Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Compare Clinton today to Huckabee in February, and it's worth noting the similarities as this continues. Similar statements on math and notice GOP operative saying it's OK for Huckabee to stay in the race, "as long as Mike Huckabee stays positive."
But, it must be pointed out, that Clinton still has a FAR greater claim to this nomination than Mike Huckabee ever did, which is why Huckabee's hanging on became the stuff of Saturday Night Live. Just pointing out some similar language...
(1) CLINTON (today at West Virginia news conference):
QUESTION: Does your statement today mean that you intend to stay in this race through the vote on the convention floor?
CLINTON: Well, I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee. And I obviously am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee. That is what I've done; that's what I'm continuing to do.
I believe that I'm the stronger candidate against Senator McCain. And I believe I would be the best president among the three of us running. So we will continue to contest these elections and move forward.
(2) HUCKABEE ON STAYING IN THE RACE
FEB. 12 (CNN): "As long as my guys are still waving their pompoms, I think we're going to stay on the field. The goal is still to win ... Everybody keeps talking about, 'Well, the math doesn't work.' We don't know what is going to happen. You don't just throw people's votes out and say, 'Well, we're not going to bother counting them because we kind of think we know where this was going."
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From NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger
Mike Huckabee isn’t running for anything, but he has something planned for April 15.
Huckabee’s Web site -- which resembles his campaign site -- has a clock counting down the seconds until 12:00 p.m. EST on April 15. He is also scheduled to give a speech at Cornell University that evening called, “In God We Trust: The Role of Faith in Politics.”
“The First Amendment requires that expressions of faith be neither prohibited nor preferred,” Huckabee said in a Cornell press release announcing the lecture. “We should not banish religion from the public square, but should guarantee access to all voices and views. We should share and debate our faith, but never seek to impose it.”
Rumors of Huckabee’s next step have been swirling since he won the Iowa caucuses in January. Some have suggested he could play a leading role in galvanizing religious conservatives, or that he could launch a program around his Fair Tax proposal (his big rollout is on Tax Day). Others believe he may become a political commentator or host a television show. His name has also been mentioned as a running mate for McCain.
Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah, reiterated that the former Arkansas governor is not running for anything this year -- the filing deadline to run for Senate in his home state has passed -- and said the countdown is for the launch of Huckabee’s new Web site.
With 100% of precincts reporting, McCain beat Huckabee in Texas, 51%-38% (Paul got 5%).
With 99% of precincts reporting, he beat Huckabee in Ohio, 60%-31% (Paul got 5%)
With 98% of precincts reporting, he beat Huckabee, 65%-22% (Paul got 7%).
With 865 of precincts reporting, he beat Huckabee in Vermont, 72%-14% (Paul got 7%).
McCain clinched the nomination, passing the magic 1,191 number, and Huckabee dropped out. The
New York Daily News: "As the nominee, McCain can now bolster his own operation by tapping into the computers and fund-raising lists of the Republican National Committee and the White House political shop. McCain has pledged to rewrite the GOP playbook by fielding efforts in the Democratic strongholds of New York, New Jersey and California, where polls show him in tight contests with either Clinton or Obama.” More: "McCain's political resurrection saw him go from GOP front-runner to single-digit also-ran last June as his campaign operation unraveled and his fund-raising flatlined."
The Politico’s Martin says McCain wrapping up the GOP nomination “capped one of the most remarkable political comebacks in American history.”
USA Today: “‘Now we begin the most important part of our campaign,’ McCain told supporters after sweeping Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island… McCain devoted his speech to general election themes, defending the Iraq war and blasting Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for promising to rework trade treaties.”
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From NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Huckabee celebrated the end of his presidential campaign by bowling water bottles down the aisle of his campaign plane.
Continuing a game that had been started the night before, Huckabee autographed a miniature water bottle and then bowled it down the aisle, trying to hit a full-sized bottle placed at the rear. He missed the first shot, but made the next two. Other staffers and media took turns as well as the plane took off from Dallas back to the former Arkansas governor’s home.
Speaking to reporters during the flight, Huckabee said the handwriting was indeed on the wall.
“Clearly, things didn't go our way tonight as we had hoped they would, but when the inevitable is staring you in the face, you accept it, and that's why I feel like it's time to realize we've made the best effort we can,” he said. “Did a heck of a run and done it I think on an amazing amount of resources. It will be a story that is talked about for a long time. Basically a dime to a dollar of what everybody else has had. And to have gone this far and outlasted so many others is a pretty remarkable story. Wish it had ended differently but, you know, it is what it is.”
He said he determined it was time to exit the race once he saw the exit polls from Texas and Ohio Tuesday.
“They weren’t close; Ohio and the other states weren’t close,” Huckabee said. “So it wasn’t like we thought, maybe this could go ’til one or two in the morning. It was pretty obvious; I’d been through a lot of elections before. I know when one’s on it’s way to being close and when one isn’t. This one wasn’t. So there wasn’t any point in sitting there, doing my fingernails all night, hoping something would change. It wasn’t going to.”
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From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
Huckabee will drop out now, according to sources.
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
A Huckabee senior aide tells NBC/National Journal that Huckabee tonight will congratulate McCain and will be in touch with the McCain campaign tomorrow from Little Rock to coordinate a concession.
"The handwriting is on the wall," the aide said, indicating that was the plan whether or not McCain officially reaches 1,191 delegates tonight.
The aide said that Huckabee wants to have contact with McCain tomorrow in Little Rock before deciding what next to do.
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
DALLAS, Texas -- Huckabee criticized McCain Monday for serving barbecue to reporters on the day Huckabee had asked him to debate.
"I think his time would have been better spent at a debate and I think the people of Texas should take that into consideration when they vote either today or tomorrow," he said at a press conference. "They ought to think about, you know, what would be a better use of his time, being in Texas having a debate on issues that affect Texans or serving BBQ to the media?"
Not only did he think he is a better candidate, he said he's a better cook.
"Actually I would put my ribs to the test of anybody's, they're pretty darn good," he said. "But you know, we've been campaigning non stop and working hard because we feel like the people of Texas deserve this discussion, this debate, and I'm disappointed we never had that debate that we should have had. I think Sen. McCain should have come to Texas, we should have had the debate on television, and let the people hear the differences. If they they then decided differently, the would have made an informed and intelligent decision."
And he took a final jab at McCain's lack of executive experience.
"Let me tell you, running a government is much different than making speeches about a government," he said.
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From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
LAREDO, Texas -- Huckabee toured the Mexican border Saturday and stressed his commitment to preventing illegal immigration, while choosing against criticizing McCain.
Huckabee -- joined by Rep. Duncan Hunter, Jim Gilchrist, founder and president of the Minutemen Project and Chuck Norris – first was briefed at the Laredo office of Customs and Border Protection. He viewed the command center, where operators scan mounted video cameras, looking for Mexicans seeking to cross the border. He also saw a wide array of weapons and equipment the patrolmen use, including hovercraft.
He then toured a potential border crossing, walking through the woods to the edge of the Rio Grande. Speaking after the tour, Huckabee demurred when asked if McCain was soft on immigration.
“I’m not going to characterize his position because I think that’s not really a healthy thing for me to get into,” he said. “I still had rather have Sen. McCain than I had Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton as president.”
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From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Huckabee tried his hand at roping cattle Friday, but didn't get very far.
With two bails of hay with cow heads taking the place of the real thing, Huckabee received a quick lesson at the Fort Yards Stockyard and then had a try. He seemed to have an issue snapping his wrist, although he was better at the lassooing.
As he tried unsuccessfully, he put things in perspective.
"Ok, you're laughing at me," he said. "You think John McCain could do this better."
His wife, Janet, took aim at the other bail of hay, and lassoed the cow the first time. The governor never got it right.
HUCKABEE: NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger writes in National Journal: “Few people believe that Huckabee will be the Republican nominee for president, but he continues to win rave reviews for his oratory and his talent for connecting with voters. With the race all but sewn up, however, many political analysts are wondering why Huckabee is still in. Earlier, some thought that he was setting himself up to be John McCain's running mate, but that likelihood has faded as Huckabee continues to challenge the front-runner. Now the take is that he is priming himself for a career -- perhaps in television, but definitely in the limelight.”
MCCAIN: The Boston Globe front pages, “Last year, when his campaign was floundering and nearly broke, McCain applied for public financing. Candidates who opt into the system get portions of their privately raised donations matched with taxpayer dollars, but agree to abide by an overall campaign spending limit. This year, the cap for the presidential primaries is about $54 million. But earlier this month, after he became the GOP front-runner and donations began pouring into his campaign, McCain decided to withdraw from the public financing system, even though he had not yet received any public money and his campaign has already spent nearly $50 million. Staying in the system would be crippling. His campaign would not be able to pay for ads, mailings, polls, or travel until September, when the primary campaign officially ends with the party convention.”
“Critics pounced on the announcement, saying it was too late for McCain to back out. And David Mason, the Republican chairman of the FEC, told the candidate that only the commission can decide whether McCain can be released from the federal funding system. But the commission is unable to vote because an impasse in Congress has left it with too few members for a quorum. As a result, McCain is in a bind. His campaign says that he has a right to declare himself out of the system without an FEC ruling and that he will feel free to spend more than the cap allows in coming months. But the dispute has cast a cloud over the self-styled election-finance reformer.”
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