Huckabee Exceeds Supporters' Expectations
Last updated Saturday, March 8, 2008 6:49 PM CST in News
By Aaron Sadler
The Morning News
Related Photos
WASHINGTON - For a Huckabee disciple, Eric Woolson didn't have much faith.
Cash woes and a lack of organizational structure plagued Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign in Iowa, where Woolson was campaign manager. On the eve of an all-important straw poll last August, Woolson shared his doubts with the candidate.
"I thought we were going to finish fourth," Woolson said last week. "My gut had been fourth."
Instead, Huckabee pulled out a second-place finish in the Iowa Republican straw poll, a surprise showing he built upon all the way to his Iowa caucus victory on Jan. 3.
"After that, I told him at that point to quit listening to me on those things," Woolson said.
At the outset, the former Arkansas governor best known for a 100-pound weight loss went on to win nominating contests in his home state, West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas and Louisiana before conceding the Republican presidential nomination to Sen. John McCain of Arizona last week.
He picked up supporters with a conservative and caring message, an engaging style and a showmanship that no other Republican could match - he jammed on his bass guitar at almost every campaign stop; actor Chuck Norris, Huckabee's future "secretary of defense," drew crowds to Huckabee events.
At his side were evangelical Christians who clung to his pro-life, pro-family gospel and tax reform advocates moved by his opposition to the federal income tax.
The victories for a man who just a year ago was called "Huckleberry, whatever," by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, surprised advisers who had known Huckabee much longer than Woolson.
"I think it's just an unbelievably remarkable accomplishment, starting as an asterisk with no money and ending up being the last man standing next to McCain," said former Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., a senior adviser. "It's phenomenal."
Compared to a previous presidential campaign he had worked, it's easy to see why Woolson was skeptical.
Woolson traveled with George Bush across Iowa eight years ago on a luxurious private jet. With Mike Huckabee, Woolson walked a half-mile to a Wal-Mart to buy a ice scraper for Huckabee's rented minivan on one subfreezing day in February 2007.
The perceived front-runner in Iowa, Mitt Romney, spent at least 10 times more than Huckabee in the state with the nation's first primary. Romney's top-to-bottom organization was unmatched.
Huckabee benefited from a fair share of luck. The candidate hosted a news conference three days before the caucus to announce he chose not to air a negative advertisement that attacked Romney.
He then showed the ad to the assembled media, drawing laughs of derision from the national press corps.
Luckily, Woolson said local Iowa press had one-on-one interviews scheduled with Huckabee the same day.
"All my local TV stations, instead of talking about that news conference, were saying 'I sat down with Mike Huckabee today and ... ,'" Woolson said. "That was just a bit of serendipity."
The candidates exchanged standings as national front-runners last year. None of the four top contenders ever had more than 30 percent support in nationwide polling.
"A lot of people who just didn't like the alternative were willing to give him the chance," said Amanda Carpenter, reporter for conservative Web site Townhall.com.
A loose coalition of born-again Christians and home schoolers came out by the hundreds to support Huckabee in Iowa. He hoped to ride that momentum to a strong showing in New Hampshire (he finished third) and a win in the pivotal South Carolina primary.
McCain derailed Huckabee's campaign with a narrow victory in the Palmetto State. Two days later, money troubles forced staffers to go without pay, and Huckabee followed with a distant fourth in Florida.
Though he scored wins across the South on Super Tuesday, the defeat in South Carolina essentially ended his campaign. He pressed on for six weeks, despite pressure from Republican leaders for him to step aside for McCain.
"The big turning point to me was South Carolina," Hutchinson said. "I think we should have spent longer in South Carolina. I think an extra three or four days there could have made the difference."
Huckabee spent some time in the lead-up to the South Carolina primary in Michigan, time that may have been better used crisscrossing South Carolina.
McCain won 33 percent of the vote in South Carolina, compared to 30 for Huckabee and 16 for former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee.
Thompson's presence may have done more damage than Huckabee's absence, Hutchinson acknowledged. Thompson, another Southerner, cut into Huckabee's base, Hutchinson said. Huckabee bowed out Tuesday when McCain eclipsed the 1,191 delegates needed to obtain the GOP nomination. Huckabee ended his run with about 300 pledged delegates.
"We started this effort with very little recognition and virtually no resources," he said during a concession speech in Irving, Texas. "We ended with slightly more recognition and very few resources."
By Jan. 31, Huckabee had raised just $13 million for his campaign, 11th among the slate of presidential candidates, and more than 10 times less than Democratic front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
McCain was at $53 million. Romney, who never recovered from his loss in Iowa, was the top GOP fundraiser. He withdrew from the race Feb. 7. At the end of January, he had raised $105 million.
Huckabee had about $930,000 on hand on Jan. 31, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The campaign was so frugal that Huckabee once stayed in a Iowa motel that refused to run its heat until a room was rented. On a trip to Houston, Huckabee said he feared for his safety at a cheap motel he used.
"He did a tremendous job, through his personality and through his ability to connect with the country, with almost no resources," said 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers. Boozman was one of less than a dozen members of Congress to publicly endorse Huckabee.
The Southern Baptist minister espoused a sometimes-populist message. He almost always performed well in analysts' post-debate scorecards.
He also took advantage of scores of so-called "free media" opportunities, those network television and radio interviews that campaigns consider as free advertising. A senior aide estimated Huckabee's free media over the course of the campaign was worth more than $150 million.
Always ready with a quip, he showed up on late night talk shows and landed a guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as his run concluded.
Among Huckabee's major detractors was the anti-tax group Club for Growth. The organization poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into television ads that painted Huckabee as a tax-and-spend liberal based on his record as Arkansas governor.
Economic conservatives were leery of Huckabee, who presided over nearly $500 million in tax increases in Arkansas.
Club for Growth spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said "Hell, yeah!" when asked if the club took credit for Huckabee's defeat.
"The problem with Huckabee is that he made himself into the ultimate niche candidate," she said. "He was strictly a social conservative candidate with a really good sense of humor.
Other critics had questions about Huckabee's foreign policy credentials, and he emboldened the criticism with a couple of missteps ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
He branded Bush's foreign policy as "arrogant," erred in some Middle East geography and was caught unaware of an intelligence report on nuclear weapons in Iran.
Huckabee said his immediate plans include some paid speaking engagements. He plans to campaign on behalf of McCain and other Republican candidates this year.
Supporters hold out hope McCain will ask him to be his vice presidential nominee.
Reader Comments (3 comment(s))
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
jimcamp wrote on Mar 8, 2008 9:29 PM:
He drewwwww.. a line in the sand:
Any talk of defeat was far from his mind, "here is were in Might we will Stand, Stand, Stand: Here is where we make our stand.
Well the campaign it fell to the party:
The dead were laid out to the ground:
The fearfull all said that they knew it from the start but they didn't know about the very next round, round, round. They forgot about the very next round!
They had taken the seeds to the nation:
Spead them all across the land:
Every con-ser-va-tive that passed on by whould think there lies a true American Man, Man, Man, there lies a future plan.
"
Lola4Huckabee wrote on Mar 11, 2008 12:17 AM:
Visit HucksArmy.com for an exciting grassroots movement. Or www.MikeHuckabee.com.
Inspiring...
Now, if you choose to, you only have a choice between the lesser of three. No more exciting candidates to choose from now...
My Husband and I still chooses and will write in Mike Huckabee come November. He is our voice and ONLY CHOICE.
WE HEART HUCKABEE
STILL 4 MIKE HUCKABEE :D "
Not already registered?
jimcamp wrote on Mar 8, 2008 9:28 PM:
Well Mike Huckabee when he was a young boy:
Sittin on his Mammies knee:
He picked up a bible in his little right hand and said "One day I'll change the G.O.P." yea.. "one day I'LL lead the grass roots free:"
Some say he was born down in Arkansas:
Some say up in Oh...hi....oh:
I just say he was an American Man, The voice of countless future souls...yes, the one to let the grass roots know.
Now the Bosses they said to Mr. Huckabee:
We're gunna bring our steam drill round:
We're gunna bring our steam drill right into the playin field, and "Whop some delegates down, down, down."
...line up now, "Whop some delegates down!"
Mr. Huckabee he said to them Good Ole Boys 'GOP', "What'd he say?"
"You Can bring your Steam drill down:
But if you bring that thing out here on this field, I'm gunna beat your machine on down, down, down, I'ma gunna beat that thing on down!"
Well the people they cried to Mike Huckabee: "and to GOD!"
"Were a pulling ..as hard as we can!"
"pullin a thowsand pounds from the hips on down, doin as much as any man can, can, can. Doin as much as any people can!"
next "