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2012 GOP Presidential Field: Mike Huckabee
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Mike Huckabee may be the 2012 GOP front runner AP Photo/Gregory Smith
Ever since the 2008 Presidential campaign came to an end many polls and pundits have labeled Governor Mike Huckabee as the front runner for the 2012 Republican nomination. H currently is beating out the likes of Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
In several polls conducted since the end of the 2008 election cycle each of them have placed Huckabee squarely in the lead. However in a National Campaign Huckabee would have little chance of beating President Barack Obama.
If we look at his 2008 primary victories we see that all of Huckabee’s primary victories came from southern states. He all he won, Iowa, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, and Louisiana.
In any potential battleground states Huckabee did rather poorly; he finished 3rd in Michigan, and 4th in Florida. He was also unable to win South Carolina. This is important since any potential GOP candidate is going to have to win South Carolina, Florida and make Michigan competitive. If that is the case nominating Huckabee at this point would seem to guarantee a second Obama term.
With all of that being said let us look at Huckabee’s details:
Age- 54
Family- Wife, Janet 3 kids
Religion- Southern Baptist
Education- Ovachita Baptist University
Experience- Arkansas Lt Governor
Arkansas Governor
I should note that it is very likely Huckabee could have added US Senator to his political resume if Arkansas Governor Jim Trucker had not gotten convicted in the White Water scandal and resigned from office. Huckabee was leading that race by a wide margin but quit the campaign to finish Trucker’s term as Governor.
Huckabee is not the only potential GOP candidate that has strong ties back to the political ugliness of Clinton Presidency. However it is also important to note that Dick Morris ran both his 1993 and 1994 campaign for Lt. Governor in Arkansas.
Huckabee’s stances on the issues are pretty much what one would expect from a Southern religious Republican. He supports the death penalty, building a fence to separate the US from Mexico and is in favor of concealed weapons permits.
As a religious man Huckabee opposes abortion, same sex marriage, and civil unions. The most interesting thing about Huckabee is he is a supporter of the Fair Tax system.
Essentially the fair tax system would allow American workers to keep their entire paychecks. The taxes that fund the Federal Government would then be embedded into the price of every day consumer goods.
For example say a loaf of bread cost $1.50, under the fair tax proposal the bread would still cost $1.50 but a certain percent of that purchase would be tax profit for the government.
While it is a complicated system it has strong support among the voter of this county and is surely why Huckabee was able to run such a moderately successful 2008 presidential campaign.
Other Potential 2009 GOP Presidential Candidates:
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