The good thing is that I found this article headlined on the fairly right-wing Breitbart service and the tone is a subdued WTF? (it's an AP article)
Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients.
The bad news is that he displayed this streak of lunacy in 1992, so he can claim he's learned since then. The future not the past, nosirree.
Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."
As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.
"If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," Huckabee wrote.
"It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."
I'm sure someone else will post another thoughtful version of this and I'll take this down. Until then, read and join the choir. oh, Huckabee, that engaging smile and manner doesn't fool us. You were then and still are a crazy.
EDITED TO ADD just a bit more of the article, to display the jaw-dropping snarky tenor of the statement (yes, you're right, Hawkjt, he shows Bush-like sympathy) Let the rich Hollywood types give a damn since I don't:
"In light of the extraordinary funds already being given for AIDS research, it does not seem that additional federal spending can be justified," Huckabee wrote. "An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor (,) Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research."
Huckabee did not return messages left with his campaign.
When Huckabee wrote his answers in 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact. In late 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 195,718 AIDS patients in the country and that 126,159 people had died from the syndrome.
The nation had an increased awareness of AIDS at the time because pro basketball star Magic Johnson had recently disclosed he carried the virus responsible for it. Johnson retired but returned to the NBA briefly during the 1994-95 season.
UPDATED TO REPEAT THIS BIT ONE MORE TIME: (because no one else is doing a Huckabee diary and this part really does show what a loon he was):
When Huckabee wrote his answers in 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Oh. Look. There was another, better-researched post about it. Looks like Huckabee's still crazy after all these years.