Mike Huckabee to have his own soapbox on Fox News

Mike Huckabee presumably remains a running mate contender for John McCain's presidential ticket, but he apparently has achieved what some thought was an ulterior goal of his own White House bid: a regular spot on national television.

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported today that Huckabee has inked a one-year deal to provide political commentary on Fox News. That network, of course, is the logical venue for the former Arkansas governor, who rode his strongly conservative convictions on social issues -- and his ability to glibly communicate those views -- to a first-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

As we mentioned, some saw this coming a long time ago.

In late November, veteran Arkansas political journalist John Brummett ended a column on the politician he had followed for years this way:

"From time to time I've written an unoriginal but incisive line, which is that Huckabee is really running for his own show on Fox or MSNBC. I'm sticking with that.

"But I'll admit there are moments lately when I wonder if he'll have to go through the motions of being the Republican presidential or vice presidential nominee first."

Brummett's piece obviously was prescient, but he may have gotten the sequence wrong -- as well as underestimated Huckabee's ultimate ambition.

Take note of the former candidate's schedule of late. Monday found him in Bedford, N.H., speaking to the state's Federation of Republican Women's Lilac Luncheon. Such a lovely sounding affair would be high on anyone's list to attend, but especially so ...

... for someone looking down the presidential trail (and whose prospects may have been boosted by constant television exposure).

Saturday, Huckabee will be back in Iowa, speaking at the state GOP's annual convention. Ostensibly, he's appearing as a McCain surrogate. But one imagines he'll be reminding Republicans there what they liked about him earlier this year -- and could like about him again.

On the stump, by the way, it appears Huckabee has gotten his groove back.

He put his foot in his mouth a month ago during a speech to the National Rifle Assn. with a distasteful "joke" targeting Barack Obama (literally). He knew he had misspoken and apologized -- a couple of times.

In his appearance at the Lilac Luncheon in New Hampshire (the state where the bounce he came out of Iowa with got instantly flattened), he came up with a more effective way to critique Obama.

The Nashua Telegraph reported that Huckabee, after giving the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee his due, offered a "new car" analogy. Said Huckabee:

"When you got to the showroom, the car is really appealing, it's got that new car smell and all the bells and whistles.

"Then you've got to sit down and decide, can I afford the payments. I think when people start looking at what Obama is saying, the very last thing they need, in this tough economy, is more tax burden on their families and their future."

-- Don Frederick

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[khquinn]

I had tuned off Fox because of their unfair and unbalanced coverage of the Republican primaries. Now that they have added Gov. Huckabee to their team, I'll be tuning back in. Way to go Fox!

[Tom J]

You don't mention when this one-year contract starts, but even if it starts immediately at least he'll be able to look forward to covering Obama's first six months in office.

[Ann]

I am sad to see that Reverend Huckabee has decided to work for such an un-Christian organization. He was the only Republican that I would have considered voting for in the fall, but I guess he is just like the rest.

[David E7]

The LA Times is wrong in supposing that Mike Huckabee was angling for a spot on TV when he ran for President. If there was any justice in the world, he would have been the Republican nominee, and hopefully, the next President. There is no one of his caliber on the national stage today.

I am also saddened if he signed a contract with FOX News. They stabbed him in the back repeatedly when he was a candidate because he does not share their callous economic conservative views based on greed and disregard of the welfare of others. He is one smart guy, so we will see what he is up to. I just hope that McCain will end that would-be career by tapping him for VP. America needs him to lead, not comment on the folly of less capable men.

[jamb]

I've always enjoyed his appearances on Comedy Central.

[www.JosephAntley.com]

Ugh. This sucks. The last thing I want to see is Huckabee's weird eyes on the screen all the time. I only sufferred through it in the primaries because the end was in sight...

[D. Byrd]

I hope he is still McCains vp, because I will not vote for McCain if he isn't!

[26376]

This blog post was cited in the Excerpts dated 15 June (sent out in the regular Top Of The Times dispatch). Unfortunately, one of the bits excerpted was the statement that Huckabee would be speaking in Iowa this weekend. If he is, he'll be speaking to an empty hall, as both the Iowa GOP and the Iowa Democratic Party have postponed their conventions from this weekend due to the massive flooding inindating the state. The GOP have rescheduled for July 11-12, as I recall. (See the post on DemConWatch from 12 June for information on both postponements: http://www.demconwatchblog.com/2008/06/iowa-democrats-postpone-state.htm )

It is unfortunate that facts which may have changed from the time of a blog post (if they were still correct at the time of the blog post) are not checked before they leave the blog and enter the National News heading.

[Mike J]

Mccain without Huckabee is just a Mccain. Mccain with Huckabee is a President.

[Johanan]

Huckabee disappointed me greatly when he self-righteously tried to trump the "Christian" card in the election, directly trying to convince voters to vote against Mormonism rather than against Mitt Romney (a bigoted and hypocritical strategy).

Of course, Huckabee tried to appear innocent the whole time he was bashing Romney's religion (rather than Romney himself as he should have done), asking, for example, the seemingly innocent question, "don't Mormons believe that Satan and Jesus are brothers?" while simultaneously being fully aware of Mormon beliefs, having been a speaker himself at the recent Soutern Baptist Convention in SLC, Utah (his speech was carefully taken off the internet prior to the election).

Likewise, when Huckabee "unknowingly" had that white cross mysteriously appear behind him in that commercial over Christmas, attempting to appear angelic or even "chosen" to evangelical Iowa- that was a big turn-off- not only to evangelicals, but to many wealthy Republican Mormons, who saw this, as they had to, as a direct attack against their faith- not against Romney.

Then there was that commercial fiasco when Huckabee said he wasn't going to release his mean-spirited commercial and then he did- to the press, knowing it would be seen more this way than by paying TV stations to run it. Are we to believe he didn't realize this? Are his deceptive techniques acceptable for a potential VP of the United States, let alone a Preacher? I don't think so; I think the "H" in Huckabee stands for HYPOCRIT.

I originally didn't want Romney for President or even VP, but after seeing the true character of Hucabee and some others in this race, it appears to me that Romney is not only the most experienced and capable VP option for McCain, but one of the last remaining politicians with some degree of integrity.