In keeping with his entire campaign, Huckabee’s strategy in the last few days before the Iowa caucus has been highly unusual; he done little of the traditional reiteration of policies, praise for the party and last-minute attacks on the competition—well he’s done a bit of that. Apparently, Huckabee responded to TV attacks by his major opponent, Mitt Romney, by claiming, “I think we need to get the record straightened up. And get the truth out. … [his] attacks have been desperate, and I think they’ve been dishonest.” He concluded the topic with, “I don’t plan to fight with him. He’s throwing punches and I’m saying Merry Christmas.” On Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa, the presidential candidate gave a speech full of personal anecdotes that reinforced his focus on moral values. He also asserted that, “I love this country and I love it more than I love the Republican Party…[which] needs to be changed. There are some people who aren't that fond of me for saying it.... They want the right and the left to keep fighting, Democrats and Republicans, the liberals and the conservatives.” In this statement, he appealed to voters frustrated with the constant gridlock in Washington by promising change and highlighting his authenticity by distancing himself from the corruption in Washington. On Friday, Huckabee continued to give speeches in hopes of gaining a few more last-minute votes--including a gathering at the Pizza Ranch in Pella, Iowa. In addition, the former Governor of Arkansas also recently visited Florida to court the Hispanic voters, a group he deemed “crucial in winning” the state. His trip included a talk at the Miami Airport as well as a private fundraiser.
According to a recent poll in Iowa, up to 40% of Republican voters in Iowa have yet to make up their minds as to who they will support in the caucus. However, for those who have decided Huckabee continues to lead the race and has also gained in national popularity—he current ranks in second place, behind Romney, in the New Hampshire polls. Last week, a controversy arose between Huckabee and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over criticism of the Bush Administration’s foreign policy from an article in the journal Foreign Affairs. The statement, “American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out … The Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad” prompted questions. Huckabee stumbled a little when he claimed that he and his aids had crafted multiple versions of the article and he could not recall whether he had personally penned it; nevertheless, he accepted responsibility for approving the wording. Romney used the opportunity to pressure Huckabee and even proclaimed, “Huckabee’s comments sounded like they were coming from a Democrat.”
Friday, December 28, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Is Huckabee a flip-flopper who wants to quarantine individuals with AIDS?
This past week Huckabee has continued his great success in persuading voters to vote for him. According to a CBS/NY Times poll and a CNN poll, Huckabee is tied for first place nationally with Giuliani among the Republican presidential candidates. This is an extraordinary accomplish for the “Dark Horse†candidate. In addition, in
Moreover, Huckabee’s campaign has received more support. For example, Huckabee has hired the Republican strategist Ed Rollins as his National Campaign Chairman. Rollins was Reagan'€™s National Campaign Director for the 1984 election, in which he would 49 states! Watch out Republicans and Democrats, Rollins€™ could be an extraordinary asset to Huckabee'€™s campaign if Huckabee uses him well! Interest groups have jumped on the "I Like Mike's "€ team as well. This week, the Michigan Chooses Life PAC publicly endorsed Huckabee for the Republican presidential nomination. (I have a feeling, contrary to my own desires, that Huckabee will continue his success). On the other hand, Jim Gilchrist, who founded the Minuteman Project against illegal immigration, has declared his support for Huckabee. However, the organization, opposed to Gilchrist’s endorsement of Huckabee, sent a message to its members titled: "€œReal Minutemen Do Not Endorse Huckabee." The message claimed, "No National Minuteman Group has endorsed Mike Huckabee."
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Huckabee leads in Iowa and South Carolina
When an interviewer raised an inquiry about an old statement by Huckabee that people with AIDS should be quarantined, the Presidential candidate tried to frame it in the context claiming that in the beginning of the 1990's there was little knowledge of how contagious AIDs was. Although Huckabee did not deny his statement, he did receive criticism because apparently many pastors at the time ignored information provided by the national government asserting that AIDS could not be "transferred casually." Huckabee spent the beginning of the week in Iowa, his first trip since taking the lead in the polls. After spending time there, MSNBC and McClatchy found that Huckabee had a 12% lead over Romney in their most recent poll. This week in Iowa, several well-known pastors announced their endorsement of Former Governor Mike Huckabee demonstrating his strengthening grasp of the religious right—a substantial voting block whose leaders are known for getting their supporters out to the polls. Continuing his everyman, authentic campaign Huckabee played up his years as a pastor; something the Christians in Iowa find very appealing especially with the competition being pro-choice or Mormon. Huckabee tries to stay out of the political attacks, but he is known for making subtle attacks; when discussing his primary competition in Iowa, Mitt Romney, he reportedly said, “We've got an army of ordinary people who are out there, not because someone's paying them to love me.” In addition to his Iowa successes, he isaccumulating support in North Carolina as well. Huckabee spent the end of the work-week there attending fundraisers in Greensboro and Charlotte; culminating in an speech at the Ashville Congressman’s annual Christmas. On his trip, reporters hounded the former Governor about his lack of awareness and opinion on the National Inteligence Estimate or (NIE) to which he responded that the current President “had it for four years, and he hadn't read it yet, so I don't really know that it was a big deal that I had not yet seen it and read it because we had been on the campaign trail nonstop.” A recent poll in the other Carolina came out with Huckabee winning the support of 20% of those surveyed moving ahead of Giuliani by 3%. This weekend he also visited South Carolina where he was campaigning at a local restaurant in Columbia packed with people—four times the restaurant’s actual capacity—to all eager meet the Republican Front Runner. With less than a month left until the Iowa primary, will Huckabee keep gaining support?If he wins the first primary will anyone be able to stop him?
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Look out guys (and Hillary), Huckabee has had another great week
This week Huckabee continues to gain support from the American people. In addition, Huckabee exceeded his monetary goal for November, raising an astonishing $2,076, 467.73. On Monday, Huckabee released a new television ad called “Believe,” in which he emphasized, “faith doesn’t just influence me, it really defines me.” This ad is one of Huckabee’s methods to gain votes from Republican Christian in Iowa, as well as other Republican Christians. Whether this ad completely influenced Huckabee’s support in Iowa, or the other Republican candidates suffered criticisms this past week (or because evangelical Christians are opposed to Romeny’s Mormonism), the ad definitely helped Huckabee move to 1st place in Iowa. According to a Rasmussen poll (on Wednesday), Mike Huckabee received in Iowa 28% of the votes, followed by Romney with 25%. In addition, on that same Monday, a Zogby poll claimed that Clinton would loose to all the major GOP candidates in the Presidential election; Huckabee received the highest margin of votes of the GOP candidates (45.8% to 39.6% for Clinton). In Florida, Mike Huckabee came in last place according to an October insider advantage poll (because he did not register, or received such a small percentage of votes). This week, however, Huckabee has risen to second place among fellow Republicans with 17% of the vote.
In addition, nationally (according to a Rasmussen poll), Huckabee reached third place among Republican voters this week. In South Carolina, Huckabee is implementing a different strategy (contrary to his faith-based efforts in Iowa). Huckabee aims to receive a broader amount of support from Conservative voters (not only traditional Christian and social conservatives) by focusing on more consumer-friendly issues, including federal arts funding, climate change, and health care. This strategy may have helped Huckabee “make it on the radar” in South Carolina. In New Hampshire, according to a recent poll, Huckabee’s support has increased 6%, moving him to third place among Republican candidates. In addition, this week Huckabee was claimed the winner of the CNN/You Tube Republican Debate by various political analysts. In fact, Huckabee is claimed to have increased his support (among Republican voters) after his performance in the debate. The audience really supported his responses to illegal immigration, as well as taxes. When asked if Jesus would support the death penalty, Huckabee claimed, “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office;” this statement led to great applause from the crowd, as well as fellow Republican candidate Giuliani. Moreover, this week, Huckabee formed the Faith and Values Coalition for Mike Huckabee to “join [him] in [his] efforts to reach out to Christian and social conservatives across the country”. This coalition is made up for 30 supporters of Mike Huckabee for President, who will help advise him on policy issues that will affect the faith community, as well as families.
In addition, Huckabee criticized the Bush administration for their “muted” response to Saudi Arabia’s decision ordering 200 lashes to a woman who was gang raped. Huckabee asserts, “The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women.” Furthermore, Huckabee wants to make the United States energy independent in 10 years; thus, we can abandon our reliance on them. Huckabee claimed, "Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich - filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists.”
In addition, nationally (according to a Rasmussen poll), Huckabee reached third place among Republican voters this week. In South Carolina, Huckabee is implementing a different strategy (contrary to his faith-based efforts in Iowa). Huckabee aims to receive a broader amount of support from Conservative voters (not only traditional Christian and social conservatives) by focusing on more consumer-friendly issues, including federal arts funding, climate change, and health care. This strategy may have helped Huckabee “make it on the radar” in South Carolina. In New Hampshire, according to a recent poll, Huckabee’s support has increased 6%, moving him to third place among Republican candidates. In addition, this week Huckabee was claimed the winner of the CNN/You Tube Republican Debate by various political analysts. In fact, Huckabee is claimed to have increased his support (among Republican voters) after his performance in the debate. The audience really supported his responses to illegal immigration, as well as taxes. When asked if Jesus would support the death penalty, Huckabee claimed, “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office;” this statement led to great applause from the crowd, as well as fellow Republican candidate Giuliani. Moreover, this week, Huckabee formed the Faith and Values Coalition for Mike Huckabee to “join [him] in [his] efforts to reach out to Christian and social conservatives across the country”. This coalition is made up for 30 supporters of Mike Huckabee for President, who will help advise him on policy issues that will affect the faith community, as well as families.
In addition, Huckabee criticized the Bush administration for their “muted” response to Saudi Arabia’s decision ordering 200 lashes to a woman who was gang raped. Huckabee asserts, “The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women.” Furthermore, Huckabee wants to make the United States energy independent in 10 years; thus, we can abandon our reliance on them. Huckabee claimed, "Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich - filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists.”
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Huckabee Gives Thanks for Rising Support
A very successful Thanksgiving week for Huckabee, he had the support of 22% of people polled in Iowa gaining on Mitt Romney’s 27% in a CBS/New York Times poll that acknowledged its 5% room for error. Interestingly, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll, Huckabee now has substantial support from those extremely opposed to abortion, the Christian right and other conservatives placing he and Romney in a tie for potential voters in Iowa. The discrepancy between the numbers falls within the sampling error, fueling curiosities as to which poll is more accurate—a question that until Iowa’s Election Day on January 3, 2008.
Huckabee may have intercepted Fred Thompson’s run for the Republican Nomination on a platform as the true conservative who has not spent too much in Washington begging corruption or scandals. Managers from Thompson’s campaign lament that Huckabee’s success in Iowa will really damage Thompson's chance of receiving the nomination; despite Thompson's concrete attacks on Huckabee’s numerous encounters with the Arkansas Ethics Committee during his time as governor. The biggest of these scandals brought into light by Thompson include: how the Presidential Candidate denied that furniture—valued at $70,000—in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion was donated. Additionally, Thompson claimed that in the early 1990’s the Past Governor used campaign donations as supplement for his personal salary. It seems that as Huckabee accumulates more support, the other candidates have begun to recognize him as a formidable threat and worthy of attacks on his high taxing as Governor and anything else the other candidates can find.On Saturday, Huckabee visited South Carolina—one of the early primary states— to attend a Clemenson v. Football game and was joined by Ric Flair as well as South Carolina’s former Governor Beasley. Before the kick-off, Huckabee met with other spectators making a brief statement about certain policies and answering questions from the crowd and asserted that the “next terror attack on the U.S. will be postmarked Pakistan but said he believes that nation will continue to cooperate with American anti-terrorism efforts”. In another campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina, Huckabee solidified his opinion that he would take arms against Pakistan if a credible threat to the U.S. emerged; reinforcing that the security of Americans is his number one priority. He then spent Sunday morning at a community church in Irmo, South Carolina asserting, “I am not here today in a political capacity” continuing this week’s focus on authenticity and how “I’m not just saying something that a focus group gave me or a room full of consultants handed me in the form of a script and said, ‘Hey, if you want to be president, go out and say this stuff.” Huckabee had another strong week of campaigning especially in South Carolina and continues to rise in the opinion polls in Iowa.
Huckabee may have intercepted Fred Thompson’s run for the Republican Nomination on a platform as the true conservative who has not spent too much in Washington begging corruption or scandals. Managers from Thompson’s campaign lament that Huckabee’s success in Iowa will really damage Thompson's chance of receiving the nomination; despite Thompson's concrete attacks on Huckabee’s numerous encounters with the Arkansas Ethics Committee during his time as governor. The biggest of these scandals brought into light by Thompson include: how the Presidential Candidate denied that furniture—valued at $70,000—in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion was donated. Additionally, Thompson claimed that in the early 1990’s the Past Governor used campaign donations as supplement for his personal salary. It seems that as Huckabee accumulates more support, the other candidates have begun to recognize him as a formidable threat and worthy of attacks on his high taxing as Governor and anything else the other candidates can find.On Saturday, Huckabee visited South Carolina—one of the early primary states— to attend a Clemenson v. Football game and was joined by Ric Flair as well as South Carolina’s former Governor Beasley. Before the kick-off, Huckabee met with other spectators making a brief statement about certain policies and answering questions from the crowd and asserted that the “next terror attack on the U.S. will be postmarked Pakistan but said he believes that nation will continue to cooperate with American anti-terrorism efforts”. In another campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina, Huckabee solidified his opinion that he would take arms against Pakistan if a credible threat to the U.S. emerged; reinforcing that the security of Americans is his number one priority. He then spent Sunday morning at a community church in Irmo, South Carolina asserting, “I am not here today in a political capacity” continuing this week’s focus on authenticity and how “I’m not just saying something that a focus group gave me or a room full of consultants handed me in the form of a script and said, ‘Hey, if you want to be president, go out and say this stuff.” Huckabee had another strong week of campaigning especially in South Carolina and continues to rise in the opinion polls in Iowa.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Could Mike Huckabee be the Republican nominee for President?
Mike Huckabee has been making significant progress in the past two weeks to become a main Republican candidate for president. For example, according to a November 16th poll, Huckabee is tied for 2nd place nationally with Romney and Thompson, among the Republican candidates. Receiving 12% of the national vote, Mike Huckabee is only 17% lower than Giuliani, the Republican front runner. In Iowa, according to a CBS/New York Times Poll, Huckabee is in 2nd place for the Republican nomination with 21% of the vote compared to Romney with 27%. The Research 2000 Iowa Poll as well confirms Huckabee’s 2nd place standing (with 18% vs. Romney with 27% of the vote). In Michigan, Huckabee’s percentage of votes rose from 3% in August to 9% this week. Ed Sarpolus, a pollster claims "Huckabee is a big player in determining who wins the Michigan primary.” With Huckabee’s rising in the polls, he plans to use the $1,000,000 he raised last month for campaign ads.
In addition, throughout these two weeks, Huckabee has traveled throughout Washington, Iowa, and New Hampshire. To prepare for the Iowa caucus, Huckabee has moved the majority of his Little Rock staff to Des Moines, Iowa. In addition, Huckabee visited the Iowa Spinners metal fabrication company. Here he was greeted by many local and national reporters. In the company he met the CFO, Janet Ekstrom, whose birthday it was that day. Thus, Huckabee started singing happy birthday to her with the multitude of reporters. Later, at Doughy Joey’s Peetza Joynt in Waterloo, Jolene Tagtow of Waterloo’s Republican Party central committee was celebrating her 49th birthday; Huckabee asked the press people to sing to her too. Furthermore, in New Hampshire, Huckabee joined the TKE fraternity members of UNH in a 5K race. In Washington, Huckabee spoke at the King County GOP dinner ($150 per person, $500 for a private reception) to raise money for the Republican Party. In addition, over these past two weeks, Huckabee has given his support to a national smoking ban and named Tim Michels, a previous US Senate Candidate, his Wisconsin State Chairman. When speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Huckabee acknowledged the success of President Bush leading Pakistan and Musharraf “back to reality;” however, Huckabee strongly disagreed with Bush’s call to suspend Pakistan’s constitution.
As Huckabee is moving up in the polls, he is gaining much criticism from the Republican Party presidential candidates. For example, Thompson called Huckabee a “serial tax killer [in Arkansas];” However, Huckabee countered this statement affirming that Thompson’s accusations that Huckabee was "one of the highest-taxing governors that we had in this country" are "on their face just not true." In addition, Huckabee claims that while he raised some taxes, he lowered 94 others. Mitt Romney criticized Huckabee for giving “special tuition breaks" to children whose parents are illegal immigrants; Huckabee defends his action by claiming that these children should not have to suffer because of something their parents did. Huckabee has also become more aggressive when attacking the other primary Republican candidates for their views on same-sex marriage and abortion (Huckabee’s views are much more conservative). In addition, over these past two weeks, Huckabee has gained important support from strong faith leaders and faith-based organizations. For example, Jeff Broderick who owns HisHolySpace.com, the quickest growing Christian social network, Donald E. Wildmon, who founded the American Family Association, and members of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be endorsing Huckabee for president. Furthermore Ms. Star Parker founder of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education is supporting him.
In addition, throughout these two weeks, Huckabee has traveled throughout Washington, Iowa, and New Hampshire. To prepare for the Iowa caucus, Huckabee has moved the majority of his Little Rock staff to Des Moines, Iowa. In addition, Huckabee visited the Iowa Spinners metal fabrication company. Here he was greeted by many local and national reporters. In the company he met the CFO, Janet Ekstrom, whose birthday it was that day. Thus, Huckabee started singing happy birthday to her with the multitude of reporters. Later, at Doughy Joey’s Peetza Joynt in Waterloo, Jolene Tagtow of Waterloo’s Republican Party central committee was celebrating her 49th birthday; Huckabee asked the press people to sing to her too. Furthermore, in New Hampshire, Huckabee joined the TKE fraternity members of UNH in a 5K race. In Washington, Huckabee spoke at the King County GOP dinner ($150 per person, $500 for a private reception) to raise money for the Republican Party. In addition, over these past two weeks, Huckabee has given his support to a national smoking ban and named Tim Michels, a previous US Senate Candidate, his Wisconsin State Chairman. When speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation, Huckabee acknowledged the success of President Bush leading Pakistan and Musharraf “back to reality;” however, Huckabee strongly disagreed with Bush’s call to suspend Pakistan’s constitution.
As Huckabee is moving up in the polls, he is gaining much criticism from the Republican Party presidential candidates. For example, Thompson called Huckabee a “serial tax killer [in Arkansas];” However, Huckabee countered this statement affirming that Thompson’s accusations that Huckabee was "one of the highest-taxing governors that we had in this country" are "on their face just not true." In addition, Huckabee claims that while he raised some taxes, he lowered 94 others. Mitt Romney criticized Huckabee for giving “special tuition breaks" to children whose parents are illegal immigrants; Huckabee defends his action by claiming that these children should not have to suffer because of something their parents did. Huckabee has also become more aggressive when attacking the other primary Republican candidates for their views on same-sex marriage and abortion (Huckabee’s views are much more conservative). In addition, over these past two weeks, Huckabee has gained important support from strong faith leaders and faith-based organizations. For example, Jeff Broderick who owns HisHolySpace.com, the quickest growing Christian social network, Donald E. Wildmon, who founded the American Family Association, and members of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be endorsing Huckabee for president. Furthermore Ms. Star Parker founder of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education is supporting him.
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