Republican Mike Huckabee received praise from politics’ ‘odd couple’ – former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker Newt Gingrich – who said in separate interviews Sunday that he is the most likely “dark horse candidate” to win the GOP presidential nomination. One might say they’re “HUCKABEELIEVERS™” now!
Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who now ranks fourth in Iowa among likely Republican caucus-goers, welcomed the positive comments, saying his first-place finish in the recent “Values Voter” poll — along with other significant developments — has buoyed his chances for victory.
Filed under: Bill Clinton, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, dark horse
Little Rock, AR – Former AR Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee received praise from politics’ ‘odd couple’ – former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker Newt Gingrich –who said Sunday, in separate interviews, that he is the most likely “dark horse candidate” to win the GOP nomination.
Huckabee, who now ranks fourth in Iowa among likely Republican Caucus-Goers, welcomed the positive comments, saying his 1st place win in the recent “Values Voter” poll – along with other significant developments, has buoyed his chances for victory.
Huckabee is now ahead of Sen. John McCain in Iowa and nearly tied with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to a Sept. 29 Newsweek poll conducted with 1,215 Iowa registered voters by Princeton Survey Research Associates International on Sept. 26-27.
“The Newsweek poll reflects what we’ve been feeling on the ground for some time: that there is steady, upward momentum for my campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire , and other early primary states,” said Huckabee.
There’s another governor from Hope, Ark., seeking to become the president of America. He’s Mike Huckabee. And while many would think that his hometown is the only thing Mr. Huckabee has in common with President Clinton, they share one other thing as well: Mr. Huckabee knows how to appeal to both the party base and middle America at the same time.
Just as New Hampshire made Bill Clinton the comeback kid in 1992, this weekend’s Iowa straw poll could do the same for the charismatic, but underfunded Mr. Huckabee, especially since Messrs. Giuliani and McCain have backed out of it and Mr. Thompson isn’t even in it.
(CBS) He was born and raised in the small Arkansas town of Hope, served more than 10 years as governor and then launched a long-shot campaign for the presidency.
Sound familiar? Sure. But as CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield reports, he’s not Bill Clinton.
We’re talking about 51-year-old Republican Mike Huckabee, who turns his ties to Clinton’s home town of Hope, Ark., into a favorite punch line: “All I ask is — give us one more chance.”
