My firing of Alex Knepper for his post on Sarah Palin Wednesday afternoon engendered quite a bit of controversy on the site, and that is perfectly understandable. Alex is intelligent and eloquent and possesses perhaps the most critical skill of any writer, that of being able to spark fervent debate of the crucial issues of our time with his words. I will miss Alex, not only as a writer, but also as someone with whom I believed I would share a longtime friendship.

I did not ban Alex from commenting right away. My haste to get to the convention on time on Wednesday, more than anything, was responsible for that. I am glad that he had the opportunity to have a sort of farewell, he has been a big part of the R4′08 Community for a longtime; first as a Page 2 writer, then as a member of our staff. I did not bother to read all of the things that Alex wrote about me before I revoked his commenting privileges, and to be honest, I don’t really care to. However, some of his sentiments have been communicated to me by others, I therefore find it necessary to respond with my side of the story.

The first thing that people must realize is that Alex was attending the RNC as my guest. He was not issued a media credential. I signed him in at the beginning of the convention, and I was responsible for his actions during his time in St. Paul. Alex was not here to be an investigative journalist folks, and he was aware of this fact before he got on the plane for Minnesota.

The deadline to apply for media credentialing was May 15th. I sent out several emails to the entire Race42008 staff to let them know they needed to apply by that date to be considered for a media credential. Alex blew off doing what he was suppose to do until about a month ago. When he told me how much he wanted to come, and how it would be an experience of a lifetime for him, I felt like I should do whatever I could to help him be a part of history.

So almost everyday from that point on, I had to frantically send emails, make calls, etc…, to see if there was anyway Alex could attend. I have a full-time job, am a married man, run this website, and have relatives and friends, etc…, like everyone else–so the demands on my time are great. Those demands on my time suffered while I did everything I possibly could to get Alex into the RNC. I also spent a great deal of time helping him find the best travel arrangements for his trip.*

When I found out that I prior commitment would prevent me from picking Alex up at the airport, I made sure that my mother and father would be available and take time out from their busy lives to be there for Alex so that he wouldn’t have to pay $80 for a cab ride to his hotel.

I made sure to find the closest hotel to me that wouldn’t break Alex’s budget. However, that hotel was still about a 45 minute drive from my home. So that meant that I was committing at least an hour-and-a-half of each day just to picking up and dropping Alex off.

The bottom line is that I feel that I did everything that a friend could possibly do to help Alex so that he could attend the RNC and have this wonderful experience and I was happy to do so.

From the very moment he stepped foot in Minnesota, Alex was almost in a manic state of fury regarding Sarah Palin. When I came to pick him up, he recited the same laundry list of “scandals” that he has now made all of us at R4′08 aware of. When the news regarding Bristol Palin broke, it sent him over the edge. There was talk of using the site to spur the grassroots movement that would result in the withdrawal of Sarah Palin, ala Harriet Miers, and that our presence at the RNC would place us in the perfect position to begin the movement immediately.

I communicated in no uncertain terms that I would not stand for such a thing for even one moment. I tried to communicate that we do not know the full context of many of the quotes in question, nor do we know for certain if any of the allegations (such as her membership in the Alaskan Independence Party) where even remotely true. I came to find, however, that once Alex has made up his mind about something, he has made up his mind for good, and there was nothing I could do or say to convince him that there may are many potential upsides to her selection.

I thought that I had made myself clear, and that we could move on and enjoy our time. I had volunteered to help out at many events around town beginning in the early mornings, but I had so many cool things planned for us to do after I had fulfilled my commitments each day. Among them: a breakfast with perhaps the most famous Republican Senator not named “John McCain”, a reception attended by numerous U.S. Governors that included a wonderful gourmet dinner, a gathering in a historic St. Paul Mansion attended by multiple U.S. Senators/Governors and other famous TV/film types, etc…**

At each one of the events, Alex would approach either the guests or the guests of honor in a very aggressive manner and, while shoving a voice recorder in their face, confront them with his “facts” on Sarah Palin. I will refrain from naming names, but some of the people he confronted were former elected Republican officials who are now getting up in years. One of the guests of honor he confronted, in addition to be elderly, is currently battling a very serious illness.

And I am not exaggerating when I say that Alex pumped these people with his “Sarah Palin Facts” in a aggressive and confrontational way that clearly made people uncomfortable. I was not with him all the time to personally witness him doing this, but I was told by other guests as well as well as others in our group that people where wondering who brought this jerk and whether he was someone from the liberal media sent to raise doubts among the GOP base during the RNC.

After we had attended the RNC and watched Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman give their speeches, I decided to have a heart-to-heart with Alex on the way home. He was my friend, and I felt that a real friend would let him know how badly he was behaving, and how this bad behavior would not serve him well in his adult life if he continued down this path.

Alex basically told me that he must remain true to his principles, and his principles told him that Sarah Palin was the wrong choice and that he was obligated to do everything he could make the world understand this. I told him, as we concluded the conversation, that we would just have to agree to disagree but that not a word of anti-Palin rhetoric was to appear on R4′08. I let him know that I would pick him up the next day after I finished with the volunteer responsibilities I had committed to in the late afternoon. So Alex was well aware that I would be getting up at 7am and would not be at my computer, perhaps, the entire day.

I was finally made aware of Alex’s post just as I completed my prior commitments in a text message around 5:30pm. I drove to a coffee shop, read the post, and came to my decision immediately.

I stand by my decision 100%. I have given Alex and everyone else here more than fair warning that I would not allow the site that I founded — and have spent the past 4 years of my life working on — to be used to in any way assist Barack Obama become the President of the United States. Race42008 is a forum for Republicans of all stripes to come together and discuss the events of the 2008 presidential race 24/7. It makes no difference what kind of a Republican you are, all are welcome here.

But allow me to make myself clear: if you are engaging in any actions that may contribute to the defeat of John McCain and Sarah Palin in November, you are not a Republican. Call yourself anything else that allows you to get to sleep at night, but do not call yourself a Republican. Political parties exist to win elections first, foremost, and always. Anyone whose actions are in any way detrimental to the chances of Republican victory in November are not welcome here and will be permanently banned from Race42008, Race42012, Race42016, and so on.

So yes, I did indeed not allow him to attend Wednesday and Thursday’s sessions. It was my duty to not allow him to be there. He was my guest, and I was responsible for his behavior. I could not, in good conscience, bring someone who was acting in this manner into the Republican National Convention.

Lastly, I know that Alex and perhaps others have accused me of abandoning him in the Twin Cities. Allow me to educate you: Alex Knepper is a grown man. He is not a child. He is an adult with credit cards, money, a cell phone, a computer, etc… He is at the time of his life when he is able to take care of himself. He was in the exact same situation that we all would have found ourselves in if we had traveled to a strange city and treated someone who was suppose to be a friend in a most unfriendly manner.

As far as some of Alex’s other assertions, I will say that there are many people who know me well on this site, all of whom find Alex’s allegations laughable. I will appeal to their good opinion, as well as my general conduct as Managing Editor of this site, as my defense.
________________________________________________________________________

*I will continue to keep everyone else’s name out of this, but I should note that there is another member of the Race42008 staff that also put in a lot of work to make this trip happen for Alex. He knows who he is.

**Please do not interpret my writing about these events as any sort of boast. During a convention, anyone with a media credential is able to attend these sorts of events. All one needs to do is to find out where and when they are. I am certainly no one special in this regard whatsoever.

People may have have noticed my absence from the site lately. Hardware problems have kept me from blogging or even checking on the site except for very early in the morning or very late at night, or perhaps for a minute or two now and then throughout the day.

So Alex Knepper’s post “Sarah Palin Facts” came as a complete surprise to me when I logged on today. I would have never allowed such a post to stay up on the site for longer than a minute had I had access to a computer. I find the fact that this was posted at a time when Alex knew that I was away from my computer for the day says all that needs to be said about Alex Knepper.

I want to apologize to every Race42008 reader for Alex’s Post. I thought I had made it clear to Alex in conversations yesterday that it is totally unacceptable for frontpage posters to actively work to undermine the ticket’s success in November. As a consequence, Alex is no longer a member of the Race42008 team.

I am deeply sorry that a frontpage poster used the forum that I have worked so hard to build to disseminate the Democrat’s talking points to destroy our ticket’s chances for victory in November.

I ask that all of Race42008’s readers, the Republican Party, and Conservatives everywhere accept my most sincere apology.

There are some significant additions and changes, including my homestate House candidate Cynthia Lummis (go Wyoming!). The full list is below the fold (names with asterisks* are new additions or changes from the first list sent out last week):
(more…)

Beginning Monday, Aron Goldman, Alex Knepper and I will be blogging live from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul — where we hope to provide our readers with frequent posts, video, and photos from the Xcel Center.

We hope you all will enjoy our coverage.

Good morning, this is John McCain, speaking to you at the end of an eventful week in the presidential campaign. All the talk today is about my opponent’s selection of his running mate. To his new running mate, my congratulations and I’ll get back to you real soon on your debating opponent.

The week began with a debate of sorts between Senator Obama and me at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In case you missed it, the discussion yielded the line of the week, and maybe even of the campaign, when Pastor Rick Warren asked my opponent a very serious question. He wanted to know at what point, in my opponent’s view, does a baby have human rights? Senator Obama thought about it for a moment, and came back with the reply that the question was, quote, “above my pay grade.”

Here was a candidate for the presidency of the United States, asked for his position on one of the central moral and legal questions of our time, and this was the best he could offer: It’s above his pay grade. He went on to assure his interviewer that there is a, quote, “moral and ethical element to this issue.” Americans expect more of their leaders.

There seems to be a pattern here in my opponent’s approach to many hard issues. Whether it’s the surge in Iraq that has brought us near to victory, or the issue of campaign reform, or the question of offshore drilling, Senator Obama’s speeches can be impressive. But when it’s time for straight answers, clear conviction, and decisive action, suddenly all of these responsibilities are — well, as he puts it, “above my pay grade.” As mottos of leadership go, it doesn’t exactly have the ring of “the buck stops here.”

Often, too, Senator Obama’s carefully hedged answers obscure more than they explain, and this was the case in his conversation with Rick Warren. Listening to my opponent at Saddleback, you would never know that this is a politician who long since left behind any middle ground on the abortion issue. He is against parental notification laws, and against restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortions. In the Illinois Senate, a bipartisan majority passed legislation to prevent the horrific practice of partial-birth abortion. Senator Obama opposed that bill, voting against it in committee and voting “present” on the Senate floor.

In 2002, Congress unanimously passed a federal law to require medical care for babies who survive abortions — living, breathing babies whom Senator Obama described as, quote, “previable.” This merciful law was called the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Illinois had a version of the same law, and Barack Obama voted against it.

At Saddleback, he assured a reporter that he’d have voted “yes” on that bill if it had contained language similar to the federal version of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Even though the language of both the state and federal bills was identical, Senator Obama said people were, quote, “lying” about his record. When that record was later produced, he dropped the subject but didn’t withdraw the slander. And now even Senator Obama’s campaign has conceded that his claims and accusations were false.

For a man who talks so often about “hope,” Senator Obama doesn’t offer much of it in meeting this great challenge to the conscience of America. His extreme advocacy in favor of partial birth abortion and his refusal to provide medical care for babies surviving abortion should be of grave concern to reasonable people of goodwill on both sides of this issue. There is a growing consensus in America that we need to overcome narrow partisanship on this issue for both women in need and the unborn. We need more of the compassion and moral idealism that my opponent’s own party, at its best, once stood for. No one is above the law, and no one is beneath its protection.

Upholding these principles, and bringing Americans together on the side of life, is the work of leadership. And I can assure you that if I am president, advancing the cause of life will not be above my pay grade. Thanks for listening.

If you are a R4′08 residing in Ohio, could you send me a quick email to kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com?

Thanks!

I just got this in the mail from the HuckPAC (Mike Huckabee’s PAC for supporting conservative Republicans) - In case anyone is interested in participating.

So far the following candidates are participating: Bob Clegg, Jim Inhofe, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, Steve Daines, Elizabeth Dole, Roy Brown, Gilbert Baker and Brad Lager.

If you have contact with other candidates, have them contact the HuckPAC at 501-324-2008 and they can be participants as well.

Brett

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Governor Mike Huckabee

Date: Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Subject: Vertical Day July 23
To:

Next week on July 23rd, Huck PAC is hosting a “Vertical Day” for candidates. If you followed my campaign for President than you may remember the first “Vertical Day” we held on September 24 of last year. On a day when many said we should have focused on our fundraising for that “all important” 3rd quarter financial report, we instead focused on the issues. I blogged about the issues, answered questions about specific issues and used video to speak to voters about issues important to our campaign. We also featured guest blog posts from key supporters of the campaign, supportive bloggers and a guest post from Newt Gingrich. We had a great time and received lots of positive feedback from supporters. This time, I am going to step to the sidelines and let the candidates Huck PAC has endorsed take the field. We have offered each candidate the option to blog up to 4 times about the issues that matter most to them. No fundraising appeals, no calls to action, just a simple link to their website will be added to each blog post in case you want further information. These candidates aren’t just blogging to Huck PAC supporters within their home states and congressional districts, they are blogging to our community. They value what we accomplished during our campaign together and they are eager to offer their views for the way forward and their solutions to the problems we face. I hope you will take the time to visit us next Wednesday and participate on Vertical Day. I also hope you will share that day with friends and family. Here is a breakdown of Vertical Day information: 1) Vertical Day is July 23rd 12PM-12AM ET. 2) Each candidate has the option to blog 4 times about issues important to them. 3) We will redesign the homepage of www.huckpac.com to host Vertical Day. 4) One of the things we hope to accomplish is to introduce these candidates to you and your personal networks, facebook friends, etc. We encourage you to forward the blog posts you like to friends and family. We will actually track the “friends contacted” using our send to a friend tool and share the information with you in real time. 5) I will open and close Vertical Day with a blog posts of my own. 6) The following candidates are participating: Bob Clegg, Jim Inhofe, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, Steve Daines, Elizabeth Dole, Roy Brown, Gilbert Baker and Brad Lager. We will update this list on our website as Huck PAC endorsed candidates agree to participate. 7) We have asked Huck PAC bloggers to cover the event. For current information on which bloggers are participating follow my feed on Twitter. If you have a blog and are interested in covering the event read more here. I will email you again very soon and I hope you will mark next Wednesday off on your calendars and tell your friends and family to do the same. Thanks for all of your support, Mike Huckabee

I have about 20 .gif maps that I’d like to make into an animation.  If someone can help me out with this, please e-mail at horaceox@hotmail.com.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

The New York Times is reporting that NBC Senior Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert has died from an apparent heart attack. He was 58-years-old. Russert was the Managing Editor and Moderator of “Meet the Press” and political analyst for “NBC Nightly News” and the “TODAY” program. He anchored “The Tim Russert Show,” a weekly interview program on MSNBC. Russert also served as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

There is no better way to make sure that you are part of history in St. Paul this September than becoming a volunteer for Republican National Convention.

The RNC is looking for a total of 10,000 volunteers to help welcome delegates at airports and hotels, assist with transportation logistics, work with security teams, supporting convention operations at the Xcel Energy Center, as well as providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Hosting the Republican National Convention is a once in a lifetime honor for our beloved Twin Cities. It is incumbent upon all Minnesota Republicans to do whatever we can to help make our convention a success.

Please take a moment to head on over to the Minneapolis/St. Paul 2008 Host Committee’s site and volunteer to help our convention become all it can be.

Show your pride in being a Minnesota Republican and make memories that will last a lifetime.

I really hope that they go with an unattended stool/microphone on stage with Sen. McCain to illustrate just which candidate is too afraid to speak openly with American voters:

Please tune into The Fox News Channel tonight at 7PM EDT to watch the first 2008 Presidential Town Hall, broadcast from Federal Hall in New York City. This historic location is where President George Washington first took the oath of office. Tonight it will play host to John McCain while he answers questions from real voters about important issues including the economy, energy prices and the war.

Last week, John McCain invited Senator Obama to participate tonight, hoping to start what would be a series of ten town hall meetings where both candidates would travel the country to answer questions from real voters. Senator Obama has yet to agree to meet us in these town halls. These town halls would revolutionize our political process and start a real change in the tone of politics. John McCain believes in this effort and is putting it into action.

Please tune into the Fox News Channel, tonight at 7PM EDT to witness first-hand John McCain’s brand of straight talk with voters.

I will create an Open Thread for us to discuss the Townhall as it happens. The thread will go live at approx 6:45pm EST.

We are in the process of making some minor technical tweaks to the site and really need your input to make the best of it. So if you could take a moment or two in the comments section to answer a few questions about how the site looks to you on your computer I would greatly appreciate it:

1. Can you see the pictures in the “Race 4 2008 Interviews” section which is located down on the right-hand column, or is it just a field of white?
2. Are both the left-hand and right-hand sidebars properly situated?
3. Are there any other problems with how the site looks (technically speaking, not aesthetically).
4. What browser are you using: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc…?

Thanks to you all for your time and input!

1) I’ll be heading to D.C. in the morning with another incoming American University freshman to check out Hillary Clinton’s concession speech. I’ll be getting there quite early (entry is first-come, first-serve) to make sure I’m able to get in. I’ll report back in with anything of note.

2) No Question of the Week this week. I graduated from high school today, and, upon returning home, took a long nap. I was at a concert last night (M.I.A., if anyone is interested) and, well, between that and graduation, I was tired. But not too tired to go see this speech tomorrow!

That is all.

I will, of course, defer to any frontpage poster who wishes to live blog the results.

Race42008’s West Virginia results open thread will be going live tonight at 7:30pm EST. Of course, I will defer to any front page poster who wishes to liveblog the results.

Make sure that you check out Patrick Hynes’ new project  Now! Hampshire, which launched today.

Now! Hampshire starts off with a bang, featuring interviews with John Sununu and Jeanne Shaheen.

Sen. McCain will be holding a town hall meeting on health care in Pennsylvania today at 2pm EST. You can watch the meeting live at JohnMcCain.com.

Anyone wishing to live blog the event can email me at kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com.

Race42008 is pleased to present out newest contributor, Michael Stubel.

Michael is a freshman at American University in Washington, D.C., where he is Political Science major with other academic interests in United States foreign policy and journalism. He is a native of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, an increasingly purple-shaded suburban Philadelphia county that recently saw Democratic registration inch by Republican figures for the first time. A political junkie since the 2000 election, Michael was a student leader for the Rudy Giuliani campaign before the Mayor exited the race and is now volunteering when he can for John McCain at his Crystal City headquarters. Fully committed to the ideals of smaller government and a robust national defense, Michael – PARepublican from the comments section – hopes to expand the Republican brand on one of the country’s most liberal campuses.

Welcome aboard Michael!

Race42008 is proud to welcome new front-page poster, Alex Knepper.

Alex is perhaps an enigma among Republicans: a gay, atheist, soon-to-be-college student from one of the bluest states in the nation (Maryland) who listens to gothic and Satanic heavy metal music. But as a testament to the big tent party that the Republican Party is, Alex - ThatLibertarianGuy from the comments section - is as staunch a Republican as they come. He’ll be attending American University in the fall, likely to major in Political Science and minor in Arab Studies. He’d aspires to one day become a political author and commentator. In the meantime, he’s active as the scourge of socialists everywhere and the self-appointed grammar policeman of Race42008.

Welcome aboard Alex!

Race42008 is proud to announce the newest addition to our team, Ory Rinat.

Ory is a Junior at Columbia University, majoring in economics and political science. He previously served as the National Chairman of Students for Rudy. In that capacity he built almost 200 chapters of the coalition on campuses around the country, and designed high school and college outreach programs. He posts will be focusing on the youth involvement in the 2008 race for the White House.

Welcome aboard Ory!

Happy Easter from me and the rest of us here at Race42008.

I hope you have a blessed Easter and that you can enjoy it with your family.

One of the progenitors of the American conservative movement has departed.

At a time when the GOP seems more determined than at any time in the last quarter-century to stray from its conservative moorings, WFB’s passing is an ill tiding.

Sen. McCain will be doing a full hour of Larry King tomorrow night on CNN at 9pm ET.

Hot off the presses at Huck’s Army:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 7, 2008

CONTACT

Lucas Roebuck
Public Affairs, HucksArmy.com
971.832.0247
hucksarmypress@gmail.com

 

HUCKABEE GRASSROOTS TO ROMNEY SUPPORTERS: GIVE MIKE ANOTHER LOOK

HucksArmy troops: Huckabee’s conservative credentials are real

McCain can’t beat Hillary or Obama in the South — Only Huckabee can

 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 17,000 grassroots “troops” of HucksArmy.com are encouraging Gov. Mitt Romney supporters to take another look at Huckabee. They have set up a welcome and question and answer forum at http://forums.hucksarmy.com where Romney and Huckabee supporters can interact.

“Although many have been misinformed, we really believe that Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have similar credentials and conservative positions,” said Lucas Roebuck, Public Affairs Officer for HucksArmy.com.

NO TAX INCREASES: Both Huckabee and Romney signed the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge. John McCain has not signed the pledge (atr.org).

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: Both Huckabee and Romney have said energy independence is vital for American security and would make it a top priority of the administration.

GUBERNATORIAL EXPERIENCE: Both Huckabee and Romney believe that the experience of being governor is most beneficial when preparing for the presidency. Romney was governor for a term in Massachusetts; Huckabee was governor of Arkansas for over a decade.

SECURE THE BORDER NOW: Both Huckabee and Romney opposed amnesty. Both support getting the Mexican/American border fence done in the first months of the next president’s term.

SANCTITY OF LIFE: “We must promote a culture of life,” said Romney. No candidate has done more to promote life than Mike Huckabee, according to the National Right to Life PAC.

Huckabee supporters also believe Huckabee is the most electable GOP candidate at this point.

“Republicans don’t win if they don’t carry the south,” Roebuck said. “McCain may be polling well in national polls, but how will he do against an Obama or Clinton in the critical Southern states? Both Barack and Hillary have a unique appeal to the South that only Huckabee can negate.”

If Obama is the candidate, Huckabee’s oratory excellence will be critical in national Republican debates.

“Huckabee is clearly the best GOP debater,” Roebuck said. “He’s the one who will be able to face down the siren rhetoric of Obama in the general election.”

About HucksArmy.com

With core values of faith, family and freedom, HucksArmy.com is an online grassroots movement not owned or operated by any candidate or political campaign. With more than 16,000 recruits, HucksArmy.com is dedicated to mobilize support for candidates who honor God and country.

###30###

Huckabee supporters are not giving up on this race either - Mike is the one true conservative left standing. Open invite to help Mike get the nomination.

Huckabee has no intention of getting out the race (he is a marathon runner, you know), but this is still an interesting development.

PRESS CONFERENCE: Monday, February 4, 2008, 9:45 AM, National Press
Club, 529 14th Street NW, DC

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A broad coalition of
black conservatives from across the country are holding a press conference
to urge former Governor Mike Huckabee to stay in the presidential race for
the Republican nomination until the Convention.

“Governor Huckabee should not be intimidated to stop his bid for the
republican nomination,” states Don Scoggins, veteran GOP activist and among
other conservatives hosting the press conference. “The momentum of the
grassroots that propelled this party into victory is behind Mike and will
not stop fighting for him regardless of his bank account,” also states
Scoggins, president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, a DC based
national grassroots organization.

The concern of the group is the pressure that is mounting by republican
talking heads to push governor Huckabee out of the race. The consensus is
that Huckabee’s campaign was deliberately sabotaged by Fred Thompson in
South Carolina to hone out a two man race between McCain and Romney in
Florida. Polls still show Huckabee leading in many southern states, and
competitive in others even with limited resources.

“Inside-the-beltway Republicans have lost touch with the increasing
seriousness with which heartland conservatives relate to the traditional
values agenda,” states Star Parker, a nationally syndicated columnist and
conservative activist. “More and more folks are feeling personally
assaulted by the meaninglessness that is gripping our culture and believe
that Mike Huckabee is the only republican candidate that embodies the moral
clarity of the GOP ideals. The groundswell generating support for
Huckabee’s candidacy understand that moral and economic health go hand in
hand and should not be underestimated.”

Numerous African American conservatives, many also veteran Republican
Party activists, are scheduled to speak at the one hour press conference.

When: Monday, February 4, 2008 - 9:45 AM
Where: National Press Club (Murrow Room)
Who: Black Conservatives for Mike Huckabee

SOURCE Republicans for Black Empowerment