Huckabee calls Republican attacks on Obama "shameful" and "deplorable"

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee called attacks on President Obama "shameful" and "deplorable", and feels that the president has been attacked on the most trivial grounds.

During a mid-November speech at the Hudson Union Soceity, Huckabee pointed out the shameful attacks on Obama, such as critcisms for visiting Dover Air Force base to pay respects to the coffins of soldiers.

When he [Barack Obama] was at Dover the other day, and went there to pay respect for soldiers, I heard a lot of people on the Right say "Aw, that's just a cheap photo-op." No, I think it was the Commander-in-Chief of our military paying respect to a dead soldier, and I'm grateful that he did that, and I was proud of him for doing that. And I think we all -- as Americans -- should give him credit for doing that. When he and Michele hosted the tricker-treaters on Halloween, quit finding something wrong with that. Say "Good, I'm glad that he and the First Lady are treating children to an experience at the White House." And I just find it deplorable that some people on my end of the aisle want to find everything wrong and nothing right about the man as a man.

Huckabee also said that these kinds of petty, relentless and knee-jerk criticisms were doing nothing to boster much needed civil debate:

I hated it when people did that to George Bush. They couldn't even laugh at the man's jokes they found something wrong with everything and if we do that to Barack Obama, then shame on us, shame on us. No wonder our country is so divided when that happens.

Despite being a hardcore Christian conservative and hardline positions, Huckabee is one of the more courteous, civil and friendlier members of the Republican Party. He is also not a favourite of the party establishment, as his Christianity is genuine in that he firmly believes the poor and disadvantaged should be assisted and cared for. GOP12, a conservative web site, pointed out that Huckabee's remarks came a day after Rush Limbaugh was on Fox News Sunday and denounced the president's visit to Dover.

Huckabee's remarks begin at approximately the twenty-five minute point: