Amidst all of the buzz and controversy over Sarah Palin's ongoing book tour, no one seems to have noticed that Mike Huckabee is also on a tour to promote his new book, "A Simple Christmas".
This right-winger's book is also a bestseller, making its way to #3 on next week's New York Times chart, but the timing on the book's release has gotten it lost in a sea of Palin-mania. It's hard not to compare the turn-out on the two tours. Jacksonville newspaper The Florida Times-Union notes that Huckabee's stop in Jacksonville drew far smaller crowds than Palin did one week later, had no lines forming days before the appearance, and found no need for the wristbands that Palin's tour has been employing.
Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two tours, considering the celebrity that surrounds Palin at this point, but there are a number of striking similarities between them. Both conservative politicians are focusing attention on their personal lives; The Times-Union lauds the "good childhood mud" that "A Simple Christmas" features, along with feel-good stories of childhood Christmases.
Both former governors also seem to be using their memoirs as an opportunity to work up political buzz for themselves, treating their book tours like political campaigns. The Los Angeles Times points out that Huckabee stands throughout the entire signing, "as a president would." The LA Times also points out:
The author-politicians can operate in an environment more tightly controlled than an official run for office. They can focus on building personal ties to their most passionate supporters, independent of local party officials. They can sidestep the national media in favor of generally hospitable local coverage. ...
After all, they're in town to talk about books, not issues.
But are they really? USA Today quotes an email from Huckabee in which he talks about his tour:
I have been crisscrossing the country on my book tour meeting with thousands of voters over the last few weeks and when people mention Congress and the Obama administration to me, they are angry about the out of control spending, frustrated that Congress has turned a deaf ear to their concerns about the health care bill and not surprised that our country is lurching perilously left.
Despite his apparent interest in launching into politics on the tour, Huckabee insists that he is not looking forward to the 2012 presidential elections yet, telling the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio that:
[I]t's "absurd" for anyone to be planning now for the 2012 White House campaign.