Governor Mike Huckabee, who is strongly pro-life, has decided against putting together a bid for the GOP nomination to face pro-abortion President Barack Obama in 2012. His decision significantly shakes up the race.
Huckabee said that, while signs pointed to him having the ability to win not only the nomination but also the general election next Fall, he didn’t have the fire in the belly to run a presidential race.
“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,” he said. ” 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.”
Huckabee seemed to acknowledge that, unlike in 2008, he had a good shot at putting together the kind of campaign that would win the nomination and he pointed to the many polls showing him either the frontrunner or a leading candidate nationally and in many of the early primary and caucus states.
“Even though I wasn’t actively establishing a campaign organization or seeking financial support to run again, polls have consistently put me at or near the top to be the Republican nominee,” he said. “Concerns that I had about raising the necessary funds to be competitive or being able to win in states outside the South were answered when signs of strong financial support materialized and when polls showed me winning in states like Pennsylvania, Maine, and even New Jersey. That kind of shattered the notion that I was only a regional candidate or only supported by social conservatives.”
Huckabee said his newfound active personal life after serving as governor of Arkansas appealed to him.
“I had not done much toward a race because my life was filled with work that I truly love here at Fox News, doing radio commentaries on my daily Huckabee Report on 600 radio stations, traveling the country for speaking engagements, and helping good conservative, pro-life candidates who were running for office. Other people probably thought about it more than I did,” he said. “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.”
Huckabee’s decision has set off a scramble for the many conservative Republican voters who hoped he would enter the race and would have supported his campaign had he done so. Potential Republican presidential candidates were quick to put out statements praising Huckabee.
“Mike Huckabee is a friend and colleague, and an important leader within the Republican Party. Mike and I agree our nation is facing big challenges and desperately needs new leadership, and I plan to work hard to earn the support of the millions of Americans who have supported him,” said pro-life former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is pro-life, added, “I have long admired Governor Huckabee and his commitment to talking about the critical issues facing America. Those of us who believe in the virtues and values of life and family can never have enough allies, and I am grateful to Governor Huckabee for helping to keep those issues front and center. As some in our party seek to form a ‘truce’ on social issues, I look forward to a dialogue with Governor Huckabee and his supporters to talk of our shared commitment to fight for traditional values and the rights granted to us by our forefathers.”
And former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is pro-life, said, “Our country has been very fortunate to have Mike Huckabee as a leader and public servant. His commitment to this country and its core values — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — is a model to which all elected officials should aspire.”
Huckabee said he would not issue any immediate endorsement of any of the candidates pursuing the Republican nomination but promised he would support the eventual nominee. The governor may eventually support one of the candidates but he explained that won’t happen anytime soon.
“Frankly my feelings and emotions are still a little raw from the whole process because up until a few days ago I honestly thought I would be in it,” Huckabee said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“There are a lot of great candidates — most of them are very dear friends of mine,” he said. “Rick Santorum for example is a strong social conservative, but is also a strong fiscal and, I think, defense conservative, foreign policy conservative. Tim Pawlenty, is another person; Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, should she decide to get in, and I think people are awaiting her decision, like they were mine.”
Huckabee didn’t mention Mitt Romney but did say on the Fox Sunday show he would support him if he is the nominee and he said the same about Donald Trump.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Mitt Romney and me,” he said. “We don’t socialize, we’re not close personally, but I want to make it very clear: If Mitt Romney is the nominee for our party, I will support him because I believe Mitt Romney would be a better president of the United States than Barack Obama on any day.”
“I believe Donald Trump would be better for America than Barack Obama, because he understands business. Donald Trump has taken a pro-life position, he believes we are getting Shanghaied by China, which I agree with,” Huckabee added.
The Huckabee decision also received responses from Newt Gingrich, who called Huckabee a “new star for the Republican Party” and said that there is “no question he would have been a frontrunner in the 2012 campaign for president,” and Trump. The businessman said, “Mike Huckabee is not going to be running for president. This might be considered by some people, not necessarily me, bad news because he is a terrific guy — and frankly I think he would be a terrific president. But a lot of people are very happy that he will not be running, especially other candidates. So, Mike, enjoy the show. Your ratings are terrific. You’re making a lot of money. You’re building a beautiful house in Florida. Good luck.”
Since Huckabee registered strongly with pro-life voters, those who supported him will likely gravitate towards some of the candidates who most fully embrace pro-life positions — Pawlenty, Santorum, and possibly Palin or Bachmann, should they run. More establishment candidates like Romney, Gingrich and Huntsman would likely pick up some support but not as much as other strongly social conservatives.
The full statement from Huckabee on his decision not to run follows:
Concerns that I had about raising the necessary funds to be competitive or being able to win in states outside the South were answered when signs of strong financial support materialized and when polls showed me winning in states like Pennsylvania, Maine, and even New Jersey. That kind of shattered the notion that I was only a regional candidate or only supported by social conservatives.
I had not done much toward a race because my life was filled with work that I truly love here at Fox News, doing radio commentaries on my daily Huckabee Report on 600 radio stations, traveling the country for speaking engagements, and helping good conservative, pro-life candidates who were running for office. Other people probably thought about it more than I did.
I don’t have an issue with my family being supportive. My wife actually encouraged me to do it, despite knowing full well it would subject her and the rest of the family to brutal and savage personal attacks. My adult children have also made it clear they would be with me no matter what.
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.
