Running for President of the United States is a very unique undertaking that virtually all of us will never even come close to attempting. Gov. Huckabee has spent a lot of time and energy determining if it was God’s will for him to run for President again in 2012, and that is very admirable. Anyone who puts God’s will ahead of their own ambitions or desires is a wise man indeed.
Much, and likely too much, has been made of a supposed everlasting feud between Gov. Mike Huckabee and Gov. Mitt Romney. The perhaps most publicized story involving animosity between the two men occurred back in 2007. The fact that Mike Huckabee apologized to Mitt in person and Mitt quickly accepted the apology was hardly covered at all. I guess the main stream media likes to create/feed into controversy between republicans. The lazy media must’ve been shocked to find out Mitt Romney was one of the first people to call Gov. Huckabee after the announcement:
When Wallace noted he didn’t mention Romney, Huckabee said, ‘No but let me tell you something — I got a wonderful voicemail from Mitt Romney last night, which I thought was very gracious on his part.’… Huckabee insisted if Romney is the nominee he’ll support him, because he’d be better than President Barack Obama. ‘…I will support him if he is our nominee and he very well may be,’ Huckabee said.
The truth of the matter is both men have served their country as governors and have spent a lot of time out of office working to improve our great country.
Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney were close when they both served concurrently as governors of their respective states. Mike Huckabee respected and admired Mitt Romney enough that he asked Mitt to write one of the recommendations for his book “Quit Digging Your Grave With A Knife And Fork”
Here’s what Mitt said:
“Governor Huckabee’s inspiring story is a call to action for anyone who has ever struggled with managing their weight. His good-natured humor and understanding shine through, and his advice is sound, straight-forward, and easy to follow.” — Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts
Mike Huckabee is an inspiration to so many Americans who want to lose weight but sometimes feel helpless to do so for a variety of reasons. One idea that doesn’t get nearly enough talk when it comes to health care is improving preventative care. Health care in this country would cost much much less if the overall health of our citizens improved. It’s an obvious and simple concept, but so much of the health care debate focuses on what to do with the catastrophically ill. As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Mike Huckabee rightly brought these ideas to the health care debate, and we are profoundly grateful as Americans that he did. No health care plan should be considered complete without also improving preventative medicine.
Even more important is Mike’s tireless effort promoting the pro-life cause. Speaking for myself, the prospect of getting Roe vs. Wade overturned is why I became active in politics in the first place. I would never even consider supporting a candidate for President who would nominate a Supreme Court Justice who would uphold Roe vs. Wade. Thanks to the announcement of a couple pro-choice Supreme Court Justices that they won’t retire until after the 2012 election, we have a great chance to finally get Roe vs. Wade repealed. We believe Mitt Romney to be our best chance to elect a pro-life President.
In the 2008 and 2010 elections, both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee worked tirelessly to elect conservatives and fortunately their work paid larger dividends in 2010. Hopefully 2012 will be an even greater election for conservatives. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have taken turns leading the national polls for over a year and both match up well against President Obama. We’ve all said that Mike Huckabee would’ve been a far superior president than President Obama and we would’ve supported him with great ease should he have been the GOP nominee in 2008 or 2012. Goal #1 has always been and must remain that President Obama is a 1-term President! Any supporters of Mike Huckabee are welcomed with open arms to join us here at Mitt Romney Central or even to just stop by and chat/see what’s going on from time to time. Together we can Bring America Back and help people who’ve lost faith to Believe in America again!
6/17/2011 UPDATE
Gov. Huckabee might be Gov. Romney’s VP? Watch what Gov. Huckabee said here.
I hope the Huckster is voting for the Mittster.
Former Huckabee supporter, here… happy to join Team Mitt! Let’s just get Obama out of office!
As the field is starting to clarify, I hope we keep our eye on our ultimate goal – the defeat of Obama. I believe Mitt Romney is the best man to do that, and we need the support of all conservatives. So to all members of Huck’s Army, welcome to Team Mitt.
Hucksters unite with Team Mitt to take down Obama in 2012!
Former huck supporter here but not sure about Mitt. His recent speech on romneycare really turned me off
I was unaware Mitt had made that statement for Mike’s book — shows true character (that I often question if Mitt has). I’m willing to take another good look at Romney if it means putting our country back on track.
Not saying he’s got my full endorsement, but I’ll give him a look. In the meantime, I appreciate the unity vibe from your site here —- I’ll be around.
-Bridgette
@Bridgette from Bama
Welcome to Mitt’s team
Love how classy the Paul folks have been… LOL. Definitely wouldn’t ever consider joining that camp!
@Aaron Smith
um…..Aaron, I would study his religion before you say he isnt Christian…
With Mike Huckabee no longer in the race, Mitt Romney has a much clearer path to victory in Iowa, which gives him a much clearer path to victory overall. Imagine Romney winning Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, all before Florida votes. If he loses South Carolina, then he can still go on to win the nomination, making him the first GOP candidate in modern history to win the nomination without SC. On the other hand, if he does win SC, then he’ll likely make history as the first candidate of either party to win the entire field of primaries and caucuses. He was set to do that in ’08, until Huckabee came out of nowhere to win Iowa.
As for the general election, I’d like to see Romney pick Governor Nikki Haley of SC as his running mate. The Left would go berserk, claiming she’s just another Sarah Palin, but she’d bring the South together in a way that even Palin probably couldn’t. Not to mention, after four (or eight) years as Romney’s VP, she’d be all but unbeatable as the party’s nominee in 2016 or 2020.
While I fully support any candidate with constitutionalist beliefs, Ron Paul is certainly my current choice for the GOP primaries. If it comes down to Romney as the Republican candidate, he will still have my support. To be honest, Paul and Romney are the only two candidates who have my support.
God bless, my fellow small government supporters.
@LouAnn Ellis
Welcome!
Well-written and very true .. I also did not know about the recommendation for Mike’s book .. I say that it showed a lot about both men .. Mitt’s nice write-up, but also for Mike to have asked him. I truly hope that the (perceived) feud .. primarily amongst the men’s supporters will end now. And like everyone else has said .. focus on the real goal of getting Obama out of office!! God Bless.
Mike is smart to stay out of the race and want to united the republican to unseat Obama from the white house because he saw who is the strongest and fit to be the president at this time,so it is time for republican to unite behind Mitt for a strong and power full party to take back the white house and lead America for prosperity,there are only two that better fit for the VP, #1 is Mike Huckabee and #2 is Jeb Bush,republican leaders started unite and want to be one strong republican now that is a good sign for the entire party and the country to stand with their real leader Mitt for America better future , Mitt/ Huck 2012.
This is a big deal. I believe Mike Huckabee will stand by his word and get behind Mitt if he’s the nominee.
I agree with so many of you, and with Tsimnuj, I and my husband have said for some time now, that Jeb Bush would be a great addition to the Romney campaign as VP. Not only is he likeable and did a wonderful job as governor in Florida, but he could bring Florida into the Romney/Bush camp. Plus, the Latinos.
Huckabee’s recent financial success over the past few years appears to have been reflected in his waistline….hopefully he catches that before he balloons up again. I am always impressed by people with the determination and commitment to cut back on their weight as he did.
Makeli: If Huckabee is a man of honor, he will get behind Mitt. Unfortunately, past experience makes me doubtful. I think he was very disingenuous with many of his attacks on Romney in 2008.
At the same time, we have Huckabee to thank for helping McCain gain the nomination and lose vs the unbeatable Obama of ’08. Mike saved Mitt from getting walloped by Obama, giving him another opportunity in 2012.
Although there is a growing movement of evangelicals that realize it will NOT be the end of the world if a mormon is elected president, the vast majority still seem to think so. I would love to be wrong on this one. I’m sure he’d prefer Romney over another four years of Obama. C’mon Mike, surprise me!!
The latest from National Review Online on who DOESNT benefit from Huckabee’s dropping out:
“One candidate who might not pick up votes from Huckabee’s decision: Mitt Romney.
“He hates Mitt Romney,” Sabato says. “Given that intense dislike, one has to assume that he will at least make comments hurtful to Romney and maybe endorse one of the other candidates at some point to try to stop Romney, if indeed Romney’s moving forward.”
While I’m not sure that Mike “hates” Mitt Romney, one thing I’ve come to the conclusion of recently (which also explains why I have not renewed my subscription to National Review) is that many of the staff at National Review, including the editors, have cultivated an intense dislike (or “hate” if you prefer) for Mr Romney. And I don’t believe it’s just because of Masscare.
Anyone else planning to boycott National Review?
National Review is particularly puzzling when it comes to Romney-bashers. They endorsed him fairly early in the ’08 season, when they could just as easily have chosen Huckabee. Now, they’re … well, getting weird about it. I get that no one expects a significant migration of Huckabee supporters to the Romney camp, but they’re hardly that disimilar. They’re both former governors, they both ran once before, and they’ve both worked hard to elect conservatives across the country in the years since. Larry Sabato, respectfully speaking, doesn’t know what he means when he says Huckabee might try to sabotage Romney’s campaign. Even if he did try to sabotage it the first time around, that was when Huckabee was a candidate himself. He has no such motivation to do so again.
“The fact that Mike Huckabee apologized to Mitt in person and Mitt quickly accepted the apology was not covered hardly at all.”
I am sorry, but you really can not do that to the English language. Either something was covered or it was not. It can not be ‘not covered hardly at all.’ It was either covered, however briefly or rarely, or it was not covered. That sentence does not make the slightest bit of sense, and reads appallingly.
This has nothing to do with ideology, with political partisanship or with personal preference. This has to do with a respect for the language, and a respect for your audience. It is your duty to make your words as clear as possible. And you have neglected that duty. For shame, sir.
Mike Huckabee acted like a child during the last election. He constantly spoke badly of people who were wealthy, which is highly unusual for people who consider themselves to be Republicans. He referred to the Club for Growth as the “Club for Greed”.
But this was just par for the course for Mike Huckabee. Huckabee has always seemed to have a very sharp tongue. Huckabee is the same man who as Governor of Arkansas called “racist” anybody who was opposed to illegal aliens getting in-state college tuition waivers. Huckabee also said that a fellow Republican Baptist preacher in the Arkansas legislature drank “from a different Jesus juice” than he did.
I’ve always been a bit puzzled as to why Huckabee was promoted as such a “likeable” or “affable” candidate who was “just such a nice guy”. His behavior as Governor & as a candidate was the exact opposite of “nice”. “Nice guys” don’t attack or allow their campaign apparatuses to attack the faith of their opponents.
This was apparently the status quo for Huckabee. He had no problem questioning the Christianity of his fellow Baptist preacher in the Arkansas State Legislature. So, he sure as heck wouldn’t have a problem questioning the Christianity of the Mormon Mitt Romney. And yes, Huckabee apologized after a debate when one of his worst religious slurs against Romney’s faith began to backfire in the media. And immediately after apologizing, he ran over to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to let everybody know on camera that Romney had just accepted his apology for this religious slur on behalf of all 12 million Mormons around the world.
Huckabee never apologized to the Mormons that he slurred. But he had no problem using them as the boogie-men to further his political ambitions.
During the 2008 primary election cycle, Mike Huckabee had so much disdain for Mitt Romney. He despised Mitt’s wealth. He despised Mitt’s professional background. He despised Mitt’s religious beliefs. He seemed like he despised standing next to Mitt on debate stages. He looked as though he could barely handle hearing Romney speak during the debates. This deep-seated hatred toward Romney by Huckabee continued on & on.
A lot of Huckabee’s continuing Romney hatred has to do with one particular event that Huckabee has mentioned repeatedly. After spending immense time, energy, and financial resources to organize in Iowa, Mitt Romney had garnered huge leads in Iowa Caucus polling. That was before, Huckabee started a religious war against Mormons & made his “I’m the real Christian in the race” campaign motto. Romney lost support of a few of his voters. But what happened mostly was that anti-Mormon evangelicals who had avoided the Iowa Caucuses in that past came out in force. These voters put Huckabee over the top.
After losing the Iowa Caucuses, Mitt Romney did not call Huck to congratulate Huckabee on his Iowa victory. I don’t really know what Huckabee was expecting. But it really hurt his feelings. The call could have gone something like this: “Congratulations on your victory in Iowa. You did an impressive job of attacking my religious beliefs & fomenting religious bigotry against people who share my faith in order to win. I can’t wait to go up against you in South Carolina.” This appears to be the root of Huckabee’s destain toward Romney. Obviously, Romney wasn’t too happy about what happened either, but nobody could really blame him.
Romney’s deepest concern going in would be an electorate that would not accept his faith & vote against him just because he chose to worship God in a different way than they did. This is exactly what happened. But it didn’t happen because the media pushed any anti-Mormon message or because any preachers pushed anti-Mitt the Mormon messages either. The root of all of this anti-Mormon messaging began with what Mike Huckabee said openly or subtly or permitted to be said in his campaign or by those affiliated with his campaign. Romney could have cried foul, but that would have most likely only made the situation worse.
So, today we get to a point where Huckabee decided not to run for President again on the Anti-Mormon Party Ticket. And this blog has asked that Huckabee’s supporters now choose to support Romney in a somewhat pathetic attempt at pandering. This is my way of asking instead.
I don’t like Mike Huckabee. I think that he represents many things that are bad in America. I think that he did many horrible things in his time as Governor & I especially think that his campaign for President in 2008 was despicable. Mitt Romney was always gracious & acted like the adult in the room. I don’t think that I need to do that, but I respect Governor Romney for his grace. But Huckabee has never shown any whatsoever. The religious slurs that he said about Mormons were never apologized for & I take it personally when politicians attack the faiths of others.
If Huckabee supporters want to join Team Romney you will be welcomed. But I don’t plan to gravel at your feet like other candidates seem to have done immediately following Huckabee’s announcement yesterday. What Mitt Romney does offer is extremely hard work & dedication in his campaign to be President of the United States. He is extremely competent & as the 2008 election showed, his temperament is exactly what we should want in an American President. I think that Romney’s professional background & intellect are qualities that make him a superb candidate for President of the United States.
Romney’s merits stand on their own & if he is elected President I know that he will serve this Country honorably & reverse the extreme liberal course that Barack Obama has set for the United States.
@Jon Park
Haha you’re language was colorful and perhaps a bit over the top, but it did cause me to fix the sentence. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. In my haste to publish this piece in a timely fashion, I guess I didn’t proof-read it thoroughly.
@Shari
You right Shari! I am a Christian, not a perfect one! I have been given instruction by God to do something and I have not followed through on this instruction and I was in big trouble. A few months ago I was instructed to go to a healing service, I had company and they didn’t feel like going! I finally said “I HAVE TO GO TO THIS SERVICE”. Before the minister had his hands on my head I could feel the warm on my back. I have had no pain in my back sense! I have had back problems for years. I praise God everyday for this healing!
I am deaf, why would God heal my back and not my hearing? My being deaf has not been a problem with jobs. God has put me in jobs, own business and successful and I have never lost anything or have been on Welfare.
I KNOW WHAT AND HOW MIKE FEELS ABOUT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT WHEN GOD IS NOT WITH HIM ON THIS AT THIS TIME.
THE FIRST TIME I SAW OBAMA ON TV, I USE CAPTION, MY SKIN FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS CRAWLING OVER IT AND I GOT COLD CHILLS. MY THOUGHT WAS ‘ANOTHER HITLER’.
I HAVE CANCELED MY CABLE AS I CAN’T STAND HIM OR HIS WIFE. CANCELLED ALL MAGAZINES THAT PROMOTE THEM.,
BEING A CHRISTIAN AND LIVING IT IS LOVE FOR ALL! WE HAVE A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD, CHURCH. HE “GOD” HAS BROUGHT ME THROUGH A LOT OF SITUATIONS.
OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO BE OK, OBAMA HAS TO GO. I DON’T KNOW HOW HE GOT IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?! LOTS OF MONEY FROM EASTERN COUNTRIES THAT WANT TO TAKE US DOWN “WITHIN”.
ALL STATES NEED TO OPT OUT ON THE REFUGEE PROGRAM. THEY WILL START A CIVIL WAR HERE JUST LIKE IN EUROPE. WE DON’T NEED THE COST OF WELFARE AND FRAUD THEY ARE FINDING IN THE REFUGEES THAT ARE HERE.
I LIVE CLOSE TO THE MEXICAN BORDER AND OBAMA IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO IS COMING ACROSS THE BORDERS. GO ON LINE TO BORDER PATROL AND THEY GIVE A BETTER UPDATE OF WHAT IS GOING ON!
WE FIRST ANSWER TO GOD AND THEN MAN AND THAT IS HOW OUR COUNTRY SHOULD BE RUN. WE ARE A CHRISTIAN NATION AND WE DON’T WANT TO BE UNDER MUSLIM LAWS. THIS IS NOT WORKING IN THEIR COUNTRIES AND NOW THEY WANT TO MAKE OUR COUNTRY INTO WHAT AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES ARE JUST FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND TERRORS SPRINGING UP ALL OVER.
TERRORS CELLS IN THE U.S.A, WILL THEY BE THE REFUGEES?
WHY IS IT TAKING OUR GOVERNMENT SO LONG TO FIND OUT IF OBAMA HAS A B/C? HOW MUCH DID HE PAY TRUMP TO SHUT-UP?
Romney also commented this afternoon for the first time on the decision of his former rival – Mike Huckabee – to not pursue a second presidential bid.
“I took that news with mixed emotions,” Romney said. “On the one hand, I’m happy to not be facing a tough and effective competitor in Mike. But on the other hand, he’d be a veteran and we’d have good times together. And I’ll miss him on the campaign trail.”
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2011/05/romney_not_ruli.html