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Rape Case, AIDS Comment Dog Huckabee's Rise

Frontrunner spot draws close scrutiny of his record

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 9, 2007 9:23 AM CST

(Newser) – As candidate Mike Huckabee pushes to the front of the GOP contender crowd, he is coming under fire for his record as Arkansas governor. Critics point to both Huckabee's push for the parole of a convicted rapist who murdered after being released and his call for people with AIDS to be quarantined, the New York Times reports.

In the first real test for the campaign of the new front-runner, the mother of a woman murdered by the rapist whose release from prison Huckabee advocated has flamed the candidate. Scrutiny is also coming to bear on Huckabee's 1992 comment that AIDS patients should be quarantined and that homosexuality poses a "dangerous public health risk."

Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, waves to supporters in Asheville, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007.(AP Photo/Alan Marler) (Associated Press)

Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks Friday, Dec. 7, 2007, in Bluffton, S.C. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton) (Associated Press)

Baptist minister and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Huckabee speaks at a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., May. 8, 1992. Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS... (Associated Press)

Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks with supporters after a fundraiser Friday, Dec. 7, 2007, in Bluffton, S.C. Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from... (Associated Press)

Republican Presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov., Mike Huckabee, center, talks prior to speaking at an AARP-sponsored "Divided We Fail" Issues Forum Friday, Dec. 7, 2007, in Bluffton, S.C. (AP Photo/Stephen... (Associated Press)

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Rape Case, AIDS Comment Dog Huckabee's Rise

Frontrunner spot draws close scrutiny of his record

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