Posted on 10/21/2007 1:43:48 AM PDT by dano1
In an exclusive interview, the former preacher tells Tim Shipman why he is gaining fast in the Republican race for the White House
He was born in the small town of Hope, Arkansas, and overcame poverty to become governor of his native state before launching a bid for the White House. He is a charismatic speaker and a musician who has played with some of America's most famous artists.
But this is not Bill Clinton, who put Hope on the map in 1992 with a little help from his saxophone, but Mike Huckabee, the man whom the former president believes may prove the most formidable opponent for his wife Hillary in the race for the White House.
Mr Clinton recently called his fellow Arkansan "the best speaker" among the Republican candidates.
Now conservative Republicans, dissatisfied with the leading candidates, are increasingly looking to Mr Huckabee as the man to take on Mrs Clinton.
While he still only ranks fifth in national polls, surveys last week in Iowa, the scene of the first test of voter opinion on January 3, put him a close third to Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. He leads the field among Republicans who say they have definitely made up their minds.
Speaking between campaign events in New Hampshire, Mr Huckabee deployed his quick wit — honed as an ordained Baptist preacher — to skewer his Republican rivals, paint himself as the one true conservative in the race and denounce the takeover of American politics by the Clinton and Bush families. He said: "Unlike my opponents', my support has only ever increased. We're going to catch them and pass them. The polls are stunning."
Dan Bartlett, who quit last month as President George W Bush's White House counsellor, described Mr Huckabee as the "most articulate, visionary candidate" – but said he could not win because of his unusual surname.
Mr Huckabee, 52, hit back, saying: "That showed the kind of condescending arrogance that people are so tired of. Do we really want potentially 28 years with only two families occupying the White House? We broke away from your King George because we were tired of one family telling us what to do."
Trim and animated, he fires out pointed remarks and jokes in the time it takes many Southerners to get out a sentence.
Before entering politics, he held several positions as a Baptist minister and served as president of a religious television channel. He and his wife Janet have three adult children, and he plays bass guitar for his band, Capitol Offence, which has played at two presidential inauguration balls and opened for Willie Nelson.
In the past week, the stars in the political firmament have begun to align for Mr -Huckabee.
Christian Conservatives – who dislike the pro-abortion frontrunner Rudy Giuliani and distrust Mitt Romney, who converted late to the pro-life cause – have threatened to run an independent candidate unless the Republicans pick a pro-life figure such as Mr Huckabee. On Friday, Senator Sam Brownback, with whom he had been vying for evangelical votes, dropped out of the race.
In a withering assault on Mr Romney, Mr Huckabee said: "Sometimes I think people are auditioning to be the conservative American Idol contestant. They're good at lip synching. I'm not sure that they are singing their own true song."
Mr Huckabee, strongly tipped as a possible vice-presidential running mate to Mr Giuliani if he does not win the nomination himself, is noticeably warmer towards the former New York mayor. "I don't believe a pro-choice candidate can win the nomination but he's run a very smart campaign. Rudy hasn't pretended to be something he isn't."
Mr Huckabee may share Mr Bush's faith but, unlike the President, he has not said that God asked him to run for office. "The last time I checked, God was not registered to vote," he says.
He is also highly critical of the Iraq war, comparing Mr Bush's foreign policy to the behaviour of "that kid at school who was good at everything" but instead of helping others, "rubbed peoples' faces in it. People resent the US, not because we are a superpower, but because we acted like one".
He said he had "a great love, admiration and respect for Great Britain" and regarded the US as "extraordinarily blessed" to have had its friendship.
Mr Huckabee, Arkansas governor from 1996 to last January, may be a long shot but he is used to adversity, having battled to lose weight after he was warned that obesity would kill him (the subject of his book, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork). He says losing 110lb taught him "that discipline and patience and perseverance get you to the finish line".
Many think he could still win. Newt Gingrich, the former House of Representatives speaker, says: "Huckabee is very effective, and if he can find money, he will be dramatically competitive almost overnight."
THE JOKER IN THE REPUBLICAN PACK
On his band, capitol offence: "We're playing at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, where Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens played their last concert. I will not be flying out that evening."
On health care: "Baby boomers retiring are going to cause a crisis for health care. Can you imagine what it will cost when all the hippies find out that seniors get free drugs?"
On arkansas: "I heard a man was telling a joke about a politician from Arkansas. I told him: 'You won't believe this, but I am a politician from Arkansas.' He said to me: 'Don't worry son, I'll tell it real slow.'?"
On his poor upbringing: "We only had this lava soap [which contains pumice stone]. I was in college before I realised a shower wasn't supposed to hurt."
Each of us agrees with that, but that is child’s play compared to what Clinton was involved in.
Is it impacting our nation in an extreme way? Hell yes. And who swore an oath to protect the states against invasion? Huckabee? Nope.
His views on immigration put him on my unable to vote for list. It doesn’t put him on the ‘just like Clinton’ or ‘anything like Clinton’ lists.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, AR – Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee proved today that he is “favorite son of conservative voters,” placing first place in a “Values Voter” Straw Poll among attendees of the Family Research Council’s Summit in Washington, D.C.
Huckabee was the No. 1 favorite among the 952 attendees the summit and voted in person, with 51 percent of the vote – defeating rival Mitt Romney who received just 10 percent of the vote.
The results are as follows:
1.) Mike Huckabee - 488 - 51.26%
2.) Mitt Romney – 99 – 10.40%
3.) Fred Thompson – 77 – 8.09%
4.) Tom Tancredo – 65 – 6.83%
“Today’s victory in the on-site contest is yet another indicator that I am the top choice of voters in America who are looking for a truly consistent, conservative candidate with a proven record of results and the vision to lead America forward,” said Huckabee.
Huckabee, who had 11 standing ovations during a rousing speech today before an enthusiastic audience, espoused his “non-negotiable” priorities for America – “freedom, faith and family.” After the speech, he finished just 30 votes behind Mitt Romney in a straw poll which included online polling.
The Clintons have no morals, so they will do or say anything in order to gain power.
To be honest, I suspected your overall view would allow you to accept this. I appreciate the comments. Take care.
Jimmy Carter was a good man, but not a good President...
sorry...jimmah was NOT a good man...this anti-semetic a-hole should have stayed on the peanut farm along with his equally anti-semetic bee-atch wife!!!!
as for a president.....actions speak louder than his words!!!
I always thought Rosalynn was smoking hot, though. Maybe I need comitted.
That’s going to be quite a trick since he believes pretty much what they do.
You need glasses that’s for sure. She’s about as bland as they come and can be a real witch when she wants to. Like no class. During Mrs. Nixon’s funeral; all she could do is sit there and glare at Nancy Reagan.
Two major liberal rags, NYT and the Telegraph, have come out this week in support of Huckabee. If he can get their support, he can’t get mine.
I think it was the lips. LOL
Get real.
I don’t have the right to like big lips on a woman? To each his own, y’ know. ;^D
First time I heard him speak was on Glenn Beck the other night. He sounded extremely strong on illegals that night. Please tell me more about his squishiness. I really want to know.
Don't be fooled. Huckabee is a proxy to get Giuliani elected. His job is to take Fred down.
“Super Nanny” with a better jokewriter.
Do you believe Huckabee is a party to it, or is he running as his own man? My guess is he’s running as his own man.
An anomaly ? No. AR began electing GOP Governors as long ago as 1966 with Winthrop Rockefeller, Sr. He dragged the state kicking and screaming into the modern era, finally taking down the old racist Orval Faubus, who had been “Boss” of the state for 12 years. Of course, rodents like Dale Bumpers, who beat an ailing Rockefeller in 1970, took credit for Rockefeller’s achievements and tried to get the “new” liberal rodents associated with them. The next GOP Governor came in 1980 when Frank White beat none other than first-term Gov. Clinton. Unfortunately, back in those days, terms were only 2 years, and Clinton took the office back again in the bad GOP year of ‘82 (had it been 4 years, Frank White probably might’ve been Governor for most of the ‘80s and Clinton would’ve had to have looked for other permanent employment).
With respect to Huckabee, he won the Lt Governor’s office in a special election after the corrupt Jim Guy Tucker ascended to the top job after Clinton went to DC. Huckabee was the 2nd GOP Lt Governor in the modern era (with Rockefeller sweeping the WW2 hero Maurice “Footsie” Britt in with him in ‘66 and ‘68). His goal was not the Governorship, but was David Pryor’s Senate seat. When Tucker’s corruption finally did him in, Huckabee had to give up his ambition for the Senate, thinking that the people of AR would not want such a rapid turnover from Tucker to himself to an as-yet-unelected Lt Governor (soon to be Winthrop “Win Paul” Rockefeller, Jr.) and requiring yet another election for the Lt Governorship (the 3rd in only just as many years), so he stayed put and Tim Hutchinson won instead.
During Huckabee’s first term, the GOP was finally growing to match the trend in the other Southern states. We had half the federal delegation (and were competitive in all 4 districts and the Senate seats), but by 1998, things were starting to stall. Huckabee was failing to recruit the kind of candidates we needed to make breakthroughs in statewide offices, and we were also stalling in the legislature — hitting about 30% of the representation, but failing largely to elect anyone outside the western edge of the state and the Little Rock metro area. He was backing people like his wife and the ex-wife of one the Congressmen for statewide office, and it met with predictably poor results (and started to give him a black eye).
He most assuredly should not have run for that last term in 2002, by which time, the federal GOP presence shriveled from 3 to 1 (not a lot when you think about it, but that’s still a 2/3rds decline, and the poorest showing for the overall delegation in a dozen years and the ‘70s, back when there was hardly any GOP to speak of). We met with the added problem that Win Paul Rockefeller, who was all but expected to take over from Huckabee when he finally stepped down, contracted leukemia and died last year. Asa Hutchinson, Tim’s brother, stepped in, but he just was never able to get any traction and lost quite badly to a rodent hack. With Huckabee’s departure and causing the atrophying of the party, he left it at its weakest point since Rockefeller, Sr’s defeat in 1970. This, again, stands in stark contrast to virtually every single solitary other Southern state.
Obviously he is better “morally” than Clinton, but assessing Huckabee on his own terms, and he ranged from disappointing to a downright failure.
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