Preacher-Politician Huckabee Takes Iowa But Faces Bumpy Road

Des Moines--Sounding like the Baptist preacher that he is, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee connected emotionally with his crowd gathered for Thursday night's victory party in a way other Republican presidential candidates could only pray about.

"I wasn't sure if I could ever love a state as much as I love my home state -- but I love Iowa," the winner of the GOP Iowa caucus told an overflow crowd at the Embassy Suites Hotel on the banks of the Des Moines River.

"Tonight is a celebration for everyone on our team; so many of you who traveled all across America to be here - I'm amazed! I'm encouraged," said Huckabee, who was only warming up. "Tonight is a new day in America politics and a new day is needed for America just like a new day is needed in American government. And tonight, it starts here in Iowa but it doesn't end here. It ends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue... Tonight is it's not about me, it's about the we."

The crowd ate it up.

Huckabee went on to thank the voters and his family, including his children, all of whom worked in the campaign. "We didn't know how it was going to turn out. I want to thank the ones who voted for me and the ones who didn't -- a few I even convinced to vote for me," Huckabee said. "I would like to thank my wife, Janet, who was the First Lady of Arkansas, and she'll be a wonderful First Lady of the country."

Huckabee grabbed 34% of the vote, with the multi-millionaire former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, taking 25%, followed by Senator John McCain and former Senator Fred Thompson; each scoring 13% of the total caucus vote. However, the trend could have been predicted by the Windsor Heights 1 Republican caucus tonight:

There Huckabee handily won with 45 votes out of 141. John McCain was second with 29 votes, and Mitt Romney placed third place with 23 votes. The second tier candidates still scored well; Fred Thompson with 18 votes, Ron Paul with 16, and Rudy Giuliani scored last place with 10 votes.

Meeting at the Windsor Presbyterian Church on University Avenue in Windsor Heights, a middle-class suburban neighborhood known for their 1930 brick houses and 1950 sprawling ranches, the Republicans listened to the speeches by the representatives from all the six presidential candidates.

Wearing the Romney navy blue colors, Kim Strong and her husband, Jim drove here from Louisville, Kentucky - at their own expense - to help Romney with a win in Iowa.

Jim Strong read a prepared speech from the Romney campaign outlining just why he's the best presidential contender, but unfortunately for the Strongs, the caucus voters thought otherwise.

The first activist OffTheBus spoke with during the registration portion of the evening, GOP volunteer and activist, Cathy Sorenson and she predicted a good showing for Huckabee, adding:

"I'm going to caucus for Governor Huckabee because some very good friends of mine got me interested in him and I like what he did in Arkansas. He seems to have risen above the rest."

Cathy Sorenson is a stay-at-home mother and homeschooler, whose last child just wrapped up his GED last spring and is now attending Des Moines Community College, but will join his home schooled sister at Iowa State University next year.

"Huckabee's faith is just one part of why he's my favorite candidate. The negative stuff the press has reported doesn't bother me, unless it's true. He has the attributes; the faith, his experience on the job in Arkansas, the whole package to be a good president," said Sorenson.

Nearly twice as many as expected attended the Windsor Heights 1 Republican caucus. After the voting, only a handful stayed to knock-out and approve their platform that will be taken to the district convention.

The aggregate vote total from all 1,780 precinct caucuses are called into the State GOP Des Moines Convention Center. This is just one caucus but I can't help but think this is happening all over the state...and in fact, it was.

Talk about weird: I was told by a Ron Paul supporter who made the pitch for his candidate that two other Paul supporters told him they weren't going to caucus with the Republicans because they wanted to vote against Hillary Clinton. They caucused at Windsor Elementary School just a few blocks from here.

Chris Hagenow, the precinct caucus chairman of Windsor Heights 1, who is not affiliated with any candidate, told OffTheBus, "I was a little surprised with Romney. He was so well-organized all year and then this past week, I felt a John McCain surge. I think McCain took some votes away from Romney."

This loss to Huckabee has thrown a big wrench into Romney's plans to capture his party's nomination. He has poured $12 million of his own money into his campaign and spent the better part of two years campaigning in Iowa, before Huckabee began his precipitous surge.

What Huckabee had going for him was not money - it was heart. He has the natural ability to connect with his audience and possesses an engaging, authentic personality in contrast to the stiff Romney, who has struggled to emotionally connect with Iowa voters despite owning the best ground organization money, could buy. Mitt has an emotional gap problem that will follow him to the next primary states.

But Huckabee's win in Iowa may be reminiscent of the Pat Robertson win in 1988. Just as Robertson was buoyed by the Born Agains, Huckabee was also supported by the Evangelicals and homeschoolers like Cathy Sorenson and her friends.

However, Huckabee only appealed to 14% (according to CNN) of the non-Evangelicals in Iowa. As he flies out of Iowa tonight and spends the next five days trying to win over the New Hampshire voters, this could be a huge problem for the preacher politician with 'Mo' on his side but a religious gap in the Granite State.

According to Steve Roberts, the Iowa representative to the National Republican Party representative and former Chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, "It's very exciting to see Huckabee win tonight but he still has to raise enough money to stay in the race and just as important, he has to broaden his support."

Romney pushes onto New Hampshire tonight, where he will duke it out with Senator John McCain for the top ticket and in a state where Huckabee remains a distant player in this next important stop toward the presidential nomination.

Comments

[ih2005]

FairTax, Yes! ( http://snipurl.com/becomeamember )
Without it, WHOA! ( http://snipurl.com/meltdowninprogress )
Not just another politico:
Hope for tax reform, I see,
Will be voting HUCKABEE! ( http://snipr.com/nextrung )

[James47]

I feel it is about time someone made the comment that this man Huckabee is a dangerous and dark soul who, because of his religious affiliations would overthrow the Constitutional order of three branches of Government and place a hegemony of religious fundamentalists over all branches.

The concept I mention and he quietly espouses is called Dominionism. It is a dangerous, theocratic philosophy that would place the so called christian rightists in control over the Judiciary, legislature and put the Presidency directly under control of the committe.

Creating a theocracy as hideous and horrific as anything the Moslem Ayatollahs in Iran or Saudi Arabia or any Moslem fundamentalist nation could create.

Huckabee has avoided questions about his staunch support of Dominionism or those questions have been side stepped and pushed away by his handlers. Perhaps someone will read this message and take a closer look at him and his ties to this scary belief system.

No this man is perhaps one of the more insidious and disturbing persons to seek the white house EVER. He would make the Bush/Chaney Cabal look like a bunch of school boys at play if he took the white house.

Check Wikipedia for Dominionism and also check "Constitutional Restoration Act", an act directly associated with Dominionism that is before Congress. One of the most horrendous and threatening pieces of legislation EVER to come before the bodies of the Congress and Senate.

Don't trust this good ole boy, no sir're bob, he ain't as advertised and no doubt about it once you cut through the crap that he drapes over himself as a man of the people, this is a hairy faced, evil hearted theocrat with delusions of himself as spokes person for the Judeo Christian god.

[seamusnh]

I am a conservative Republican living in NH and have seen and heard very little about Huckabee at the local level. My predicition is that he'll finish third behind Romney and McCain.... He'll then fade from there into obscurity....

[ljsfolly]

Huckster has come out of his own bible story and has given the thumpers someone they can believe in, not God but the Huck. He sounds just like the preacher guy who does the jumping around talks weird and might even raise snakes along with bible verses for damn near everything. He does his bit every sunday and ignores the whole thing the rest of the week. It all sounds so familiar to me like the bush when he used to god talk all the time but he never got to the point where he remembered any bible verses. It must be some kind of mind control. But the real man has done some very bad things that now that he is a threat will come out to haunt him and his true believers.

[Bondaroid]

It really doesn't matter who wins the primary as long as the indpendents vote for them in the general election and will they gravitate to the party who holds their values close or the party that sells them to the highest bidder.

Obama, if he wins does he have enough to overcome his lack of experience. Hillary, she will not get the independents because most people hate her and Bill is not enough to push her over that mountain and most of her experience, being Bill's wife big whoop-dee-doo. Edwards, with his $1,000 hair cuts, 20,000 square foot shack, and buying out neighbors because they spoil his view, and he is to rich to even spit on the average guy, which of the two Americas does he belong too. Richardson should be the candidate but he will never see the light of day.

The Republicans, Huckabee is weak, Romney is a Mormon (if that makes a difference but apparently more so than being black or a woman), Gulliani lacks the values, Thompson should be the candidate but lacks the energy and drive but has a tell it like it is message and conviction.

As far as I see it this is the most important vote of our history because most of the candidates are weak.

[GuiltyUndertaker]

Huckabee didn't have to face Giuliani in Iowa. He'll be swiftboated so bad on Super Tuesday it'll make what the GOP slime machine did to McCain look like warming up in the bullpen.

[tumblewind]

If nothing else this should be a wake up call for the Republican party. You are controlled by religious hacks in case you don't know it already. You opened the can of worms over 20 years ago. Now it's come back to haunt you in spades. I find it sad that a persons religion is all that's needed to qualify him for the highest office in the land. Such issues as foreign policy experience, cooperation and compromise aren't in these people's vocabulary. That seems to be all these folks care about imposing their religious beliefs upon all American's. They aren't interested if he cares about the country. Or if he is even qualified to do the job. Just if he has the right brand of Christianity and is willing to force feed it! No wonder our country is in such a mess.

[parryisle]

Has anyone asked Huckabee for his opinion on Armageddon? With so many of his co-religioinists eagerly awaiting the joys of Rapture they form the main group that will support him if he wins the nomination.

[Sciguy]

Thanks for the reminder about Pat Robertson - it makes me feel some hope that Huckabee will not be the Republican nominee.

The Huckster doesn't believe in science (evolution is the cornerstone of modern biologu, and biology is a science!). What would that do to science research in this country? What would that do to the practice of medicine? What would that do to education, especially science education? Huckabee's win is bad news.

It has been pointed out that Huckabee should be the easiest candidate for the Dems to beat. I hope it doesn't come to that. Surely the moneyed Republicans will not allow the bible Republicans to rule... would they?

[Tankan]

His win, a predictable glitch!

His day will come - not all Americans easily deceived!

[factanonverba]

Some perspective: Pat Roberston won Iowa in 1988. He then lost New Hampshire. Huckabee is unlikely to be the nominee.

[Taurus]

Once again we see press delusion and mob think working, even at HuffPo: to wit, calling Huckster "engaging" and "authentic." This was the kind of shallow judgment that brought us our current disastrous administration. Why is the press incapable of paying real attention? They hear jokes and funny stories and they think, "Wow, the real deal." Look at Huckster's eyes and you see what's really there. He's a hard, phony man, a Uriah Heep, an Elmer Gantry. Watch him with the sound turned off and the true Huckster is as clear as day.

[EdwardUlyssesCate]

What is it about Arkansas, the state previously ruled by Winthrop Rockefeller, that gave us the Clintons, Tyson Foods and Walmart, and now Huckabee? If you wanted a good way to drive a stake into the heart of America, there was no better place to start. What Iowa shows me is how far down we've gone. Not because of who they voted for, but the reasons given. The problem with religion today is that while they honestly may want to save our soul, they're actually leading us into a physical hell. It certainly explains the demise of the family farm in Iowa. Sometimes the Dragon wins.

[LazarusLong]

I really like this quote from the article: "...The negative stuff the press has reported doesn't bother me, unless it's true..."

Maybe she ought to do some independent research and find out the truth about his record before announcing her support.

[ibsteve2u]

"Talk about weird: I was told by a Ron Paul supporter who made the pitch for his candidate that two other Paul supporters told him they weren't going to caucus with the Republicans because they wanted to vote against Hillary Clinton."

Now that is interesting, in that it suggests to me that Ron Paul's supporters a) definitely aren't neocons and b) are equally as definitely out of the loop about who the major special interests want failing the emplacement of a Republican candidate like Guiliani or Romney.