In what may signal a setback to the coalition promoting school vouchers and other forms of government aid to private and parochial school parents, a surging candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination has warned that such programs may undermine public education.
Surprisingly, the political heresy came from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister who nine years ago urged conservative Christians to “take back the nation for Christ.”
In a wide-ranging Jewish Week interview, Huckabee — whose surprising second-place finish in Iowa’s Republican straw poll last month vaulted him toward the top tier of GOP contenders — also broke with GOP frontrunners who shun talking to Syria and Iran, although he said he does not necessarily favor high-level “negotiations.”
And he expressed mystification at the reluctance of Jewish voters to abandon the Democrats.
Following his success at the Iowa straw poll and a four day visit to New Hampshire over the weekend, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has picked up the endorsement of two well known New Hampshire conservatives in his race for president.
Former state Senator Russell Prescott and former Executive Councilor David Wheeler will formally endorse Huckabee later today, the Globe has learned.
Des Moines, IA (PRWEB) August 22, 2007 — Iowa voters want to vote for Mike Huckabee says the polling analysts at Election2008Polls.com. They arrive at this conclusion because Huckabee’s poll numbers peak after every televised national debate. The poll numbers come down according to the website because “his lower tiered status and aura of ‘can’t win’ precludes them from voting for him even though they may want to”.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — One weekend after his surprising second-place finish in an Iowa straw vote, Mike Huckabee campaigned in New Hampshire with a clear message.
The former Arkansas governor is determined to prove, especially to the New Hampshire news media, that Iowa was no fluke. “The Earth moved that day,” he said.
And if Earth moved in Iowa, he is trying to cause a political earthquake in New Hampshire.
Within three days after the Iowa vote, his Web site had 3.2 million hits and received 100,000 new e-mails with 1,000 new contributors, he said. “The fervor is bubbling,” he told a crowd Saturday in Kingston, N.H.
The Iowa bounce is apparent in New Hampshire, where voters flocked to his campaign events last week even as they expressed concern that his name still lacked the political punch of a Rudy Giuliani, a Mitt Romney, who defeated him in Iowa, or even a John McCain.
But don’t tell Mr. Huckabee.
Watch candid video as Governor Huckabee leaves Iowa State University just minutes after the announcement.
Governor Mike Huckabee and his closest advisors from the early primary states report in from Iowa.
Mike Huckabee tells everyone how to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps following the Steve Skvara interview. He does slam the corporations for what they’re doing but his solutions are to put the problems back in the individuals laps rather than the government having a safety net for them, and he does not explain what they should do about corporations being out of control. He seems a little more concerned for the collapse of the Republican party.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted former Arkansas governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee will catch on with Republican primary voters.
Gingrich himself is flirting with a White House run, and also complimented GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney during a luncheon today in Washington.
Gingrich said Huckabee is going to emerge as “the most interesting dark horse” over the next few weeks. He said Huckabee has a level of authenticity and candor that is beginning to resonate with people.
Huckabee has been largely in single digits, trailing others, but is competing hard in this week’s Iowa straw poll.
WASHINGTON — A pep rally and a proving ground, the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday gives Mike Huckabee his first and perhaps his best chance to improve his standing among Republican presidential contenders.
Huckabee looks to the straw poll as an indicator of what he sees as growing momentum in Iowa, the state with the first 2008 presidential caucuses. He will battle six other Republicans.
The votes that will be cast Saturday are not binding in any way. Still, the event has won a place in the campaign tapestry as a sign of a candidate’s organizational strength in Iowa.
