Huckabee fights for Mo. vote

By Jedd Rosche

Published Feb. 1, 2008

According to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a fourth-place finish in Florida’s Republican primary was a trial run for the Show Me State.

“We are rehearsing for the victory speech that we’ll be able to give about Missouri next week,” Huckabee said to a crowd of more than 300 in St. Louis on Tuesday night.

He might need the rehearsal, given he has assumed the bottom spot among Republican candidates after former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani dropped out Wednesday. Of the leading hopefuls, Huckabee is only ahead of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, according to a poll on Gallup’s Web site. He trails Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

According to a Wednesday Gallup poll, 17 percent Republican voters supported Huckabee.

With Giuliani’s departure, Huckabee has ramped up his campaign focusing on Southern and Midwestern states, making Missouri prime stomping grounds. He’s had three stops in Missouri this week, and today makes another stop in Springfield, Mo.

At a stump speech in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Huckabee said Missouri is important to his campaign because of its high delegate count combined with a commitment to the “old-fashioned Republican” doctrine and “less government.”

Huckabee used the speech as an opportunity to recommit his promise to lower taxes, shrink government and lead the fight against abortion rights. He also tried to show his audience he knew about the mid-Missouri atmosphere by talking about MU football.

“We might not have had such a big crowd if that game turned out differently,” Huckabee said, referring to the Tigers’ 38-7 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day. “I thought y’all were coming out to support me. Now I realize it’s just to rub it in.”

However, with just days before Super Tuesday, it’s unclear whether Huckabee’s personality is reaching young people.

Huckabee grassroots organizer Chris Court encouraged fellow supporters to attend Tuesday’s St. Louis watch party with e-mail and an event page on the Web site Meetup.com. Although not associated with the official Huckabee campaign, Court said many of the people came because of his site.

Representatives of the 20-to-30-year-old age group attended the Jefferson City and St. Louis events.

Jonathan Luhmann, a video editor and Huckabee supporter, taped the Huckabee watch party Tuesday night with several friends. He runs a video-editing business and has been a Huckabee fan since “early in” his campaign.

He said he supports most of Huckabee’s stances, including taxes, border security and abortion rights.

He said college students could gravitate to Huckabee’s “genuine” personality and charisma that is similar to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s, D-Ill.

“If anyone gets a chance to watch him in debate, you can tell he’s not B.S.-ing you,” Luhmann said.

Despite the number of supporters at each event, Huckabee faces a challenge as McCain pulls ahead in national polls, garnering 37 percent of the Republican vote.

Even if Huckabee can’t convince Missouri Republicans that he’s their presidential candidate, he might have a better chance of convincing voters young and old that he’s their vice-presidential candidate.

“I’d love to see him get a V.P. nod, because he definitely has the social conservatives,” Luhmann said.

With less than a week before Super Tuesday, supporters said a Huckabee rally is still possible. They pointed to his surprise success in Iowa as an example of his ability to surprise.

“A lot of people counted him out before,” Luhmann said.