A Confident Mike Huckabee Visits New Hampshire
A second place showing in the Iowa straw poll seems to have revitalized Mike Huckabee and his campaign as he visited New Hampshire this week. Granted two of the top tier candidates weren’t at the straw poll, or I should say one as I no longer consider John McCain a top tier candidate, but that hasn’t stopped Mike Huckabee from touting his surprising finish.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, fresh from a surprising second-place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll last week, arrived in the lead-off primary state yesterday seeking to build on the momentum.
His flair for the expectations game has some likely Republican voters giving him another look.
He does seem to have gathered some momentum in New Hampshire as a result of the straw poll, although I have not seen a recent New Hampshire poll to see if he has received any kind of bump.
“To have that exposure is important to me,” said Jim Untiet, an undecided voter from Goffstown. “I’m interested in his views.”
Larry Gagne, a semi-retiree from Manchester, said he would vote for the fiscal conservative who is the most pro-life and pro-gun candidate.
“This guy’s at the top of my list,” he said.
Huckabee seems very positive that his campaign is turning a corner and he is a viable candidate.
Huckabee acted like a man at a homecoming during his first campaign stop in Manchester, the first of three days in New Hampshire. He rifled through his priorities and cracked jokes, including poking fun at another former governor of Arkansas, Democrat Bill Clinton, who claimed the Comeback Kid mantle in 1992 after finishing second in the New Hampshire Primary.
As about 150 people ate the last of their pasta and meatballs, Huckabee called on them to join his “movement,” what he is calling his campaign after the result in Iowa.
“It was simply euphoric for all of us,” he said of the result compared with his campaign’s low budget. “We didn’t have gold roots, we had grass roots.”
“The whole dynamic has changed,” he said.
He may be right, I don’t think conservative voters in New Hampshire are totally thrilled with the top tier candidates. However I think a deciding factor when voters go to the booths will be electability, and I believe they will vote for the candidate they believe has the best chance to beat Hillary and not the candidate that necessarily reflects their opinions.
You can read the whole article here.
America's Watchtower 
Surprising because it was fixed to have ‘anyone but Paul’ be second.
Ron Paul is the only true conservative in the race and wins NH polls hands down.
The first straw poll in NH he won by 65% Huckabee did not even place.
Huckabee is soft on immigration, and in bed with Tyson Chicken.
He is also soft on privatization of schools as well. He’s a RINO like the rest of them.
Huckabee has no support in NH.
Ron Paul has 30,000 volunteers signed up all over the country, and $3M in the bank…
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Huckabee is very interesting. I like his views on taxes and the way he holds himself and can handle “set-up” questions (i.e. the evolution question at the debate)… But Jason Lewis, the local conservative talk radio guy, has said to be careful of him because he’s no conservative. I’ll have to keep my eye on him, because even if he isn’t a strict conservative, he does have some very free-thinking and new ideas compared to everybody else.
If you ever want an interesting read, look him up and read about the things he did after taking over the governorship of Arkansas. He’s a very charismatic individual and really grasps what it means to work for the people, which is how he became such a popular governor down there even though he’s a Republican in a VERY blue state
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I don’t favor any GOP candidate yet, but participating in the Iowa Straw Poll is political genius! Not participating–big mistake. McCain & Giuliani are idiots for not participating because it makes them look scared, distant & unsure of themselves. On the other hand, the Iowa Straw Poll GOP winners are enjoying free publicity coast to coast!!! They are making headlines and touting their legitimate results. Much of campaigning is perception, and it looks like McCain & Giuliani not only don’t care about GOP voters in Iowa, they also look like loosers. (And maybe they are.)
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I think you hit the nail on the head. Huckabee does seem to be enjoyng a bump here in New Hampshire. All it takes is a good showing in Iowa’s caucus and who knows what will happen. It will be interesting to see if Iowans hold a grudge against Rudy and McCain.
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