Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee launched his presidential bid Tuesday with a populist appeal to set himself apart from both President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.
Even as he announced from his hometown of Hope, Ark. — same as that of Bill Clinton, the former president and aspiring first gentleman — Huckabee let the Clinton comparisons go mostly unspoken.
He went after the Obama administration, hammering it on topics such as long wait times at veterans hospitals, affordable housing and foreign affairs.
“We will no longer try to contain jihadism,” Huckabee said to roars. “We will conquer it”
Huckabee also attacked “unbalanced trade deals” that “drive wages lower than the Dead Sea,” as Republicans on Capitol Hill push fast-track trade authority for the mega-sized Trans-Pacific Partnership. And he gave a pitch against entitlement cuts:
“If Congress wants to take away someone’s retirement, let them end their own congressional pensions, not your Social Security.”
Huckabee won the Georgia Republican primary in 2008, and his strategy this time involves a strong showing in the March 1 “SEC primary.” (Newt Gingrich, Georgia’s victor in 2012, has not indicated any interest in running this time.)
The Baptist minister played the social conservative card, touching quickly on God and guns at the start of the speech. And he also bashed same-sex marriage.
“The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being, and they cannot overturn the laws of nature or of nature’s God,” he said.
But the fiscally conservative Club for Growth is already out to cut Huckabee down. As he was giving his announcement speech, the group put out a press release announcing a $100,000 ad buy in Iowa and South Carolina accusing Huckabee of raising taxes as governor.
Huckabee’s oft-repeated slogan is “Hope to Higher Ground.” He repeatedly spoke of his humble upbringing and, in an unusual move for an announcement speech, asked for donations while mentioning that he “walked away from my own income to do this.”
Huckabee left his Fox News show to run again after becoming a major media personality post-2008. The presidential bid could help his book sales — “God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy” is available at a store near you — as Huckabee searches for a niche in the vast Republican field.
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