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Huckabee for Veep

By: AndrewHyman (Diary)  |  July 14th, 2012 at 11:02 AM  | 

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Mike Huckabee has great communications skills, he has lots of executive experience as Governor of Arkansas, he’s very popular among the more conservative parts of the GOP, he knows a lot about the rigors of presidential campaigns, he’s smart, congenial, and could bring a lot to the ticket. He could also step in very effectively as president.

One of his previous careers was as a baptist minister, and people who think there should be an ironclad separation between government and anything remotely religious might be upset. Of course, that would have also disqualified several other presidents and vice-presidents, including James Madison (a former divinity student) and James Garfield (a former minister). More recently, Democratic presidential candidates Jerry Brown and Al Gore both studied for the priesthood (at a Jesuit seminary and Vanderbilt Divinity School respectively), and then there’s Rev. Jesse Jackson.

There are lots of other very qualified Veep candidates, including Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Rob Portman, and others. Huckabee is at the top of my list though.

COMMENTS

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  • ohioken

    to many of my fellow Christian and conservative friends. He does add a “common touch” which Romney lacks. It would help the ticket in the rural areas that’s for certain. Huckabee is a top five contender in my book.

    • commonsenseobserver

      Or, for that matter, Rick Santorum :P

      • Tbone

        If they are, they don’t act like it.

    • PowerToThePeople

      I have little use for him as a politician, but that is for another debate.

      As to this comment, Huck would add nothing or at best very little to the ticket. Conservative Christians are not the only group that needs to be solidified, and outside of this group, Huck has little sway with any other voter group.

      Not too mention he does not have the following in the Christian circles that some would like to believe he has.

      Huck would be a bad choice all around and I doubt Romney has given him one second of thought.

  • JSobieski

    Every successful candidate needs to from a communication standpoint, factor in feedback from the voters in terms of how voters are reacting to a particular approach and made adjustments. Huckabee is far better at it than anyone on the Republican side running for President in 2008 or 2012.

    If Perry had his intuitive knack for mind melding with voters, Perry would be the nominee. Conversely, if Huckabee had Perry’s record and ideological grounding—-Huckabee would would be running for relection in 2012.

    if Romney was an nimble on the stump as Huckabee is, Romney would would be up by 10% over Obama at this point.

    Not only is Huckabee a skilled politician, but he specifically cares what conservatives think. Huckeabee’s performance in the debates in 2008 became more and more conservative over time because he reacted to the feedback that he was getting (primarily on economic issues). For example, unlike McCain, Huckabee learned that using the phrase “big pharma” was a bad move and never did it again. Huckabee’s candidate skills have consistently improved over time.

    People who want to be effective communicators should study Huckabee in action. I wish more political consultant types on our side would spend more time stuffying effective communication style than planning ideological capitulation to people who don’t know what is going on in the world.

    All of that being said, in an election that is supposed to be about some big economic challenges, Huckabee’s record as governor is simply undesirable. I do however believe that the Romney campaign should find a way to put Huckabee to work.

  • AndrewHyman

    Per the Washington Post:

    Overall tax revenues in Arkansas rose by some $500 million under Huckabee, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In Huckabee’s defense, $400 million of this increased revenue went to pay for improvements in the state’s educational system mandated in 2002 by the Arkansas Supreme Court, to correct inequalities in education spending. The biggest tax increases came in 2003 and 2004, after the Supreme Court decision.

    So, it seems like there were some special circumstances there, regarding education.

    • JSobieski

      The point is that Huckabee at his core isn’t really about capitalism. He isn’t inherently anti-capitalism, but he isn’t inherent;y pro either.

      There are reasons why the Cato institute gave Huckabee an F in 2006 and an overal grade of D for his entire tenure.. There are also reasons why Huckabee also seemed to be at odds with the Club for Growth.

      I would prefer not go into details on Huckabee’s record given that he is not running for anything and I think he can be a tremendous asset in certain quarters.

      If Santorum had as much communications talent in Ricks entire body as Huckabee has in his pinky, Romney wouldn’t be the nominee.

      • Mike Ferguson

        the increase in taxes to “help education” hasn’t done much.

  • Viet71

    Maybe it’s a tie or a book that produces a secret yuck.

    Maybe it turns out to be an unexpected surprise.

    Funny how FDR, Johnson, Nixon, GHWB, and Obama turned out to be. Or not.

  • http://libertynews.com/ mbecker908

    Mike Huckabee is equally unacceptable with Ron Paul or Rick Santorum. Huckabee is a clone of Huey P Long. He’s a pro-life populist who’s never met a problem that can’t be solved by government nor has he ever seen a tax he didn’t like.

    Add to that the fact that he was Governor of Arkansas for 10 years and left the Republican party in complete shambles.

    Huckabee is good on Fox. He should stay there.

    The guy is not a conservative in any definition of the word. In addition, he’s a well documented liar, proven over and over on video in the 2008 primary campaign. He lied repeatedly about the Club for Growth expose on his tax increases in the face of videos of his speeches to the Arkansas legislature and legislation / ballot initiatives that he wrote.

    On top of the fact that he’s a proven liar, he also slimed the FairTax folks by convincing them (something he’s good at) that he believed in the FT. All he was looking for was a built in campaign organization.

    I’m pleased that he’s now a Fox commentator and is doing well. He should stay there. As a Republican candidate, he’s an absolute embarrassment to the party and I’m ashamed he got as far as he did in 08.

    • wag

      Mitt needs to pick someone more “conservative,” more “tea party-ish” than he is.
      Plus, Huck HATES Mitt. (And let me put on my tin foil hat when I observe) I wonder if the temptation of being second in line might get too heavy for Huck?
      “Here Mitt. I made you a delicious bass–laced with arsenic.”

    • citizenkh

      Huckster was very tight with RINO LA Gov. Mike Foster.

      I was watching to see what Huckabee was going to do after he announced that he was running. He had no platform or campaign talking point UNTIL AFTER Newt’s Inaugural American Solutions Webwide weekend. Seeing that this might be a platform, he took all the issues presented and used this as his platform with ALL of the Big Government solutions.

      That weekend is when my eyes were opened to Newt being a true Big Government guy. Oh,Lord where those who put up solutions on in the forums real big time nutcases. Glowarmers and the like abounded in that fertile territory for them.

      When Huckabee took those Big Government plans as his campaign platform, he became Huckster to me.

      • citizenkh

        Mike Foster was a Dem who changed parties to run for Gov. ony because he saw the tide changing in parties in LA.

        He was not a pro-business guy as he campaigned on and many bought the rhetoric.

        Here is an example…

        Westlake Petrochemical which had bought a shutter polyethylene plant in the mid-1980′s and turned it into a very profitable business, invested over $1 billion in new units during Foster’s time in office. The owner (it was a private company at the time) had my wife’s uncle (corporate general legal counsel) arrange a meeting with Foster on his next trip to LA.

        When the group arrived at Foster’s office. He came out to the waiting area dress in a polo shirt said something to the effect, “Hi, thanks for stopping by.” then went back into his office without even shaking hands.

        The company did not invest another dime in LA until Foster was out of office. Instead it invested a few billion $ in Kentucky.

    • Mike Ferguson

      I couldn’t even bring myself to support his campaigns.

  • http://nextgenerationvoters.com Bethany

    We definitely need someone who’s relatable and seems like a real person, but I think Huck’s record as governor bothers some people (tax hikes, “big government”, etc.). We need someone who’s borderline, if not completely, extremely right-wing to balance Romney’s moderate positions (even if some of them are in the past).

    • http://libertynews.com/ mbecker908

      and would have been a thief had he not gotten caught in the act – stealing furniture and draperies from the AR statehouse when he left, not to mention coordinating a “shower” for his wife to furnish their new house.

      Huckabee is a cross between Huey P Long and Elmer Gantry.

      He’s fine where he is. I hope Santorum gets a slot next to him, he’s nearly as bad.

      • tnfriendofcoal101368

        With a better sense of humor and less foreign policy knowledge.

        • http://libertynews.com/ mbecker908

          I’m flabbergasted at the number of totally clueless people who would vote for either of these fools.

  • Dave_A

    Sorry, but Huck’s political career died in a Lakewood, WA coffee shop, along with a group of LPD officers shot by a guy Huck let out of prison when he was Governor of AR…

    Some folks say ‘it’s not his fault’ and point out various other interactions with the law that the killer had after being released, where he ‘could have been stopped’…

    But the fact remains, if Huck had kept him in prison for the full ride, he wouldn’t have been in WA to shoot those cops….

    Soft on crime = NO GO for a GOP Candidate – especially against Obama…

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