Live SC Primary Results

Politico.com is once again providing one of the nicest interfaces to track the live results from the South Carolina Primary:

http://www.politico.com/

Results should start coming in at 6:00 PM CST.

Last Minute Poll: Way Ahead in SC!

Literally minutes ago the American Research Group unveiled the most recent polling data for South Carolina. On the eve of the state's critical primary they are showing Huckabee with a SEVEN point lead! Even more interesting is that the poll they released before this one, done only a day earlier, had reported John McCain being ahead by ten points.

I have yet to observe such a dramatic shift in results from any pollster over such a short period of time. To see the data for yourself, visit the official website of the American Research Group:

http://americanresearchgroup.com/

January 15-16
33% John McCain
23% Mike Huckabee

January 17-18
33% Mike Huckabee
26% John McCain

Not only does this strongly illustrate the volatile nature of polling, but the fact that McCain's spike in popularity could leave as quickly as it came. It will be a fascinating when we know what actually happens tomorrow.

H&C Interview with Huckabee

Mike Huckabee was on Hannity & Colmes tonight. Watch how he wisely refuses to engage divisive questions. I love the part where he compares the issues they are bringing up to the reason Washington is broken!

Huckabee Surging in South Carolina?

Paul West from the Baltimore Sun makes some exciting observations about a last minute surge for Mike Huckabee taking place in South Carolina. Take heart my friends; and if you are in SC, VOTE!

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog...

On the eve of Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina, there are signs that Mike Huckabee could be overtaking John McCain, who had been favored to win the first southern test of the '08 campaign.

Make a Contribution to the Huckabee campaign NOW!

Huckabee vs. McCain Prediction

Staying solid, but not necessarily exceeding expectations, Huckabee has been holding tight through the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries. Now with more conservative states on the horizon (South Carolina and Florida), Huckabee is coming back into the spotlight.

For those who are addicted to the latest polls, Rasmussen reflects this shifting surge. On Wednesday they released a new South Carolina poll showing John McCain and Mike Huckabee tied for first place at 24%, closing down a nine point lead the Senator previously held following his momentum after a strong victory in New Hampshire. Then on Thursday Rasmussen released national polling with Mike Huckabee holding a three point lead over the entire republican field.

We would like to remind our readers that not only are poll numbers several days behind actual trends, they tend to only be accurate to within five to ten points. New Hampshire polls consistently predicted a ten point lead for Obama in New Hampshire, but as we all know, Clinton ended winning by two points.

It is bold to even make educated predictions, but our gut feeling about South Carolina is that Huckabee will deliver a surprise landslide victory over McCain. Up until a week ago Huckabee had been consistently holding a seven point lead in the state. The rapid shifting in poll numbers only illustrates that voters are easily swayed and undecided. Remember, McCain was tied with Romney in Michigan polls only days before suffering a nine point loss on election day.

The lesson so far has been that a victory provides a false surge in a candidate's polling numbers. Since we have evidence that McCain's numbers in South Carolina are returning to normal, and the factor that they may also be overinflated, the chances seem to be in Huckabee's favor. Also reassuring is the historic fact that McCain's liberal positions on social issues lost him South Carolina in the 2000 presidential primary to George W. Bush.

Welcome to Huckabee Country

Like Iowa, South Carolina is home to lots of Huckabee supporters!

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper...

The former Arkansas governor (and former Baptist minister) may trail John McCain by 2.5 percent in the latest South Carolina polling averages, but seeing the two leading Palmetto State contenders back-to-back on the same afternoon, it's immediately clear that it's McCain, not Huckabee, who's fighting the uphill battle this week.

The article might have some bias, so take it in stride.

Huckabee Signs "No Amnesty" Pledge

Huckabee is the first, and so far the only, presidential candidate was has been willing to sign the "No Amnesty" pledge:

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/16...

GOP Hopeful Mike Huckabee, who has sharpened his anti-illegal immigration talk recently, as he competes for the first in the south primary of South Carolina, put an exclamation point today next to his hardening stance on border security.

There has been a drastic and unfortunate misunderstanding of Huckabee's tough stand on illegal immigration because of his opinion that the children of illegal immigrants should not be excluded from instate college tuition rates.

Being compassionate towards the children of illegal immigrants (who were dragged here by their parents) does not mean you also have the same compassion for the adults who did break the law; let alone what your desire might be to prevent others from doing it.

Stemberger Changes Endorsement to Huckabee

Here is some interesting and reassuring news. According to this story, John Stemberger, a leading social conservative in Florida, is switching his endorsement from Thompson to Huckabee!

If there is anything better than an endorsement, it is someone changing their endorsement from your opponent to support you! Having this unique news circulating in the media must really sting for Thompson.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080114...

John Stemberger, a leading voice in the conservative movement of Florida has switched his personal endorsement in the race for the Republican presidential nomination from former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Share your comments with us.

Minnesota GOP Chairman Backs Huckabee

This particular news item is actually from January 7th, but it received so little attention I wanted to mention it. As the story points out, it is rather unusual for high ranking GOP officers to endorse candidates during the nomination process. Now we have even more evidence that Huckabee is a big time republican candidate gathering big time support.

Check out the story over at WCCO:

http://wcco.com/politics/minnesota.gop...

Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign hit new heights in Minnesota when the state's GOP chairman said he'd spearhead the former Arkansas governor's campaign here.

The Huckabee surge continues.

Michigan Exit Poll Data

All the exit poll details you ever wanted:

http://www.cnn.com/election/2008/primaries...

Romney Win is Good for Huckabee

With McCain's recent surge in the polls, the best thing for Mike Huckabee today was Romney defeating him in Michigan. National polls have long told us that Romney has had very little appeal outside of the states were he has campaigned aggressively and spent millions of dollars. He is fighting an uphill battle and his chances seem very slim.

John McCain's big defeat tonight will have the important affect of dampening his surge and bringing the media hype over his frontrunner status back to reality. Many times the momentum from a win and the concomitancy of enthusiastic press coverage has the affect of causing a surge more than it does reporting it.

Now you have Obama and McCain who have experienced huge victories only to suffer unexpected defeats in the next round. With the way the polls falsely reported a strong surge for both of them, it would seem that the momentum gained from a victory is sometimes overrated. Almost all the political analysts predicted an easy win for Obama in NH and one for McCain in MI. Instead, both candidates lost by about as much as they were predicted to win by.

Romney only won within the last several hours, but already the reporters have changed their rhetoric from "McCain is the clear frontrunner" to "Romney shakes up the GOP." Most likely the polls will once again reflect a bounce for the winner, but don't be fooled again. South Carolina holds its primary on Saturday where Huckabee has the same kind of strong support that he had in Iowa.

Raise Big Bucks for Huck!

Chuck Norris is sponsoring a unique fundraiser:

Visit this new website to find all the details:

http://www.chuck4huckbbq.com/

A Serious Contender Suddenly

Here is some positive analysis from the Weekly Standard on Huckabee's shot at winning the republican nomination.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public...

It would be a mistake to assume that he'll be unable to broaden his appeal. Huckabee is an extraordinary communicator--by far the best speaker in the Republican field--and his rhetorical skill helped Iowa voters see him as a plausible president.

Unfortunately portions of this article, along with the commentators in the media, are still making the mistake of underestimating Huckabee by his financial situation. First they said he couldn't will Iowa against Mitt Romney's money and organization, but then when he did, they came up with reasons why it was an exception.

Now they are trying to say the same thing about the rest of the nomination. "Without a huge war chest no one can compete on Super Tuesday" they say. Certainly money can help almost any campaign, but in the end people still vote because of what they think of a candidate, not how many comericals they've seen.

On the Bus with Huckabee

Here is an interesting account from an embedded reporter on what it is like to be following the Huckabee campaign.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a reputation among the press as being very accessible (at least compared to many of the other presidential candidates)... He sits with his back against a bus window and casually answers the questions tossed his way by the still modest traveling press corps.

Just another reason to love Mike Huckabee!

HuckaMania in Michigan

Mike Huckabee may be doing far better in Michigan than any polls or pundits are suggesting. Read this interesting post over at the "Mike Huckabee President 2008" blog.

http://mikehuckabeepresident2008.blogspot.com/2008...

The surprising amount of support Huckabee has garnered in Michigan -- with NO investment of campaign resources -- is proof that Huckabee's message is beginning to resonate with people of all types and in all parts of the country.

Huckabee is "expected" to take third in Michigan on Tuesday.