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The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz is reporting:
Mike Huckabee may have flamed out as a presidential candidate, but his glibness and humor did not go unnoticed.
The former Arkansas governor has signed a one-year deal as a political commentator for Fox News, where he will sound off on a variety of programs. A knowledgeable source says an announcement is expected soon.
Other cable channels had been pursuing Huckabee, who provided commentary on MSNBC during one of its primary-night broadcasts. Fox has given a platform to such former Republican politicos as Newt Gingrich and Karl Rove.
Huckabee honed his broadcasting skills during his years as a Baptist minister, and his underfunded White House campaign relied heavily on TV appearances, from his constant calls to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to his stint playing air hockey with Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert. His first job, at 14, was reading the news and weather at a radio station.
The deal keeps Huckabee in the spotlight as he contemplates a second run in 2012, a tactic perfected by Pat Buchanan, who hosted CNN’s “Crossfire” between presidential campaigns.
No word on whether the deal calls for Huckabee’s band to play while Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity kick off their programs.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Great,
Now I have to quit watching Foxnews.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Bye bye Huck, glad you’re off the list as possible VEEPs.
It was Huck who singlehandedly allowed McCain to pull an inside straight and become the GOP nominee for POTUS. It would have been insult to injury then for Huck to have been McCain’s Veep (assuring a GOP loss in November).
After all, the left MSM wanted Huck and McCain as the GOP POTUS choices, don’t give em both.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I disagree that this positions Huck well for 2012. I think this knocks his chances down, actually. How often do we see someone come from in front of the Camera to win the POTUS position? Let’s see… there’s Fred Thompson, oh wait.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
uhm….so John McCain is further ahead on the VP search than we think.
Does anyone else read the same thing?
June 12th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
ogrepete,
Well you have Pat Buchanan and Wesley Clark and Al Sharpton.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Huck must have been told “No” by McCain, so he signed a one year contract with FoxNews.
Interesting, there must be some movement in the Veep process or atleast eliminations have begun and people like Huck are getting notified.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I am sure that contract can be broken. The real problem is that Huckabee will be given a million chances to put his foot in his mouth.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
When I think about it, I can’t even imagine what substance Huck will add. He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and him opposite someone like Rove would be pathetic.
H does give some star power I guess, and makes SoCons a little more excited about Fox.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Quit watching it? This is going to give me a reason to actually tune in! I know this is heresy for a republican, but I’m not a huge Fox viewer, except for Hannity occasionally and the Sunday show. I don’t agree with all of Huckabee’s policies, but I think he’s a fantastic commentator – witty and fairly straightforward. This is a perfect fit for him! (though MSNBC would have been interesting, too:)). Face it guys, he was going to get some sort of position like this no matter what.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Now we have to watch this maniac in every single Fox show.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Firstly, this does not at all mean he is off the VP list. If anything, he is getting constant viewership and exposure prior to the time McCain must select a vice president (and, if you can set aside your biases for just a moment, it is evident how he energizes his audience) — which, by the way, is exactly why Fox wants him. If McCain does choose him — and Huckabee thinks it is the best move for him to accept — he will, of course, break the contract. Fox would love to have an inside track with one of their strategists being the Republican VP pick. Watch how the Romney lovefest starts gradually reducing. Huck has a wining way — all the little Foxes will soon be eating out of his hand.
More importantly, if he does not get (or does not accept) a VP nod, in all likelihood, McCain won’t be elected — especially if he puts millionare Mitt on the ticket. Huck is now set up to win over other segments of the republican base that McCain obtained in 2008 (he already has the evangelicals adoring him). His eyes are clearly trained on 2012 — and me thinks he has a great shot.
By the way, reports note that other cable networks were pursuing him, but, as Jonathan Martin of Politico quite correctly notes, siding with Fox places him strategically where he wants to be in 2012.
Huckabee is really unbelievable — always a master at securing free publicity, this time he is actually getting paid for it. Try to put your own limited biases aside, this guy is definitely on the way up.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
[...] Mike Huckabee will follow in the footsteps of Pat Buchanan by biding his time between Presidential runs by doing TV commentary: The deal keeps Huckabee in the spotlight as he contemplates a second run in 2012, a tactic perfected by Pat Buchanan, who hosted CNN’s “Crossfire” between presidential campaigns. [...]
June 12th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
voter says “Huck has a wining way”
You forgot the h.
June 12th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
It makes sense, Huck just doesn’t pull in the cash at the fundraiser (I mean, who would pay $2,400 for a photo op with “the guy you work with–not the one that laid you off”). Talk is cheap, and Huck will give Fox plenty for their money’s worth; he’s good at that. They need to fill in that 24 hour news cycle.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Jason in #5. Nice ones!
Very, very funny to Aron in #13. Actually, that sounds like something Huck would say…
June 12th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
#11. blah….blah….blah….
June 12th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
#16 — we shall see, won’t we
June 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
What better way to prove to your perspective boss that you can handle the short, media heavy general election cycle? Get hired by the media.
Nobody uses free media better than Huckabee and the media loves talking about themselves… “Well Mr. Commentator, you have just been selected to be VP, how does it feel?”
June 12th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
It is hard to believe that Mike Huckabee might go to work for FOX News. He has more integrity in his little finger than the entire FOX News staff and the imbeciles who watch that station have in their whole bodies. While he may not be corrupted by them, they do not deserve a person of his caliber. He needs to be President, and give the country a dose of what it badly needs, some fiscal discipline and social justice. Only those whose God is greed and those who hate religion are stupid enough to oppose him.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
#19…
Nicely said except for the fact that fiscal discipline and social justice might be polar opposites.
By the way, thanks for calling me “stupid enough to oppose” Mike Huckabee. You might have just added a capital “H” to the word “him” and been done with it, David.
All of us had candidates we favored during the primaries. Each of us probably feels a bond with that person we favored during the primaries. Calling everyone who didn’t favor Huckabee “stupid” seems like a bad idea just on the face of it.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
#19. Huckabee and fiscal discipline should never be uttered in the same sentence.
June 13th, 2008 at 7:09 am
What the heck is going on:
Perhaps you can explain how Mr. Huckabee balanced his state’s budget and perhaps you can explain how Mr. Huckabee received the second highest amount of delegates on a shoe string budget. Say what you will, Mr. Huckabee certainly has fiscal discipline.
June 13th, 2008 at 8:19 am
It’s gives me a reason to watch Fox News again… It’ll be quite interesting now… I don’t think this take sHuckabee off the V.P. list, if anything it keeps him in the public eye and an all but better candidate for McCain to choose.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am
ogrepete: Perhaps David is only frustrated by the Romneybots and paid off organizations that misrepresented Huckabee’s record and tarnished his reputation.
I know I completely lost all respect for the “conservative” talk radio folks… when they cannibalize one of their own with the same intensity and apparently the same disingenuousness as they attack Obama, you just shrug and wonder is they are all phony or just stupid.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:37 am
vid Anderson,
You are joking right. Huck has integrity. I seem to remember some issues about some missing computers, pardons for donations and firing sherriffs who investigate your sons for killing dogs.
Ohio Joe,
The only reason Huck got the second highest amount of delegtes was because Romney GAVE HIS AWAY. Huck was the sore loser.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:38 am
#24. I love how creative people are. Those darn Rombots.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I also remember a guy who spoke in churchs during his campaign for the tune $50,000 which went straight to his campaign fund, a guy who used anti-mormonism to launch his bid and guy who said he wasn’t going to run a commercial but will show it to the media…so they can run it. The list only gets longer.
Huck will not get very far, he never could get votes outside of the Evangelical base, and even there he couldn’t get get a majority.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Jason Bonham: The charges in Arkansas against Governor Huckabee have all been shown to be the result of corrupt Democratic politicians who wouldn’t know the truth if it hit them over the head with a 2×4. Huckabee’s re-elections in Arkansas speak much louder than those juvenile claims of yours. Huckabee has core values and his life is a living example of them. I hate that dopey guitar of his, but I know a great man when I see one. Huckabee is a great man. He has brain, guts, heart, and instincts. Two kinds of people oppose him are those on the far left who hate religion because of their own immorality, and on the far right because they don’t know that greed is immoral. The center loves him. If not for the media on the far left and right, he would be President. Some day he will be.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Ohio Joe,
Explain how Romney won Michigan by almost 200K more votes than Huckabee, yet apparently in the total number of delegates Romney in Michigan is ZERO, and Huck has 4. Maybe that’s the explanation as to why Huck has “more delegates” than Romney. Romney had 290+ before Huck dropped out, and somehow some of his delegates disappeared.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
The only reason Mr. Romney left the race before Mr. Huckabee is because Mr. Romney was sick and tired of throwing good money after bad. The only reason that Mr. Romney won Michigan is because of his roots there. The fact is that Mr. Romney’s money could not win him any primary state that he did not have roots in. Mr. Romney may be an economic Conservative (apart from Health Care,) but he did not manage his campaign money all that well. To be sure he did a good job in managing the Winter Olympics, but politics is a different story.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
David Anderson,
When was this ever shown? I haven’t read it or seen it, although I have been told it numerous times by Huck supporters without anything to back up the comment.
Ohio Joe,
Give me a brake, he did fine with his money. It’s a stupid argument anyway.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
And yes, Romney beat Huck until… He GAVE HIS DELEGATES AWAY! Is that how Huck wins? I think so.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
With respect Jason, you guys are the ones that have been making the stupid argument that Mr. Huckabee is not fiscal responsible. That is not the case either in Arkansas or in the campaign.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Ohio,
I made the argument that he is not honest. Which I have yet to see any evidence that he is. The argument I made is that the only reason Huckabee may have finished with more delagates was that Romney gave his away. Romney could have quit and held on to them, but he decided not to.
Besides Huckabee’s record as governor kind of sucked. Unless one likes terrible immigration policies, shameless begging for tax increases and a culture of corruption, then I might be wrong.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Jason, different sites have slightly different vote tallies so to be honest, I do not know what the exact figures are, but I believe that Mr. Huckabee has an advantage of about two dozen delegates over Mr. Romney, you are correct that Mr. Romney freed his Michigan delegates to support other candidates, but I am sure about other states, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that issue. In terms of spending, it varied from state to state, but Mr. Romney outspent Mr. Huckabee 20 to 1 and still lost. I don’t have exactly figures, but it is pretty much admitted by various pundits that Mr. Romney outspent Mr. Huckabee in the campaign. I have absolutely no problem with Mr. Romney spending campaign money, but he cannot turn around and say that he is more disciplined when he has relatively less to show for it.
As for Mr. Huckabee being dishonest, I quite frankly think that is a bit of a cheap shot. Other than hearing him speak once, I never met him personally so I cannot vouch for his honesty, but I trust that he is sincere. I could stoop the the level of some of Mr. Romney’s supporters and accuse Mr. Romney of being dishonest, but I have never met him either and I certainly cannot speak for whether he is honest or not, but essentially, I have no reason to doubt his sincerity.
I simply have a different opinion than you (and others) with regards to Mr. Huckabee’s record in Arkansas. First of all, he was not successfully charged with any corruption charges. As for taxes increases. Yes he did unfortunately raise taxes, but taxes in AR are still lower than in MA, while Mr. Romney raised fees big time. Furthermore, Mr. Huckabee balanced the budget and improved the roads. As for Immigration, it is an issue that I for one care little about in part the terrorists did not come from Mexico. While Mr. Huckabee’s position may be more liberal than Mr. Romney. He is not for open borders. Mr. Huckabee at least has a realistic plan for Immigration, while Mr. Romney does not. If we do not need Immigrants, why did Mr. Romney himself once hire an illegal Immigrant himself.
I am not going to accuse Mr. Romney of not being Conservative because on balance he is probably as Conservative as most other candidates, I just do not share all his priorities. However, I am a little disappointed at the double standard that Romney supporters have. Romney supporters tend to say ‘oh no, we are not being negative against Mr. Huckabee, we are just comparing records.’ Yet when Mr. McCain and company examined Mr. Romney foreign policy record during the Florida primary campaign, all of a sudden Romney supporters cried foul and accused Mr. McCain of not telling the truth when that was not the case. Mr. Romney is not a bad man, but I am a little fed up with the double standards of the Romney campaign especially when his own record of Governor was not exactly great. He buggered up health care for MA and I want no part of such a scheme for the rest of the country.