Iowa still likes Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee kicked off his book tour for, A Simple Government, visiting the first in the nation caucus state of Iowa. While Huckabee has not said whether or not he will run again, supporters turned out in droves to encourage the governor to Run Mike Run!

Iowa's top reporter Shelley Ahlersmeyer was seen traveling to each Huckabee book signing to gauge the level of interest of the crowds:

A warm welcome for Mike Huckabee in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!

Great crowd for Huckabee in Waterloo, Iowa! These are the late night supporters.

Spotted on a hopeful supporter:

Reporters jockey to get to Mike Huckabee:

Spotted on a Huckabee supporter in Dubuque, Iowa:

Some happy Huckabee supporters at Iowa book signing:

Happy Team Huck volunteer greeting at Sam's Club front door!

Another awesome Team Huck volunteer works the line!

Perhaps most unusual item signed by Mike Huckabee:

On Sunday, WQAD-TV Reporter caught up with Mike Huckabee and asked him about his book and a potential 2012 run:

 

Mike Huckabee on the Tavis Smiley Show: Best Government is Limited

Mike Huckabee sat down with Tavis Smiley and discussed the premise of his book, A Simple Government. "The best government is the most local government and it is limited government. Our founding fathers never envisioned that we would have a federal government so large with states so small. States now get more of their revenue from the federal government than they do from any other source. Our founders would be aghast."

Watch the full episode. See more Tavis Smiley.

Mike Huckabee Best Bet to beat Obama and turn North Carolina back to Red

In early March,  Mike Huckabee will be making four book tour stops in the battle ground state of North Carolina.  In 2008, McCain narrowly lost in the Tar Heel state to Obama flipping the red state to blue.  In order to turn that state back to it's historic red hue, Republicans best option would be to have Mike Huckabee at the top of the 2012 ticket.


Public Policy Polling

North Carolina 2012 Presidential Survey

    * Mike Huckabee 47%   {45%} [46%] (48%)
    * Barack Obama 46%   {49%} [45%] (44%)

    * Barack Obama 47% {47%} [46%] (44%)
    * Mitt Romney 44% {44%} [43%] (44%)

    * Barack Obama 48% {50%} [48%] (46%)
    * Newt Gingrich 44% {44%} [42%] (45%)

    * Barack Obama 51% {50%} [52%] (48%)
    * Sarah Palin 41% {41%} [38%] (43%)

Among Independents

    * Mike Huckabee 45%   {40%} [47%] (46%)
    * Barack Obama 40%    {51%} [37%] (37%)

    * Mitt Romney 42% {39%} [37%] (50%)
    * Barack Obama 41% {44%} [44%] (37%)

    * Barack Obama 45% {49%} [41%] (39%)
    * Newt Gingrich 38% {42%} [38%] (44%)

    * Barack Obama 54% {48%} [51%] (42%)
    * Sarah Palin 33% {32%} [33%] (46%)

Favorability

    * Mike Huckabee     43%  / 34%     +9%
    * Mitt Romney     37%  / 39%     -2%
    * Newt Gingrich   30%  / 48%    -18%
    * Sarah Palin        37%  / 57%     -20%

Survey of 650 North Carolina voters was conducted February 16-21, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.8 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted January 20-23, 2011 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted December 17-19, 2010 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted November 19-21, 2010 are in parentheses.

H/T  The Argo Journal  for compilation of data


PPP Nuggets: 

Only Huckabee bests McCain's less than one point loss here.

The main shift has occurred with independents. But while Obama led all 4 with independents previously, he now lags Huckabee 40-45.

Huckabee only GOPer with positive fav in NC- 43/34. Mitt at 37/39, Newt 30/48, Palin 37/57

Mike Huckabee on Morning Joe

Mike Huckabee sits down on Morning Joe to discuss his new book, A Simple Government.  Huckabee outlines his premise stating, "The problems we have in this country are very complex. But sometimes we need to back off and take a macro lens and look at them with a simple principle applied to them."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mike Huckabee: The President of the United States cannot pick and choose which laws he likes.

Mike Huckabee has a great interview on the Laura Ingraham radio show. Highlighted below is Mike Huckabee's Defense of Marriage and his challenge to President Obama's flip on DOMA.

* Childhood Obesity and Michelle Obama's Let's Move program

* Deficit

* Defense of Marriage Act and President Obama's flip

* Why the GOP Establishment won't support Huckabee

* Border Security and No to Amnesty
* TARP

I am not the biggest fan of Laura Ingraham because I think she tries to "set up" Mike Huckabee. But Huckabee is so much smarter than her. He answers the questions honestly. Even the questions about Romney. So when Ingraham asks Huckabee about a reality show with Romney, he goes on to give a good straight forward answer. Laura says "stay with me."  And then of course, the video stops. I guess Mike Huckabee outsmarted her and so we can't hear the rest.

Mike Huckabee edges out Palin and Romney in new Gallup Poll

Mike Huckabee continues moving on up in the Gallup polling.  Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich fall and Sarah Palin holds steady.

Gallup 2012 Republican Nomination Survey

* Mike Huckabee 18% [16%] [(12%)

* Mitt Romney 16% [19%] (19%)

* Sarah Palin 16% [16%] (16%)

* Newt Gingrich 9% [13%] (9%)

* Ron Paul 5% [6%] (7%)

* Michele Bachmann 4%

* Tim Pawlenty 3% [4%] (3%)

* Haley Barbour 3% [4%] (3%)

* Mitch Daniels 3% [1%] (2%)

* Rick Santorum 2% [1%] (2%)

* Jon Huntsman 1%

* Chris Christie (vol.) 1% [1%] (1%)

* Mike Pence (vol.) 1% [1%] (1%)

* Gary Johnson 1% [1%] (1%)

* John Thune 1% [2%] (2%)

* Other 3% [2%] (4%)

* None/No opinion 14% [14%] (19%)

Among Conservatives

* Mike Huckabee 21% [17%] (15%)

* Mitt Romney 15% [18%] (19%)

* Sarah Palin 15% [16%] (16%)

* Newt Gingrich 11% [14%] (10%)

Survey of 1,326 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents was conducted February 18-20, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted November 13-14, 2010 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted September 25-26, 2010 are in parentheses.

H/T The Argo Journal for compilation of the data

Mike Huckabee continues to be America's Best Bet to beat Obama

Mike Huckabee shows us what leadership looks like. He has an unwavering Pro-Life Record. Here is another poll where you can see why Mike Huckabee is our best bet to go up against President Obama.

NewsWeek/Daily Beast 2012 Presidential Survey

General Election

* Mike Huckabee (R) 46%
* Barack Obama (D) 46%

* Barack Obama (D) 49%

* Mitt Romney (R) 47%

* Barack Obama (D) 43%

* Donald Trump (R) 41%

* Barack Obama (D) 51%

* Sarah Palin (R) 40%

Republican Nomination

* Mitt Romney 19%

* Mike Huckabee 18%

* Sarah Palin 10%

* Donald Trump 8%

* Newt Gingrich 7%

* Tim Pawlenty 5%

* Haley Barbour 1%

* Mitch Daniels 1%

* Jon Huntsman 1%

* Not sure 31%

National survey of 918 likely voters was conducted February 12-15, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points.

H/T The Argo Journal compilation of data

Please enjoy these videos made by Mike Huckabee's grassroots supporters:

I want a leader who will go up against President Obama and debate him on the issues and leave personal information aside. 

Mike Huckabee said in his Good Morning America interview, "Let's focus on issues we have disagreement not on extraneous personal things which are immaterial."

I want a leader who values Human Life and believes that every Human Life has extrinsic value. Mike Huckabee wrote a statement at Huck PAC:

"As Americans, we have a love of all humans, from the baby growing inside a mother’s womb, to the elderly facing the end of their life on earth. Our respect and love for the human race is at the core of our society. It defines our family units. It defines our judicial system. It defines our political system. If we lose sight of the sanctity of human life, then we lose our soul."

Mike Huckabee: These Ideas could Help Change this Country

Mike Huckabee sat down with Sean Hannity and discussed the limited government policies ideas outlined in his new book.  Hannity cut right to the chase and asked him if he was thinking about running in 2012?  Huckabee said, "Of course I am thinking about it."  Reflecting on writing the book, A Simple Government, Mike Huckabee said, "These ideas could help change this country."  In regards to the principles outlined in the book he said, "This is what I really believe.  This is what I stand for."  Will the book tour help Huckabee decide on a run? "Maybe I should put my book out there and find out if there are people in this country who agree with it."

A Simple Government?  You betcha.

Mike Huckabee on Nightline

Terry Moran of ABC's Nightline interviewed Mike Huckabee both during a duck hunting event and in studio. Watching Huckabee in this natural environment,  he describes himself as a conservationist not an environmentalist.

Terry Moran asked Mike Huckabee if he is going to run in 2012?  Huckabee said, "I won't jump into that hole...Just Yet."

Insight into a President Mike Huckabee

Today I had the opportunity to be part of a blogger conference call with Mike Huckabee for his new book, A Simple Government. 

One of the answers that leapt out at me was when Mike Huckabee answered the questions from Tony of Ohio:  What would be the best way to convince the house and senate to take up the measure to implement the FairTax compared to how President Obama went about it with the healthcare system?  "If you were President in 2013, how would you handle that differently?" 

The FairTax in itself is not what struck me in the conversation, it was how Huckabee's strength of experience and his governing instincts shine through when it comes to the American people.  He saw how President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid shoved the new healthcare system down the American peoples' throats.  He knew it was not the way to go about making national reforms because he had learned from his 10 1/2 years of executive experience as Governor of Arkansas how to enact reform the right way.

Rather than impose the Fair Tax from the top down, Governor Huckabee suggested creating pressure from the bottom up.  As governor, Mike Huckabee had a legislature that was 90% Democrat.  "I learned quickly not to go in and tell them what they were going to do."  Instead Huckabee would take his message directly to the people.  "That would in turn create a groundswell of support for things I wanted to get done. The legislature felt they were responding to their constituents not capitulating to the governor of the other party.  The voters would then pressure the legislature to put forth a bill."   Huckabee emphasized building your case with the American people. "Ask them to contact their Senators and Representatives. Let them know it is their expectation of their representatives to change the tax code."

Mike Huckabee did admit that this takes much longer, but that it is worth the effort.  Huckabee stated that this is how he worked with the Democrat legislature in Arkansas that was overwhelmingly disproportionate.  And he was highly successful in getting effective changes made.

In regards to the FairTax, Huckabee stated that "both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge that we need a simplified tax code, we need a different tax structure, we need less dealing with the complexities of the tax code."   The American people have complained about various aspects of the tax code.  So the key here would be to take the message directly to the people.  Show them how they can achieve it.  Huckabee said, "The Fair Tax handles all of those things and more."

America is at a crossroad, it has very hard choices ahead.  Do we keep on spending like we have been doing and end up completely broke?  Or do we start reforming entitlements such as Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security?  Mike Huckabee, as President in 2013, would tackle those issues from the bottom up, taking the honest, somber message to the American people, and encouraging a groundswell of support for entitlement reform to be taken directly to the senate and the house by the people, for the people.

Bottom Up, Take your Message Directly to the People, Create Groundswell of Support, Get the people to Act, We can Achieve it!

Not only does that look exactly like what Mike Huckabee has done for the last two years bringing his message to the people through his books and TV/Radio shows, but it would be one Huckuva campaign strategy.

Mike Huckabee on Good Morning America

Mike Huckabee sat down with Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and discussed: 2012, beating President Obama, Wisconsin Budget Battle, Deficits, Cutting Spending, Sticking to the Issues, and his new book, A Simple Government:

*UPDATE:

Listed below are the Upcoming Media Appearances for Mike Huckabee:

NATIONAL TV:

* ABC / Good Morning America - 2/21

* ABC / Nightline - 2/21

* CBS / The Early Show - 2/22

* Fox News / Hannity - double segment - 2/22

* PBS / Charlie Rose - 2/22

* Fox News / Greta Van Susteren - 2/23

* CBN / 700 Club - 2/24

* Comedy Central / Colbert Report - 2/24

* PBS / Tavis Smiley - 2/24

* Fox News / Fox and Friends - 2/25

* Fox News / Neil Cavuto - 2/25

* Fox News / Fox and Friends weekend - 2/26

* Fox News / Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace - 2/27

* ABC / The View - 4/7

NATIONAL RADIO:

* Sean Hannity - 2/22

* Laura Ingraham - 2/24

* America Radio News Network - 2/24

* Kilmeade and Friends - 2/28

* Lou Dobbs - 2/28

* Steve Malzberg - 2/28

* Michael Medved - 2/28

* Mark Davis - 3/1

* Daybreak USA - 3/2

* American Family Radio - 3/2

* Mike Gallagher - 3/3

* Janet Parshall - 3/7

* Janet Mefferd - 3/10

Mike Huckabee's A Simple Government book tour kicks off this week

Media Events for Mike Huckabee's new book A Simple Government begin this week. His new book is a policy book detailing "12 things we need from Washington and a trillion we don’t."   Look for it on bookshelves Tuesday February 22nd.

"We need a simple government. Don't get me wrong; I know that many of the nation's problems are highly complex. But I also know that the governing principles that can solve them, if we work together, are simple."

Please check out Mike Huckabee on these television broadcasts:

MONDAY, February 21 – Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos interviews former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on ABC at 6-8 am ET

THURSDAY, February 24-The Colbert Report's Stephen Colbert interviews Mike Huckabee on Comedy Central at 11:30 pm ET

Mike Huckabee: Scott Walker is Trying to Govern

Mike Huckabee sits down with Eric Bolling and discusses managing the fine line between the political function and governing function of the Wisconsin Budget Bill battle:

Never popular to make cuts.  I cut 11% out of our state budget and people were saying 'Governor Huckabee is burning books.'

Politically: telling the people that this is not a political game, that he is actually trying to govern.

Governing: trying to get a few Democrats back into the state to do their constitutional duty.

Mike Huckabee on Potential Government Shutdown

Mike Huckabee sits down with Fox and Friends and discusses the potential for a Government Shutdown. Huckabee states that a shutdown creates a nightmare, disrupts services-that's not an ideal solution.

"The ideal solution is for people to act like adults. Do the jobs they were sent to do."

Mike Huckabee "Trumka Way Off Message"

Mike Huckabee was a guest on Cavuto and was asked about AFL-CIO Richard Trumka's speech in Wisconsin.  Mike Huckabee said that Trumka was way off message if he thinks that is resonating with the average American.

Mike Huckabee discusses Wisconsin Budget Bill Protest

As a governor for 10 1/2 years, Mike Huckabee knows how to balance a budget. He also knows how to cut expenses. Mike Huckabee sits down with Martha MacCallum and discusses the current budget bill crisis in Wisconsin.

* Ground zero for what you are going to see around the country. 

* Wisconsin is important because it was the first state where you had public employee unions.  Symbolic of what will happen across the nation.

* Got to be modifications to the programs and plans.

* Unfortunate involvement of the President to make it class warfare.

* Ungodly influence that the public sector unions have on this white house is scandalous.

* Obama did not have to go this far.

* Do not want to break a contract with these employees.

* If states go bankrupt, default on their bonds, and truly go into bankruptcy situation, the people who want an extra $10 will be losing thousands of dollars.

Mike Huckabee Best Bet to beat Obama in Tennessee

Public Policy Polling has released their latest 2012 data showing Mike Huckabee would be the best bet to defeat Obama in Tennessee.

Public Policy Polling

Tennessee 2012 Presidential Survey

Mike Huckabee 53%  

Barack Obama  41% 

 

Mitt Romney  48%  

Barack Obama  41%

Newt Gingrich 46%  

Barack Obama 43%

Sarah Palin 45%

Barack Obama 45%

Favorability:

Mike Huckabee 50/29   +21

Mitt Romney 33/41  -8

Sarah Palin 39/51 -12

Newt Gingrich 30/49 -19

PPP surveyed 500 Tennessee voters from February 9th to 13th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.4%.

PPP Nuggets:

"The former Arkansas governor has a pretty outstanding 50-29 favorability margin because Huckabee is liked the best across the partisan spectrum. All the others are seen negatively by both independents and all voters.  Not surprisingly then, Huckabee is the only candidate who soundly beats the president with independents, 51-40.

While a good chunk of Republicans are on the fence about whether to support Palin, Romney, or Gingrich, Huckabee locks up 90% of the GOP versus the others' 80-84%. Obama himself maintains 83-88% of Democrats' votes, and few Democrats are undecided."

Mike Huckabee holds wide Lead in Tennessee

Public Policy Polling 

Tennessee Republican 2012 Primary Survey

Mike Huckabee   31%

Sarah Palin      17%
Mitt Romney   11%

Newt Gingrich 11%
Ron Paul         10%
Tim Pawlenty    3%

Mitch Daniels    3%
John Thune      1% 

Undecided      14%

Favorability:

Mike Huckabee   74%/13%   +61%
Sarah Palin   67%/23%   +44%
Newt Gingrich   52%/28%  +24%
Mitt Romney   47%/30%    +17%

PPP surveyed 400 usual Tennessee Republican primary voters from February 9th to 13th.  The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.9%.

Nuggets from PPP Blogspot:

"We wondered when we started doing these 2012 GOP Presidential polls if Gingrich's potential presence in the race would really hurt Huckabee's strength in the South but that does not seem to be the case. Polls we've conducted over the last three months have now found Huckabee at the top in North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, and now Tennessee.

Mitt's favorability rating in Tennessee is only 47%, putting him way behind Huckabee's 74%, Palin's 67%, and even Gingrich's 52%. He has hovered right around the 10% mark in a lot of our Southern state polls and just does not seem likely to fare very well in the region next year."

Mike Huckabee continues to Lead in National polling: Does Best against Obama

Public Policy Polling

2012 Republican Nomination Survey

Mike Huckabee 20%

Mitt Romney 17%

Sarah Palin 15%

Newt Gingrich 12%

Ron Paul 8%

Mitch Daniels 4%

Tim Pawlenty 4%

John Thune 1%

Given the same list of choices who would your second choice be for President in 2012?

Mike Huckabee  20%

Sarah Palin  17%

Newt Gingrich  13%

Mitt Romney   12%

Ron Paul   6%

Tim Pawlenty  4%

Mitch Daniels   3%

John Thune  1%

Favorability

Mike Huckabee 58%/ 15%  +43%

Sarah Palin 65% / 25%  +40%

Mitt Romney 55% / 25%  +30%

Newt Gingrich 55% / 26%  +29%

Ron Paul 30% / 37%   -7%

Donald Trump 29% / 56%   -27%

PPP surveyed 400 Republican primary voters nationwide from February 11th to 13th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.9%.

Public Policy Polling

2012 National Survey

Barack Obama 47%  Mike Huckabee 44%
Barack Obama 46%  Mitt Romney 41%
Barack Obama 49%  Newt Gingrich 40%
Barack Obama 48%  Ron Paul 39%
Barack Obama 52%  Sarah Palin 40%
Barack Obama 48%  Donald Trump 34%
Barack Obama 48%  George W. Bush 44%
Barack Obama 50%  Jeb Bush 36%

Favorability:

Mike Huckabee 36%/30%  +6%

Mitt Romney 33%/42%   -9%

Sarah Palin 34%/56%   -22%

Newt Gingrich 27%/52%   -25%

Ron Paul 24%/52%  -28%

Donald Trump 27%/56%  -29%

PPP surveyed 600 registered American voters from February 11th to 14th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-4.0%.

Mike Huckabee: Never yield on the issue of the Sanctity of Human Life

Mike Huckabee spent his Valentines evening talking with pro-life supporters about the need to stand firm on the Life issue. Mike Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the Center for Bioethical Reform fundraiser held at the Knoxville Convention Center.  He was there to help raise money and encourage those who are fighting for the life issue. He was not deterred by either Mitch Daniels' truce statement or the protesters who came to march against the event.

Mike Huckabee got into politics because of the Life issue. He has stayed on message for over a decade.  Mona Nair, a reporter from WATE, posted an article regarding the event where Huckabee stated,

"Life is really precious, life is God's creation. We don't have a right to interrupt a process He has started." 

Protesters did not like the vivid abortion pictures displayed around campus.  The Director of CBR, Fletcher Armstrong said, 

"the goal of CBR is to target 50 major college campuses, about 700,000 students, with their message."

"Our organization goes to campuses and shows them pictures of what the injustices of abortion looks like," said Armstrong.

In regards to the protestors Huckabee said 

"he was happy to see the protesters, because they represent our freedom of speech in America."

When asked if he was going to run in 2012, Huckabee gave a more affirming answer stating,

he is "seriously looking at" running for president again in 2012 and one reason is so he can "elevate the issue of life."

Video courtesy of WATE

Both Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh have gone after Mitch Daniels for his truce statement, emphasizing that we still need to highlight the social conservative issues facing our country.   

Check out this audio at the Right Scoop where Mark Levin  "talks about conservatism and why people like Daniels should embrace all conservatives and not tell them to check their social issues at the door."  Matt Lewis at Politics Daily highlighted Limbaugh's angst with Mitch Daniels' CPAC speech,  "Social conservatives were dissed again at CPAC," said Limbaugh.  "The problem with CPAC," said Limbaugh, is "the principles are now up for grabs."

Well, we won't have that problem with a President Mike Huckabee who is not afraid to stand firm on the hot button political issues facing our country. Mike Huckabee stands on principle and has stated consistently and firmly that "Every human life has intrinsic value and worth."

Mike Huckabee already Awake for the 3 am call

Much was said about the 3 am ad that Hillary Clinton made regarding Barack Obama's lack of experience for the presidency. As we have watched President Obama and his administration fumble their response not only to the current crisis in Egypt, but their lack of response to last year's uprising in Iran,

the question begs to be asked: Which potential 2012 candidate would be ready to answer that 3 am foreign policy crisis call? Well, we already have an answer. Mike Huckabee was up and ready to respond.

In the Townhall article titled Mike Huckabee's Unanswered Question we learn from Huckabee's two fellow travelers to Israel, Floyd and Mary Beth Brown, how he responded to the Egyptian Crisis and prepared for his 2:30 am Huckabee show taping.

"Spending seven days observing him under stressful and sometimes grueling foreign travel, we observed a man who is unflappable.

On the day of his Fox show he displayed almost superman energy. First he hiked around the top of Herod the Great's 2000 year old mountain fortress Masada, speaking at the summit, and then he lunched on the shores of the Dead Sea, before riding in a bus caravan to Tiberius. Following this long, busy day of travel and speaking, he prepared and delivered a nearly flawless remote broadcast of his hour long show live at 2:30am in the morning. Just as busy the next day, you would never know he had been awake since the middle of the night.

Huckabee's interchanges with Israeli political leaders were warm and intensely informative and he is obviously admired and respected by the leaders we met. His knowledge of details about Israel and the history of Palestine are remarkable.

As an advocate for a robust American policy in the Middle East with Israel as our anchor ally, Gov. Huckabee is an advocate who will protect this important friend of America. Yes, Israel needs America, but America needs Israel."

Mike Huckabee returned to America this week and has been sharing the Israelis' concern with viewers:

Who do you want answering the phone?

Mike Huckabee has shown that he understands the history and complexity of the Middle East. He is not afraid to state one of the problems: Islamic Fundamentalism. He knows America's allies and understands how to delicately handle diplomacy with those countries.
 
It's 3 am, Mike Huckabee is already up and ready to answer that call.

Mike Huckabee in the News

Mike Huckabee just returned from his overseas trip to Israel. Jumping right back into the political mix, Mike Huckabee was a guest on Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano discussing Mubarak's decision not to step down and how Social Issues need to be part of the 2012 conversation:

Many pundits and bloggers are wondering if Mike Huckabee is going to run.  David Shedlock over at Caffeinated Thoughts wrote a great tongue in cheek post about their posturing:

Everybody Knows Except for Mike Huckabee

February 11, 2011

Every one of the above has run polls or made predictions about how each of a number of candidates will fare during the upcoming Presidential primary/caucus season.  Each has left out Governor Huckabee, even though he continues to lead when polled for favorability, and when in national or many state horse races.  Do they do this because he has announced he is not running?  No, they don’t.  The only announcement made was that he wouldn’t make a decision until summer’s approach.  How do they know, then?  These soothsayers use eight kinds of divination….

Will Mike Huckabee Run?

There has been much speculation about whether or not Mike Huckabee will take another shot at the presidency . We only have to listen to Mike Huckabee's own words and a few indicators to determine that answer.  Mike Huckabee has repeatedly said that he will run if Obama is beatable.  So lets take a look at today's Gallup polling to see if in fact Obama is beatable.

Gallup shows that President Obama's approval numbers have continued to slip away. But if we look more closely at the data we can see that the domestic/economic area is where Obama is in the most trouble:

Foreign Affairs   + 3%

Handling of Egypt  + 15%

Afghanistan  + 1%

Energy Policy  + 1%

Taxes  - 12%

Healthcare  - 16%

Economy  - 23%

Federal Budget Deficit  -  41%

The economic issues were the reason the midterm elections resulted in tremendous gains for Republicans not only in congress, but in governorships across the country.  Those issues will still be key in 2012 if the economy has not turned around.  As an American first, I am not going to be wishing that the economy continues to stagnate just so that my preferred presidential candidate will choose to run. I am hoping that the economy turns around and those who have been long termed unemployed get the jobs that they need.

In order to change those approval ratings on domestic issues, Barack Obama needs to move towards the center as President Bill Clinton did after the mid-term losses in his presidency. But President Obama states that he has not moved to the center, nor does he have to.  In his interview with Bill O'Reilly before the Super Bowl:

O'REILLY: But the pundits now say you're moving to the center to raise your approval, is that true, are you moving to the center?

OBAMA: No.

O'REILLY: No? Because we were set up over there, and then they moved you a little to the center.

OBAMA: (Laughs) Here's what I think is true. Over the first two years of my presidency, we had a complete disaster. Right? We had a complete crisis. The financial markets were breaking down. We were slipping into a Great Depression. And we had to take a bunch of extraordinary steps in order to make sure that the economy was growing again, which it is now, growing. Making sure that the private sector was creating jobs again. It's now doing that.

And now our focus is not on refighting the battle of the last two years...

O'REILLY: So you're not moving to the center?

OBAMA: I haven't -- I didn't move to...

O'REILLY: You haven't moved anywhere? You're the same guy?

OBAMA: I'm the same guy.

President Obama needs to tack to the center and work with Republicans as President Clinton did during his term.  American voters will want to see that Obama cares more about his country than he does about his ideology.  

Since the start of the new year Mike Huckabee has been at or near the top of every poll.  Nationwide, Mike Huckabee has been trending upward in the polls.  This week CNN released polling data showing Mike Huckabee at the top with respondents also indicating that President Obama will lose the presidential election in 2012.  Sixty eight percent of those respondents indicated they want to nominate a candidate who can beat President Obama.  Mike Huckabee appears to be that very person.

Mike Huckabee at the Top of Two polls: CNN and Harris

Mike Huckabee is at the Top of Two polls Today:

CNN/Opinion Research 2012 Republican Nomination Survey

* Mike Huckabee 21% (21%) [14%] {24%} (17%)

* Sarah Palin 19% (14%) [18%] {15%} (18%)

* Mitt Romney 18% (20%) [21%] {20%} (22%)

* Newt Gingrich 10% (12%) [15%] {14%} (8%)

* Ron Paul 7% (7%) [10%] {8%} (8%)

* Haley Barbour 3% (3%) [3%] {1%} (1%)

* Mitch Daniels 3%

* Tim Pawlenty 3% (3%) [3%] {2%} (5%)

* Mike Pence 1% (3%) [3%] {2%} (4%)

* Rick Santorum 1% (2%) [2%] {3%} (5%)

* John Thune 1%

* Someone else (vol.) 5% (7%) [6%] {5%} (8%)

* None/No one (vol.) 4% (4%) [0%] {5%} (2%)

* No opinion 2% (6%) [4%] {1%} (3%)

Favorability

* Mike Huckabee 72% / 13% {+59%}

* Mitt Romney 64% / 16% {+48%}

* Sarah Palin 70% / 25% {+45%}

* Newt Gingrich 59% / 23% {+36%}

* Rick Santorum 32% / 7% {+25%}

* Ron Paul 46% / 22% {+24%}

* Haley Barbour 32% / 9% {+23%}

* Tim Pawlenty 31% / 9% {+22%}

* Mike Pence 23% / 4% {+19%}

* Mitch Daniels 23% / 9% {+14%}

* John Thune 16% / 7% {+9%}

Survey of 479 Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents, was conducted January 21-23, 2011. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted October 27-30, 2010 are in parentheses. Results from the poll conducted August 6-10, 2010 are in square brackets. Results from the poll conducted April 9-11, 2010 are in curly brackets. Results from the poll conducted March 19-21, 2010 are in parentheses.

Poll Compilation done by: The Argo Journal

The Harris Poll

                                    Total     Rep     Indep   Dem

* Mitt Romney              23       35        26       15

* Mike Huckabee          23       39        25       13

* Sarah Palin                   21      31        18       17

* Rudy Giuliani                21      25        24       17

* Newt Gingrich               13       23       15         5

* Tim Pawlenty                9       15        12         4

* Michel Bachmann         5         8          6          3

* Rick Santorum             5       10          7          2

* Haley Barbour             5         8           6          2

* Mitch Daniels              4         5           5          2

* Not Sure                   43       25         40        52

2,566 adults were surveyed online between January 17 and 24, 2011 by Harris Interactive®. 

Of course no one has officially jumped into the horse race.  The fans are waving their flags in the stands and the jockeys are dressed and ready to go.  But not one horse is ready to line up in the starting gate.