Mike Huckabee On His Motive For Getting Into Government

"My motive for getting into government is not to see what government can do to fix the problems. I want to try to awaken people to realize that government CAN'T fix these things. These have to be moved back into the private sector of the church, that is - the spiritual world. The awakening will happen when God's people realize that the true power to change the world is in their hearts. It's in the prayer closets, not in the legislative halls."

Gov. Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee On The Issues: Pro Life, But Respects Choice As Mandated By Law

"I am pro life, but I know not everyone agrees with me on that particular topic, and I respect that. I will probably never change my conviction on that, and some of you won't change yours. But in this day in which we talk about choice and the importance of it, surely we can agree that if under the Supreme Court choice is mandated, that choice should be as educated a choice as is humanly possible. "

Governor Mike Huckabee

Source: State of the State address to the Arkansas legislature Jan 9, 2001

Mike Huckabee President 2008

The following was written by David J. Sanders of the Arkansas News Bureau in the Feb. 20 edition of the bureau's online news:

...onWednesday afternoon I received an e-mail from a friend who had happened onto a new Web site. The link he sent is http://mikehuckabeepresident2008.blogspot.com/. I was welcomed with the bold letters MIKEHUCKABEEPRESIDENT2008. The author of the Web log didn't have the sense to put spaces in the title, but did offer this disclaimer at the top: "This blog was created by and is being maintained by a person completely and totally unconnected to Mike Huckabee, the Governor's office of Arkansas or any other person or organization affiliated with Mike Huckabee. I have known Mike Huckabee for more than 8 years and I am a fan. That's it." I hope the author of the blog will find the time to sign his or her name.

Being constantly attuned to the wishes of the cherished reader, I have decided to demonstrate good sense by adding spaces to the title. Now, perhaps, we can hear Mr. Sanders' opinion about the content and intent of this blog, rather than just its appearance ;)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Editorial: Mike Huckabee To Decide On Presidential Run After Jan. 07

COLUMNISTS : The Huck in 08?
Kane Webb
Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005

The mind wanders on the short drive from the office to the Governors Mansion. Mike Huckabee still has most of a legislative session to suffer through and more than half his term left, but its hard not to think of this governor in the past tense. And the future tense. Just not the present. Time-traveling through the antique-y Quapaw Quarter, a couple of us inky wretches play a game of Rate The Governors. Where will historys muse, the fickle Clio, rank Mike Huckabee? In the top 10? Near the WinRock summit? Very generously assessing The Hucks major accomplishments and character traits-his highway plan, ARKids First, the CHART health plan, education (semi-) reform, the way he handled his first day on the job-the two-man conventional wisdom settles on "pretty high." Or somewhere south of Rockefeller and north of William J. Clinton. Legacy calculated, we skip ahead to 2008. Or early 07. Or whenever the shotgun start resounds for the next presidential campaign. Yes, its largely if not wholly pointless, this will-he-or-wont-he? frolic. But its also irresistible-if only to see how the Guv plays the game/takes the bait. "So, governor, are you going to have us up for lunch like this in the Oval Office?"
He laughs-and strategically gobbles a forkful of lettuce. He wont get off that easy. For the subject has been broached, and like sharks to chum, the opinion writers gnawing on perfectly grilled salmon pursue the line of questioning. What happens when Huck finis? "I really dont know," he says. "Im looking at options and possibilities. For a while, Ill do some speaking and writing.... Im not ruling it out, and Im not ruling it in. I dont want to put myself in a clintonesque box and say Never, Never, Never."
The "it" hes talking about is running for another office (read president). Which isnt such a crazy idea anymore for a governor from Arkansas. Or a fourstar general from Arkansas. Or a former first lady of Arkansas.
Say, Guv, how about a Hillary-Huckabee presidential race and loser-leaves-politics cage match?
He laughs, spears another forkful of lettuce and mutters before eating, "That would be interesting." Is that a brushoff or a non-denial denial?
Mike Huckabee turns 50 in August. And when he leaves the Governors Mansion for good in two years, he will have served for 10 years and six months. Only Orval Faubus and Bill Clinton (both 12 years) served longer. (Trivia: Because of the Frank White asterisk in the Clinton Eighties, Huckabee has the second longest term of uninterrupted service.)
A young, Southern Republican governor with that kind of experience, one whos not ideologically rigid and plenty glib, would make an attractive presidential candidate, dont you think? Hes even getting a little national buzz. Not a lot. But enough to build on-and not so much that he may become a target too soon. (See the rise and hard fall of Howard Dean.)
Two weeks ago at the inauguration in Washington, the governor sat down for an interview with C-SPANs Brian Lamb, he of the monotone Q-and-A. (Think of Chris Matthews. Now think of the exact opposite.) First question: What would it take for you to run for president? "I was taken aback," the governor said. "But I would be lying if I said I wasnt asked that question regularly." So are about two dozen other Vaguely Prominent Republicans. Here is what he has going for him: First off, he is a governor. With the exception of George H. W. Bush, Americans havent elected anything but governors since Richard Nixon, who once ran for governor of California, got clobbered, and promised to go away. Unfortunately, he came back to kick around the public trust and the U.S. Constitution.
Second off, Huckabee has done some stuff. Big stuff: the highways, the health care for kids, the school reforms. Little stuff: the car tags. He has a record to run on. Which means he has a record to pick apart. (Lamb also asked Huckabee about those clemencies.)
Third off, he can talk a great game. As a Baptist preacher and old radio hand, Mike Huckabee never met a microphone he was intimidated by.
Fourth off, that preacher thing. It allows him to cover his far-right wing even while standing up to it. As he has, courageously and correctly, on immigration.
And finally, the field looks thinner than, well, Mike Huckabee. Theres Bill Frist of Tennessee and John Mc-Cain of Arizona. But theyre senators. As for Republican governors of big states, Florida's Jeb Bush cant run because of his last name, California's Ah-nuhld cannot because of the Constitution, Texas' Rick Perry cannot, will not and should not because of geography. Which leaves New Yorks George Pataki, who may have too much blue and too much Rudy to overcome in a primary.
After lunch, I cornered the governor about this president business. Just to see if he would get annoyed. He didnt. He said Janet is open to the idea. So are the kids, who are grown. He talked warily about the microscopic attention, the hounding of the national press.
I countered defensively that the Arkansas press is no lapdog, either. Which was like putting steak in front of a starving man. The Guv had a few (hundred) words to say about the local press, I will tell ya. I thought I would never get out of there.
Eventually, we did make our way back to presidential politics. He said he wouldn not make any decision before January 07. Which gives the rest of us another 23 months to speculate. I will start: I think he wants to run. And I think he will.
Kane Webb is assistant editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. E-mail him at kane _ webb@adg.ardemgaz.com.

Mike Huckabee Promotes Family Values

Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet, are strong believers in the institution of marriage. They recently demonstrated their commitment to their own marriage by converting to a covenant marriage, which basically is an agreement between couples to work harder to save their marriages before divorcing by getting counseling, etc. In this ABC News story, the Governor talks about the enormous costs associated with divorce. I happen to know Mike Huckabee is man deeply committed to the family values that made this country great. Readers of this blog will learn much more about these important attributes as the months between now 2008 tick by. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=237679 

Brian Lamb of CSPAN Discusses Presidency With Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee was recently interviewed by Brian Lamb of CSPAN, who asked the Governor what it would take to convince him to run for President. I encourage you to read this account of the interview written by David Sanders of the Arkansas News Bureau. If the link does not work, just cut and paste it into your browser.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2005/02/16/DavidJSanders/317383.html

Mike Huckabee the Leader

Mike Huckabee is one of the longest serving governors in the country today and has demonstrated his leadership abilities in many ways since 1996. The following synopsis of his achievements and leadership positions is from the National Governors Association website, which can be found at www.nga.org

MIKE HUCKABEE was born in Hope, Arkansas, and graduated from Ouachita Baptist University. He became Governor of Arkansas in July 1996 when his predecessor resigned, becoming one of the youngest governors in the country at the time. Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998 and was reelected in November 2002. He has pushed through education reforms in Arkansas that significantly expanded the availability of college scholarships, increased the number of charter schools, and established new approaches to workforce education. His Smart Start and Smart Step initiatives placed a heavy emphasis on reading and mathematics for students from kindergarten through the eighth grade, and since their creation student scores on standardized tests have risen steadily. Huckabee is also a leader in improving health care, creating the ARKids First program to extend health insurance coverage to tens of thousands of children, and leading a ballot initiative that devoted all of the state's tobacco settlement money to improving the health of Arkansans. In 1996 Huckabee led the fight for Amendment 75 to the Arkansas Constitution, which created a sales tax that has funded one of the finest systems of state parks in the country and a system of state-of-the-art nature centers. Known as the "highway governor," he led the campaign for a 1999 bond issue to rehabilitate the state's system of crumbling interstate highways. Huckabee also won passage of the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history; 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. The governor is state cochairman of the Delta Regional Authority, established by Congress to help alleviate poverty and stimulate economic growth in impoverished counties in the eight member states. He also chairs the Southern Regional Education Board, the nation's first interstate compact for education. He is a former chairman of the Southern Governors' Association, the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Technology Council and the Southern International Trade Council. Huckabee chairs the Education Commission of the States and is the president of the Council of State Governments. He serves on the nine-member executive committee of the National Governors Association, and is the association's lead governor on the issue of welfare reform.

Praise and Support For Mike Huckabee

Traffic to this blog is building, and so are the comments from supporters. Here are just a few quotes from the comments left by readers of this site:

"I think that Mike Huckabee is a great man with high morals and ideas that can do nothing but help our country."

"If Mike Huckabee wanted to be President I have no doubt he could be. He is one of the most amazing people I have met."

"The question you should be asking yourself is not could this man ever be president but where do I sign up to help him?"

"Blessings to Mike Huckabee and his family!!!"

"We need someone who is honest and a man of moral fiber to run for President from Arkansas. RUN MIKE RUN!"

"IF you have seen and read this you need to send it to as many people as you can. Maybe we can get this guy to run in 08."

"I want to see this guy run. Let's recruit him because we need him!"

Mainstream Media Notices Huckabee Blog

Many thanks to reader Hal 9000 for pointing out to me that the mainstream media has taken notice of this blog after just two days of operation! Visit this link to read and hear an audio report on MikeHuckabeePresident2008 done by KUAR Little Rock.

Pass the word!

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuar/news.newsmain

Negative Comment Policy

This blog has quickly gotten more attention than I anticipated. The vast majority of the comments about Governor Huckabee have been positive and supportive (thank you!). And the few negative comments, while a bit juvenile, have been mostly free of profanity and overtly personal attacks. However, as is always the case, a few people go too far. Therefore, I am publishing the following policy regarding negative comments: Negative comments about Governor Huckabee's political positions and qualifications are welcome here and will be allowed to remain in order to encourage well-thought-out discourse among visitors. What WILL NOT be allowed to remain on this blog are comments containing profanity, personal attacks on the Huckabees and attacks upon Christianity in general.
Thank you!

Mike Huckabee Addresses Pro Family Legislation

Mike Huckabee was recently interviewed by christianet.com, the "world's largest Christian website". I encourage you to read the interview at http://www.christianet.com/pressreleases/20050131/

Thank You For Your Comments!

I want to thank those of you who have commented already! I will answer some of your questions, but first let me encourage each of you who knows of and supports Mike Huckabee to forward this blog to everyone you can. Heck, start your own! We need to spread the word.

Now, in response to the question about whether Gov. Huckabee has "already ruled it out", I can tell you with absolute certainty that he has NOT ruled out running for President of the United States. On the other hand, he has not yet ruled it IN, either. A groundswell of support, demonstrated by blogs like this one, can only help him make that decision when the time comes.

Thank you!

Redstate.Org On Huckabee: Yes, he can. Really. Not kidding. Honestly.

Here's a must-read about Mike Huckabee from Redstate, which agrees with us that Huckabee "stands a real chance" if he runs for president.

For more on Huckabee's chances click here, here, here, here, and here.

BSR

Huckabee Wins National Arts Award

Each year, in cooperation with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Americans for the Arts recognizes elected officials and legendary artists who have exhibited outstanding leadership in the advancement of the arts at the national, state, and local levels. The recipient of the 2005 National Award for State Arts Leadership is Governor Mike Huckabee.
Read the commentary Putting Arts Education Front and Center by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige as first appeared in Education Week January 26, 2005.

Mike Huckabee the Role Model

You will hear much more about this. Governor Huckabee has recently lost over 100 pounds, becomming a role model for millions of people. See this feature in USA Today at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-07-11-arkansas-governor_x.htm

Who is Mike Huckabee?

Who is Mike Huckabee? Mike Huckabee is the Governor of Arkansas. He is from Hope, Arkansas. He is one of the longest serving Governors in the country. This summer, he will become Chairman of the National Governor's Association.

If all that sounds familiar, it may be because Bill Clinton shared the exact same resume when he launched his Presidential bid in 1992.

There are many similiarities between Mike Huckabee and Bill Clinton aside from their governorship of Arkansas and upbringing in "a place called Hope." Both are musicians (Huckabee bass, Clinton sax). Both are intelligent, eloquent and engaging.

There are also differences. Major ones.

In fact, the surprising similarities combined with the stark differences between these two men make Mike Huckabee sort of the "Anti-Clinton".

The purpose of this blog over the coming months will be to collect Mike Huckabee information and make it easy for what is sure to be a growing number of supporters to find and comment on.
So, in this inagural post to Mike Huckabee President 2008, I direct your attention to the following link for starters: http://www.arkansas.gov/governor/

A disclaimer: This blog was created by and is being maintained by people completely and totally unconnected to Mike Huckabee, the Governor's office of Arkansas or any other person or organization affiliated the Mike Huckabee.