Mike Huckabee: Front Runner Q&A

Time ^ | Dec. 30, 2007 | Michael Sherer

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BEWTEEN INDIANOLA AND PERRY, Ia — On a bus ride between campaign events Saturday, Republican candidate Mike Huckabee spoke with TIME's Michael Scherer and the Washington Post's Perry Bacon Jr....

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Some interesting insights into Huckabee's state, in Iowa.

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To me, [there] was a seminal moment, in Dearborn, when we were at that debate, the CNBC-MSNBC debate. And the question was asked, ‘How do you think the economy is doing?’ And down the line Republicans go, ‘Ah it’s going great, just terrific.’ They are all quoting RNC talking points-22 consecutive quarters of great economic growth-telling us all these things that are right off the page. And they came to me, and I took a lot of criticism for it, but I said, ‘Well for a lot of guys on this stage the economy is doing really well. But there are a lot of guys out there driving the cabs, handling the bags and serving the food at the tables, and they have a very different picture about how this economy is doing.’ And I think that is where I sense the disconnect. I wonder sometimes: ‘Did you talk to the guy? Have you ever sat down and not just said, ‘Hi, how you doing? Thanks for coming.’ But have you had the conversation-’Tell me what you are worried about?’ That’s the question you ask. What are you worried about? And it’s not so much what is happening in Iran. That’s important to him. He may not understand every day how important that is. But you know what is important to him? If gas is $3 a gallon, can he afford to put enough of it in his tank to get him to and from work, every day this week? That’s real. That’s real for him.”