Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is now on the Anvil radar. I first heard of Huckabee via comments made here at my site, and after this morning’s news, I can no longer deny that Huckabee deserves a closer look. From Huckabee’s Presidential campaign site comes the following press release:
Des Moines, IA – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came out as the obvious winner in today’s Iowa Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, according to news reports. The victory comes on the heels of Huckabee’s strong showing in the latest ABC News-Washington Post telephone poll of 402 likely caucus-goers (conducted July 26-31). The new poll places Huckabee in a tie for third place among declared candidates – and gaining momentum.
The campaign welcomed the good news, which comes in the final week before the August 11th Ames Straw Poll. “Iowa voters saw Mike Huckabee define himself again today as a candidate with executive experience and a message focused on a strong, safe, economically vibrant America . He has what it takes to restore America’s greatness,” said Bob Vander Plaats, who chairs Huckabee’s campaign in Iowa .
According to ABC News and the Washington Post, Huckabee did particularly well, also placing third for his understanding of the problems, likeability and being close to voters on the issues. The survey has a margin of 5 percentage points. He also is an appealing candidate to Evangelicals, placing second at 17 percent, followed by Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain.
“Americans, and in particular, Iowans, are having a chance to see that Gov. Huckabee’s message is right on target on Iraq, health care, national infrastructure and other vital issues of importance to our country,” said Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman, who noted that Huckabee returned to Iowa on Aug. 1 and will campaign extensively around the state through the Aug. 11 straw poll.
On the issue of Iraq, Huckabee told ABC host George Stephanopoulos there is a successful compromise in the debate over staying in or pulling out of Iraq . “Certainly there’s a middle ground George. And the middle ground is that we win this war and we do it with honor,” Huckabee said. “We don’t just stay indefinitely. We put some pressure – just like we have been the last week, with Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates – on the Saudis.”
Huckabee said the Iraqi people need to take on more military and financial responsibility for themselves, and America need to end its dependence on foreign oil. “If we can feed ourselves, if we can fuel ourselves, if we can manufacture the weapons to fight for ourselves, we’re a free people. If we can’t do those three things, we’re not free,” Huckabee said to a round of applause.
In the area of health care, Huckabee stressed the need to focus on prevention rather than intervention.
“You know, if you want to know how to fix it, I’ve got a solution. Either give every American the same kind of health care that Congress has, or make Congress have the same kind of health care that every American has,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee said “it’s time for a major overhaul of our tax system” and urged others to support the Fair Tax.
“The reality is, if we could have the fair tax, you take $10 trillion parked offshore, bring it home, you rebuild the ‘made in America’ brand, you free up people to earn money, to work, you don’t penalize them for taking a second job, you don’t penalize them for investing, you don’t penalize them for savings,” Huckabee said.
“As Gov. Huckabee travels across Iowa , his message is connecting with the people,” Saltsman said. “This poll shows that his momentum is growing and we expect that to continue in the weeks and months to come.”
I have added Huckabee to my 2008 Presidential race links.
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You definitely put him on my radar… I’ll have to look into him. So far I’m for Tancredo, but Huckabee sounds good too.
Sadly, the underdogs seem to be the best bet for America.
What does he know about Jihad?
If the GOP is to win in 2008, I think the party needs a personable candidate with excellent communication skills to take an unequivocal stand against our current graduated income tax system. With that in mind, I hope that Gov. Huckabee stays in the race regardless of what happens in the Iowa straw poll on 8/11. I believe he has an issue on which to clearly distinguish him from the “top-tier” candidates: tax reform (Fair Tax).
In Sunday’s (8/5/07) Iowa debate, three Republican candidates for president (Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney and Senator McCain) had the chance to come out in support of either abolishing our current graduated tax system or supporting either a flat tax or national sales tax like the Fair Tax. None of them did.
In fairness, I am aware of other Republican candidates who support the Fair Tax (i.e. Reps. Hunter and Tancredo) and optional Flat tax (Senator Brownback), but Gov. Huckabee is the only GOP candidate with executive experience who has come out in favor of abolishing the income tax and all other federal taxes and replacing it with a national sales tax (the Fair Tax).
To support the current graduated income tax, even if you support tax cuts, is to support the right of 537 politicians in Washington (Congress, the VP and president) to pick and choose which Americans pay what percentage of tax. In essence we have a method of taxation which punishes productivity and creates a permanent underclass by punishing people for moving up.
In fact the graduated income tax is one of ten planks within the Communist Manifesto that Karl Marx believed was necessary to implement in order to destroy a free enterprise society. I suspect that no Republican would want to admit supporting any policy that would destroy free enterprise, but by not supporting the elimination of America’s graduated income tax, Mayor Giuliani, Governor Romney and Senator McCain have aligned themselves with a tax system favored by Karl Marx.
Although polls currently have Gov. Huckabee in the 2nd tier of candidates, history shows that with few exceptions Governors win presidential elections. Governor Huckabee has a lot of good qualities and I hope he doesn’t get out of the race prematurely. There is plenty of time between 8/11 and the Iowa caucus in January, and I think as more Iowans and Republicans throughout the country evaluate the Governor’s credentials, communication skills/demeanor, and the criticality of the GOP coming out against the current graduated income tax, he will become a top tier candidate and perhaps the GOP nominee for president.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Pete Barbour
pcbarbour@cox.net
I was watching Hannity & Colmes tonight on Fox News. They were interviewing Frank Luntz, author of Words that Work, has been leading focus groups for Fox during the debates. The group declared Huckabee the winner, many didn’t really know Huckabee but 50% said they were going to support him. That is pretty remarkable.
I was listening to the Michael Medved show and he had some soundbites of Huckabee. He did sound pretty good. Medved even sounded pretty impressed with him.
I certainly like much of what I read in the release posted here. I’d certainly support a better tax system. And I like the idea of someone looking for victory out of the war.
Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for posting that. He wasn’t really on my radar either, but I like th eidea of someone who believes in achieving victory. And a fair tax to boot!
I’ve watched the candidates closely since the first debate, when Huckabee zinged John Edwards’ $400 hair-do. I was impressed then, and that has only increased as I’ve investigated further.
He has become my choice for the nomination.
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best regards,
Nuke
I was a big Huckabee fan even before he formally declared candidacy. His views on the issues mirror mine perfectly, to the point that it’s kind of creepy. What I didn’t know was how well-spoken and intelligent he was. I was looking hard at Fred, but I don’t support his choice of terror-supporter Ibrahim Spencer as his campaign manager. (I think it’s very telling in the kind of cabinet he would assemble if elected.)
One point I think that’s sadly overlooked is Huckebee’s experience as Governor of Arkansas. Say what you will about the backwards little state of ‘East Texas,’ but Huckabee is the only candidate with executive experience at the state level. A bit of trivia for all of you: the last congressman to be elected president was JFK. In the last 47 years every president since Kennedy was an incumbent Vice President or former state governor. Also, I believe Kennedy was the last non-Protestant Christian President of the United States. Huckebee is a former Baptist minister. He was very active as Arkansas’ Governor and there’s a lot of good stuff out there on him.
I have to agree with Infidel Parrot — that choice of campaign managers by F. Thompson has thrown me for a loop. It’s a deal-breaker for me.
I’m hoping that Thompson comes to his senses and makes some changes, but even if that happens, I’m simply not looking for business as usual in Washington. Huckabee is the dark horse right now and that has my attention. I’m going to keep an eye focused on him from this point on.
If Huckabee were to become President I know I’d like to see Newt Gingrich as VP. I’m convinced that Newt knows the score like I do, yet he’s just so damn smart he’s able to give off the telling signs to those “in the know” without giving fuel to would-be “race-baiters”; he really does want to make a move on the Islamic threat.
What do you all think of that team-up? Huckabee/Gingrich
Newt’s latest project
Huckabee supposedly holds weekly conference calls with Bloggers. Contact the owner of http://sloanereality.blogspot.com to find out how to participate. This is a good chance for you to assess his presidential worthiness.