Mike Huckabee: I will not seek the Republican nomination for President this year

Mike Huckabee used the last few minutes of his Huckabee show to announce to Fox News viewers that he is not going to seek the Republican nomination for President.

This has been a much anticipated decision as it affects other potential candidates who have not yet declared. Mike Huckabee will be on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace where he will further discuss his decision. 

As a strong supporter of Mike Huckabee in 2008, I had hoped that he would run again in 2012.  Mike Huckabee had asked his supporters to pray for him-discernment-so that he would make the right decision.

As I was driving to go hear him speak in Dallas this week, I did just that, I prayed that Mike Huckabee would hear what God's will was for him.  That if God had other plans for him, that Mike Huckabee would clearly hear that calling.  For believers in Jesus Christ, we know that when God closes one door, he opens another.

Mike Huckabee not only consulted his strategists, family members and friends, but he more importantly consulted God.  And as many of us know, it is easy to take time to pray to God, but it is harder to take the time to sit and listen to what God has to say.

Mike Huckabee gave a thoughtful, well thought out reason for not seeking the nomination.  I for one am proud that he acknowledged that he sought the Lord in this major decision.  Mike Huckabee said that he found peace once he came to his decision.  Now his supporters must do the same.

Key aspect of Mike Huckabee's statement from HuckPAC:

When people asked me what it would take for me to run, I would tell them the same thing---pray for me to have clarity in the decision. I don’t expect everyone to understand this, but I’m a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. That relationship is far more important to me than any political office. For me, the decision is ultimately not a political one, a financial one, or even a practical one ---it’s a spiritual one.

The past few weeks, the external signs and signals and answers to many of the obstacles point strongly toward running. When I am with people encouraging me to run, it’s easy to feel the strength of their partnership and commitment to help me to the finish line. Only when I was alone, in quiet and reflective moments did I have not only clarity, but an inexplicable inner peace—a peace that exceeds human understanding. All the factors say GO, but my heart says NO. And that is the decision I have made and in it have finally found resolution. I don’t fully understand it myself—but I’m sure the pundits will. But I know that under the best of circumstances, being President is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me, to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it with God’s full blessing is unthinkable. I can’t know or predict the future, but I know for now my answer is clear and firm. I will not seek the Republican nomination for President this year.