I was fortunate to be able to sit in on Gov. Huckabee’s bloggers conference call today, which featured Dr. James Robison of LIFE Outreach International and Michael Farris who is Chancellor of Patrick Henry College (Christian) and the Home School Legal Defense Fund.
Dr. Robison began by discussing his impression of Ronald Reagan describing him as, “a communicator that could move the American people and help them understand the importance of right choices, resolve, character, and principles.” Dr. Robison stressed that Gov. Huckabee is the candidate in this race who is best able to communicate with voters in that manner.
Michael Farris believes that Gov. Huckabee is the most able political communicator he has ever met in his life, which includes over twenty-years in Washington D.C. Farris stressed his opinion that every Republican who has ran as a conservative (Reagan in ‘80 and ‘84, Bush I in 1988, and Bush II in ‘00 & ‘04) they have won; while those who have ran as a moderate (Ford in ‘76, Bush I in ‘92, and Dole in ‘96) have lost, stating, “When the American people want to elect a Democrat, they will elect the real thing. When they want to elect a fake one…they never elect a fake version of it.”
The first question pertained to Huckabee’s 5-6 point increase in the polls in both NH and SC, which the asker felt was of special importance due to NH status as an “economic conservative state” and SC’s status as a “social conservative state.” Gov. Huckabee responded that the news of his tying Sen. McCain in SC and IA approaching him in NH is “very encouraging” and that the key has been the debates. People had the chance to listen to real ideas and discover that he not only a fiscal conservative, but is also conservative on the social issues which have brought many people to the Republican party. His growing support in the polls can be attributed to Republicans increasingly paying attention to the candidates messages.
Rob Bluey then asked his opinion of the revived Senate Immigration Bill. Gov. Huckabee states that he cannot support the bill due to it’s failure to address border security and to properly identify the people who have entered the US. He remarked that he still must show his ID when he returns to his own home town and believes that most Americans would love to pay the $2000 fine to the IRS rather than the much greater amount of income tax that they have had to pay in. It simply unfair to give this option to non-citizens.
Huckabee was then asked about his Q2 fundraising results. He stated that Q2 will be better than Q1, and hopes that Q3 will better than Q2. He will not raise as much as the “Big Three” but will be very happy with a result that will show “progress and momentum”. He will compete in Ames and believes that McCain and Giuliani pulled out because it would be difficult for them to explain their loss and reflects poorly on their ability to organize in a critical early state.
The next question was regarding the Fair Tax and what he would do as president to see that it becomes a reality. Gov. Huckabee stated that he is “unabashed, unapologetic, fervent, maybe [even] evangelical supporter of the Fair Tax.” “Bold and dramatic” moves are necessary to reform a tax system that no one (including even the IRS) understands. Taxes need to be flatter, fairer, finite, and family friendly; and the Fair Tax meets all four of those criteria. Our current system taxes productivity which tells people that they harder they work and the better they do, the more that the government will take away from them. The Fair Tax will finally be enacted when the American people get behind it and demand that their elected official pass the legislation. In other words, the momentum must come from the grassroots and be spread across the country.
A gentleman from “Colorado for Huckabee” then asked the Governor how he planned to follow through on his goal of total energy independence by the end of his second term. Huckabee joked that a good start would be for a windmill to be placed outside of Congress to harness the energy of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi’s hot air. Setting a goal of energy independence that is decades in the future means that it will never happen. Energy independence is a national securtiy issue. Innovation and conservation are key factors. The Fair Tax is a part of this. We will tell companies that we will not punish them for their innovations in developing alternative energies. Meanwhile, people will become better consumers and choose to conserve energy. Increasing supply in the interim can be achieved by drilling in ANWAR and the outer continental shelf.
I have to agree with Farris’s assessment of Huckabee’s communications skills. The Governor is eloquent, thoughtful, and downright funny no matter what the setting. And may I mention how much I love his support of the Fair Tax?
Team Huckabee has promised that this is the first of many conference calls to come-and I sure hope that it’s true. These calls are a wonderful opportunity to spotlight a remarkably talented candidate.
June 26th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
[...] Race 4 2008:I have to agree with Farris’s assessment of Huckabee’s communications skills. The Governor is eloquent, thoughtful, and downright funny no matter what the setting. And may I mention how much I love his support of the Fair Tax? Team Huckabee has promised that this is the first of many conference calls to come-and I sure hope that is true. These calls are a wonderful opportunity to spotlight a remarkably talented candidate. [...]
June 26th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I have a political question is fred thompson running or not? when will he stop saying maybe ect. and make a yes or no answer? what’s taking him so long to enter this race?
June 26th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I like Huckabee. He certainly is the best communicator of the GOP field. However Huckabee has very little ability to fund raise. In the modern primary an appealing candidate with a good message is nothing without the support of the influence buyers.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Huckabee is the man.
That is all.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
[...] Paul I think his campaign did the best job activating his online grassroots supporters. Huckabee talked directly to allied webloggers; the campaign used a real-time counter for fundraising, highlighted [...]