Does Huckabee Have What it Takes?
By David Brody
CBN News
September 5, 2007
CBNNews.com - CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Labor Day comes with the unofficial kickoff of the 2008 presidential campaign. Poll numbers, the media, and campaign money have become the great divider between top tier and second tier candidates.
Click on the video player for CBN reporter David Brody's exclusive interview with Mike Huckabee. Also make sure to listen to Pat Robertson's analysis at the end.
Mike Huckabee is a member of that second tier who's been generating a lot of buzz recently. But it will take more than buzz to break through.
You may not picture Huckabee as your typical politician. Sure, you'll hear policy proposals. But you might also hear him play the bass with his band "Capitol Offense." Or material that sounds like a comedy routine.
"In our family, the only soap we had as a kid was lava soap. And if you don't understand that, I was in college before I found out that it's not supposed to hurt when you take a shower. Today people go to spas and pay good money to be exfoliated. We just called it a bath," Huckabee said, speaking at Pizza Ranch restaurant in Tella, Iowa.
The jokes seem to roll off his tongue naturally and he's been on a roll since placing a surprising second in last month's Iowa straw poll. That's led to more national attention and added fundraisers for this former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher.
"I'd like to think that if I were elected President there wouldn't be a day that goes by that I was not first of all, deeply aware of the presence of God in my life to guide me, to give me mooring and centering," Huckabee said.
In a race where Republican frontrunners face questions about their social conservative credentials, Huckabee is trying to fill the gap.
Yet, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani have more money, better poll numbers and name recognition. Why should social conservatives turn to him?
"Maybe my question would be why wouldn't they want to go with me? In me, they have someone who has consistently been with them on all these issues - every bit of it. I've come from them," Huckabee said.
His record is consistent. Time Magazine named him one of the five best governors in the country a few years back. He passed pro-life bills, supports a federal marriage amendment and would like to see creationism taught alongside evolution.
But so far he's received no endorsements from major evangelical leaders - a source of frustration for the Huckabee campaign.
His easy going style and likeability have been called major assets. His debate performances have been praised as near flawless. It leaves open the question: Will religious conservatives flock to him?
"This is a moment for Mike Huckabee and it's a moment for religious conservatives," said Mark Halperin, political director for Time magazine. "He's going to have to step up and say I am your candidate and they're going to have to accept that. Time is short but there still is a vacuum and Mike Huckabee may be the one to fill it."
For Huckabee and the rest of the so-called "second tier candidates," the challenge is to break through.
In Iowa, Huckabee began that process by doing well in the Straw Poll. But is the hurdle of moving up to the top tier too much to overcome? Just how much does the media drive who's hot and who's not?"
Campaigning in Iowa, fellow second-tier candidate Sam Brownback told CBN News he's been clearly frustrated by the uphill climb.
"It makes it very difficult for me - for anybody in my position - because you're out here and they're saying 'Where's the conservative in the field?' And you're over here holding your hand up saying why don't you look at my record," Brownback said.
"The media chooses and that's what they do and I think our only answer is you've got to perform in the early states and I'm here in Iowa," he said.
Halperin said, "The press has to constantly question ourselves. Are we being inclusive enough? Anyone who offers themselves up, who has serious ideas should be considered."
He continued, "But we also have an obligation to tell people what's going in a race. Candidates who don't raise money or who don't have ideas that catch on, candidates that don't seem to keep aggressive campaign schedules and play by the rules that in the past determined the nominee, aren't going to get as much coverage."
Huckabee's coverage has increased and - if that continues - so will the scrutiny.
"I think there's a lot of ammunition that people would use to say 'Okay, Mike Huckabee. You want to be in the first tier in terms of success, you're now going to be in the first tier in terms of scrutiny,'" Halperin said.
His critics will go after the taxes he raised as governor. But Huckabee says it's not so cut and dried and has signed a no new taxes pledge.
While in office, he also signed the parole release for a convicted rapist and murderer. That man, Wayne Drummond, then murdered again.
There is also the matter of likeability. You would think that's a good thing, but Huckabee's critics wonder if he's too nice to be president in this day and age.
'Mike Huckabee is a likeable guy," Huckabee said of himself. "Just don't cross the United States of America and put our interests at risk and put our people's lives at risk. And then whoever does that, will find that I'm not very likeable to them."
His biggest challenge, though, may simply be a numbers game.
"He's got four people ahead of him in the polls and in terms of fundraising. It's hard for a dark horse candidate to get over just one frontrunner, let alone four," Halperin said.
Huckabee sees his financial potential on the rise.
"I don't think we have to show that we're suddenly up there with some of the other candidates. We have to show that we're gaining in momentum and that now we're in a position to really accelerate the fundraising," he said.
So Huckabee and these second-tier candidates work the financial donor room. If the money starts coming in, and the message is strong and captivating, it could be a winning combination.
Halperin said, "All underdog candidates complain all the time that this is just about money. I'm not as well known as the others. If only I had more money and more fame I'd do well. There's some truth to that, but there's also some truth that if you have some good ideas, you're going to get noticed, you're going to get your shot."
Huckabee thinks he has those ideas: from investing in education and the fine arts, to health care prevention, to -yes- abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and replacing it with what he calls an across the board fair tax on consumption.
"I want to be the president that nails the 'going-out-of-business' sign on the doors of the Internal Revenue Service," Huckabee said.
Huckabee hopes his campaign will really catch fire and that they won't nail the 'out-of-business' sign to his campaign headquarters instead.
The thought of a second-tier candidate like him pulling off the upset is difficult, but not necessarily impossible. The idea makes him warp into preacher mode.
"I'm still reminded that it was a little shepherd boy with a smooth stone and a sling that brought the giant down, that it was two fish and five loaves that fed 5,000," he said.
Whatever you call him - politician, comic, or pastor - he'd like to add the title 'president' to the list.
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