Huckabee Wins West Virginia

In a totally bizarre turn of events, Mike Huckabee has ended up clinching victory in the West Virginia delegate convention! Keep in mind that Mitt Romney was the overwhelming favorite to win this 18 delegate prize. As I heard one commentator say over the last two days, "in politics, the unexpected always happens." That of course being a reference to the potential results of Super Tuesday. So far, that is proving true.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/02/05...

[Update] More interesting details...

ttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story...

What a great way to start Super Tuesday!

Duncan Hunter Gives Boost to Huckabee

Today the Huckabee campaign gained a huge boost in credibility among true conservatives with the endorsement of former presidential candidate Duncan Hunter. Get all the details over at CNN:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/23...

Hunter: "Mike Huckabee is a man of outstanding character and integrity. I saw that character over the last year of campaigning and was greatly impressed. The other Republican candidates have many strengths and I wish them all well."

Duncan Hunter never gained much support during his presidential run, but his endorsement still carries a lot of weight on the national news scene. For the Huckabee campaign this is another big sign of revival, although he still holds a strong second place in national polling.

Perhaps the most ironic factor of this endorsement has to do with Ann Coulter. She has been one of Duncan Hunter's biggest fans. The interesting part is that she has also been one of Huckabee's strongest critics. Obviously this endorsement is turning into an awkward moment for her. But perhaps is may serve as an encouragement for her to reconsider her misinformed disappointed of Huckabee.

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.

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.

Huckabee Handles Heckler

Huckabee is not your average politician:

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence...

Mike Huckabee today calmly handled an angry heckler, turning the confrontation to his advantage and winning applause from a packed crowd that turned out to hear him speak at a local school.

I love how he can think outside the box.

Huckabee Wins Iowa

Against all the odds cited by the political pundits, Mike Huckabee pulled off a landslide victory in Iowa, surpassing Mitt Romney's well funded, highly organized, aggressive campaign by almost double digits. Message beats money.

Some interesting analysis from a UK news source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml...

Believe it or not, all the precincts have still not reported in yet. We are waiting on 5% of them. As soon as the results are completely final we will list them here on the weblog.

Huckabee Projected Winner

Fox News: "Mike Huckabee Wins Republican Race in Iowa Caucuses"

CNN News: "Republican Mike Huckabee will win the Iowa caucuses"

ABC News: "Huckabee wins Iowa GOP caucuses"

NBC News: "Huckabee winner in Iowa caucuses"

"We are headed for a Huckabee McCain battle for the nomination" - Pat Buchanan

The media is buzzing with speechless commentary. We are talking about an unprecedented victory of a long-shot candidate winning with virtually no money and no organization. If he is this potent without resources, imagine what will happen when that changes!

Huckabee Leads in Latest Iowa Poll

From the heart of Iowa: the Des Moines Register released today the most recent polling data showing Mike Huckabee still maintaining a 6 point lead over Romney, with 4% of voters still unsure.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...

"The size of Huckabee's lead is virtually unchanged from the last Iowa Poll taken in late November, despite Romney's hard-charging effort to regain the top spot that he held earlier in the year."

32% Mike Huckabee
26% Mitt Romney
13% John McCain
9% Fred Thompson

Endorsement: Jim Geringer

The former governor of Wyoming, Jim Geringer, endorses Huckabee:

http://www.centredaily.com/business/story...

I've known and worked with Mike Huckabee for twelve years, both as an elected official and as a businessman. Of all the candidates, Mike is the genuine article.

Endorsements should never replace your own personal investigation into a candidate, but they do act as a strong confirmation that important people have come to the same conclusion you have.