HuckPAC endorses candidate who was recently pro-choice

Tom Tolbert, a former HuckPAC coordinator who became disenchanted with Mike Huckabee and resigned after the Maurice Clemmons commutation, notes that HuckPAC recently endorsed John Parke for State Representative in Arkansas' District 31 over David Sanders.

Now here's where the controversy comes in -- Sanders is apparently pro-life, while Parke was only recently converted to the pro-life cause (Parke claims it was not an "election year conversion" but something that's been "evolving" over the course of his life), causing Tolbert to wonder whether Parke made the switch out of political expediency, and whether Huckabee is excusing the same philosophical evolution of which he accused Mitt Romney in the 2008 campaign..

Further, Sanders wrote a fairly incendiary column in December 2009, questioning connections in Mike Huckabee's commutation of a man named Eugene Fields (you can read the particulars of the case here).

But the salient portion of the story is that Sanders is apparently pro-life; Parke is a recent convert, and HuckPAC chose to endorse the recent convert. Tolbert suggests a grudge might be in play, and for those who've followed Huck and grudges (see his battle with Pat Toomey), it's certainly possible, although definitely speculative.

Executive Director of HuckPAC, Sarah Huckabee, passed along the following note to Tolbert:



“Our endorsement of John Parke has nothing to do with political grudges, but has everything to do with helping elect the best candidate in the race. I have personally spoken with John several times about this issue and I believe his heart and his belief that every life is sacred is sincere. If we had any question about where John stood on the life issue he would not have received an endorsement from Huck PAC.”

H/T Gop 12