Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., who moved to the Panhandle after his 2008 presidential bid, looks set to launch a second presidential bid next week.
Huckabee has an event scheduled in Hope, Ark. on Tuesday, his childhood home but also the old stomping grounds of former President Bill Clinton who, back in 1992, famously used the line I still believe in a place called Hope on the campaign trail.
Clinton, whose wife former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, is clearly on Huckabees mind. On Friday, Huckabee released a new Web video in which his record taking over Bill Clintons Arkansas was in the spotlight.
"Every day of my life in politics was a fight and sometimes it was an intense one, Huckabee says in the video. But any drunken redneck can walk into a bar and start a fight. A leader only starts a fight that he's prepared to finish.
"As governor of Arkansas, I cut taxes and welfare, balanced the budget every year for 10 years, and raised average family income by 50 percent, Huckabee adds. "We didn't slash, burn, hurt people, leave people impoverished. We empowered people to live a better life. I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich, I'm a Republican because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me."
In the video, Huckabee offers a glimpse of what he will focus on if he enters the presidential contest.
"One thing that has to happen in America is moving the power away from Washington, where people are so disconnected from the way that so many ordinary Americans live," Huckabee says. It's a disaster. Power needs to be local and limited, because the closer government is to the people, the more accountable it is to the people who are being governed.
Instead of fighting over the minimum wage, I'm going to focus on solutions to help every American earn his or her maximum wage," Huckabee continues. "I'll protect Social Security and Medicare. Washington has done enough lying and stealing. I'll never rob seniors of what our government promised them and even forced them to pay for. And I'll lead with moral clarity in a dangerous world.There's a difference between right and wrong. There's a difference between good and evil. I'll keep all the options on the table in order to defeat the evil forces of radical Islam.
"We believe in some things, Huckabee says in conclusion. We stand for those things. We live or die by those things! Let's win the fight for what matters most."
After his event in Arkansas on Tuesday, Huckabee will tour Iowa, home of the first presidential caucus. Back in 2008, he won Iowa. The former Arkansas governor is scheduled to hold events in Urbandale, Oskaloosa, Sioux City and Cedar Rapids.
Huckabee is not the only Republican set to enter the race next week. Dr. Ben Carson, who moved to Florida after his celebrated medical career at Johns Hopkins, has scheduled an event in Detroit Monday to make an announcement on whether he will seek the Republican presidential nomination. Most observers expect him to run.
Carson and Huckabee likely will be joined by Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in California in 2010. Reports emerged last week that Fiorina will announce Monday that she is entering the Republican presidential primaries. Fiorina was in Iowa over the past weekend and, this week, toured New Hampshire, which holds the first primary.
Currently, three members of the U.S. Senate -- Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida -- are officially running for the Republican presidential nomination. So is former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. On the Democratic side, Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are running for the Democratic nomination.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
