Huckabee llama a la movilización de los cristianos

Mike Huckabee llama al voto de los cristianos en este refulgente y algo sensacionalista web ad producido por Values Voters USA y Catholics Called to Witness, entre otros.

Se calcula que unos 17 millones de cristianos evangélicos no votaron en 2008.

Tampa: Huckabee y Paul

Ex Gobernador Mike Huckabee, de Arkansas.



Senador Rand Paul, de Kentucky.

En Boston no descartan a Huckabee

National Review:

The conventional wisdom about Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential short list, according to a handful of Romney insiders, may be wrong. Instead of picking a straitlaced Midwestern senator such as Ohio’s Rob Portman, or an outspoken northeastern Republican governor such as Chris Christie, there is a chance Romney will tap an evangelical from the South.

And the name on the lips of Romney friends and supporters isn’t a rising southern senator or a current Dixie governor. He has been out of office for five years, resides on a beach in the Florida panhandle, and hosts a television show. In other words, Mike Huckabee, the bass-guitar-playing former governor.

Yes, according to several sources close to the Romney campaign, who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the vice-presidential search, the 56-year-old Arkansan may be included in the veep mix.

(...) For now, it isn’t clear whether Huckabee is going to be vetted, or that he’s anywhere near Romney’s short list. But he is, at the very least, being discussed. As one Romney ally puts it, tapping Huckabee would energize tea-party conservatives, evangelicals, and related voters who soured on Romney during the GOP primaries. He’s also not a sweat-inducing pick, since he was vetted by the Beltway press during his presidential run four years ago.

(...) The growing buzz about Huckabee within segments of Romney World delights social-conservative leaders and Huckabee allies, who have long hoped that Romney would reach out to the GOP’s evangelical voters with the veep selection. “If he’s not on the short list, somebody ought to put him there,” says Hogan Gidley, a former adviser to Huckabee. “He’d bring excitement to a ticket that’s lacking that, to some degree, right now. Beyond that, he’d bring a huge grassroots organization, and, to put it simply, the South.”

Veteran conservative activist Ralph Reed agrees. “Huckabee would be an outstanding and inspired choice,” he says. “He has tremendous support among evangelicals and conservatives, and he knows how to frame issues in a way that makes it clear he has core convictions and he does it in a winsome way.”

“Whatever differences Romney and Huckabee had during the 2008 campaign, and I don’t think they were significant, they have put that behind them,” Reed adds. “Governor Huckabee and Governor Romney, from what I can tell, have a good relationship, and each of them respects the work and views of the other.”

(...) Frank Tsamoutales, a Huckabee adviser and current director of HuckPAC, Huckabee’s political-action committee, tells National Review Online that the former governor is open-minded about his political future.


“He would certainly listen and entertain the idea,” Tsamoutales says.

“It’s a serious question and he’d take it seriously. Now, he is extraordinarily happy with the way things are going for him, but he also has the capacity and energy to transition into a presidential campaign as a running mate, should he be asked.”

Huckabee no cree que vaya a ser VP

El Gobernador Mike Huckabee, al ser preguntado sobre a quién debería escoger Romney como VP: "Creo que su mejor elección es Marco Rubio... Yo no he recibido la llamada y dudo que la reciba, así que me estoy ocupando de mis asuntos tranquilamente."

Huckabee y Palin, los más temidos por los donantes de Romney en caso de una convención abierta

The Daily Caller:

Michael Steele irked fellow GOPers while serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee by speaking excitedly about the possibility of a brokered convention.

“You know, we’re going to end up with a brokered convention, a convention that’s going to mean something!” Steele reportedly told big money donors while chairman, according to the soon-to-be released book “Inside the Circus.”

Steele served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from Jan. 2009 to Jan. 2011. Under his leadership, the RNC mandated that some states no longer award all of their delegates to the winner of primary contests — which makes it harder for a candidate to lock up the nomination earlier.

The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the new eBook, authored by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas, ahead of its Tuesday release.

(...) “This guy thinks it should go all the way to the convention,” one of the businessmen is reported to have said to a Romney adviser after hearing Steele’s comments. “Isn’t that bad?”

The eBook also reports that GOP donors supporting Romney worry that a brokered convention could lead to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin being drafted onto the party’s ticket.

The authors quote a fundraiser who said “slightly more than half the delegates” to the convention “are evangelicals” who wouldn’t get behind alternative candidates like “Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan.”

“It’s probably Huckabee-Palin or Palin-Huckabee,” the fundraiser said.

The authors reported that that scenario was “enough to scare the Wall Street crowd into getting out their checkbooks” for Romney.

Huckabee ha convocado a los candidatos a otro de sus famosos foros

The New York Times:

The Republican presidential candidates may have grown tired of debating one another. But there’s still one television invitation they won’t turn down: Mike Huckabee’s.

Mr. Huckabee will host his third presidential forum on Saturday, an executive for the Fox News Channel said on Tuesday. So far three candidates, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, have committed. Ron Paul has still not indicated whether he will attend.

The program, which is scheduled from 8 to 10 p.m., will be broadcast from Ohio, the executive said, speaking anonymously because a formal announcement had not been made.

Mr. Huckabee will focus the forum on jobs and the economy, a particularly potent subject in Ohio where the manufacturing sector has suffered greatly. Underscoring that distress, the setting for the event will be a now-shuttered DHL plant in Wilmington.

Wilmington was devastated when DHL, the shipping giant, reduced its United States workforce by 9,500 three years ago. The city, with only about 12,000 residents at the time, had thousands of jobs disappear.

During the program, Mr. Huckabee will be joined by Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for Fox Business Network, and Elaine Chao, a labor secretary to George W. Bush and now a Fox News contributor, and three Ohio residents whose lives have been affected by the recession.

Huckabee anticipa lo que puede ocurrir en Iowa

El último ganador del Caucus de Iowa comentó ayer cómo ve la competición de este año.

GOBERNADOR HUCKABEE: "Probablemente diría que Mitt Romney terminará ganando. Hoy. Pensándolo otra vez, Ron Paul por su organización podría ganar, y ahí es donde Mitt Romney está realmente en desventaja, no genera la misma devoción. Si hace buen tiempo, Romney lo tiene mejor. Si hace mal tiempo y se hace duro salir, Ron Paul ganará."

"Rick Santorum, creo, está siendo enormemente subestimado en esta carrera. Creo que será el candidato sorpresa, no necesariamente para ganar, sino para estar entre los tres o cuatro primeros, cuando la gente no lo espera."

Kristol insiste en que no es tarde para nuevos candidatos

Bill Kristol:

It's not out of the question that someone else could still present himself in mid-December to the citizens of Iowa (Hi there, Mike Huckabee! Hello, Sarah Palin!). Or, if Iowa (January 3), New Hampshire (January 10) and South Carolina (January 21) produce fragmented results, and the state of the race is disheartening to Republicans, a late January entry by another candidate isn't out of the question, either. Couldn't Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio win the January 31 Florida primary as a write-in candidate in such circumstances?

With a splintered field in a turbulent time in an Internet age, there are more possible outcomes in today's politics than are dreamt of in the philosophy of inevitability.

Convención abierta y candidato de consenso. ¿Posible?

The Washington Times:

True, it has been generations since a presidential nominating convention actually made that decision, although, admittedly, this idea pops up every four years. The last contested GOP convention that went beyond the first ballot was 1948, when Thomas Dewey was chosen on the third ballot - and went on to lose to Harry Truman. For the Democrats it was 1952, when Adlai Stevenson was chosen also on the third ballot - and went on to lose to Dwight Eisenhower. The longest was the Democratic convention of 1924 that went on for more than two weeks and took 103 ballots to nominate John Davis, who lost to Calvin Coolidge.

There may be a pattern there. As G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young point out in their insightful Dec. 6, 2007, article “What if the conventions are contested?” “It is no coincidence that brokered conventions ended after networks began to televise them. The 1952 convention is instructive. Actually settled on the first ballot when Dwight Eisenhower beat Robert Taft, the intraparty brawling that preceded the Eisenhower victory appalled thousands who watched it on TV.”

In fact, hotly contentious conventions - whether the GOP in 1912 or the riotous Democratic Chicago convention in 1968 - often augur poorly for the general election. But whether good news or bad, five odd features of this season’s GOP primary process suggest inconclusiveness.

First is the much-mentioned weak front-runner, Mitt Romney. He has consistently commanded about 25 percent in the polls. Is that a floor or a ceiling? Conservatives urgently want to nominate an undoubted and solid conservative. With Republican primary voters increasingly conservative over the last generation, it would be curious if the GOP nominated the least perceived conservative two times running - first Sen. John McCain in 2008 and then Mr. Romney in 2012.

Second, equally paramount with nominating a conservative, GOP primary voters urgently want to defeat the incumbent, and they hold that passion more powerfully than we have seen in living memory. The conviction that the incumbent is plunging the nation into soon-to-be-irreversible, statist decline is driving the voters both to want to choose the most electable candidate and to make sure they pick a candidate with the conviction and capacity to radically reverse course and re-establish traditional, conservative American values and programs.

But do those strong feeling help Mr. Romney - seen by many as the most electable - or do they hurt him because he is not seen as committed to his conservative policies? Will the wild voter preference swings for and then away from various true conservative, non-Romney candidates continue as the voters feel this election is too important to make a quick - and possibly, wrong - choice?

Third, unlike previous primaries, the candidates announced late, they are underfunded - even Mr. Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry - there is little advertising and there are smaller state campaign operations with fewer paid and volunteer staff members.

Fourth, perhaps most important, with constant cable television debates drawing very high viewerships, talk radio, Internet and social media, this is the most nationalized and earliest primary process we have ever seen.

(...) Fifth, consider also that the GOP changed its winner-take-all rules. Now, any state that holds a primary or caucus before April 1 must award its delegates on a proportional basis, rather than the winner-take-all method. This means that a front-runner with, say, a 38 percent plurality in a six-way split field will get only 38 percent of the delegates instead of 100 percent. This will keep second-tier candidates in the hunt and deny the front-runner the steamroller effect that usually delivers a de facto winner in the GOP by February.

And here is the kicker. If we do go into the August convention with no candidate holding a majority of the delegates, then the door is open to nonprimary candidates being nominated after the first inconclusive ballot. Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee or others could get in the race. Or a brilliant speech by Newt Gingrich could take the convention by storm.

Break out the Nicorettes and flavored vodkas. We could be in for a modern version of smoke-and-whiskey-filled rooms in Tampa next August.

Newsmax:

Elements within the Republican Party are dreaming of a deadlocked convention that will hand the GOP’s standard to a Jeb Bush or a Chris Christie, candidates they believe are best suited to make Barack Obama a one-term president.

Under the scenario batted around by party leaders and pundits, the top tier candidates battle it out state by state, dividing up the wins and delegates until they stumble into the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August with no winner. Deal making fails to crown any of the candidates and the field is opened up.

Former Florida Gov. Bush, New Jersey Gov. Christie or Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels gets the nomination, upsetting nearly 60 years of presidential nominating history.

“Yes, I have heard such talk from a few senior Republicans, including one officeholder,” University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato told Newsmax. “Why? They are dissatisfied with the field and hope that at a convention, a deadlock would produce a stronger nominee, such as Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, or the like---a candidate who didn't want to run but would be willing to undertake a short general election race.

“I have said the same thing to each one: This is a pipe dream with at best a tiny chance of happening.”

Regardless, the thought has piqued the interest of political correspondents, talk show hosts and the former head of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele.

(...) NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell wondered who would carry the conservative flag if “Cain implodes.”

“Could it be Newt Gingrich? I would suggest he has so many flaws from his record that that would be a hard sell,” she said. “Is there a scenario? And you know the rules far better than anyone, Michael. Under these new rules, is there some sort of scenario where at the end of the day there could be a brokered convention – but could Jeb Bush come into it or someone else at the end of the day?”

Steele replied that for that to happen you would have “to have a scenario where you have two maybe three people going into the convention that are close in the delegate numbers.

“But what would happen in that situation is that the pressure would be on to really gravitate to one of those folks, to have a fourth person or third person come out of the blue and get the nomination would just upheave the whole thing. Because then you're having a conversation about a Jeb Bush coming in in August to run for the presidency in November.”

Huckabee nos recuerda cómo funcionan estas cosas

The Huffington Post:

When asked on Laura Ingraham's radio show Monday morning if it was likely the scoop was provided by another Republican campaign, Huckabee agreed with the suspicion and questioned the legitimacy of the Politico report, saying, "Quite frankly, knowing some of the reporters involved -- they're not that good."

Huckabee recalled similar tactics involved in his own 2008 presidential campaign and accused other campaigns of hiring investigators to dig through his trash and show up at his children's elementary schools posing as federal inspectors.

"It's insane -- one of the fundamental things a candidate will spend money on is [opposition] research," Huckabee told Ingraham.

Huckabee entrevista a Romney (Fox News)

Continúa: Parte 2 / Parte 3

Huckabee desmiente que esté valorando entrar en campaña

"No estoy manteniendo reuniones, no estoy hablando con nadie, estoy contento con la decisión que tomé."

Dice que le llamen sólo "si alguien viene y pone 50 millones de dólares frente a mí y dice, todos los demás han renunciado y aquí tienes el dinero para empezar.'"

El rápido desmentido de Huckabee contrasta con el silencio de Christie. Desde que el New York Post publicó su historia hace ya más de 24 horas, ningún portavoz de Christie ha salido al paso.

Huckabee también estaría reconsiderándolo

Según ha podido saber Reuters:

Mike Huckabee has been approached by Republican and conservative activists unhappy with the current crop of presidential hopefuls and he is considering entering the fray, two sources who have spoken with Huckabee told Reuters.

The former Arkansas governor, who made a splash by winning the Iowa caucuses as a candidate in 2008, announced last May on his Fox News show that he would not enter the race.

But the conservative Huckabee, who appeals to evangelical Christians and is seen as an effective campaigner, is taking another look at jumping in, said the two sources, who are close to Huckabee. They spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

"He is entertaining the request for conversations about it," one of the sources said. "I do not think it is a complete 100 percent 'I'm reconsidering' but he hasn't shut the door on it."

One of the sources said Huckabee was urged to enter after the recent stumbles of Texas Governor Rick Perry, who appeals to a similar right wing of the Republican party.

Romney y Huckabee, juntos

Enemigos mortales hace cuatro años, parece que han remendado su relación, y Mitt Romney será el invitado del show de Huckabee este sábado en Fox News.

Andrea M. Saul publica un par de fotos tomadas durante la grabación del programa.

Huckabee parece que se haya comido a Chris Christie.

Huckabee: "No buscaré la nominación"

GOBERNADOR HUCKABEE: "Todos los factores dicen 'vamos', pero mi corazón dice 'no' y esa es la decisión que he tomado. (...) Mi respuesta es clara y firme: no buscaré la nominación del Partido Republicano a la Presidencia este año."

Algunas conclusiones:

- Su decisión permite que un nuevo candidato pueda emerger en Iowa.

- Hay sitio para Palin si quiere intentarlo.

- Un candidato minoritario, improbable nominado, tipo Michele Bachmann, puede convertirse en la gran sorpresa en Iowa si logra aglutinar el apoyo de todos los conservadores sociales.

- El establishment republicano puede respirar hoy más tranquilo que ayer porque se ha quitado de encima al más potente de los candidatos que podían desviar la campaña de los asuntos económicos. Salvo sorpresas, el nominado será un Gobernador conservador pero pragmático que centrará su discurso en el empleo, el gasto, los impuestos y el déficit: Romney, Daniels, Pawlenty o Huntsman.

- Dentro de ese grupo de cuatro grandes, la ausencia de Huckabee da a Pawlenty y/o Daniels una ruta más clara para derrotar a Romney. No es una buena noticia para Romney.

Email de Huckabee a sus colaboradores

Mark Halperin (Time) ha tenido acceso a un email que el Gobernador Huckabee envió ayer a gente de su círculo. Sus palabras parecen sugerir que se presentará.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) I will announce the next step in my plans for 2012 during my show on the Fox News Channel. I would like to be able to call you or email you personally and in advance of the announcement, but due to the fact that the decision was not finalized until today and that I committed to Fox that I will absolutely not release it prior to doing so on the channel, that became impractical.

A lot of information and speculation was already rampant in the press today, and it frankly isn't fair to you to tell you the details and then put you in the awkward position of saying you didn't know (which at that point wouldn't be true) or saying you did know, but couldn't reveal or discuss it.

It was this afternoon before I could even get word to all of my own children and even now, the executive producer of my show and the staff and crew of the show don't know and won't until I actually do the final preparation literally minutes before I share the decision live Saturday night.

I will look forward to speaking with you soon and once I fulfill my sworn obligation to Fox, I will be free to discuss things that I can't now due to promises to them and to some possible legal considerations of the announcement.

Many friends have said, "how can we help you in the decision?" My answer has consistently been, "Pray that I have clarity." I have it and will share it Saturday night during the show. Please be patient if I don't respond immediately to an email because I expect that once I pull the trigger Saturday night, things will get even crazier, as if that's possible.

My heartfelt thanks for your friendship, prayers, and support,

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee en Your World

En su aparición en el programa de Neil Cavuto ayer por la tarde, Huckabee confirmó que anunciará su decisión esta noche en su programa de la Fox News. Se negó a dar más detalles, excepto decir que ni siquiera los productores de su programa conocen cual es su decisión.

Huckabee anunciará su decisión mañana

New York Times:

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, will announce on Saturday whether he will run for president, the producer of his show on the Fox News Channel said Friday.

“Governor Huckabee will announce tomorrow night on his program whether or not he intends to explore a presidential bid,” Woody Fraser, the executive producer of “Huckabee” said in a statement. “He has not told anyone at FOX News Channel his decision.”

Senior political aides to Mr. Huckabee also said Friday they do not know what he will decide, raising suspicions that Mr. Huckabee will take a pass on another campaign. (...)

Según Ed Rollins, Huckabee no ha consultado nada con él, lo que le lleva a pensar que no se presenta:

(...) But Ed Rollins, who directed his 2008 campaign and has been organizing his 2012 campaign-in-waiting, said he has not been consulted.

“I’ve heard nothing, which indicates to me he’s not running,” Mr. Rollins said in an interview. (...)

Reacciones de los presidenciables

Mitt Romney:

"This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere. Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden's many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist."

Mike Huckabee:

"It is unusual to celebrate a death, but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden is dead. The leader of Al Qaeda--- responsible for the deaths of 3000 innocent citizens on September 11, 2001, and whose maniacal hate is responsible for the deaths of thousands of US servicemen and women was killed by U.S. military. President Obama confirmed the announcement late last night. DNA tests confirmed his death and his body is in the possession of the U. S.

It has taken a long time for this monster to be brought to justice. Welcome to hell, bin Laden. Let us all hope that his demise will serve notice to Islamic radicals the world over that the United States will be relentless is tracking down and terminating those who would inflict terror, mayhem and death on any of our citizens."

Tim Pawlenty:

"This is terrific news for freedom and justice. In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush promised that America would bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and we did. I want to congratulate America's armed forces and President Obama for a job well done. Let history show that the perseverance of the US military and the American people never wavered. America will never shrink from the fight and ultimately those who seek to harm us face only defeat. Today, justice is done, but the fight against radical Islamic terrorism is not yet over."

Sarah Palin:

"Thank you, American men and women in uniform. You are America's finest and we are all so proud. Thank you for fighting against terrorism."

Michele Bachmann:

"A time to express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. #military for taking out Osama bin Laden."

Rick Santorum:

"This is extraordinary news for all freedom loving people of the world, and I commend all those involved for this historic triumph. Americans have waited nearly ten years for the news of Osama bin Laden's death.

And while this is a very significant objective that cannot be minimized, the threat from Jihadism does not die with bin Laden. As we were vigilant in taking him out we need to demonstrate we will continue to be vigilant until the enemy has been subdued."

Huckabee en la convención de la NRA

El Gobernador Mike Huckabee fue ayer la gran estrella de la convención anual de la National Rifle Association (NRA) celebrada en Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Encendió al público con referencias a sus jornadas de caza y a la Militia Act de 1792 firmada por el Presidente George Washington y que exigía la posesión de armas a los varones adultos en los primeros años de la república. Huckabee se declaró un hombre "aferrado a las armas y a Dios".

En na señal que puede ser indicativa de sus ambiciones presidenciales, también aprovechó la ocasión para referirse al precio de los combustibles. Se burló de que la única solución de Obama para enfrentar el alto precio de la gasolina es pedir a los americanos que compren coches híbridos, y relató una historia de la que fue testigo recientemente en una estación de gasolina, cuando una mujer con sólo 5 dólares disponibles sólo pudo llenar su tanque con un galón (3,78 litros).

Dijo que no quiere que las futuras generaciones pregunten por qué alguien no hizo nada contra la deuda nacional y la corrosión moral, del mismo modo que su hija le preguntó en su día sobre el Holocausto.