In his hometown of Hope, Ark., a town with ties to former President Bill Clinton, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., launched a second bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday with a prominent Florida Republican supporter on board despite other candidates from the Sunshine State in the mix. Huckabee moved to the Florida Panhandle after his 2008 try for the presidency.
In his campaign launch, Huckabee offered some of the cornerstones of his new electoral effort.
I always believed a kid could go from Hope to Higher Ground, Huckabee said in his campaign kickoff. Like a lot of Americans, I grew up in a small town far removed from the power, the money, and the influence that runs the country. But power and money and political influence have left a lot of Americans lagging behind. They work hard, lift heavy things and sweat through their clothes grinding out a living, but they can't seem to get ahead or in some cases, even stay even.
Talking about growing up in Hope and how it inspired his social and religious conservatism, Huckabee contrasted his beliefs with President Barack Obamas.
"Eight years ago, a young, untested, inexperienced, and virtually unknown freshman senator made great speeches about 'Hope and Change.' But eight years later, our debt has more than doubled, America's leadership in the world has evaporated, and the country is more polarized than ever in my lifetime, Huckabee said. Ninety-three million Americans don't have jobs, and many who do have seen the full-time job with benefits they once had become two part-time jobs with no benefits. We were promised hope, but it was just talk -- now we need the kind of change that really could get America from Hope to Higher Ground.
"Washington is more dysfunctional than ever and has become so beholden to the donor class who fills the campaign coffers that it ignores the fact that one-in-four American families are paying more than half their income for housing, Huckabee added. Home ownership is at the lowest level in decades and young people with heavy student debt aren't likely to afford their first home for a while. Our federal policies for affordable housing aren't designed to protect families, but to protect bureaucrats. A record number of people are enrolled in government-operated help programs like food stamps, not because they want to be in poverty, but because they are part of the bottom earning 90 percent of American workers whose wages have been stagnant for 40 years. The war on poverty hasn't ended poverty; it's prolonged it. I don't judge the success of government by how many people are on assistance, but by how many people have good jobs and don't need government assistance. And we don't create good jobs for Americans by entering into unbalanced trade deals that forego congressional scrutiny and looking the other way as the law is ignored so we can import low-wage labor, undercut American workers, and drive wages lower than the Dead Sea.
Huckabee pointed to his record of leadership in Arkansas and vowed to protect federal programs like Medicare and Social Security
"Some propose that to save safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, we need to chop off the payouts for the people who have faithfully had their paychecks and pockets picked by the politicians promising that their money would be waiting for them when they were old and sick, Huckabee said. "You were forced to pay for Social Security and Medicare for 50 years. The government grabs money from our paychecks and says it will be waiting for us when we turn 65. If Congress wants to take away someone's retirement, let them end their own congressional pensions -- not your Social Security. As president, I promise you will get what you paid for!
Huckabee promised to stand against Obamas federal health-care law and vowed to be more aggressive in pursuing the War on Terror.
As president, I promise you that we will no longer merely try to contain jihadism; we will conquer it! Huckabee said. We will deal with jihadis just as we would deal with deadly snakes. And let there be no doubt -- Israel will know. as will the world, that we are their trusted friend, and the ayatollahs of Iran will know that hell will freeze over before they ever get a nuclear weapon! And I will never, ever apologize for America! We face not only the threats from terrorism, but also the threat of new kinds of dangers, from a cyber war that could shut down major financial markets to threats of an electromagnetic pulse from an exploded device that could fry the electrical grid and take the country back to the Stone Age in a matter of minutes. Waiting until it happens is too late.
Huckabee also waded into cultural issues, standing against abortion, same-sex marriage and taking religion out of the public square.
"We've lost our way morally, Huckabee said. We have witnessed the slaughter of over 55 million babies in the name of choice, and are now threatening the foundation of religious liberty by criminalizing Christianity in demanding that we abandon biblical principles of natural marriage. Many of our politicians have surrendered to the false god of judicial supremacy, which would allow black-robed and unelected judges the power to make law and enforce it, upending the equality of our three branches of government and the separation of powers so very central to our Constitution. The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being, and they can't overturn the laws of nature or of nature's God."
Huckabee also called for the states having more rights and the federal government playing less of a role on education issues. The new candidate also called for securing the border and implementing the Fair Tax proposal.
With Huckabee entering the race, the Republican primary field continues to grow. Dr. Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina officially entered the race on Monday joining three U.S. senators -- Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida. Former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson is also running for the Republican nomination.
With 13.5 percent, Huckabee took fourth place in the Florida primary back in 2008 though he carried four counties in the northern part of the state and reeled in some impressive endorsements. Despite Rubio already in the race and former Gov. Jeb Bush expected to enter, former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos is set to back Huckabee for the presidency as he did in the 2008 cycle.
On Tuesday, Haridopolos attended the campaign kickoff in Arkansas. Haridopolos, who co-chaired Huckabees Florida efforts in 2008, told the Miami Herald that he is behind the former Arkansas governor again and will be part of his national finance team.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
