Huckabee Stops In Northwest Arkansas
Candidate Pitches Woo At Conservative Supporters
Last updated Friday, February 1, 2008 9:25 PM CST in News
By Doug Thompson
THE MORNING NEWS
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HIGHFILL - Former Gov. Mike Huckabee returned to one of his oldest, most reliable political bases on Friday as the presidential campaign goes into the "Super Tuesday" primaries which will pick about 40 percent of the Republican delegates.
About 200 people were waiting on Huckabee when he arrived shortly after 4 p.m. at the Tyson Inc. hanger at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, where he was introduced as the "only conservative in the race" by former state Rep. Doug Matayo of Springdale. Third District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, also spoke on Huckabee's behalf, urging supporters to contribute.
"My belief in the sanctity of human life didn't start a year or two ago when I started to run for president," Huckabee told the crowd. "The 11 pieces of pro-life legislation I was able to sign make Arkansas one of the most pro-life states in the country." Abortions in Arkansas would be illegal when and if the Supreme Court ever allows states to set their own abortion policy, he said.
Huckabee wants to oversee a simplifying of the federal tax code "so that a 7-year-old running a lemonade stand can do his own taxes," calling the paperwork and regulation imposed by the federal government "a bigger competitor than the guy who owns that other store across town" for small businesses.
Huckabee has 29 delegates to front-runner Arizona Sen. John McCain's 97 and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's 72. However, only "8 percent of the delegates have been selected yet," and he is leading Romney in "every poll in Southern states," Huckabee said.
"If anybody ought to drop out and give us a pathway, Mitt ought to let it go," Huckabee said after the speech. "He's spent millions of dollars more than me and got just as many delegates in Florida -- zero. Somebody with an MBA from Harvard should see that's a losing investment."
Randy Underwood of Gravette, who came to the rally to support Huckabee, said he believes Huckabee is the candidate most committed to the values he professes. Also, "he's the only candidate who seems to sincerely enjoy doing this, meeting people and getting out."
Jarred Pendergraft of Chattanooga, Tenn., already had voted for Huckabee and only learned of the rally Friday while visiting his grandparents, Herman and Sue Salsbury of Goshen.
"I believe in him," Pendergraft said. "He's my kind of guy. He's a strong Christian man."
Huckabee will be back in the state Monday to visit Little Rock and Texarkana, campaign spokesmen said. He also will be at his campaign headquarters in Little Rock as primary returns come in on Tuesday night, they said.
Reader Comments (3 comment(s))
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sodapop wrote on Feb 2, 2008 12:27 PM:
Not already registered?
Slim wrote on Feb 2, 2008 12:09 PM:
Each one could put up their "leader" for "election", and say: "here are the candidates you may vote for". Each one would promise to not rob you as much as the other ("taxes"?) - in the hope that you would "vote" for them; and some may even promise to give back some of your money if they rob you too much and make you poor ("benefits"?).
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