Politics

No heavyweight, Huckabee rolls on

He lacks money and name recognition, but manages to make inroads.

By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2007

OCALA - As a Southern Baptist minister, Mike Huckabee should have long ago delivered the closing prayer for his own presidential campaign.

He has been outspent by millions. He barely registers in national polls. Where other candidates are household names, he is, at best, that fat guy from Arkansas who lost all the weight.

But against political convention, Huckabee is shedding a different burden: the label of hapless underdog.

With newfound confidence, the former Arkansas governor brought his campaign to Florida recently in hopes of building on a surprise second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll last month and standout performances in recent debates.

Huckabee, 52, attended a fundraiser in Ocala, then participated in the Values Voter debate in Fort Lauderdale, after which he overwhelmingly won a poll among viewers. In this month's Mason-Dixon poll, he was polling at 6 percent in Florida.

"We're feeling real good," Huckabee said, entering the foyer of a stately 1920s-era home in downtown Ocala on a Sunday afternoon.

A month ago, it would have been unthinkable for Huckabee to be addressing a large crowd in one of the state's most conservative and politically active areas. But as the party base struggles to find a candidate, Huckabee is getting a look.

"I've heard all the Republicans, and I have to be honest, I haven't been there with any of them until I heard this young man tonight," said Sandra Joseph, who held back tears as Huckabee spoke of his blue-collar roots and the American dream.

"I like a man who stands up for what he believes in. He comes across so honest and he doesn't have that air of politician," said Joseph, 63, who traveled from Windemere near Orlando with her husband and daughter. They gave Huckabee $2,300.

Barbara Hinebaugh, 87, of the Villages, came to know Huckabee through debates. But she is drawn to him in the way many outside politics know him. After being diagnosed with diabetes in 2003, Huckabee lost 110 pounds and kept it off, ran four marathons and wrote a book.

"It showed he had enough discipline to face the facts and take care of it," Hinebaugh said. "It tells you this is a man with a goal."

* * *

During a 15-minute speech, Huckabee demonstrated a command of retail politics. He can switch from serious to funny in an instant and then back again, employing a folksy sensibility. He told how his dad spent long hours fixing engines as a mechanic.

"The only soap we ever had in the house was Lava. For the uninitiated, what that means was I was in college before I realized it wasn't supposed to hurt when you take a shower."

As he often does on the campaign trail, Huckabee told the crowd about an obscure governor from Hope, Ark., who went on to surge in the primaries and capture the nation's attention.

He was talking about Bill Clinton, but Huckabee - an obscure 10-year governor from Hope, Ark. - is trying to write the same narrative for himself. The two men even share a love for music. Clinton had his saxophone; Huckabee plays bass in a rock band called Capitol Offense. See YouTube for a video of them playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird.

But the dynamic facing Huckabee today is entirely different from in 1992. There were fewer candidates in the field then, and none of the big Republican names like Giuliani and McCain that dominate headlines today. Not to mention Clinton is a Democrat.

Money is also a bigger deal now than it was then - a commodity made even more vital given the compressed primary schedule. Through the end of June, Huckabee had raised $1.3-million and had less than half of that on hand. Rudy Giuliani had $18-million left in his account.

"He's an extremely able campaigner. Anybody who's seen him in action has to respect that," said Hoyt Purvis, a political science and journalism professor at the University of Arkansas. "But the situation does not look like it's opening up real possibilities for him. Something extraordinary would have to happen."

* * *

For now, Huckabee is making the most of his time in the spotlight, appearing on TV news shows and doing whatever he can to offset the financial disadvantage. He said his game plan is to take the buzz he has generated and build an organization in the early primary states.

For conservatives still trying to decide on a candidate, Huckabee seems to say all the right things. He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. He believes in creationism. Asked in an interview whether he supported Congress' intervention in the Terri Schiavo case, Huckabee replied, "It's always safe, if you can, to side on the side of life."

While other candidates go out of their way to stress religious credentials, Huckabee casually weaves in his own religious past. "Many of them will come to you. I come from you," he told viewers of the Values Voter debate.

The debate exposed one of Huckabee's weaknesses. Some conservative groups, including the Club for Growth, have accused him of being soft on taxes.

As governor, Huckabee opposed some but also supported others. Reminded of the criticism, Huckabee said that he cut taxes 94 times in the face of a Democratic-controlled Legislature and joked that he did not have the "dubious honor" of printing money as does the federal government.

He saw an opportunity to turn the moment into a sales pitch for the Fair Tax, which would eliminate federal taxes on income and capital gains for a 23 percent sales tax. When he was finished, the crowd erupted in applause.

John Stemberger, a prominent conservative activist in Orlando, agrees Huckabee has the right ingredients - able to talk social issues but also education and health care.

"If Fred Thompson were not in the race, Huckabee would look great," Stemberger said. "Thompson takes a lot of air out of his campaign."

Huckabee, clearly aware of the negative effect Thompson's entry into the race has had on his chance of moving up, questions the actor and former Tennessee senator's bona fides.

"Fred's got some issues he's going to have to confront," Huckabee said, invoking Thompson's past career as a lobbyist - including for an abortion rights group. "He says, 'Hey, I'm just a lawyer.' Well, lawyers can turn down cases when they don't fit their own personal standards."

Huckabee's problem was on full display during the Ocala fundraiser. People who showed up clearly were impressed, but the room lacked a vibe that a viable presidential contender was in their midst.

"I don't have any doubt he's the best candidate," said Bob Carey, 68, a retired dentist from Eustis. "But a lot of times the best candidate doesn't win."

Alex Leary can be reached at aleary@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.

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[Last modified September 28, 2007, 23:14:21]