that governing and the art of governing, is an art, not a science, and in order to do it, you have to work with in the context of political atmosphere you have, not the one you wish you had. So did he make deals? YES! Did he compromise? YES! He even raised taxes, both as a governor and as a president. Because he understood that in order to get some big things that were important to him, he had to give up some little things that weren't as important to him. And we think he was a great president.

Bill Clinton. for whom this center is named, probably didn't have on his agenda, welfare reform, when he ran in 1992, but he worked with Republicans to make it happen and it turned out to be one of the most successful ventures of his presidency. And it resulted in people going to work, not being on welfare. He left this country with a surplus. There were many things with which he could have bowed up and said, "nope, I will not work with the Republican majority in the House." but, again, he had been a long term governor. He understood that you can't work like that. To the country's benefit, he didn't. And I think what ever the country thinks of Bill Clinton, you have to give him credit for, to me, was the vision to govern with what he had, not what he wished he had. I'm sure he would have rather had 435 Democrats in the House and 100 Democrat Senators but he didn't have it. He worked with what he had. That's how it has to be."

Here is the whole speech and question if you want to be really blessed!
http://www.clintonschoolspeakers.com/lecture/view/simple-government/