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Rollins, Saltsman, Obama & Chuck Norris
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ShareJanuary 03, 2008 10:07 PM
ABC News' Jake Tapper reports: Does Ed Rollins, the campaign chair for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, think that the same thing fueled his boss's victory in Iowa tonight sparked the campaign of the Democratic victor, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill?
"Oh, absolutely," Rollins told ABC News. "People in this part of the country want change. They want change."
Campaign manager Chip Saltsman said Huckabee only has six full-time employees in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary in just five days, though he suspects that will change. Huckabee's message of executive experience will resonate in the Granite State, Saltsman said, choosing to hype his candidate's support for the "Fair Tax" instead of the net tax increases in Arkansas while Huckabee was governor.
Is Huckabee prepared for the likely onslaught of negative attacks coming from not only former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney but big-business conservatives likely opposed to his candidacy?
"I don't think any candidate has been pounded as hard as Mike Huckabee has been in the last 30 days," Saltsman said. The media kept asking "'Is he tough enough?' That question was answered tonight. Yeah, he's tough enough."
Saltsman said, "We knew we were never going to get the Washington, D.C., establishment. Though a few of them are maybe e-mailing me right now."
The campaign manager rejected the idea that the fact that 60% of tonight's caucus-goers profess to be evangelical Christians makes Huckabee's candidacy less relevant in other states, such as New Hampshire, where they comprise a smaller percentage of the population. He cited polls showing Huckabee up in South Carolina, Florida, and Michigan, and Huckabee's pre-caucus third- or fourth-place showing in some New Hampshire polls. "That doesn't sound irrelevant to me," he said.
Did evangelicals' prejudice against Romney's Mormonism play a factor in tonight's turnout and vote?
"I don't think that had anything to do with it," he said.
And what of the support of martial-arts star Chuck Norris, star of "Walker, Texas Ranger"?
"You can't even estimate the Chuck Norris factor," Saltsman said, and though he was smiling he wasn't joking. The first Huckabee TV ad featured Norris and Huckabee, which drew voters who'd never heard of Huckabee to his Web site.
Norris will be accompanying Huckabee to New Hampshire.
January 3, 2008 in Huckabee, Mike, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (3)
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Mike Huckabee is a wonderful "aw-shucks" candidate. Cornpone works. This country may have 300 million people, most of whom live in big dynamic cities, but at heart, we love the country life.
I have yet to see a TV commercial for a Chevy showing the guy stuck in traffic; more likely they're unpacking a picnic lunch from the backseat with a babbling brook and mountain in the background. Rural U.S.A.; this is what we still aspire to, and when a candidate comes out of nowhere from the farm heartland of America, low-key and modest in his comportment -- and playing guitar doesn’t hurt -- we latch on to him like flies on cow patties.
The irony, of course, is that American farm families are on the ropes. But that doesn't derail the effectiveness of a campaign built upon home-spun values, and Huckabee is living proof.
Remember Paris Hilton and "The Simple Life"? Who did we commiserate with? I rest my case.
Posted by: E. Merij | Jan 4, 2008 10:48:58 AM
The religious issue was obviously a factor. When you have pastors in small towns pushing Huckabee you better believe it’s going to make a difference. Keep in mind, a caucus is not a private affair, and there was real social pressure for Huckabee. Huckabee does not the have the conservative record to win the support of the Republican Party. If you want a real social conservative vote for Fred. If you want someone who can help the economy vote for Romney. If you want a true patriot vote for Ron Paul. Finally, if you want a Socialist (aka Democrat) then vote for Huckabee, because there is no way he could win the general election.
Posted by: Melissa | Jan 4, 2008 5:08:02 PM
Contrary To Popular Belief, America Isnt A Democracy, It Is In Fact, A Chucktatorship
Posted by: Chris | Jan 4, 2008 8:17:37 PM
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