CNN

Discussion has begun on the 2012 primary calendar.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Representatives from some of the top 2008 GOP presidential campaigns gathered in Washington, D.C. Thursday to urge the Republican National Committee to lock in a 2012 primary calendar as early as possible to avoid the confusion that dogged the early stages of last year's nomination contest. One campaign manager took his recommendations a step further and suggested ending the traditional first-in-the-nation statuses of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

An RNC panel headed by party chairman Michael Steele invited the campaigns to share their views as it considers numerous possible changes to the process the party will use to nominate a candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.

Mike DuHaime, the 2008 campaign manager for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told the panel that the three early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should continue to hold contests early in the process, but not necessarily as the first three contests.

"I believe there needs to be greater decision-making authority given to states beyond the early states," said DuHaime, referring to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "If you win two out of three states, those have been our nominees. With that, 47 other states don't have the same say."

"I think that is ultimately not in the best interests of the party," he added.

DuHaime went on to say that the early phase of the nomination calendar should be more geographically and ethnically diverse and that doing so could make the party more competitive in general elections.
DuHaime's candidate did not campaign heavily in the early states and instead focused his time and energy on later contests.

Read the rest of this entry »

TOPICS: Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden

Full results (pdf)

Huckabee wants to be taken seriously.

(CNN) – There's a likely GOP 2012 presidential candidate who is a former governor, darling of the party's conservative base, and the leader of nearly every early presidential poll.

And his name is not Sarah Palin.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose upstart presidential campaign toppled Mitt Romney in Iowa and nearly brought down John McCain in South Carolina last year, wants people to know he's every bit as serious as other potential presidential aspirants, and suggested there's a double standard when it comes to how some in his party treat him and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"Some of the people who had excoriated me and really been very dismissive of me for views that I had taken, and labeled me anything from a populist to an ignoramus - the same people have been very defensive [of] and laudatory to Sarah Palin," Huckabee told Politico in an article published Monday.

I'm a very serious person," he also said. "I may not be dour, but I'm serious."

The former two-term Arkansas governor has expressed criticism of Palin before, suggesting her abrupt resignation of the Alaska governorship may suggest she's not ready to handle the pressures of a hardscrabble presidential primary campaign.

"If she's looking to be a national political figure, it's not going to get easier," he said in July. "In a primary this is going to be an issue she'll have to face. Will she be able to withstand the pressure?"

In many respects, Huckabee should be considered the early favorite in what already appears to be a crowded field of 2012 Republican contenders. He consistently leads Palin and his old rival Romney in presidential polls and has maintained a legion of faithful followers. He's also out with a new book this month and a concurrent book tour through some of the country's most conservative townships - including some in politically important Iowa.

Huckabee was also the winner of a recent Values Voter Summit straw poll, grabbing nearly 29 percent of the vote in a crowded field that, in addition to Palin and Romney, included Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Read the rest of this entry »

Huckabee wants to be taken seriously.

(CNN) – There's a likely GOP 2012 presidential candidate who is a former governor, darling of the party's conservative base, and the leader of nearly every early presidential poll.

And his name is not Sarah Palin.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose upstart presidential campaign toppled Mitt Romney in Iowa and nearly brought down John McCain in South Carolina last year, wants people to know he's every bit as serious as other potential presidential aspirants, and suggested there's a double standard when it comes to how some in his party treat him and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"Some of the people who had excoriated me and really been very dismissive of me for views that I had taken, and labeled me anything from a populist to an ignoramus - the same people have been very defensive [of] and laudatory to Sarah Palin," Huckabee told Politico in an article published Monday.

I'm a very serious person," he also said. "I may not be dour, but I'm serious."

The former two-term Arkansas governor has expressed criticism of Palin before, suggesting her abrupt resignation of the Alaska governorship may suggest she's not ready to handle the pressures of a hardscrabble presidential primary campaign.

"If she's looking to be a national political figure, it's not going to get easier," he said in July. "In a primary this is going to be an issue she'll have to face. Will she be able to withstand the pressure?"

In many respects, Huckabee should be considered the early favorite in what already appears to be a crowded field of 2012 Republican contenders. He consistently leads Palin and his old rival Romney in presidential polls and has maintained a legion of faithful followers. He's also out with a new book this month and a concurrent book tour through some of the country's most conservative townships - including some in politically important Iowa.

Huckabee was also the winner of a recent Values Voter Summit straw poll, grabbing nearly 29 percent of the vote in a crowded field that, in addition to Palin and Romney, included Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Read the rest of this entry »

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is speaking to the Iowa GOP on Saturday.

(CNN) – It may be two years and two months until the next Iowa caucuses, but if you're considering a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, it's never to early to visit the Hawkeye State.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the keynote speaker Saturday at the Iowa GOP's annual leadership dinner in Des Moines. The function is one of two major events for the state's Republican Party. And as the fundraiser's main attraction, Pawlenty invites more speculation about a run for the White House.

The next day Mike Huckabee returns to Iowa. The former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate visits on Sunday to promote his new holiday themed book, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit."

Now a Fox News talk show host, Huckabee has returned to Iowa several times since his win in the 2008 caucuses, most recently to raise money for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

On Tuesday, George Pataki returns to Iowa to help raise money for the GOP. The former New York governor will be the keynote speaker at the Scott County Republican's Ronald Reagan Dinner. Pataki's visit could fuel speculation that he's interested in making a run for his party's presidential nomination in 2012. Pataki spent a lot of time in Iowa during the early stages of the last presidential election cycle, but opted not to become a candidate.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter @psteinhausercnn

Huckabee kicks off book tour.

(CNN) – 'Tis the season for potential 2012 hopefuls to release new books.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee released a holiday-themed collection Tuesday called "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit."

According to Huckabee's Web site, the book includes twelve "Christmas memories - often funny, sometimes deeply moving-that range from his childhood in Arkansas to his years as a young husband and father to his time as a governor and then a presidential candidate."

Huckabee is kicking off a book tour for his new release Wednesday in the Washington area, appearing at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast before a lunchtime signing at the Costco in nearby Pentagon City.

In all, the tour comprises of 22 cities and 64 events.

Huckabee's book comes two weeks before the much-anticipated Sarah Palin memoir "Going Rogue: An American Life."

Huckabee's book tour will take him to two crucial primary states.

(CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will visit the key Republican primary states of Iowa and South Carolina next month during a tour to promote his new holiday-themed book.

The Fox News talk show host has planned a three-stop swing through Iowa on Nov. 8 - one day after another potential 2012 candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is scheduled to speak at an Iowa Republican Party event in Des Moines.

Huckabee plans to visit book stores in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines to promote the book, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit." The former presidential candidate has returned to Iowa several times since his win in the Iowa caucuses in January 2008, most recently to raise money for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

Later that week, on Nov. 13, his book tour takes him to the conservative South Carolina upstate, where he'll sign copies of the book in Greenville and Spartanburg.

Also on Huckabee's calendar: five stops in Florida and one stop in evangelical-heavy western Michigan

Sen. John McCain is holding a rally with Bob McDonnell on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As one of only two statewide campaigns in the 2009 election cycle, the Virginia governor's race has seen a parade of national political stars make the trip to the Old Dominion.

Late Friday, Creigh Deeds' campaign announced that President Obama would join the Democratic candidate on the trail at the end of the month. Obama's 2008 presidential rival will get there first: On Saturday, Sen. John McCain will make his second trip to Virginia on behalf of Republican candidate Bob McDonnell. McCain, a decorated Navy hero, will help McDonnell make a closing pitch to veterans at a rally in Hampton Roads, a region of the state with a heavy military population.

McCain isn't the only high-profile Republican who has stumped for the former Virginia Attorney General: Two other former presidential candidates - former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee - have twice visited the state twice to campaign. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani also raised money for McDonnell.

Along with Romney and Huckabee, McDonnell has welcomed a number of top Republicans who may run for president in 2012. That list includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele campaigned with McDonnell in May.

Creigh Deeds, who spent the first half of the year in a three-way fight for the Democratic nomination, hasn't had an army of national figures campaign with him. But several prominent Democrats have chipped in to help.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Huckabee is advising his fellow Republicans to temper their criticism of President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize award.

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee is advising his fellow Republicans to temper their criticism of President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize award.

In a posting on his blog, the former GOP presidential candidate writes that members of his party must be careful their comments don't sound like "right-wing whining."

"There will be an outcry from those on the right who will say that Obama's nomination, made two weeks into his presidency, is impossible to justify, but I think such an outcry will sound like right-wing whining," Huckabee wrote. "The better response is simply to allow those on the left to explain what he did in his first two weeks as President that merited such recognition."

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the Values Voter Summit straw poll with 170 out of 597 votes.

Mike Huckabee took aim at the health care system in Massachusetts that was implemented in 2006 by then-governor Mitt Romney.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – An old rivalry flared up again at the annual Values Voter Summit on Friday, when Mike Huckabee took aim at the health care system in Massachusetts that was implemented in 2006 by then-Gov. Mitt Romney.

Huckabee - who did serious damage to Romney's presidential hopes last January by winning the Iowa caucuses and has made clear his disdain for the former Massachusetts governor - told the crowd at the conservative conference that the Bay State health care system is a model for the kind of government-run health care President Obama wants to implement.

"It's going to bankrupt their entire budget," Huckabee said of the Massachusetts system, which requires residents to purchase health care or risk tax penalties. "In fact, the only thing inexpensive about Massachusetts health care bill is that there you can get a $50 abortion."

"Frankly if that's where we're headed with the public option and government run health care, thank you but no thank you, our wallets and our babies will be better off without it," Huckabee said.

Romney's spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom quickly shot back, calling the claims "not true."

Read the rest of this entry »

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak at the conference on Friday evening.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Conservatives will descend upon the nation's capital Friday for the 2009 "Values Voter Summit," the fourth annual gathering of like-minded political activists who will plot 2010 strategy and hear several potential presidential prospects discuss the GOP's future.

In-between speeches, attendees will also participate in forums with titles ranging from “Thugocracy: Fighting The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy” to “Global Warming Hysteria.”

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the weekend will be "2012 Presidential Straw Poll," the results of which are scheduled to be announced Saturday.

The potential Republican candidates on the ballot are: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Romney won a similar straw poll in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which was held at the same hotel and featured many of the same speakers. Romney also won the last Values Voter straw poll - in October 2007 - when he narrowly defeated Huckabee in a vote that was open to both attendees and people who signed up to vote on the internet. This year’s survey will only be open to conference-goers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Huckabee is standing by his comments in Israel.

(CNN) - Mike Huckabee, the former GOP presidential candidate who is thought to be eyeing a second run for the White House, is standing by his recent comments in Israel criticizing the White House's policy toward the country.

On a trip to the Israel earlier this week, the former Arkansas governor positioned himself in against the Obama administration's policy of asking Israel to halt construction of settlements in predominantly Arab neighborhoods including East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

"It concerns me when there are some in the United States who would want to tell Israel that it cannot allow people to live in their own country, wherever they want," Huckabee told reporters in comments that drew accusations he was criticizing American policy on foreign soil.

But in a posting on his political action committee's Web site Wednesday, Huckabee said he was merely traveling to Israel as a private citizen, and as such was free to speak his mind.

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee accused Democratic congressional leaders of trying to suppress free speech Monday and cast blame for the raucous health care town hall meetings on the Democratic Party's political allies.

"I have watched the news clips of many townhall meetings," Huckabee wrote in a blog entry posted on his political Web site. "At only two of the hundreds of meetings held, have I seen situations get out of control. Both of those incidents were caused not by the average Americans wanting to be heard, but by organized supporters of the Democrats trying to stop the free speech of people opposed to the proposed bill."

Huckabee, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination and now hosts a show on Fox News, took issue with an op-ed penned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in which the two Democratic leaders condemned opponents of health care reform for disrupting the congressional town hall meetings.

"These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves," Pelosi and Hoyer wrote in the op-ed published in USA Today. "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."

But Huckabee defended the protesters right to challenge congressmen and senators on the health care issue.

"An American voicing their opinion at a meeting with their representative, even in a loud and raucous manner, is not disruptive," Huckabee wrote. "In fact, the right to freedom of expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment. In case our Congressional leaders need to be reminded, it says 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.'"

Congressional town hall meetings have become the new front in the battle over health care reform with congressmen and senators back home in their districts and states for the summer recess. Opponents and supporters of health care reform have clashed at these highly heated forums being held across the country forcing the police in some cases to intervene in order to keep the peace.

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compares his past weight problem to President Obama's economic policies.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compares his past weight problem to President Obama's economic policies in a pitch Wednesday for a financial newsletter.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who failed to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, charges that the president "is devouring the entire free-enterprise system" and lists Obama's decision to bail out the auto and banking industries as mistakes. The pitch for "Successful Investing" was sent out to readers of the conservative publication Human Events.

Read an excerpt of Huckabee's e-mail after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compares his past weight problem to President Obama's economic policies.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee compares his past weight problem to President Obama's economic policies in a pitch Wednesday for a financial newsletter.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who failed to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, charges that the president "is devouring the entire free-enterprise system" and lists Obama's decision to bail out the auto and banking industries as mistakes. The pitch for "Successful Investing" was sent out to readers of the conservative publication Human Events.

Read an excerpt of Huckabee's e-mail after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Huckabee trails Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney in fundraising through the first half of 2009.

(CNN) - Recent polls show he is among the early frontrunners for the 2012 GOP presidential bid, but when it comes to fundraising this year, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trails well behind his chief rivals.

The former Republican presidential candidate e-mailed supporters Thursday night announcing he has raised a little over $300,000 in the first six months of the year, a cash haul that is only about 20 percent of the $1.6 million former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took in the same period.

It's also about a third of what former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has raised since January. Her political action committee, SarahPAC, reported raising $730,000 through July 1, but a spokeswoman for Palin said the Alaska Republican took in an additional $200,000 in the early days of July after announcing she was stepping down as governor.

Several recent surveys - including one from CNN/Opinion Research Corp. – show Huckabee is roughly tied with Palin and Romney in an early assessment of where the 2012 Republican presidential race stands.

On her final day in office, Republican expressed a range of views about Gov. Palin's political future.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – It looks like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have one less fan.

On the same day that Palin is set to transfer power to her lieutenant governor, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said her prospects for national office looked grim.

“’I’ve been a supporter of Sarah Palin - at times,” Castellanos said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “She gave the McCain campaign its best two weeks. But, you know, if we’re going to be critical of Democrats when they shirk their responsibilities, we have do the same within our own house. She abandoned her state in the middle of a term.”

On the national political stage, Castellanos, who worked as a political consultant for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential bid, likened Palin to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The Arkansas Republican’s long shot bid for the White House in the last election cycle gained traction when he pulled out a surprise win in Iowa’s Republican caucus but then Huckabee lost steam when he could not follow through with wins in other key primaries.

“We’re going to have a division in the Right in the Republican Party,” Castellanos told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, “We now have two Mike Huckabees – people who have a powerful force in the party but can’t get out of the party in a general election and win.”

Conservative radio talk show host Bill Bennett was noncommittal about Palin’s prospects.

“I have no opinion about this. I really don’t know what’s going to happen with Sarah Palin,” Bennett told King.

Also on State of the Union Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested Palin has a bright future within the Republican Party.

“Boy, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Sarah Palin,” McConnell told King, “She excites an awful lot of members of my party. They’re anxious to see what she’s going to do next and so am I.”

“I hope, as a Democrat, Mitch McConnell is right,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala told King. “I hope she’s their nominee because I think she’s the easiest to beat.”

Related: I'm not thinking about Palin's new move, Obama aide says

Begala, Bennett, and Castellanos are all CNN Political Contributors.

Updated: 4:24 p.m.

On her final day in office, Republican expressed a range of views about Gov. Palin's political future.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – It looks like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have one less fan.

On the same day that Palin is set to transfer power to her lieutenant governor, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos said her prospects for national office looked grim.

“’I’ve been a supporter of Sarah Palin - at times,” Castellanos said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “She gave the McCain campaign its best two weeks. But, you know, if we’re going to be critical of Democrats when they shirk their responsibilities, we have do the same within our own house. She abandoned her state in the middle of a term.”

On the national political stage, Castellanos, who worked as a political consultant for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential bid, likened Palin to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The Arkansas Republican’s long shot bid for the White House in the last election cycle gained traction when he pulled out a surprise win in Iowa’s Republican caucus but then Huckabee lost steam when he could not follow through with wins in other key primaries.

“We’re going to have a division in the Right in the Republican Party,” Castellanos told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, “We now have two Mike Huckabees – people who have a powerful force in the party but can’t get out of the party in a general election and win.”

Conservative radio talk show host Bill Bennett was noncommittal about Palin’s prospects.

“I have no opinion about this. I really don’t know what’s going to happen with Sarah Palin,” Bennett told King.

Also on State of the Union Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested Palin has a bright future within the Republican Party.

“Boy, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Sarah Palin,” McConnell told King, “She excites an awful lot of members of my party. They’re anxious to see what she’s going to do next and so am I.”

“I hope, as a Democrat, Mitch McConnell is right,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala told King. “I hope she’s their nominee because I think she’s the easiest to beat.”

Related:  I'm not thinking about Palin's new move, Obama aide says

Begala, Bennett, and Castellanos are all CNN Political Contributors.

Updated: 4:24 p.m.

Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee appear to be locked in a three-way race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

(CNN) – The Republican presidential primary process doesn't kick off for more than two years, but perhaps it's never too early to take a measure of where a race that's far from starting stands.

It appears to be a three-way race between former White House hopeful Mitt Romney, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee - also an ex-presidential aspirant. Romney stands at 26 percent in the new survey, compared to 21 percent for Palin, and 19 percent for Huckabee.

But the poll, which surveyed 455 Republicans and Republican-leaning voters between July 10-12, carries a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, meaning all three are essentially locked in a dead heat.

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and current conservative commentator stands at 14 percent while Tim Pawlenty and Haley Barbour - the governors of Minnesota and Mississippi respectively - are each in low single digits.

The Gallup survey shows similar results to those of a recent CNN poll that also indicated the same three Republicans are locked in hypothetical race for the party's nomination.

But while Romney, Palin, and Huckabee are clustered on top, the survey shows voters hold a much higher favorability rating of the soon-to-be ex-Alaska governor than the other two Republicans. Palin scores a 72 percent approval rating compared with Huckabee's 59 percent and Romeny's 56 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »