2008 Presidential Candidate
Mike Huckabee
Notes from Evan Smith
"In conventional wisdom terms, he’s the Republican up arrow of the moment — the party’s lone presidential candidate on the rise in the polls, the one with the heat, the one all the big brand columnists are writing about, the darling of conservative Christians, who have been famously dissatisfied with the field so far, the funny one, the smart one — and, predictably, because of all these things, the one everyone is starting to attack. For Mike Huckabee, all the attention must be flattering — it is, his supporters say, certainly overdue — but is it too little too late? Or, with only a few weeks left before the crush of decisive early primaries and cacuses, is it just enough in the nick of time? Born, like Bill Clinton, in Hope, Arkansas, 52-year-old Huckabee graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth — it should surprise no one to learn, therefore, that he is an ordained Baptist minister who pastored to congregations all across his home state. He entered politics in 1992, successfully running for lieutenant governor in a special election — only the second Republican to win that office since Reconstruction — and when the Democratic governor resigned four years later, Huckabee succeeded him. He was twice releected to full terms of his own, and just a few months after he returned to the private sector, he announced he’d try for the White House. The left says he’s out on the fringe, supporting convenant marriage and the teaching of intelligent design and proudly admitting that he believes in creationism; the right says he raised taxes, increased state spending, and saddled Arkansans with nearly $1 billion in debt; Huckabee says judge me for who I am, and decide for yourselves if I’m the right guy for the job. In the blink of an eye, he’ll know their verdict." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 11.1.07
