Huckabee’s ‘surprise’
Posted: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 4:55 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Carrie Dann
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Mike
Huckabee is so darn folksy that sometimes it's hard to tell when he's laying the smack down.
Even Huckabee's penchant for plain-spoken humor couldn't disguise his subtle critique of Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson for endorsing rival Rudy Giuliani. Asked today here to comment on the endorsement, Huckabee called it "somewhat a surprise to me."
Huckabee went on to imply that Robertson's decision might have been based on the success of Giuliani's campaign rather than his moral values. "People have become more process-focused than they have principles-focused," Huckabee, an ordained pastor, said. "They look at it from the stance of, 'who does it look like might be ahead of the game?'"
"I think that it's pretty disheartening to see that it's not necessarily based on people that you say, 'Gosh these guys really have the right principles,'" he added.
But despite the "disheartening" sentiment, the famously charming Arkansas governor took advantage of a volley of questions from reporters to pump his own momentum. Saying that despite not winning a big-name endorsement like rivals Romney, McCain, and Giuliani all have in recent days, Huckabee insisted that he's building support right where he wants it, from "the salt of the earth."
And on the "surprise" of Giuliani's big-name get? "Politics is all about surprises," Huckabee said with a laugh. "And I plan to surprise some people on January 3rd in Iowa. That'll be the biggest surprise of all."
