Huckabee: ‘I’m not the best fund raiser’
Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 5:20 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
From NBC’s Domenico Montanaro
After Huckabee finished a surprising second in the Ames straw poll, political analysts and strategists have asked this question: Can he raise the kind of money needed to be considered a first-tier candidate?
But in a meeting with reporters today, Huckabee cast some doubt on whether or not he has the ability to do that -- revealing, in fact, that he doesn’t particularly like fundraising, especially making cold calls on his own behalf. “I’m not the best fund raiser in the world,” he said, adding that there are some people who are “unabashed” about asking for money. “Will you give me $2,300?” Huckabee said mockingly.
He admitted he feels “a hesitancy” in “asking for money for me.” But as one reporter pointed out to him, shouldn't Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, be comfortable passing around the basket to ask for spare change? He responded jokingly by clearing the place settings off two empty plates next to him and began to pass them around the room, asking if anyone would like to donate.
He said he has “no problem” asking for money when it’s for “missions” or other worthwhile charitable causes, but has a harder time when it comes to asking for himself. “I’m getting better about it,” Huckabee said. He later added that after his finish at Ames, there are “a couple [of Republican fundraisers] in particular that when their names come out, it’ll be significant.”
But when most of the reporters had left the room, Huckabee talked more about his fundraising tentativeness. “I don’t like to cold call people who don’t even know me,” he said. “It’s difficult calling someone, and you say, ‘Hi, this is Mike Huckabee. I’m calling for Mr. Smith.’ ‘How do you spell that?’ ‘H-U-C-K…’ ‘And who are you with?’ ‘I’m with myself.’ It’s like, man, I ain’t got time for this. Let me at least talk to someone who knows my name.”
