Is Mike Huckabee a Conservative or a Big Government Progressive?

Mike Huckabee is going to try to sell himself, if he enters the presidential race, as the conservative. This may be true if he compares himself to Mitt for Brains Romney, who pushed Romneycare through the state of Massachusetts. In fact, it would be hard to argue against the idea that Huckabee is more conservative than Romney. But Is Huckabee a true conservative?

Looking at the Huckabee record, I think it's hard to make the case that Huckabee is a conservative at all. Let's see why.

• Spending in Arkansas increased by 65.3 percent under Huckabee's watch.
• State employees rose by 20% while Huckabee was governor.
• Arkansas' general obligation debt shot up by nearly one billion dollars.
• Huckabee supports a sales tax on Internet goods.
• Arkansas taxes increased 47% under Huckabee's leadership.
• Huckabee supported scholarships for children of illegal aliens.
• Huckabee was soft on crime pardoning 1058 criminals, including one, Maurice Clemmons, that went on a shooting spree killing four police officers in Washington state. That's one criminal every four days that Huckabee served as governor.

You judge. Is Mike Huckabee a real conservative, or does he show that he is capable of the same big government that progressives are known for?