It’s Bill Kristol versus Dick Cheney, not to mention Sarah Palin versus Mike Huckabee, as the turmoil in Egypt has prominent conservatives staking out varied and sometimes opposing positions on the Middle East’s latest flashpoint.
The Wall Street Journal noted a Nile-wide gap between two conservative stalwarts: former Vice President Cheney called Egypt’s autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak, “a good man,” while Weekly Standard editor Kristol wrote that conservatives’ fear of a Democratic uprising in Egypt is “unworthy of America.”
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| Mike Huckabee |
The National Journal found a similar split among possible 2012 GOP presidential candidates.
Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee criticized President Barack Obama for “not even acknowledging any role that he [Mubarak] may have played” in keeping Israel and Egypt at peace.
Meanwhile, former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential candidate Palin basically said good riddance.
“Mubarak, he’s gone, one way or the other,” she said.
Egypt’s situation is so fluid some GOP strategists say that having no position might be a candidate’s best strategy for now.
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