Huckabee says Nelson was bribed into voting for the Democrats' health care bill.

(CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted Sen. Ben Nelson in his own backyard over the Nebraska Democrat's decision Saturday to provide the key 60th vote to advance the party's health care reform bill.

In a fiery speech Sunday at an Omaha rally sponsored by Americans for Prosperity of Nebraska - a group opposed to Democratic efforts at health care reform - Huckabee said it is "historic and unprecedented that we are now bribing public officials openly - now we openly bribe them with $300 million at a time and tell them this is what your vote is worth."

The final Democratic holdout, Nelson agreed to back the measure following 13 hours of negotiations during which he won a commitment from the federal government to fund entirely his state's Medicaid population beyond the three years of funding granted to all states by the bill.

Republicans were quick to question Nelson's motivations for backing the bill, dubbing his alleged deal making the "cornhusker kickback," and claiming Nelson's provision has increased the burden on the 49 other states.

"That puts an added burden on all the other states, including mine," Sen. John McCain said "Fox News Sunday."

In an interview with CNN, Nelson said he did not seek any special favors but rather voted for the bill because of an added amendment allowing states to opt out of providing abortion coverage - a provision conservatives say falls far short of the blanket prohibition Nelson originally sought.

"I didn't ask for a special favor here. I didn't ask for a carve-out," Nelson told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. "What I said is the governor of Nebraska has contacted me, he said publicly he's having trouble with the budget. This will add to his budget woes. And I said, look, we have to have that fixed."

But during his comments at the Omaha rally, Huckabee - a 2008 presidential candidate and potential White House hopeful in 2012 - likened Nelson's deal to the biblical story in which Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

"I don't want [senators] to go up there…and then somehow go back and boast, 'Here's some money that I got for you.' The last time we saw that kind of historic moment it was 30 pieces of silver and that didn't work out too well for us either," Huckabee said.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spoke about Mike Huckabee's clemency decision and a potential third party run in 2012.

Washington (CNN) – Sarah Palin said in a recent radio appearance that Mike Huckabee made a "horrible decision" nine years ago to commute the prison sentence of the man suspected of killing four police officers in Washington, but she added that her "heart goes out" to the former Arkansas governor.

In an interview last week with conservative radio host Lars Larson, Palin called the murders "tragic" and "unfathomable."

"It was a bad decision obviously, but my heart goes out to Huckabee," the former Alaska governor said. "I love him, and I feel bad for him to be in this position. But I feel even worse for the victim's families in this situation. I do feel bad for Huckabee, but it was a horrible decision he made."

Huckabee has said he regrets the decision to commute the sentence of the suspected shooter, Maurice Clemmons, but said he thinks he made the right assessment at the time. Palin said she had never pardoned or granted clemency to prisoners when she served in Juneau.

"I don't have a whole lot of mercy for the bad guys," she said. "I'm on the good guys' side."

Pressed on her political ambitions, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee would not rule out a third party run at the White House in 2012.

"That depends on how things go in the next couple of years," she said. "It really does depend. There are enough Republicans who are realizing, 'Oh whoops, some of us liberal republicans have screwed up.' And I'm not including myself in that group, but some liberal Republicans have screwed up."

Palin said her decision rests on whether or not the GOP does a better job of appealing to its conservative base.

"If the Republican Party gets back to that base, I think our party is going to be stronger and there's not going to be a need for a third party, but I'll play that by ear in these coming months, coming years," she said.

During an interview Thursday night on CNN's Larry King Live, Romney, who in his four years as governor said he did not pardon or commute a single sentence, noted the focus should be on the tragedy that struck the lives of Washington State residents.

Huckabee has come under fire because, as governor of Arkansas in 2000, he signed a clemency order for Maurice Clemmons. That made Clemmons, who at the time was serving a 108 year prison sentence, eligible for parole, which was granted. Clemmons, 37, was fatally shot Tuesday by police in Seattle, Washington, after a two-day manhunt that began after he allegedly killed the officers at a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington.

"You have three families that lost their father, one family that lost their mother, and this is just tragic," Romney said. "I think [Huckabee] indicated that had he got the chance to do it again based on what he knows now, of course he wouldn't have made that decision and I believe that's true."

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney said he put strict pardoning guidelines in place to avoid letting personal impressions fog his judgment.

"My conclusion was if somebody has been convicted by a jury of their peers and they have been prosecuted and the police were able to get the evidence necessary to put them behind bars, why in the world would I step in and reverse that sentence," he said.

Romney and Huckabee, who both unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, are considered possible contenders for the 2012 GOP nomination.

Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons' sentence when he was governor of Arkansas in 2000.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Wednesday he was aware of Maurice Clemmons' long and violent criminal history when he commuted the then-teenager's 108-year prison sentence - but he couldn't have foreseen the deadly consequence of his act.

"You're looking at this nine years later and trying to make something as if I can look in to the future," Huckabee said, before a speech at Jacksonville University.

Related video: Huckabee on clemency decision

"I wish I could have. Good Lord, I wish I had that power. I wish I could have done that. But I don't know how anyone can do it," he said.

Clemmons, 37, was fatally shot Tuesday by police in Seattle, Washington, after a two-day manhunt that began after he allegedly killed four officers at a coffee shop

Huckabee has come under fire because, as governor of Arkansas in 2000, he signed a clemency order for Clemmons. That made Clemmons eligible for parole, which was granted.

The prospective 2012 GOP presidential candidate said he was aware of the long string of crimes that had put Clemmons behind bars, but based his decision on the teenager's age: 16 at the time.

"I read a stack this thick," he said, holding his hands several inches apart. "I looked at the file. Every bit of it. And here was a case where a guy had been given 108 years. Now, if you think a 108-year sentence is an appropriate sentence for a 16-year-old for the crimes he committed, then you should run for governor of Arkansas."

Clemmons served 11 years of his sentence before he was released.

Clemmons moved from Washington to Arkansas as a youngster. There, he had several run-ins with the law, and was eventually handed the hefty prison sentence for a host of charges - including robberies, burglaries, thefts and bringing a gun to school.

During a pre-trial hearing, he hid a piece of metal in his sock, court documents show. Before the start of another hearing, he grabbed a padlock off his holding cell and threw it at a court bailiff. He missed, and the lock hit his mother who had come to bring him clothes.

"That's the one word that came to my mind that I remembered about him was that he was mean," said W.A. McCormick, who was a deputy prosecuting attorney at the time. "He was shackled in court and deputies placed behind him while he was tried - because he was such a security risk."

Clemmons continued to lash out violently behind the prison fences in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

"Over and over again," said Larry Jegley, the prosecutor who put Clemmons away.

"Failure to obey, engaging in sexual activity," he rattled off the charges as he flipped through Clemmons' prison record, "failure to obey, possession or introduction of drugs, firearms."

McCormick said he told the parole board - repeatedly, in writing - that Clemmons should remain in prison. And he would have opposed it once again if he knew that Huckabee was considering commuting Clemmons' sentence.

During his 2008 presidential bid, Huckabee was criticized for granting
clemency to another inmate, convicted rapist Wayne DuMond.

DuMond was later convicted of raping and murdering a woman in Missouri.

Before he accepted responsibility for his decision, Huckabee first blamed Clemmons' alleged actions on Sunday to failings in both Arkansans and Washington's legal systems.

But Jegley pointed the finger directly at Huckabee. One survey, he said, showed Huckabee issued more clemencies from 1996 to 2004 than the governors of all six surrounding states, including Texas.

"He needs to bear responsibility for that," Jegley said of the former governor's decision to grant clemency to Clemmons.

"We did everything that we could do with him and got him sentenced to 108 years. Mike Huckabee, with the stroke of a pen, undid that."

Huckabee granted clemency to Maurice Clemmons in 2000, when he served as governor of Arkansas.

(CNN) – The Arkansas coordinator for Mike Huckabee's political action committee resigned Tuesday, citing the former Arkansas governor's decision nine years ago to grant clemency to Maurice Clemmons, the man suspected of murdering four police officers in Washington state.

Jason Tolbert, who runs a conservative blog, served as Arkansas state coordinator for HuckPAC in a volunteer capacity.

"My departure was with a heavy heart but was done after serious prayer and consideration," Tolbert wrote on his Web site. "Some have asked about the timing. As most could imagine, the recent news of the last two days along with the response did play a role in this decision but was not the sole factor."

Huckabee said Tuesday he takes "full responsibility" for the clemency decision.

"I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000, the former GOP presidential hopeful said in a statement. "If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. But if the same file was presented to me today, I would have likely made the same decision."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Tuesday said he accepts 'full responsibility' for granting clemency in 2000 to a man authorities say gunned down four Lakewood, Washington, police officers on Sunday.

(CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Tuesday said he accepts "full responsibility" for granting clemency in 2000 to a man authorities say gunned down four Lakewood, Washington, police officers on Sunday.

Maurice Clemmons, 37, was shot and killed early Tuesday by Seattle police. He was the subject of a two-day manhunt after the four officers were killed at a coffee shop as they met before their shifts began Sunday morning.

Clemmons had a criminal history in both Arkansas and Washington. In May 2000, Huckabee commuted his 108-year prison sentence to make him immediately eligible for parole, which was granted by the parole board two months later. Clemmons had been sentenced to 95 years, to run after time he was already serving on previous convictions.

In a statement on the conservative news Web site Newsmax.com, Huckabee wrote that he commuted Clemmons' sentence from 108 years to 47 years. Reports he had pardoned Clemmons or set him free were erroneous, he said.

"I take full responsibility for my actions of nine years ago," Huckabee said. "I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000. If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. But if the same file was presented to me today, I would have likely made the same decision."

But the Arkansas prosecutor who put Clemmons behind bars told CNN Tuesday that Huckabee was exercising his clemency powers at "an astounding rate" during his tenure as governor.

"He was exercising the clemency power at what I call a wholesale rate," Larry Jegley said. "He was letting murderers out, he was letting rapists out and he was letting the likes of Mr. Clemmons out."

One survey, he said, showed Huckabee issued more clemencies from 1996 to 2004 than the governors of all six surrounding states, including Texas.

He said he didn't know why so many clemencies were granted. "That was part of the frustration that we felt with the entire process. ... We never felt as though he gave victims, their families, jurors, law enforcement and the community in general an adequate explanation as to why he felt compelled to let people of proven danger go in our community."

Huckabee was a Republican presidential candidate in the 2008 election and has not ruled out another White House bid in 2012. During his 2008 campaign, he was criticized for granting clemency to another inmate, convicted rapist Wayne DuMond, who was later convicted of raping and murdering a woman in Missouri.

"Between 1,000 and 2,000 requests for some form of clemency came to my desk each and every one of the 10 1/2 years I was governor," Huckabee said Tuesday. "Ninety-two percent of the time I denied the requests."

He noted that in Arkansas, a governor does not initiate a sentence change - the Post Prison Transfer Board makes a recommendation to the governor after reviewing an inmate's file. The governor then can grant or deny it.

Clemmons was 16 when he was charged with robbery and burglary. "For the crimes he committed and the age at which he committed the crimes, (a 108-year sentence) was dramatically outside the norm for sentencing," Huckabee said. The board unanimously recommended that the sentence be commuted.

Jegley said that while in prison in Arkansas, Clemmons had a disciplinary record for violent incidents, and that something should have tipped the board or the governor off that "this man was not a good candidate to be put back in society, because he couldn't live in the cloistered environment of prison and stay out of trouble."

In the case of any form of clemency - a commutation or a full pardon - notice is given to the prosecutor, the judge, law enforcement officials, the attorney general and the secretary of state, as well as the media, for a public response period, Huckabee said. "The only record of public response to the notice to commute was from the trial judge, who recommended the commendation in concert with the board."

Jegley told CNN he was not notified of the commutation, but he doesn't "attribute that to something sinister. ... I just think that maybe the system fouled up and didn't get notification out to all the parties who were interested in it, my office included."

After being paroled, Clemmons was returned to prison after violating his parole, Huckabee said. He "should have stayed there. For reasons only the prosecutor can explain, charges were not brought forth in a timely way and the prosecutor ended up dropping the charges, allowing him to leave prison and return to supervised parole."

He noted that Clemmons, who had been picked up again in Pierce County, Washington, was released on bail there only days before the officers were slain.

"I can't explain why he wasn't prosecuted properly for the parole violations or why he was allowed to make bail in Washington state and not incarcerated earlier for crimes committed there," the former governor wrote.

On Sunday, Huckabee's office issued a statement saying if Clemmons was "found responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

Police responded sharply to that statement. "We're disappointed that Governor Huckabee came out in the middle of the night without calling anybody here and blamed this on the criminal justice system in the state of Washington," Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer said. "We're guessing that's probably a spin doctor, not him."

Huckabee wrote of Clemmons, "I wish his file had never crossed my desk, but it did. The decision I made is one that I now wish were different, but I could only look backwards at his case, not forward. None of this is of any comfort to the families of these police officers, nor should it be. Their loss is senseless. ... Our system is not perfect and neither are those responsible
for administering it.

"The system and those of us who are supposed to make sure it works sometimes fail," Huckabee said. "In this case, we clearly did."

Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons' sentence when he was governor of Arkansas in 2000.

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee took to the radio airwaves Monday to explain why, as governor of Arkansas in 2000, he commuted the nearly 100-year prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the man suspected of murdering four police officers in Washington state.

Clemmons was sentenced to 95 years in prison in 1989 for a host of charges, including robberies, burglaries, thefts and bringing a gun to school. Huckabee cited Clemmons' young age - 17 at the time of his sentencing - when he announced his decision to commute the sentence, according to newspaper articles. Clemmons was paroled in August 2000, after 11 years in prison.

On the Monday morning episode of "The Huckabee Report" - the Republican's daily radio commentary - he pointed to "a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state" as the reason Clemmons was allowed to re-enter society. Repeating what he said in a statement released Sunday night, Huckabee noted that the Arkansas parole board granted Clemmons' parole after he received the commutation.

"He was arrested later for parole violation, taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him," Huckabee told listeners. "It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior, but was not kept incarcerated by either state."

Huckabee, who is considering a making second presidential run in 2012, also spoke to Fox News radio about his decision.

"If I could have known nine years ago, looked into the future, would I have acted favorably upon the parole board's recommendation? Of course not," he said. "One of the things that is horrible and just, again, one of the realities you have to confront is the criminal justice system is far from perfect, and in this case it failed miserably on all sides."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he will be looking at the 2010 midterm election results as part of his decisionmaking about 2012.

(CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Sunday he remains undecided about another presidential run in 2012, but called the possibility "less likely than more likely."

Appearing on "FOX News Sunday," Huckabee noted the election is almost three years away and that, regardless of what happens between now and then, President Barack Obama will be a tough opponent.

"It's hard to say. A lot of it depends on how the elections turn out next year," Huckabee said of the 2010 mid-term vote expected to bring some Republican gains in Congress.

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll showed Huckabee was the front-runner among possible Republican nominees for 2012. However, Huckabee said he would need assurances that the Republican Party would unite behind his candidacy, unlike 2008 when he was considered an outsider by the GOP mainstream.

"It's less likely than more likely," Huckabee said of running for the GOP nomination again. Besides, he said, he's got a good job now.

"The reason I wouldn't is this FOX gig I've got right now ... is really, really wonderful," Huckabee said of his talk show on the network.

"Jumping into the pool, you've got to make sure there's some water in it," he said, later adding: "It's a wonderful experience, but I am nowhere near ready to say that's what I want to do three years from now."

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee released a statement Sunday night amid news the former Arkansas governor commuted the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the man suspected of fatally shooting four Washington state police officers.

“The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State.

The murder of any individual is a profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within. Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State.

He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990. This commutation making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him.

It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state.This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.”

 

Palin's favorable numbers among Iowa Republicans are strong, says a new poll - though one in four members of her party there have doubts.

(CNN) - Sarah Palin's book tour brings her to Iowa in two weeks. If the former Alaska governor and last year's GOP vice presidential nominee decides to return to Iowa down to road to explore a race for the White House, a new survey suggests that Republicans in the state like her - but have some doubts.

According to a Des Moines Register Iowa poll, 68 percent of Hawkeye Republicans view Palin favorably. That's a statistically insignificant 2 points behind those who have a positive view of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, which traditionally kick off the presidential primary season.

Among other potential 2012 candidates: The survey indicates that two out of three view former House Speaker Newt Gingrich favorably and 58 percent have a positive view of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"With those kinds of numbers, if she were to become a candidate, while it's not a sure thing, she would be starting out in a very good position," veteran Iowa GOP strategist David Roederer told the Des Moines Register. Roederer ran McCain's 2008 Iowa campaign.

But according to the poll, nearly one in four Iowa Republicans view Palin unfavorably. That's double the 12 percent who view Huckabee in an unfavorable way.

Among all Iowans, the survey indicates that 55 percent hold an unfavorable opinion, with 37 percent seeing her in a positive light.

Palin's tour for her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," brings her to Iowa on December 6. Palin's scheduled to sign copies of her book at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Des Moines Register Iowa poll was conducted November 8-11, with 800 registered voters in Iowa questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the overall sample.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

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.

Former Huckabee presidential campaign manager Chip Saltsman, whose candidate won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, defended the role of the traditional early states.

"I think it's very important and crucial to have Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina early on in the process," he said.

Saltsman said that he has seen during his experiences in Iowa from previous campaigns "just how seriously folks in those states take the process. Not that the other 47 states don't. It's an opportunity for any candidate, no matter how rich, no matter how poor, no matter how new, and no matter who's been running for eight years."

"This is making our candidates better candidates," Saltsman added.

The campaigns all agreed that regardless of what the calendar eventually looks like, it will be important to lock in the schedule early so that candidates can plan and strategize accordingly. In 2008, both the Republican and Democratic primary calendars were thrown into disarray when Michigan and Florida moved their contests earlier in the process to challenge the early positioning of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

"This is something that I don't know if there's a perfect solution, but there needs to be a solution," said Saltsman. "Set the rules. Set them fair. Let [the presidential campaigns] know what they are. And set them in a way that don't change."

Beth Myers, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign manager, echoed a similar sentiment.

"I am of the belief that a campaign can plan for any calendar, but that certainty is what matters," she said in a written statement submitted to the panel. "In other words, my primary recommendation would be that the calendar is set as early as possible so that it is known by all campaigns."

Myers did not address the politically sensitive issue of whether Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should remain as the first contests, but she did suggest a later start for the primary season, which began on January 3 in 2008, the earliest start of any presidential primary season in history.

"The one complaint we heard more than any other was that it started too close to the holidays," she said. "I would urge you to mandate a start in late February or early March."

Saltzman suggested late January as a starting point.

The RNC invited all the 2008 GOP presidential campaigns to provide feedback for Thursday's forum. The Huckabee, Giuliani and Duncan Hunter campaigns sent representatives to testify in person. The Romney, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson campaigns submitted written statements. The remainder of the 2008 GOP field, including the campaign of Sen. John McCain, did not respond to the invitation.

The RNC is expected to finalize its rules governing the nomination process at its summer meeting next year.

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.

But Huckabee's fundraising pales in comparison to Romney's and Palin's, and it's the former Republican vice presidential candidate who has been dubbed the party's rock star, and whose upcoming book tour will make national headlines - a fact Huckabee brushed off with his trademark humor.

"I'm glad she's getting the props - I know I'm not nearly as attractive," he said.

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.

But Huckabee's fundraising pales in comparison to Romney's and Palin's, and it's the former Republican vice presidential candidate who has been dubbed the party's rock star, and whose upcoming book tour will make national headlines - a fact Huckabee brushed off with his trademark humor.

"I'm glad she's getting the props - I know I'm not nearly as attractive," he said.

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.

On Friday, former Vice President Al Gore held a fundraiser for Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. And next week, former President Bill Clinton will appear at a rally for Deeds along with longtime Clinton friend Terry McAuliffe, who sought the Democratic nomination before losing to Deeds in June.

The party's leader, President Obama, will make his second trip to Virginia to lend a hand, the Deeds campaign announced Friday. The visit will be Obama's second on the trail for the gubernatorial candidate: he campaigned for Deeds and hosted a fundraiser for him in August Vice President Joe Biden and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, have both stumped for Deeds.

For a campaign thought by many to be a referendum of the Obama presidency, the election will largely turn by local issues - specifically transportation and the economy. Deeds has also tried to make the race about women's issues by highlighting a conservative thesis written by McDonnell in which he called working women "detrimental" to families.

Entering October, McDonnell held a significant cash advantage, with $4.5 million on hand to Deeds' $2.7 million.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby contributed to this report

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."

"The cost of our health reforms is roughly 1.5 percent of $27 billion state budget, hardly a budget buster," Fehrnstrom said. He said the health care law doesn't mention abortion, "but court precedents in Massachusetts require government-subsidized plans to offer it."

Ferhnstrom also argued that the Massachusetts law proves that health care can be fixed without a government intrusion.

"The lesson from the Massachusetts experience is that you don't need to create a new government insurance option to get more people covered," he said. "What Governor Romney did was to strengthen our private market system."

Both Huckabee and Romney are considering repeat presidential bids in 2012.

But Huckabee isn't the only potential GOP contender to criticize "Romneycare" - in July, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a series of critical statements about the system, saying that costs turned out to be higher than expected, resulting in higher taxes and fees.

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.

Just four of the Republicans on the ballot will actually attend the event. Pence, Huckabee and Pawlenty will address the conference on Friday morning, while Romney will deliver remarks on Saturday.

Palin was invited to the event, but according to organizers, the former GOP vice presidential nominee never confirmed she would attend.

Among the other conservative luminaries slated to speak: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Georgia Rep. Tom Price, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Miss California Carrie Prejean.

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.

"As a private citizen, I disagree, and I have a right to disagree, with President Obama's demand for a freeze on Israel's building new settlements, and with his further demand for a freeze on expansion of existing settlements, despite the natural growth that a community experiences," Huckabee wrote. "His call for such a complete freeze contradicts the policy not just of President Bush, but of President Clinton, indeed of all our presidents since Israel's victory in the 1967 war."

According to the Israeli paper Ha'aretz, the potential GOP presidential hopeful arrived in Israel Sunday. He attended a gala Monday in East Jerusalem - on land Palestinians have claimed for a future state - with Jewish activists from the United States.

On the trip Time magazine is calling "Huckabee's first 2012 campaign stop," he also visited Israeli homes in East Jerusalem and settlements in the West Bank.

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:

President "Obama the Hungry" makes King Henry VIII look like a compulsive dieter!

I know something about overeating. It can kill you. Back when I was governor of Arkansas, I was so overweight I developed Type II diabetes. Doctors told me to lay down the knife and fork - or else. That scared me. I cut the calories and lost 110 pounds. Only then did I regain my health.

Does bloat scare Obama? Heck no. He's hungry for more! Fresh from gulping down $800 billion of our money to load up his Washington smorgasbord, he's planning yet another massive banquet. Obama wants to belly up to the table and swallow the best health care system in the world. And you and I will pay the tab for this gargantuan pig-out!

It is probably safe to say that Huckabee, who now hosts a show on Fox News Channel, won't be invited to the White House for dinner anytime soon.

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:

President "Obama the Hungry" makes King Henry VIII look like a compulsive dieter!

I know something about overeating. It can kill you. Back when I was governor of Arkansas, I was so overweight I developed Type II diabetes. Doctors told me to lay down the knife and fork - or else. That scared me. I cut the calories and lost 110 pounds. Only then did I regain my health.

Does bloat scare Obama? Heck no. He's hungry for more! Fresh from gulping down $800 billion of our money to load up his Washington smorgasbord, he's planning yet another massive banquet. Obama wants to belly up to the table and swallow the best health care system in the world. And you and I will pay the tab for this gargantuan pig-out!

It is probably safe to say that Huckabee, who now hosts a show on Fox News Channel, won't be invited to the White House for dinner anytime soon.

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.

Though Palin, who has firmly remained in the headlines since she was tapped to be the party's vice presidential candidate last August, appears considerably better known than both men: only 7 percent of Republicans have no opinion of her compared to 28 percent who said the same of Romney and 25 percent who lacked a view of Huckabee.

Of course, polls more than two years before an election are far from predictive: A Gallup survey in 2005 showed Hillary Clinton would win the 2008 Democratic nomination over John Kerry while Rudy Giuliani would edge out McCain on the Republican side. President Obama was not included in the poll.

Huckabee wants Palin to stay in the GOP.

(CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has a warning for Sarah Palin: Don't abandon the Republican Party.

The former presidential candidate and potential future White House rival of Palin's said Tuesday he's concerned about speculation the Alaska governor may leave the GOP to become an independent.

"I hope she remains - let me be real clear - a part of the Republican Party," Huckabee told FOX News. "I'm a little concerned when I hear her say that she may sort of branch out and go third party or go independent. That would be a big mistake because we need to rebuild the Republican Party, not abandon it."

The comments come days after Palin told the Washington Times she intends to spend her days out of the Alaska governor's mansion campaigning for both Republican and Democratic candidates whose ideas she supports. That prompted speculation the onetime GOP vice presidential candidate could consider running for office in the future as a third party candidate.

But Huckabee - who, like Palin, is thought to be considering a White House bid in 2012 - said Palin has an important role to play in the Republican Party.

"I want her to succeed, and I'm delighted to see her continuing to use her voice because I do think that she rallies people," he said. "She brought electricity to the Republican ticket last year, when, frankly, there was about as much excitement as you would see, you know, at a - at a Baptist dance, which means there wasn't any, until she showed up for the ticket. And then there was fire going forth."

Related: Poll: Majority of Republicans don't think Palin's qualified for prez

Huckabee - now a commentator for FOX News - also praised Palin's recent Washington Post op-ed attacking President Obama's support of a "cap and trade" program, saying it shows her "serious side."

Republican strategist Karl Rove said Sunday that Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to step down risky and not clear.

(CNN) - The "architect" of George W. Bush's successful presidential campaigns has questions about Sarah Palin's resignation as governor.

"It's a risky strategy," Republican campaign mastermind Karl Rove told "Fox News Sunday."

Palin's unexpected announcement Friday that she will step down with 18 months left in her first term has left many in her party "a little perplexed," said Rove, whom Bush dubbed "The Architect" for managing his two victorious campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

Palin, who was John McCain's surprise vice presidential candidate in the 2008 election, said she already knew she would not seek a second term, and decided against being a lame duck governor for the next 18 months.

She also complained that too much time and taxpayer expense was going toward fighting ethics investigations, and that the mainstream media continued with unfair attacks on her and her family.

Some analysts believe Palin will seek the 2012 Republican nomination, and that her resignation is intended to free her to prepare.

Rove said stepping down now won't lessen the media spotlight, and in fact takes away her platform as governor for controlling her agenda and message.

"The media, if she wants to run for president, is going to be following her for the next 3-1/2 years," Rove said.

He called her move unclear and therefore a potentially harmful strategy for a politician.

"Effective strategies in politics are ones that are so clear and obvious that people can grasp," Rove said. "It's not clear what she's doing and why."

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska criticized Palin's decision as abandoning the state's voters. Palin defeated Murkowski's father in winning the gubernatorial election in 2006.

But Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, also on the Fox program, said Sunday that Murkowski's statement disappointed him because it failed to recognize all that Palin has accomplished in her 2-1/2 years in office.

"She doesn't need a title to effect change and bring some hope to people who need it," said Parnell, a Republican who stands to become governor with Palin's resignation.

In an Independence Day message to supporters, Palin said she was leaving office for a "higher calling."

"How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country," Palin said in a statement attributed to her on her Facebook page. "And though it's honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it's right for all, including your family."

Palin said her administration had "accomplished more during this one term than most governors do in two."

"We have accomplished so much and there's much more to do, but my family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most," she said. "And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier - I've never been one to waste time or resources."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, noted that Palin will remain in the media spotlight regardless of whether she is governor.

"The challenge that she's going to have is that there will be people who will say, look, if they chased you out of this, it won't get any easier at other levels," Huckabee said. "It could be a brilliant strategy. The point is we don't know."

Huckabee called a presidential campaign "brutal," and said a Republican primary will ratchet up the pressure on Palin.

"When your opponents within your own team spend millions of dollars to redefine you, it's very very difficult," Huckabee said.

Huckabee endorsed Rubio in a video message Tuesday.

(CNN) – Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee officially endorsed Marco Rubio's Senate bid Tuesday, becoming the latest conservative to break with the national party over the GOP Senate primary race in Florida.

"I had a chance to get to know Marco over the years, spent a lot of time in Florida with him. And I've never seen a more energetic, articulate, principled conservative as Marco Rubio," Huckabee said in a video posted on his Web site.

"Marco loves liberty. He loves the idea that people can work hard and maybe get to keep something of what they worked hard for. That's the difference," he added.

Rubio faces Charlie Crist, the popular Florida governor, for the nomination. Crist immediately won the support of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee as well as a string of GOP leaders in Congress.

Conservative activists and bloggers have expressed disappointment the party was so quick to write off Rubio, a charismatic 38-year-old of Cuban descent whose quick rise in state politics and conservative credentials have won admiration from many in the party.

Huckabee's endorsement - first leaked accidentally more than three weeks ago - comes a week after South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint also threw his support behind Rubio, declaring he was "convinced" the former Florida House Speaker could beat Crist.

Recent polls show Crist with more than a 30-point lead in the race, though primary voters won't head to the polls for more than a year.

Huckabee plans to back Rubio in Florida.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has rolled out a succession of endorsements from national Republicans since announcing his entrance into the 2010 Senate race.

Now his Republican primary rival, former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio, has a national endorsement of his own from a conservative heavyweight: Mike Huckabee.

The former Arkansas governor will formally endorse Rubio in about two weeks, according to a Florida Republican familiar with the plans. The details of where the endorsement will take place have not been decided.

Rubio endorsed Huckabee's presidential bid in late 2007.

Huckabee's political action committee accidentally revealed the endorsement plans in an email to supporters on Tuesday evening that solicited donations for "candidates for Senate Huck PAC endorses."

"Candidates such as Marco Rubio of Florida," the e-mail said.

Rubio's campaign picked up another endorsement closer to home on Wednesday, that of Jeb Bush, Jr., the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The former governor, who remains popular among Republicans in Florida and nationally, is a Rubio mentor, but he has so far avoided weighing in on the Senate race.

Huckabee said Michael Steele's skin color is an asset when it comes to challenging President Obama.

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee said over the weekend that Michael Steele is doing "a good job" as chairman of the Republican National Committee - in part because of the color of his skin.

"I think [Steele] has sought to be, first of all, a very strong spokesperson," Huckabee told The Tennessean on Saturday, before speaking at a church service. "I'm not sure anyone else could be as effective in challenging the Obama policies any more so than Michael."

Asked why that's the case, Huckabee answered: "Well, I believe that that no one is gonna be able to use the racism charge."

But Huckabee seemed to quickly move away from that assertion, and went on to argue that Steele is an effective leader because he has experience at many levels of politics.

"No one's gonna be able to say that Michael doesn't understand, because he has gone up through the ranks," he said. "He has been an elected official I think there's value there. Sometimes our chairman has been a person, maybe, who has never held public office."

Just last week, Steele made some racial comments of his own, arguing that Obama avoided press scrutiny during the presidential campaign because he is black.

"He was not vetted, because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office," Steele said while filling in on Bill Bennett's radio show last Friday.

UPDATE: Ed Rollins, Mike Huckabee's former campaign manager, weighed in on Huckabee's comments on Tuesday.

Rollins said on CNN's "The Situation Room" that Huckabee "should have been focusing and not signing books," as he was during the interview.

"I think the bottom line here is, Michael Steele is chairman of our party not because he an African-American," Rollins said. "I think to a certain extent, whatever Mike was trying to say was not thought out. He is a guy who has had tremendous support in the African-American community as a governor, got 45 percent of the vote when he was running."

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee issued a statement Tuesday on Sotomayor's nomination:

The appointment of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama's campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bi-partisan way were mere rhetoric. Sotomayor comes from the far left and will likely leave us with something akin to the "Extreme Court" that could mark a major shift. The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the "feelings" of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion. If she is confirmed, then we need to take the blindfold off Lady Justice.

Huckabee is going after Pelosi over the CIA controversy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Mike Huckabee has apparently found his muse: Nancy Pelosi.

Huckabee penned a poem about the House speaker, who has come under fire from the GOP for accusing the CIA of lying to her in intelligence briefings about the agency’s use of harsh interrogation techniques.

The seven-stanza poem, found on the former presidential candidate’s Web site, is called “Fancy Nancy.”

Huckabee calls Pelosi a “ruthless politician” and tweaks the San Franscisco Democrat for her use of a military plane for travel back to her district.

But the heart of the poem is about Pelosi's CIA he-said-she-said:

She sat in briefings and knew about enhanced interrogation; But claims she wasn't there, and can't give an explanation.

She disparages the CIA and says they are a bunch of liars; Even the press aren't buying it and they're stoking their fires.

Huckabee isn't a fan of the GOP's new 'listening tour.'

(CNN) - Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is continuing to deride his party's leaders in Washington, saying Monday he has trouble keeping a straight face over the GOP's newly-launched "listening tour."

"It's hard to keep from laughing out loud when people living in the bubble of the Beltway suddenly wake up one day and think they ought to have a listening tour; even funnier when their first earful expedition takes them all the way to the suburbs of Washington, D.C.," the former Arkansas governor wrote in a column on Fox News' Web site.

Earlier this month, Rep. Eric Cantor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney kicked off a campaign by party leaders to reshape the GOP's image, gathering at a restaurant in northern Virginia for the first of a series of town hall meetings.

The goal of the initiative, the National Council for a New America, is to connect Republican leaders with voters across the country to help get the party's electoral fortunes back on track.

"If some of these leaders had been listening already, they wouldn't need to form a group to start listening now," wrote Huckabee. "Some of the ones who have decided to start listening sure weren't listening last fall when they were supporting the TARP bailout bill that pretty much discredited any semblance of conservative conviction."

Huckabee echoed a similar sentiment last week, telling a California newspaper the GOP was at risk of becoming "irrelevant as the Whigs" if it moderated its policies.

Huckabee says the GOP must not lose social conservatives.

(CNN) - Days after national Republicans launched a new campaign to broaden the party's outreach, former upstart presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the GOP is at risk of becoming "irrelevant as the Whigs."

In an interview with the California newspaper The Visalia Times-Delta, Huckabee said the GOP would only further decline in influence should it alienate social conservatives - largely considered the most energetic and loyal faction of the party.

"Throw the social conservatives the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs," he said in reference to the American political party that largely disbanded in the mid 1800s.

"They'll basically be a party of gray-haired old men sitting around the country club puffing cigars, sipping brandy and wondering whatever happened to the country. That will be the end of the party," he said in the interview published Thursday.

Huckabee's comments come the same day former Vice President Dick Cheney warned his party's leaders not to moderate their views as they launch an effort to regain control in the nation's Capitol.

"The idea that we ought to moderate basically means we ought to fundamentally change our philosophy," Cheney also said. "I for one am not prepared to do that, and I think most of us aren’t," he told conservative talk-radio host Scott Hennen.

The comments come after longtime Republican Sen. Arlen Specter formally left the GOP, igniting a fierce debate among Republicans over what type of candidates the party should embrace going forward.

On Saturday, three prominent GOP leaders - Rep. Eric Cantor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney - kicked off a campaign to reshape their party's image, gathering at a restaurant in northern Virginia for the first of a series of town hall meetings. The goal of the initiative, called the National Council for a New America, is to connect Republican leaders with voters across the country to help get the party's electoral fortunes back on track.

But in the interview Thursday, Huckabee said it's too early for the GOP to look for a leader.

"I'm frustrated with all these people who are jockeying for the position to be the 'leader,'" he said. "It's almost like we're worried about who's going to be the drum major and we don't have a piece of music yet."

Huckabee is using Huck PAC as a fundraising tool for candidates.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said President Obama should see the grassroots "Tea Party" movement as "genuine" in a letter to supporters of his political action committee on Friday.

"Mr. President the tea parties = real moms, dads, small business owners concerned about a government adrift that is doubling down on spending," Huckabee said in the letter posted on his web site. "If President Obama is blind to what is happening on his front porch...he doesn't need a water dog...he needs a guide dog."

Huckabee is using Huck PAC as a fundraising tool for candidates that he says are committed "to fiscal sanity, lower taxes, a strong national defense, life and traditional marriage."

The Republican ticket lost Virginia for the first time since 1964.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Virginia Democrats are hoping Sarah Palin remains so polarizing that she'll keep voters from from supporting the GOP in this fall's much-anticipated gubernatorial election.

In a new Web video released Tuesday, the Democratic Party of Virginia replays audio from a Palin fundraiser last fall, in which she described "these small towns that we get to visit" as "real America."

The Web video attempts to draw a link between that comment and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's recent claim that that northern Virginians "aren't necessarily thinking in the same way that folks like you and me think." Huckabee made those remarks while campaigning in Appalachia on behalf of the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bob McDonnell.

The video also calls attention to a former John McCain adviser, Nancy Pfotenhauer, who said on a cable show last fall that Democratic-leaning northern Virginia is not the "real Virginia."

The state Democratic Party calls Huckabee's remarks the "same failed divisive attacks" that helped drive Virginia into Obama's fold last November. The video says McDonnell is "writing off northern Virginia," the commonwealth's most populous region.

Last week, after the Huckabee speech was publicized by Virginia Democratic operatives, a McDonnell spokesman admitted that Huckabee "made some comments that do not reflect how integrated Virginia's economy is." He also pointed out that McDonnell was raised in northern Virginia.

For the record: Palin made the "real America" comment in North Carolina. The Alaska governor later apologized for the remark.

Huckabee told voters in Appalachia that northern Virginians have it easier.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Virginia Democrats are eagerly pouncing on Mike Huckabee for telling an audience in Appalachia that voters in northern Virginia "aren't necessarily thinking the same way folks like you and me think."

Huckabee made the remarks in southwest Virginia's Tazewell County on Monday while campaigning with Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor. His appearance was recorded and posted on YouTube by a state Democratic operative.

"They have never fully understood how hard it is for a lot of people to put a paycheck together, be able to feed a family," Huckabee said. "Some folks up there near the Beltway," he claimed, have "never fully understood how hard it is for a lot of people to put a paycheck together, be able to feed a family."

The comments were reminiscent of a gaffe made last October by Nancy Pfotenhauer, a campaign adviser to John McCain, who went on cable television and contrasted the strongly Democratic Washington suburbs with the rest of state, which she called 'real Virginia.' The Obama campaign, eager to shore up support in vote-heavy northern Virginia, seized on the comment.

Virginia Democratic Party chairman Richard C. Cranwell called Huckabee's remarks "divisive" and demanded that McDonnell condemn them. "It's the same thing they tried to do last year with the 'real Virginia,'" Cranwell said. "I expect we won't be seeing Mike Huckabee back in Virginia again."

State senator Creigh Deeds, one of three Democrats seeking his party's nomination for governor this year, said Huckabee's comments were "hurtful" and asked McDonnell supporters to "pick up a newspaper to find out that Virginians are hurting across the commonwealth."

Another Democratic candidate, former delegate Brian Moran, said Huckabee "knows better than this." Moran said "there's no real Virginia or fake Virginia, there's just one Commonwealth of Virginia."

Terry McAuliffe, the third Democratic candidate for governor and a resident of the wealthy northern Virginia enclave of McLean, did not put out a statement on Huckabee's remarks.

The McAuliffe campaign had made a separate push on Thursday to highlight a different statement in the same Huckabee speech. Huckabee joked that Republicans should let the air out of Democrats' tires on election day. McAuliffe said that voter suppression is "not a laughing matter."

A spokesman for McDonnell, Tucker Martin, pointed out that McDonnell was raised in Fairfax and that "he knows northern Virginia is the economic engine of Virginia." Martin said Huckabee "made some comments that do not reflect how integrated Virginia's economy is."

Virginia congressman Frank Wolf also chimed in to defend McDonnell. "He understands Northern Virginia and the issues we face because this is where he is from, and where his family is from," Wolf said in a statement issued through the McDonnell campaign.

UPDATE: McAuliffe issued a statement calling Huckabee's remarks "the latest incarnation of the tired 'Northern Virginia vs. the rest of the state' myth" that has blocked progress in the General Assembly.

"It's unfortunate that Bob McDonnell stood by silently as Mike Huckabee demeaned Northern Virginia," he said.

Huckabee said McAuliffe is overreacting to his recent comments in Virginia.

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee shot back at Terry McAuliffe late Thursday after the former DNC chairman and Virginia gubernatorial candidate accused Huckabee of encouraging voter suppression.

"As someone who served as a Governor for 10 years, I can say if these are the type of things Terry McAuliffe worries about and make him break down and cry, then he won't last 10 days as Governor much less four years and he doesn't deserve the people of Virginia's vote," Huckabee said in a statement to CNN.

At issue is a joke Huckabee made during a recent appearance on behalf of Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor.

Huckabee cracked that if McDonnell's supporters bump into someone who isn't planning on voting for the Republican, they should "let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on election day."

The joke, a familiar one to those who followed Huckabee's presidential campaign, drew chuckles from the crowd.

McAuliffe, one of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, sought to make the remark an issue on Thursday.

"There are no jokes to be made about denying people the right to vote in this country," he said in a statement. "It's not a laughing matter. This is a right that people fought and died for, so as public figures, we must be sure that we are setting the standard."

Huckabee said Republicans should let the air out of Democrats' tires on election day.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Terry McAuliffe, the jovial former chairman of the Democratic National Committee now running for governor in Virginia, is not laughing at one of Mike Huckabee's jokes.

During a recent appearance on behalf of Bob McDonnell - the Republican candidate for governor - Huckabee wisecracked that if McDonnell's supporters bump into someone who isn't planning on voting for the Republican, they should "let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on election day."

The joke is a Huckabee favorite: he recited it countless times at campaign stops nationwide during his failed bid to win the Republican nomination in 2007 and 2008.

Nevertheless, McAuliffe - who made more than a few surrogate appearances of his own on behalf of Bill and Hillary Clinton - is accusing of Huckabee of inciting "voter suppression."

"Let's be clear," he said in a statement. "There are no jokes to be made about denying people the right to vote in this country. It's not a laughing matter. This is a right that people fought and died for, so as public figures, we must be sure that we are setting the standard."

McAuliffe, who has made a point of highlighting his creation of a voting rights institute when he led the DNC, accused McDonnell of "standing by silently as Mike Huckabee encourages his supporters to suppress the vote."

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin brushed off the McAuliffe criticism.

"Virginians are losing their jobs, unemployment is at its highest point in 17 years, and Chairman McAuliffe spends his afternoon feigning outrage over a lighthearted political joke by somebody not even on the ballot in Virginia," Martin said. "This attack demonstrates a complete lack of perspective and seriousness. Chairman McAuliffe clearly has no clue what Virginians are going through, and how tough times are."

Huckabee's campaign faltered in South Carolina last January.

(CNN) – Mike Huckabee will travel to the early primary state of South Carolina in April to make an appearance at a rally for Fair Tax supporters, who helped energize to his underdog presidential bid when he adopted the tax proposal into his campaign platform.

The rally will take place in downtown Columbia on Tax Day, April 15, according to the Fair Tax web site.

The trip will mark Huckabee’s second trip to South Carolina since the general election ended. The former Arkansas governor did a multi-city tour of the state in December to promote his new book.

For the second time in as many days, a prominent Republican has likened Pres. Obama's policies to socialism.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Another prominent Republican told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday that the president’s spending plans are pushing the country to the brink of socialism.

Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the only member of the senate to earn a perfect rating from the American Conservative Union, called President Obama “the world’s best salesman of socialism” on Friday in describing his prime time speech earlier this week.

DeMint, a fierce opponent of government expansion, told the CPAC crowd that conservatives might have to “take to the streets to stop America’s slide into socialism.”

His remarks comes a day after Mike Huckabee told the conference of conservative activists that “the Union of American Socialist Republics is being born” with the president’s stimulus package.

“Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff,” Huckabee said of the government bailing out financial institutions.

Speaking at CPAC, Mike Huckabee governor took McCain to task for voting for the financial bailout last October, a move the former Arkansas governor said betrayed the party’s core beliefs.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Mike Huckabee and John McCain got along famously during the Republican presidential campaign, but now Huckabee - possibly mulling another bid in 2012 - is putting some space between himself and the former GOP nominee.

Speaking at CPAC, the annual gathering of conservative activists, the former Arkansas governor took McCain to task for voting for the financial bailout last October, a move Huckabee said betrayed the party’s core beliefs.

“With all due respect, Sen. McCain dramatically suspended his campaign and flew back to Washington not to champion those conservative Republicans [in the House], but to join meekly with Barack Obama in voting for the bailout, a bailout most American opposed,” he said.

Huckabee said he went along with the Republican ticket because he was “a good soldier,” but that the bailout vote may have sunk McCain’s campaign.

“I tell you, that moment was not our best moment,” he said. “It would have been our best shot at winning the White House a chance to offer a true authentic, conservative choice rather than a big government echo, rather than a meek, ‘me too’ way of doing things.”

Huckabee frustrated some Republican primary voters during the campaign because he was perceived as being too supportive of government spending on social programs, but in his remarks Thursday, he stressed his opposition to the financial bailout and President Obama’s stimulus package. Those spending bills, he said, have given conservatives a chance to define themselves against liberal overreach.

“The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics may be dead, but the Union of American Socialist Republics is being born,” he said.

Still, Huckabee struck back at his critics, saying he was "prophetic" in warning during his campaign about the dangers of a "Wall Street to Washington Axis of Power that was out of control."

Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was both sympathetic and critical of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

(CNN) - Sarah Palin has complained repeatedly that she was given unfair treatment by the media during her rapid political ascent last year.

But Mike Huckabee – a potential rival for Palin in 2012 should they both decide to seek the White House – apparently doesn’t agree.

In an interview in the current issue of Esquire, Huckabee speaks sympathetically of Palin, saying she had been subjected to “sexist things that would never have been asked of a male candidate.”

But he pushed back against Palin’s assertion that high-profile journalists – particularly Katie Couric of CBS – were biased in their interviews with her.

“Now I must say I did not think that either the Charlie Gibson interview or the Katie Couric interviews were unfair,” Huckabee said. “In fact, if anything, Katie Couric was extraordinarily gentle, even helpful. [Palin] just ... I don't know what happened. I can’t explain it. It was not a good interview. I’m being charitable.”

Since losing his bid for the GOP nomination last year, Mike Huckabee hasn’t been shy about criticizing some of the politicians he might face in a 2012 Republican primary battle – but Mitt Romney has remained his favorite target. In his new book, Huckabee wrote that Romney was "anything but conservative until he changed the light bulbs in his chandelier in time to run for president.”

Palin, meanwhile, has appeared preoccupied with re-hashing the ups-and-downs of the last campaign.

In a recent on-camera interview with a conservative filmmaker, Palin remarked off-handedly of Couric: “Katie, you’re not the center of everybody’s universe.” The day after excerpts of that interview were released and drew enormous media attention, Palin’s office released a statement hammering the press.

“As a public official, I expect criticism and I expect to be held accountable for how I govern,” the Alaska governor said. “But the personal, salacious nature of recent reporting, and often the refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes, unfortunately discredits too many in journalism today, making it difficult for many Americans to believe what they see in the media.”

Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was both sympathetic and critical of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

(CNN) - Sarah Palin has complained repeatedly that she was given unfair treatment by the media during her rapid political ascent last year.

But Mike Huckabee – a potential rival for Palin in 2012 should they both decide to seek the White House – apparently doesn’t agree.

In an interview in the current issue of Esquire, Huckabee speaks sympathetically of Palin, saying she had been subjected to “sexist things that would never have been asked of a male candidate.”

But he pushed back against Palin’s assertion that high-profile journalists – particularly Katie Couric of CBS – were biased in their interviews with her.

“Now I must say I did not think that either the Charlie Gibson interview or the Katie Couric interviews were unfair,” Huckabee said. “In fact, if anything, Katie Couric was extraordinarily gentle, even helpful. [Palin] just ... I don't know what happened. I can’t explain it. It was not a good interview. I’m being charitable.”

Since losing his bid for the GOP nomination last year, Mike Huckabee hasn’t been shy about criticizing some of the politicians he might face in a 2012 Republican primary battle – but Mitt Romney has remained his favorite target. In his new book, Huckabee wrote that Romney was "anything but conservative until he changed the light bulbs in his chandelier in time to run for president.”

Palin, meanwhile, has appeared preoccupied with re-hashing the ups-and-downs of the last campaign.

In a recent on-camera interview with a conservative filmmaker, Palin remarked off-handedly of Couric: “Katie, you’re not the center of everybody’s universe.” The day after excerpts of that interview were released and drew enormous media attention, Palin’s office released a statement hammering the press.

“As a public official, I expect criticism and I expect to be held accountable for how I govern,” the Alaska governor said. “But the personal, salacious nature of recent reporting, and often the refusal of the media to correct obvious mistakes, unfortunately discredits too many in journalism today, making it difficult for many Americans to believe what they see in the media.”