As is always the case in every debate, Republican presidential hopefuls and moderators covered quite a bit of ground over the course of two hours last night. But I’d be remiss if I neglected to highlight my favorite moment of the night.
For context, CNBC’s Becky Quick asked former Gov. Mike Huckabee about his concerns surrounding income inequality. After several soundbites, we were treated to this exchange as the Republican governor ran out of time:
HUCKABEE: We need to be focusing on what fixes this country. And I’ll tell you one thing that we never talk about — we haven’t talked about it tonight. Why aren’t we talking about — instead of cutting benefits for old people, cutting benefits for sick people — why don’t we say, let’s cure the four big cost-driving diseases: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s?QUICK: Governor, I’m sorry…HUCKABEE: If you do that, you don’t just change the economy, you transform the lives of millions of hurting Americans.QUICK: Governor, thank you.HUCKABEE: Gosh, I’d love for us to talk about something like that.
Gosh, I’ve love to hear more about this myself. If we simply cure diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, we’ll improve the economy and the lives of millions?
Finally, a Huckabee sentiment I can embrace with enthusiasm. A medical and scientific breakthrough on this scale really would be transformative.
Similarly, if we convince people to stop committing crimes, just think of all the money we could save on law enforcement?
And if we persuade our enemies to be on their best behavior, forever, Americans could save a bundle on national defense.
And if we invent a way to make carbon pollution disappear, the climate crisis will fade away.
And if we develop replicator technology that exists in Star Trek, we won’t have to invest in food stamps because we’ll be able to eliminate hunger for all of humanity.
But at the risk of sounding picky, I do have a quick follow-up question for Huckabee: how do we cure diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s?
Postscript: The last time Mike Huckabee told people about “amazing” medical treatments to diseases, it didn’t turn out especially well.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."