Posted on 10/29/2007 2:11:06 AM PDT by dano1
The spotlight on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee just got a bit brighter. (snip)
A new national poll from Rasmussen Research ... finally, after a long year straddling the line between the first and second tiers of the crowded Republican contest, Huckabee had broken into double-digit percentages and slipped into fourth place, just ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.(snip)
Now eyes are on the bass player, Huckabee. (snip)
In the past few weeks, when Huckabee's national profile and campaign fundraising have grown exponentially, he also has come under renewed fire from the pro-business wing of the Republican Party base. (snip)
Huckabee points to 90 times when he lowered taxes during his 10 1/2 years as Arkansas governor. But critics say he compromised conservative principles by raising taxes to repair Arkansas' roads, supported Internet sales taxes and appears too willing to compromise with Democrats to expand the size and cost of children's health insurance programs.(snip)
The new poll numbers - combined with some straight-ahead versions of classic rock songs on Friday night - have given Huckabee's supporters new bounce in their dance steps.
"There's a clear surge," said Bill Stemmons, 60, who moved from Oklahoma to Iowa to volunteer for Huckabee, a man he calls "a person of conviction."
"I'm not politically naive," Stemmons said. "I know it's a long shot, but it's the right thing to do. And now it's bearing fruit. If I wanted a sure winner, I'd probably be with one of the big-money guys."
Even with his recent fundraising surge - more than $800,000 this month - Huckabee's biggest challenge is to catch up to front-runners who already have raised tens of millions of dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...
Governor Huckabee has written a very candid and detailed response to the concerns expressed in Fund's article. For the benefit of fellow freepers, I will paste Huckabee's response to the WSJ article below.
NO SALE
October 26, 2007
Little Rock, AR – Presidential Candidate and Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee wrote the following letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal in response to Friday’s column by John Fund:
To the (Wall Street Journal) Editor:
John Fund’s view of my ten-and-a-half-year record as governor of Arkansas and my vision for America’s future (“Another Man from Hope, Who is Mike Huckabee?”) calls for me to set the record straight.
It’s important to note that every living Republican in Arkansas who has been elected to either a statewide or a federal office has endorsed my candidacy. I’m grateful for their support and proud that in 1998, I received the largest percentage of votes ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, and that Arkansans re-elected me to another four-year term in November 2002.
I am even prouder that, throughout my tenure as governor and lieutenant governor of Arkansas, I campaigned tirelessly for countless Republican candidates for the state house and federal office – and even helped get some elected.
As governor, I pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history — a $90 million tax relief package for Arkansas families; led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights; and created a welfare reform program that reduced the welfare rolls in the state by almost 50 percent. We also doubled the standard deduction to $2,000 for single taxpayers and $4,000 for those who are married. In total, I led the fight to cut taxes and fees over 90 times during my ten-and-a-half years as governor, saving the people of Arkansas almost $380 million. When I left office, Arkansas had over $800 million in state surplus.
One of my proudest achievements as governor was signing legislation creating ARKids First – creating health insurance coverage for more than 70,000 Arkansas children who otherwise might have gone without. I am firmly committed to finding a way to provide health care and a better education for America’s children, who hold the key to our nation’s future. Unfortunately, there seems to be a serious misunderstanding about my SCHIP comment at a recent presidential debate.
I was not criticizing President Bush’s veto as a matter of policy, but as a matter of politics. I fully believe that Bush should have negotiated a compromise and not let it get to the point of a veto. Bush indicated he was willing to spend more than the $5 billion he originally proposed, but less than the $35 billion the Democrats pushed through, so there was clearly room to negotiate. In no way do I support spending an additional $35 billion, or moving two million children from private insurance to government insurance, or letting SCHIP be a step on the path to socialized medicine.
I believe that we must be good stewards of our environment and support many paths to reducing our emission of greenhouse gases, such as more nuclear power and alternative sources of clean energy. As part of our overall effort, I also support a cap and trade system, which has worked well for reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions. However, I do not agree with those who want all allowances to be auctioned off because I believe that will create too great a burden on businesses. The alternative to cap and trade is a carbon tax, which I don’t support.
It is difficult to fully understand the institutional challenges of a Republican running for office in Arkansas. In 1993, when I was elected lieutenant governor, I was the fourth Republican to be elected to statewide office since Reconstruction. Students of Arkansas politics should talk to former U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson, U.S. Rep. John Boozman or former Rep. Jay Dickey, all of whom support my candidacy for president, but none of whom is cited in Fund’s column, about these challenges.
Nevertheless, running for election and re-election, and more importantly, governing in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, prepared me to climb that next mountain: running for president and leading America with an optimistic vision and solid plans to successfully confront the complex challenges we face today.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee Presidential Candidate Former Governor of Arkansas (1996-2007)
Nice Spin, but I think we all know Hucksterbee would not have vetoed that bill. But hey, if you like Amnesty, you’ll love Huckabee.
better huck than romney. at least he doesn’t flipflop on pro-life
Thanks to the intelligence and hard work of Jim Robinson, FreeRepublic exists to provide all of us with a venue to express our thoughts and opinions. This is a valuable service to democracy and our nation.
To the flamers: I haven't been able to respond to all of the flamers who have posted comments to the Huckabee threads. Let me take this opportunity to thank you. While your postings have been untrue, wild exagerations of the facts, and expressive of a profound lack of intelligence on your part, I realize that you are doing the best you can.
To the real freepers: My special thanks go out to the real Freepers who have posted valid, well-reasoned and compelling objections to Huckabee. You have helped me to understand the weaknesses in Huckabee. I know that no candidate is perfect and the objections you have raised to a Huckabee presidency will help me to make an informed decision. Thank you especially for expressing your strong dislikes and concerns about Governor Huckabee in a factual, well-reasoned and courteous way! You real freepers are the people who make FreeRepublic great!
You seem to tout the worst RINOs imaginable for President, be they Romney, or his Southern counterpart, Huckabee. Why do you seem so shocked when Conservatives (on a Conservative website) take extreme exception to that ?
Huckabee may be a social conservative (compared to the others), but he’s not a fiscal conservative in any way.
I have been traveling across Arkansan on I-40 since 1971, and it was only in under Huckabee that the roads have become finished and decent.
Bill Clinton raised taxes on soft drinks so high, that fast food places would not give refills.
Hukabee can go take a flying leap ,The beast would eat this creep up, Go Back to Arkansas
I’m sorry — if Huckabee had any semblance of a conservative backbone, I would consider him. Then there is illegal immigration, the most critical problem facing this nation, and he and politicians like him are part of the problem. And his $5 a day tax on private nursing home beds in Arkansas still has me shaking my head —
Huckabee promotes 'open door' policy at LULAC convention
Thursday, Jun 30, 2005
By Wesley Brown Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - In a impassioned speech before hundreds of influential Hispanic civil rights leaders from across the nation, Gov. Mike Huckabee told a captive audience Wednesday that America is great because it has always opened it doors up to people seeking a better way of life.
"I would hope that no matter who we are, or where we are from, that America should always be a place that opens its arms, opens it heart, opens its spirit to people who come because they want the best for their families ...," Huckabee said as the largely Hispanic audience gave him a standing ovation.
Huckabee was the keynote speaker, along with Tyson Foods Inc. Chairman and CEO John Tyson, at a noon luncheon of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which is holding its 76th annual convention in Little Rock.
About 10,000 political, community and business leaders, along with exhibitors and speakers are in Little Rock attending the convention at the Statehouse Convention Center. The convention started Monday and runs through Saturday.
Although he never actually talked about the U.S. or Arkansas immigration policy, Huckabee made it very clear where he stood on the issue. In his opening remarks, he said the nation will need to address the concerns of the Hispanic community because of its growing influence and population base.
He told the LULAC delegates that their presence in the state's capital city was very important because Arkansas has one of the fastest growing Hispanic populations in the nation.
"Your gathering is so very significant for our state," Huckabee said. "We are delighted to have you (criminal invader illegal aliens)"
Now that they see the numbers in Huckabee’s polling seem to be coming from Romney, one of the other “split the vote so that Giuliani can win” candidates, I wonder if the MSM will switch to someone else now. He had a good debate performance and the Family Values thing, but you have to admit he has been getting a lot of the “Republican’s best hope” attention from the MSM without the negatives that were there for most other articles.
I am not a Huckabee supporter, but I would be proud to support him, or any of the other candidates should they become our nominee.
As long as you just totally ignore the nasty posters, life should be OK. I have a few in mind that when I see them responding to my posts I just scroll right past because it is not worth my time to respond to elementary school style name calling, and useless spams.
Huckabee is, to the Press, the 2008 version of 2000 McCain.
If the Press likes him, I don’t!
An ordained GWB.
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