The Mike Huckabee 2008 presidential campaign began on January 28, 2007, when former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States for the 2008 election. Huckabee ultimately ended his bid for the nomination after losing the Texas Republican primary on March 4, 2008.
Huckabee's campaign began with a first-quarter fundraising total lower than many of the front-running Republican candidates, raising $544,880."Huckabee fundraising totals ." The Washington Post, June 30, 2007 Huckabee said that he found it difficult to move forward in a race "ruled by candidates with the biggest names".Baxter, Sarah. (May 13, 2007) The Sunday Times. Slim pickings for a Republican star; Factbox Section: Overseas news; Page 26. Nonetheless, Huckabee placed second in the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll with 18.1 percent."Huckabee: I'm In The Top Tier After Iowa." CBS News, August 12, 2007 He came in second at the onsite polling of the Family Research Council Values Voters Summit on October 21, 2007, with 28% of the vote, and garnered a celebrity endorsement from actor Chuck Norris.
In December 2007, Huckabee began challenging other candidates for first place in national polls among Republicans. On January 3, 2008, Huckabee won the Iowa Republican Caucuses with 34% of the electorate. On Super Tuesday, Huckabee won an additional six states, including most of the Deep South. After losing the Texas primary in March, however, Huckabee officially ended his campaign and conceded the race to U.S. senator John McCain.
Campaign development
Beginnings On January 27, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Huckabee planned to file papers to form a presidential exploratory committee. He announced his run for the White House on Meet the Press on January 28, 2007."MTP Transcript for Jan. 28, 2007". Associated Press, January 27, 2007 James Carville, Clinton's former political consultant, said the following about Huckabee: "He likes people, he knows how to relate to people. He can talk the talk. I'm impressed with this guy's political skills.""Dark horse Huckabee enters the race ." Thefirstpost.co.uk, March 7, 2007.
On Meet the Press, Huckabee said "I think you've got to be very careful. I wouldn't propose any new taxes. I wouldn't support any. But if we’re in a situation where we are in a different level of war, where there is no other option, I think that it's a very dangerous position to make pledges that are outside the most important pledge you make, and that is the oath you take to uphold the Constitution and protect the people of the United States."
Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, who in 2006 called the governor a "serial tax increaser," stated, "Gov. Huckabee recognizes that the challenge is to rein in spending and reduce taxes." Huckabee supports the Fair Tax, which would do away with all federal taxes and replace them with a single national sales tax. In March 2007, Huckabee signed the Presidential Taxpayer Protection Pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, promising not to increase taxes at the federal level.
On April 3, 2007, Huckabee's campaign reported that it had raised only $500,000 in the first quarter of 2007, much less than rival candidates. The numbers prompted speculation in Arkansas that Huckabee might abandon the Presidential race for a U.S. Senate race against first-term Democrat Mark Pryor. Huckabee denied any plans to do this, and Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman claimed that the campaign had actually surpassed its first quarter fund raising goal.
On April 23, 2007, Huckabee finished second in a South Carolina straw poll conducted by the local Republican parties in Greenville, Spartanburg and Richland counties with 111 votes behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. That same day, Huckabee said that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is "creating a major distraction for the President and for the administration and for the Republican Party," and suggested that perhaps Gonzales should consider resigning due to the current controversy surrounding him.
Huckabee participated in the May 3, 2007 Republican Presidential Debates along with the party's other nine declared candidates. Huckabee expressed support of a FairTax, a balanced budget with reduced spending, making the Bush administration's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, combating climate change, and comprehensive immigration reform. Political analyst and former Clinton and Huckabee adviser Dick Morris said Huckabee performed well, asserting that he was the "most original" candidate, especially with his explanation of the pro-life platform; and that his articulation was "novel and intriguing.""John McCain Wins First GOP Debate, but MSNBC Shows Anti-Giuliani Bias". Fox News Huckabee was one of three candidates in the debate who said that they do not believe in human evolution.
Huckabee generated even better reviews from his performance in the May 15, 2007 Republican Presidential Debates. He received what was characterized by Esquire as "gales of laughter" as well as approval from the political press for his statement that "[w]e've had a Congress that's spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop," a reference to the report of Edwards, a 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, spending $800 of campaign money on two haircuts.Esquire: John Edwards Political Future. January 21, 2010 Many supporters of the FairTax plan were also impressed by Huckabee's unfettered support of that proposed policy.
The Huckabee campaign announced on Friday, June 8, that the former governor would participate in the Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll, scheduled for Saturday, August 11, 2007, in Ames, at Iowa State University. An Iowa poll conducted in mid-June showed Huckabee in fourth place with 7 percent; ahead of John McCain and Sam Brownback."McCain Drops in Iowa Poll". Fox News, June 20, 2007 Later, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Huckabee at 8%, tied with John McCain. That was the highest Huckabee had polled in that state.
Third quarter 2007
Early in the third quarter, after second-quarter fundraising totals increased only slightly to over $760,000, Huckabee criticized the top-tier Republicans for wastefully spending their campaign money and said that "I really don't want some folks in charge of the federal treasury if the way they're burning campaign money is indicative of how they would burn taxpayer money"
Political analyst and former Bill Clinton campaign manager Dick Morris called Huckabee his favorite among the bottom-tier candidates on Hannity & Colmes on July 3.Hannity and Colmes transcript, Fox News, July 3, 2007 Huckabee began a grassroots movement in Iowa, and stumped throughout the state during July. In a July 9, 2007, interview, Huckabee said that his solution for ending the ongoing violence in Iraq would include a troop increase and seeking additional support from other nations in the Middle East. He was a guest on Fox News' The Neil Cavuto Show on Friday, July 20, and then returned to Iowa for numerous Meet Mike Huckabee events. He traveled to Amarillo, Texas on July 22 to give a sermon at The Church at Quail Creek.Mike Huckabee Press Release Mike Huckabee, July 16, 2007 Huckabee continued to keep a busy schedule in Iowa in late July; he traveled to Muscatine and was a guest on the conservative radio talk show The Right Balance with host Greg Allen on July 24.
An Iowa poll conducted on July 26 placed Huckabee far behind front-runners Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, but ahead of second-tier candidates Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, and Tommy Thompson."Edwards, Romney Top Iowa Poll" Fox News, July 26, 2007 Huckabee has also agreed to be part of a Cancer Forum in Iowa on August 28, held by cancer survivor Lance Armstrong."Armstrong to Hold Cancer Forums in Iowa". Fox News, July 27, 2007 In the summer of 2007, Huckabee began to become closely compared to Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, also a Presidential candidate, for their similar socially conservative views. Huckabee and Brownback have been said to be the top candidates among evangelicals and other Christians." Huckabee tried to separate himself from Brownback (and succeeded, as Brownback dropped from the campaign) whom he saw as his main rival at that point. When asked what separates him from Brownback, he said that "the key difference is I've actually been a Governor for ten and a half years and I've run a government.""Huckabee, Brownback, and the Race for Iowa". Real Clear Politics, July 23, 2007 He also said that no senator has been elected since JFK, and "frankly there's a good reason for that." Several polls in the state have placed Huckabee ahead of Brownback; a Mason-Dixon poll placed him at 7% with Brownback at 6. Huckabee acknowledged their similarities and said that "without a doubt, we're going after the same voters." Other sources have expressed concern that there is room for only one of them in the race, and that if Huckabee comes out on top, Brownback will struggle to raise money and vice versa."'Electability' the Key " Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 28, 2007
On July 26, Huckabee called upon Tom Tancredo to pull his campaign's campaign ad which attacked Huckabee on the subject of illegal immigration. Huckabee called the ad "blatantly dishonest" and said that "when people engage in a completely false attack, it's usually an act of desperation. To me, it's a badge of honor because he sees that we are reaching the people we are trying to reach.""Huckabee calls on Tancredo to pull campaign ad". Aurora Sentinel, July 26, 2007 Tancredo's campaign responded by saying that Huckabee supports amnesty for illegal immigrants, and that the ad was correct while Huckabee's campaign insisted that the ad "clearly distorts Mike Huckabee's conservative record on amnesty."
In early August, after the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Huckabee expressed his sympathy to the victims of the disaster and said that taxes do not need to be raised in order to fix the roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, claiming that the billions of dollars spent on other countries' infrastructure should be spent in the United States. He said that "we have to start addressing building this country, not everybody else's.""Huckabee Among Republican Debaters in Iowa ." KAIT, August 5, 2007
Mike Huckabee appeared on the CBS Evening News on August 1 to discuss the Iowa Straw Poll and his ongoing campaign in Iowa. He was among the Republican debaters in Iowa on August 5, and came in with 8 percent support in a pre-debate poll, tying with John McCain and ahead of his main competitor Sam Brownback who came in with 5 percent."Republican voters in Iowa favor Mitt Romney in poll." San Francisco Chronicle, August 5, 2007 Huckabee was pleased with the results, which showed that he was ahead of all of his second-tier candidates, and said "we think [the poll is] a great sign for us because it shows that when other candidates are standing still or moving backwards we clearly are moving forward.""Presidential hopeful Huckabee heartened by poll." Pine Bluff Commercial, August 5, 2007
In the days before the Iowa Straw Poll, potential but undeclared Republican candidate Newt Gingrich commented that Huckabee is "the most interesting dark horse," and that he will catch on with Republican Primary voters."Gingrich predicts Huckabee will catch on ." Associated Press, August 7, 2007 He also said that Huckabee has a level of authenticity and candor that is beginning to resonate with people. Huckabee appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews on August 8 and discussed his standing in the polls as well as the upcoming straw poll.Huckabee on Hardball Media Advisory www.MikeHuckabee.com, August 8, 2007