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TUCKER CARLSON: What about national security? He obviously as a governor of Arkansas he obviously doesn't have national security credentials. The question has arisen recently about who is advising him on national security matters. Who is advising him on national security matters?
BOB VANDER PLAATS: Well I think Governor Huckabee has a lot of resources that he goes to on national security matters. Here's a guy, a former pastor, who understands a theological nature of this war as we're fighting a radical religion in Islam. I think he's most prepared to lead this country in that dynamic. But he has a definitely a seasoned tenure of people advising him on foreign relation matters.
CARLSON: Well just to clarify, how does his experience as a pastor equip him to deal with the war on terror?
PLAATS: Well, I think what it is, the war on terror is obviously, it's a theological war. We have a radical Islamic group, so we believe that a guy with the training of a pastor understands the theological nature of the war. That also makes him very well-prepared in regards to this war on terror.
Vander Plaats' statement runs counter to the way that President Bush and virtually all other national figures have been very careful to say that we are not fighting a war against Islam. In fairness to Vander Plaats and Huckabee, Vander Plaats [who for a time was in the 2006 Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary race] endorsed Huckabee almost a year ago when few in Iowa were clamoring to support him. He is probably not accustomed to the glare of the national spotlight.
Tucker was surely just expecting him to rattle off a couple names as Huckabee himself had done in a TV appearance this morning, mentioning that Frank Gaffney and Richard Haas among others are advising him on foreign policy. Also, after stating that "we're fighting a radical religion in Islam," which seemed to take in the entire religion, Vander Plaats did later refine his statement, referring to "a radical Islamic group."
Even so, Vander Plaats's remarks do reflect the kind of problems that a candidate can encounter when in a short period he goes from dark horse to front runner.
Be looking for a "clarification" from the Huckabee camp.
