Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and left Fox News as he ponders running again in 2016, will launch a national book tour in Destin on Saturday. Huckabee moved to the Panhandle after his 2008 presidential bid.
Huckabee's "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy" is in bookstores across the nation on Tuesday. He will be in Destin over the weekend before events in Philadelphia and New York. Next weekend, Huckabee takes a bus tour of Kansas and Iowa, the state that holds the first caucus which Huckabee won in 2008, before hitting Tennessee, Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. On Sunday, Feb. 1, Huckabee will return to Florida for a book event in Jacksonville. After that, he will have more events in Georgia before hitting Alabama and Texas, ending his tour in Little Rock, Ark., on Feb. 8.
In his new book, Huckabee contrasted the American "Nerve Centers" of New York, Washington, D.C., with Heartland America. Huckabee also defended the Second Amendment in the book and tackled other issues.
"I'm not at all in love with guns, Huckabee writes. I love freedom. I love my country and the Constitution. I love my family and would sacrifice my life to protect them."
Huckabee also called for less government intervention.
"I don't think we need more money in government; I do think we need more morality and decency in our culture, Huckabee insisted. And if we really want government to 'get off my lawn,' then part of the solution is better citizens obeying the laws we already have so we don't have to pass new laws to further explain and expand the old ones."
The former Arkansas governor also waded in, to some extent, on foreign policy and how China and the United States have changed.
"I was stunned that China is becoming more like America used to be, while America is becoming more like China used to be, Huckabee wrote. Even more frustrating, they're doing it by emulating the free-market, entrepreneurial capitalism that made America great, even as we seem to be abandoning it."
But there are signs that Huckabee might not be ready to line up for 2016, including downplaying the importance of new communications which many pundits believe will play an important role in the coming presidential contest. Back in 2012, Huckabee flirted with running but eventually chose not to run.
In his new book, Huckabee offered a harsh take on the expanded role of social media.
"The anonymity provided online has certainly prompted the proliferation of the disgustingly crude, Huckabee wrote. People who would never say such things about another person to his or her face feel unrestrained in their ability to spew snarky sneers in blogs and tweets."
But, if Huckabee does run, he will continue to play up his appeal to social and religious conservatives which helped move him into the top tier of presidential candidates back in 2008.
"In Bubba-ville, we still think the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, but we know it won't be if we don't return to the principles we were built on, Huckabee wrote in the new book. And it starts with a God who gave birth to this nation and miraculously preserved us through battles we should have lost. The culture I grew up in created a sense of community, but also a sense of accountability. I miss the front porch culture. Communities where people looked after each other, and where we never expected the government to do it, had a real strength about them."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
