Free Republic

Former presidential contender's book tour stops at ND. BY ERIN BLASKO SOUTH BEND — Bob Moore was enthusiastic about Mike Huckabee long before the Republican presidential candidate arrived on the national scene in 2007, charming his party's base with his strong commitment to conservative values and moderates and even liberals with his "aw, shucks" persona. He was quick to point that out Tuesday, shortly after meeting the former Arkansas governor at a promotional event at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore. "I've read all of his books except the one that just came out," the Goshen man said, adding that that...

In 2008, a charismatic right-wing populist Republican governor won the heart of the party's base despite being forced to take a backseat to a more respectable "moderate" Republican. He was Mike Huckabee, and he is sad, and mad. Ben Smith followed Mike Huckabee around for a while as he sold his new Christmas book. Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas. He used to be fat, and then he got skinny, and now he is getting fat again. He's also basically as crazy Christian as they come, but he masks this with a genuinely likable sense of humor, which is why...

A governor for 10 years and the winner of the Iowa caucuses in 2008, Huckabee should by all rights have a claim to be the early favorite for the Republican nomination. But former Gov. Mitt Romney, the candidate he bested in Iowa 2008 and for whom he does not attempt to contain his contempt, is riding high, credited by many Republicans as the best person to run against President Barack Obama in a down economy. And as Huckabee works his way through a 22-state tour for his new book, “A Simple Christmas,” he knows that he and the book will...

Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson had the guts to do what Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and the entire Republican Party would not do. One month ago, Thompson became the first prominent national Republican to endorse Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the New York District 23 Congressional race. Palin made an even bigger impact by endorsing Hoffman a week and a half ago. In doing so, Palin lived up to her penchant for going against the mainstream and taking on powerbrokers inside her own party.

One name is notably absent from the list of prominent conservatives who have lined up against the GOP nominee in the Nov. 3 New York special election: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Even as other past and prospective Republican presidential candidates have offered their endorsements, Huckabee has conspicuously declined to officially support Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman, a decision that has left bewildered many of the social conservatives whom he assiduously courted in his 2008 bid. “It’s very disappointing,” said Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council. “You have names out there like Sarah Palin,...

Two weeks before Sarah Palin's memoir hits bookstores next month, possible 2012 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is publishing a new volume of his own: A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit. Huckabee's already taking presale orders—and orders for leather display boxes and for signed, numbered versions of the book that include certificates of authenticity.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s forthcoming autobiography has been at the top of the Amazon book charts for weeks, and it hasn’t even been released yet. At least in the eyes of the political Left, she is now perhaps America’s most visible national Republican. But new Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveying finds Palin losing handily in face-to-face march-ups with her two likeliest challengers for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Among likely Republican primary voters, Palin now trails former Arkansas governor-turned-Fox-TV-host Mike Huckabee by 20 points – 55% to 35%. When her opponent is ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Palin loses by...

An off year special election in upstate New York has received a lot of attention and created a bit of a spilt among Republicans. The vacancy was created when Rep. John McHugh was appointed as Secretary of the Army in September of this year. Controversy has since been brewing since the New York Republican Party choose to forgo a typical primary election and instead have the eleven county chairman within the district nominate moderate Republican State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava. Scozzafava policy positions, particularly her pro-abortion and pro-gay rights positions, quickly troubled conservatives within the district leading many to instead support...

Fox News host, garage band cover guitarist, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be making a long-planned speech before the New York Conservative Party in Syracuse, New York on October 28, but has thus far declined to say whether he will formally endorse or financially support Conservative Party House candidate Doug Hoffman, who is running to fill former Rep. John McHugh's 23rd Congressional District seat. Most Republican Party leaders have thus far taken a pass in endorsing Hoffman, who has the support of the conservative Club for Growth, as well as the American Conservative Union. House minority leader John...

Huckabee is easily dispatched. He is not a conservative. Anyone suggesting that remains blinded by those wonderful crosses they saw dancing across their TV screen in last year's Huckabee campaign ads. Fiscally, he's a populist, at best. And he actually has quite a liberal streak. Distributing income is just as much a desire with Huckabee as it is with the Left. He simply wants to use those tax dollars in a different way. On top of that, he's a Big Government guy. Anyone who thinks that dictating menus and diets has anything to do with conservatism has no idea what...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Saturday won a 2012 presidential preference straw poll of social and religious conservative activists from 49 states gathered in Washington, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said at an afternoon press briefing at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. It was sweet revenge for Mr. Huckabee, who narrowly lost a similar poll in 2007 to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Only in-person voting was permitted in this vote -- Mr. Romney had won with combined Internet and in-person voting. On Saturday Mr. Huckabee took 28.48 percent of the vote, while Mr. Romney was in a four-way...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – An old rivalry flared up again at the annual Values Voter Summit on Friday, when Mike Huckabee took aim at the health care system in Massachusetts that was implemented in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. Huckabee — who did serious damage to Romney's presidential hopes last January by winning the Iowa caucuses and has made clear his disdain for the former Massachusetts governor — told the crowd at the conservative conference that the Bay State health care system is a model for the kind of government-run health care President Obama wants to implement. "It's going to bankrupt...

Nice guys finish last—at least that seems to be the lesson Mike Huckabee has learned from losing the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. The former Arkansas governor made headlines last week when he suggested on his radio show that the Democrats’ health-care bill under debate in Congress wouldn’t have covered Sen. Ted Kennedy in his final days of battling cancer. “Proponents deny that the bill would devalue older people’s lives, or encourage them to accept less care to save money. But it was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to just...

Public Policy Polling has replicated the same result for the past five months: On the question of which Republican would do the best against President Obama in a hypothetical race for the presidency in 2012, former-Arkansas-governor-turned-talk-show-host Mike Huckabee makes the strongest showing. Here's how the latest numbers break down for each potential face-off: Barack Obama 47% Mike Huckabee 44% Barack Obama 47% Mitt Romney 40% Barack Obama 49% Newt Gingrich 41% Barack Obama 52% Sarah Palin 38%

WASHINGTON (CNN) – It looks like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have one less fan. On the same day that Palin is set to transfer power to her lieutenant governor, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said her prospects for national office looked grim. “’I’ve been a supporter of Sarah Palin — at times,” Castellanos said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “She gave the McCain campaign its best two weeks. But, you know, if we’re going to be critical of Democrats when they shirk their responsibilities, we have do the same within our own house. She abandoned her state in...

OK sorry for the vanity, but I'm darn frustrated at what I just saw on my favorite channel - FNC. I've been a daily, loyal viewer since they came online and first begin their uphill struggle against then-dominant CNN. No fair weather viewer here. When I'm not watching FNC, usually I've got Fox Business Channel in the background. So it takes a lot for Fox to tee me off like this. But I'm plenty teed off: (Embarrasingly obvious) Republican 2012 candidate wannabe Mike Huckabee, is filling in for BOR today. So far so good. Huckabee works for Fox, fair and...

(CNN) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a warning for Sarah Palin: Don't abandon the Republican Party. The former presidential candidate and potential future White House rival of Palin's said Tuesday he's concerned about speculation the Alaska governor may leave the GOP to become an independent. I hope she remains — let me be real clear — a part of the Republican Party," Huckabee told FOX News. "I'm a little concerned when I hear her say that she may sort of branch out and go third party or go independent. That would be a big mistake because we need...

My , the news today is that Mike Huckabee is worried Sarah Palin wants to run for President as a third party canidate in 2012. I think he can see some signs pointing in that direction. She is independant and she sure is taking a bruising from beltway Republican insiders. Who would blame her? Besides when you look at polling data , conservatives have already left the party. However , what good would it do? It would guarantee a second term for Obama and nothing is more important than getting that self important empty suit out of the White House....

So she has a role to play. Whether she runs or not, she has an important voice, and I hope she remains -- let me be real clear -- a part of the Republican Party. I'm a little concerned when I hear her say that she may sort of branch out and go third party or go independent. That would be a big mistake because we need to rebuild the Republican Party, not abandon it.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Huckabee to Palin: Don't Leave By Joseph Russo Political Wire reports: In an interview on Fox News, Mike Huckabee warned Sarah Palin against abandoning the Republican party. Said Huckabee: "Whether she runs or not, she has an important voice, and I hope she remains -- let me be real clear -- a part of the Republican Party. I'm a little concerned when I hear her say that she may sort of branch out and go third party or go independent. That would be a big mistake because we need to rebuild the Republican Party, not abandon...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Mike Huckabee is turning into a front-runner for his party's 2012 presidential nomination almost by default. A pair of sex scandals involving Republicans once touted as White House contenders and the abrupt exit of another hopeful from the public stage are helping Huckabee boost his odds as he weighs another presidential run. "Given that the dominoes are falling, the fact that he's still standing works to his benefit," said Hal Bass, political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University.

The man who help hand the Republican nomination to John McCain,(that great conservative) is warning Republicans about the middle...

Uh oh -- looks like the 2012 GOP primary, or at least a preview of it, is getting underway. In a fresh round of GOP infighting over the soul of the battered party, Mike Huckabee just took a shot at a host of potential primary rivals, disparaging Eric Cantor's new group to revive the GOP, the National Council for a New America, and the high-profile Republicans that make up the group's "panel of experts." The experts Huckabee was referring to include Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Bobby Jindal, all of whom are being talked about for 2012. Huckabee's broadside came...

Republican governor hopeful Bob McDonnell is being criticized by state Democrats for not condemning comments made by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (R) at a campaign rally last week. BY HOLLY HOBBS Huckabee, who spoke at a campaign fundraising event in Tazewell County in southwest Virginia, told rally goers that people in Northern Virginia aren't “necessarily thinking the same way folks like you and me think.” Huckabee went on to say that those living near the Beltway “may never fully understand how hard it is for a lot of people to put a paycheck together to feed a family.” Areas...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Virginia Democrats are eagerly pouncing on Mike Huckabee for telling an audience in Appalachia that voters in northern Virginia "aren't necessarily thinking the same way folks like you and me think." Huckabee made the remarks in southwest Virginia's Tazewell County on Monday while campaigning with Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor. His appearance was recorded and posted on YouTube by a state Democratic operative. "They have never fully understood how hard it is for a lot of people to put a paycheck together, be able to feed a family," Huckabee said. "Some folks up there near...

Here is video from Gov. Mike Huckabee's speech today at CPAC, where he defended the Social Conservatives in the Republican Party against attacks that they are to blame for recent election losses. Huckabee makes a strong case that Social Conservatives are the heart of the GOP, and are the most reliable Republican voters. He urges reconciliation between the two wings of the Conservative Movement - Fiscal Conservatives, and Social Conservatives - in order to make the movement "fly" once again. . . . . (Watch Video)

"Do the Right Thing," Mike Huckabee. Sentinel: Penguin Group, $25.95 In the few weeks Mike Huckabee's book, "Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America," has been out, he has seen great success, already topping The New York Times' Best-Seller List. The start of a new year and a new president is a peak time for Huckabee's book. The reader sees the country's leadership from the inside lens of a man who reveals both interesting and surprising details of the people and the politics. When Gov. Mike Huckabee entered the 2008 Republican presidential race,...

Beijing raised the spectre of trade sanctions against France yesterday to threaten President Sarkozy's plan to meet the Dalai Lama. The coded warning came on the day that the Tibetan spiritual leader was fêted by the European Parliament. China has already pulled out of this week's annual summit and business forum with the EU in protest at Mr Sarkozy's plans to see the 73-year-old Tibetan exile in Poland tomorrow at a celebration honouring Nobel Peace Prize winners. In Brussels the Dalai Lama goaded China with the charge that it would never be seen as a superpower unless it improved its...

Who is Roy Masters? In 1960 Roy Masters started America’s first conservative talk radio show on KTYM in Los Angeles, California. Roy Masters and his “Advice Line” radio program continue today as an institution on radio. “Advice Line” is currently broadcast nationwide on a 130 radio stations and available via the internet. For more see http://www.fhu.com/aboutroy.html

People wonder why Mike Huckabee would come out with a book that violates Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment, which is not to criticize another Republican, and trashes the wholly deserving Mitt Romney. Is it that Huckabee wants to get Romney out of the way so that he can emerge pre-emptively as the GOP alternative to Sarah Palin in 2012?

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he was surprised by John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin because he believes the only difference between himself and the Alaska governor is “she looks better in stilettos than I do.” Reflecting on the Palin pick in an interview with the New Yorker posted Monday, Huckabee told the magazine that “I was scratching my head, saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. She’s wonderful, but the only difference was she looks better in stilettos than I do, and she has better hair.’” Huckabee insisted that Palin “was given a pass by some of the very people...

He’s not saying it critically, mind you. Since when has Huck ever been critical of a rival, overtly or otherwise? Huckabee had some interesting observations about Sarah Palin, a potential 2012 opponent, suggesting that she didn’t earn her spurs and was more appealing to the base of the party because she hadn’t been scrutinized in the primary. “What John McCain did for her was to give her the capacity to sort of leapfrog over the process and get right to the center stage,” he said of the GOP’s vice presidential nominee. Unlike those, he added, who had competed in the...

What in the world was Fox thinking by giving this Gomer a show? The first week or two it looked ok.. But it's slowly gotten more and more and more liberal. He's taken to attacking McCain and Palin. Tonight his guests were Bill Maher and Richard Dreyfus. Dreyfus was allowed about 4 minutes to spout his liberal views with no interruption. Ugh! I turned it over to the NFL Network. This show WILL NOT last another month.

(CNN) – Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Friday the John McCain made a "huge mistake" by even floating the possibility he would not appear at the first presidential debate as planned. “You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything,” Huckabee told the Associated Press Thursday. Huckabee, who vied with McCain for the GOP presidential nomination long after it appeared McCain was the party's presumptive nominee, has been an on-and-off critic of the Arizona senator. Earlier this summer he took part in a Washington, DC rally calling on McCain and Obama to highlight...

The Huckster just now on Hannity and Colmes. Colmes: I thought McCain said he was going to take the high road? Huckabee: It's not just John McCain. Frankly I believe they should both stop it and get back to the issues. Thanks a lot Huckster!!! Ugh!

For the second consecutive day, Mike Huckabee made public statements suggesting John McCain ought not pick Mitt Romney as his running mate. “I think there are better choices for Sen. McCain that have the approval of value voters,� Huckabee said today on Fox News. Yesterday, he told CBS that many Republicans are "not necessarily comfortable" with Romney because of his changed positions. At the same time, Huckabee's Michigan supporters met with McCain social conservative liaison Marlys Popma last night in Saginaw. Though ostensibly held to discuss how Huckabee's loyalists can help McCain, supporters of the former Arkansas governor also used...

TOKYO (AFP) - Former US presidential contender Mike Huckabee urged his fellow Republicans on Wednesday not to denigrate Democrat Barack Obama, saying they should celebrate the historic moment of a black candidate. "Republicans will make a fundamental if not fatal mistake if they seek to win the election by demonising Barack Obama," Huckabee told a news conference on a visit to Tokyo. The former Arkansas governor said that, having grown up in the segregated South, he never thought he would see an African-American win the nomination of a major party for the US presidency. "I do not want to have...

Our 2008 Vp Stakes has ended. After four rounds of voting that narrowed the list of possible candidates down from 16 to 1, our readers choose former Arkansas Gov. Michael Huckabee as the choice for John McCain's running mate. In the final round, Huckabee clobbered former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 81-19 percent. In total, nearly 13,000 voters visited our site in total. A summary of total votes cast per candidate is as follows:

Huckleberry hates freedom May 29th, 2008, 4:20 pm · posted by Steven Greenhut Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee always set my teeth on edge, from his hokey folksy manner to his love of big government to his shameless use of his religion for political gain. But now I understand exactly why I found the Huckster to be so offensive (and it’s hard to stand out on that score given the overall quality of presidential candidates this year). Here, hat tip to AndrewSullivan.com, is a quotation from Huckleberry on Huffington Post regarding libertarianism: “The greatest threat to classic Republicanism is...

A "modern-day Moses" who fleeced churchgoers out of more than £3.2million faces jail today. Lindani Mangena, 24, preyed on more than 1,000 worshippers in Seventh Day Adventist congregations across London to feed his appetite for fine living. Mangena posed as a City trader to convince them to invest in a bogus spread-betting formula. Southwark Crown Court heard that, along with two accomplices, he promised profits of up to 3,000 per cent in six months. Many victims, including widows and pensioners, were forced to remortgage their homes. Much of their money was spent on property, cars and holidays. One hotel stay...

He’s more apt to blame America’s problems on a shadowy elite who are out to get blue-collar god-fearers but less apt to blame jihadist attacks on sinfulness. I guess that constitutes progress. Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign may be nearing its end, but those around him say he won’t disappear and is poised to claim political leadership of conservative evangelicals.Mr. Huckabee’s inner circle says he’s the perfect bridge to re-establish the Christian right, which has suffered over the last decade, as a political force that speaks for millions of voters. “He has become the leader of a new generation of Christian...

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas -- especially if you're the wife of presidential candidate. Just ask Janet Huckabee, who attended a middleweight prize fight this last weekend in Vegas -- where she stayed at the Hooters Casino Hotel. That eye-opening combination -- a title bout in Sin City, which celebrates gambling, drinking and all things wild, along with a hospitality chain favoring buxom waitresses in low-cut garb -- could potentially shock the armies of evangelical conservative Christians who have made her husband, the former governor of Arkansas, the only remaining GOP opponent to party front-runner John...

..."I didn't major in math," said the Baptist preacher, "I majored in miracles." Good for Huck. Why should he drop out? For too long conservatives have suppressed their convictions or meekly submitted, so as not to oppose a Republican president or get out of step with the party leadership.... ...For his party's and his country's sake, as well as his own, Mike Huckabee should keep the conversation going. Because right now, his party is looking at Hillary, Obama -- or Bush's third term.

Huckabee At CPAC February 09, 2008 12:22 PM ABC's Kevin Chupka reports: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee received a very warm welcome this morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) here in Washington DC. The reception lasted the entire length of his speech as a crowd full of Huckabee supporter repeatedly cheered for their choice for the Republican nomination. Huckabee was, of course, speaking at the same event that just days ago saw Mitt Romney tell his supporters he would discontinue his bid for the GOP nomination. Huckabee took his turn at the CPAC podium, however, to tell his...

Republican Mike Huckabee on Saturday said he won't quit the presidential race and rejected suggestions John McCain is the party's inevitable nominee, saying the voters in remaining states deserve an election, not a coronation. "I didn't major in math," the former Arkansas governor told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting. "I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them." Huckabee, who trails in the nomination race with 198 delegates to McCain's 719, said he was aware there had been rumors that he might quit the race, but assured conservatives: "Am I quitting? No." "There are...

Huckabee top in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Minesota, Oclahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, etc.+ !!! ------------------ People and Value-powered Governor Mike Huckabee apparently does even BETTER than initially expected ! (And despite unprecedented Censorship, even at many Internet Fora, and despite huge amounts of Money spend by his competitors)... - Huck is given 1st in Alabama (with 34% reporting) - 1st in Arkansas - 1st in Georgia (with 61% reporting) - 1st in Missouri (with 23% reporting) - 1st in West Virginia (100% reporting, OK) - Tied in Minnesota, neck to neck with Romney, McCain following closely. - Tied in Oclahoma,...

Mike Huckabee, who has won in Alabama, Arkansas, and West Virginia and is competing for several other states, declared tonight that he -- not Mitt Romney -- and John McCain are competing for the Republican nomination. Saying there's been a lot of talk about a two-man race, Huckabee said, "It is, and we're in it." He told supporters in Little Rock, Ark., that he is doing well "to the amazement" of a lot of pundits. "And I also want you to know, that as long as there's still votes and delegates to be won until that magic number of 1,191...

By far, the most significant story of the 2008 Republican primaries has been the unlikely candidacy of Mike Huckabee and his_single-handed_resuscitation of Christian conservatives as a force to be reckoned with in the Republican_Party. Yet, regardless of how he fares on Super_Tuesday_and_beyond, Mr. Huckabee will perhaps be best remembered as the man who, however unintentionally, helped persuade evangelicals to vote a Democrat into the White House in 2008 – and possibly in future races, as well. Since the 1970s, conventional_wisdom has held that evangelicals are driven by a single-minded_concern with defending "moral values," while mainline Protestants focus on issues of...

TUSCALOOSA, ALA. -- Mike Huckabee has changed his mind and will sign an Alabama senator’s immigration pledge for presidential candidates - an effort to defeat the McCain-Kennedy proposal in the U.S. Senate. In Birmingham last week, Huckabee said he was almost ready to sign the pledge put forth by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., but was on the fence regarding one of its aspects. "Which one?" a reporter asked. Huckabee said it had to do with the 13th point of the 15-point pledge, one to “eliminate the visa lottery program and change current preference categories that guarantee automatic entry for aging...

A broad coalition of black conservatives from across the country are holding a press conference to urge former Governor Mike Huckabee to stay in the presidential race for the Republican nomination until the convention. "Governor Huckabee should not be intimidated to stop his bid for the Republican nomination," states Don Scoggins, veteran GOP activist and ... president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, a DC-based national grassroots organization. The concern of the group is the pressure that is mounting by Republican talking heads to push Governor Huckabee out of the race. The consensus is that Huckabee's campaign was deliberately sabotaged by...