Populist Message, Evangelical Appeal Help Mike Huckabee Win First Contest for GOP Nomination
DES MOINES, Iowa — Mike Huckabee rode to a sweeping victory in the Iowa caucuses on a foundation of support from fellow evangelicals — but Christian conservatives don’t explain the whole Huckabee story.
The former Arkansas governor rose from relative obscurity to win the opening contest for the Republican presidential nomination largely by striking a chord among heartland voters with his authenticity and populist message.
He campaigned on a common-man theme that hope and optimistic matter most, upsetting wealthy rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who spent millions to boost his profile, turn out voters and go after Huckabee with television ads.
“People really are more important than the purse,” he told about 300 supporers at a hotel in Des Moines. “Tonight, we proved that American politics is still in the hands of ordinary folks like you and across this country who believed that it wasn’t about who raised the most money, but who raised the hopes, dreams and aspirations for our children and their future.
“Tonight,” he added, “I hope we will forever change the way Americans look at their political system and how we elect presidents.”
Huckabee maintained that he has been outspent at least 15-to-1. With 87 percent of precincts reporting, he finished with 34 percent, ahead of Romney with 25 percent.
But he told FOX News Thursday he expects a windfall of contributions now that he’s proved his campaign is viable.
“This is not just an Iowa thing. We’re not a one-state wonder,” he said, responding to a common criticism from the Romney campaign, which claims that unlike Huckabee it is running a nationwide race.
Huckabee will likely now expand his populist message to emphasize fair trade, a tough-but-compassionate approach to illegal immigration and the “fair tax,” which would replace income taxes with a 23 percent sales tax.
Those are among the things Huckabee will use to cast himself as the outsider against Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is polling with Romney at the top in New Hampshire.
As one aide put it, “This is a big wave, we can surf anywhere now.”
But Huckabee faces a tougher challenge in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, where the campaign knows voters are more secular.
Romney has spent more time there and is better-known, being from neighboring Massachusetts. Huckabee began running television commercials there two weeks ago.
Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister before entering politics, was relegated to also-ran status when he started campaigning nearly a year ago in Iowa.
He was considered a favorite of evangelicals, but as a former small-state governor sometimes at odds with the GOP establishment, Huckabee was dismissed as someone who couldn’t assemble the money and organization needed to win.
In August, his surprisingly strong second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll helped him begin to shed that image and start a slow ascent in state polls. At the straw poll, Huckabee was aided by supporters of the “FAIR tax.”
Meanwhile, Romney’s first-place finish in the straw poll was written off as expected since better-known rivals Rudy Giuliani and John McCain had decided to skip the contest.
Huckabee enlisted national evangelical Christian leaders to help him rev up Iowa pastors and churchgoers and began running TV ads defining him as a Christian conservative. By December, he had surged ahead of Romney, whose Mormon faith made many evangelicals uncomfortable.
Evangelicals helped Huckabee come in first, according to entrance interviews by The Associated Press and the television networks. More than half of GOP voters said they were born again or evangelical Christians, and nearly half of those supported Huckabee. Among non-evangelical voters, Romney led by at least 2-to-1.
More than a third of Republicans said it was important to have a candidate who shared their religious beliefs, and a majority favored Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor also performed strongly among those who identified themselves as very conservative.
Romney managed to narrow the gap in polls by running negative spots about Huckabee’s record on taxes, illegal immigration and clemency for criminals. But it wasn’t enough.
Earlier this week, Huckabee said he would respond to Romney with attack ads of his own, then changed his mind and pulled the commercial. He still played the spot for the media, ostensibly to prove he had really made it.
Huckabee’s conservatism has a softer edge; he often says he is conservative, but he is not mad about it.
“It’s not hating those who are in front of us,” he said Thursday. “It’s loving those who are behind us.”
FOX News’ Carl Cameron and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I think Mike Huckabee said it best when he instructed Iowians that a vote for him would show the other canidates that its about message not money. His message and his consistent record as a legitimate yet compasionate conservative is exactly what this country needs.
If anyone has seen any of my posts, I am obviously not a Huckabee supporter. I have seen a lot of pro-Huckabee posts that tell all to find out the truth at mikehuckabee.com. This made me laugh since no candidate is going to point out there own faults. I have gone to the site to see what Huckabee says about the negative things said about him. Obviously it is the exact opposite of what other people are saying about him. So hey, why not do my own research. Good idea, right? Well not so good if you are a Huckabee supporter. One of my main concerns about Huckabee is his battle with the Ethics board. His site, under the link “Truth Squad: Ethics” says, “The overwhelming majority of ethics complaints filed against Governor Huckabee in the state of Arkansas were regularly dismissed and / or proven to be frivolous.” I checked to see if this was true. A majority of them have been thrown out, but not ALL. I find it disturbing that the EVANGELICAL RIGHT voted for a man who had, by his own admission, ethics issues. He never said all of them were thrown out. I wanted to know what wasn’t thrown out. I wanted to know in what areas he had ethics issues. I would suggest that all others do the same. He also tried to get a statute of limitations on ethics issues? Why would he do this. If he had so many issues with ethics why is anyone voting for him? That is a legitimate question. I would like an answer. I assume the answer will be that he will get rid of the IRS. I have done my research there too. It won’t happen. It isn’t possible. Even if the Fair Tax was possible, which i doubt it is, the IRS must still exist to collect that tax. SO why, why is the RIGHT voting for a man that doesn’t have a fiscal conservative record? Why is the right voting for a man that has ethics issues? Can some one answer this?
It is interesting that Huckabee is now advocating abolishing the IRS. Where do you think
he got that idea? Perhaps a revelation! I don’t recall Hackabee every promoting
eliminating the Internal Revenue Service before 1/3/08. If he did, show me where I can see
it for myself. Could it be that he knows Ron Paul has advocated for years that collection
of income taxes by the IRS is not constitutional and that this is what the people know to
be true. He thinks he can use this ploy to fool people and get the nomimation. Huckabee,
how long have you talked about doing away with the IRS? I think this is political fraud.
Right on, Huck!
Maybe when people realize when God is in the picture, money means nothing. We need some morals brought back into this country. Huck’s issues are also great (fair tax, etc.) We need someone who is “really” for the middle class citizens. Huck is real, all the rest of the republicans are, in my view, democrats using the republican ticket.
The Democrats and their protege John McCain (who by the way merely poses as a Republican but is really more of a Democrat, just look at McCains voting record if you donot beleive me, especially on the illegal immigration issue) should be in seventh heaven today and breathing a sigh of releif knowing the people in Iowa just blew it and voted for a GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who by the way will be totally ripped to shreds by the DEMs in Nov and whos chances of winning in Nov really are very slim. Now donot get me wrong as I do like Mike Huckabee but feel his convictions to his faith will not allow him to make the really tough decisions that will be needed to me made on such issues as illegal immigration and other issues of this nature. His record already proves this. The Republicans across this country better wake up and really need to quit allowing religion to outweigh other very important factors when making voting decisions, or, this country will be further in the gutter than where it is now. Romney is the only GOP candidate that I see right now (that at least stands a chance of winning in Nov against the DEMs) that I trust enough to make the tough decisions that need to be made in order for this country to really get back on track. So please Conservative Republicans, before making anymore very serious voting decisions on any GOP candidate, please research their voting records, they donot lie. Thanks for your time!!!
If issues matter. then why would you want Romney? He’s a flip-flopping plastic candidate who is nothing but a democrat in republican clothing. Huckabee is the only hope this nation has!
Wake up and smell the coffee America!!
The people are revolting. We are tired of the candidates that the upper echelon want us to vote for. A change is coming and if the Republican’s can’t get on the bandwagon they be left behind.
I’m a proud veteran, teacher, writer, Christian Republican. My wife was a Venture Capitalist and now is in M&A and my dad is a retired preacher and chaplain to inmates. This makes me about as conservative as it gets.
However, the America I’ve come back to has changed. Gone is cheap gas. Gone is reasonable health cost (if you had insurance). Gone is reasonable prices of food and other everyday necessities. Everything (but clothing) has skyrocketed and the middle class is paying the toll.
We will not take is sitting down. We will not watch as the wealthy tell us stupid comments that everything is all right, the economy is great. We will not sit down and watch the richest citizens’ wealth explode while we have to tighten our belts.
If the Republicans don’t get on board, a Democrat will take office and run the economy into the ground. We need someone who will not raise taxes but find ways to use the already stupidly huge budget to FIX these issues. We need the government to fight for the middle class. Wealth is power and power corrupts. Sorry but non intervention will not stop the wealthy from finding ways to make themselves richer on the backs of the working man. Cutting taxes some more will not solve a man’s problem if his job is lost to overseas competition. Republicans had better learn to sell themselves to the middle class or all is lost.