Huckabee stands by '92 comments on AIDS, gays

by Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune Mike Huckabee says he stands by his statements fifteen years ago about AIDS patients, though he concedes he might phrase them differently today. In some old candidate questionnaires the Associated Press has dug up, Huckabee suggested back then that AIDS patients should essentially be quarantined. "Fifteen years ago, the AIDS crisis was just that. It was a crisis," Huckabee told reporters at a campaign stop in Asheville, N.C. this weekend. "There were a lot of questions back in that time as to just how the disease could be carried. There was just a real panic in this country." Huckabee said he also stands by his words that homosexuality is sinful. "I believe it would be, just as lying is sinful and stealing is sinful," he said. Maybe some people were outraged by what Huckabee said, but those people didn't seem to be in attendance at his weekend campaign events in the Carolinas. The former Southern Baptist preacher and Republican presidential candidate drew enthusiastic crowds for his message about conservative values and religious faith.