Huckabee: "I May Be Killing My Political Career"

By: Joy Lin
Topics: Mike Huckabee

(CBS)

From CBS News' Joy Lin:

EAU CLAIRE, WIS. -- "People ask me, 'Are you doing this for your future and your career?'" a worked-up Mike Huckabee said to a crowd of about 400 college students in the Green Bay area.

"Look, I may be killing my political career," he said.

"But I know this, if we don't start thinking about solving America's problems, we're killing all your careers that are standing here today as students, and that's unacceptable."

It was an impassioned moment from a candidate who arrived on stage trying out a new batch of lines, which he delivered in a measured, if sometimes stilted, manner.

"The national media has sort of said, well, the math doesn't work for you. Well let me give them some Huck-a-math here, okay?" Huckabee said as he tried out the new concept on stage. Over the course of approximately five minutes, Huckabee made his argument.

"We need to be adding to our borders for security... We need to subtract the idea of government spending...we need to be multiplying answers to the real problems we face in this country...and then we need to do some dividing. We need to divide up the nonsense in Washington and separate the children from the adults...Somebody's got to be willing to divide the divisiveness in Washington."

Huckabee was more relaxed and vibrant during a rare question and answer session that followed his speech. Asked how the education system could be improved, Huckabee spoke about the need for music and arts.

"Take a five-year-old kid, and you don't have to beg him to draw a picture. Put a crayon and a piece of paper in his hand, what does he do - he draws a picture. Same kid, when he's fifteen, give him a piece of paper and a crayon, and he says, 'I'm not good at this.' Five-year-old kid - leave him alone, and he'll sing his lungs out. When he's fifteen, you can't coax him into singing. What happened? Our education system beat the ever living creativity out of him between the time he was five and fifteen. And it's virtually a criminal act we have not stimulated the creativity that is natural to every human being and instead we have stifled it. That has got to stop or we'll never be competitive in this world. We need a music and arts education for every student."

Huckabee also fielded a question on who he thought was more liberal -- Obama or Clinton. Rather than assess their liberal qualities, Huckabee mused over the "challenges" each would present for the GOP -- Hillary has a "formidable" political machine and Obama "has certainly captured a spirit and enthusiasm in this country and I admire him for that."

At the media avail that followed, Huckabee was asked to explain the comment he was "killing" his career.

"Well, what I mean by that -- I was just saying there are a lot of people who say that you know I am staying and creating problems for the party and there are obviously some people in the party who are unhappy I am staying, now keep in mind, they are all supporting John McCain. But this sense that it's just his turn, let's just all step aside -- I find that insulting as a Republican and as a candidate.

Questioned again about whether he was helping or hurting his future, Huckabee said it wasn't about him.

"I think I am helping the country's future, I think I'm helping the party's future," he said.

"The party is not well-served if it doesn't have an honest discussion of who it is, where it's headed. And if the party can't handle having more than one point of view, then it's not a very strong party."

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by sleepdecay February 19, 2008 5:33 PM EST: Huck-a-math equals Huck-a-BS!!; Reply to this comment


by johnjacobs99 February 19, 2008 5:10 AM EST: The problem with the Republican party is that there are three camps: the liberal independents, the fiscal conservatives and the social conservatives. With this election, we saw three different candidates representing the different factions.

John McCain had is following, Mitt Romney had his, and Mike Huckabee had his. Instead of agreeing on a compromise, the republicans all played tug of war pulling in different directions.

Mitt quit early in the election cycle in the interest of uniting the party, however, the issues were not resolved. Conservatives do not support McCain.

Likewise not all conservatives support Huckabee. It did not help his cause by Evangelicals claiming they were the true Christians and others were not. This only adds to the rift and does not endear Huckabee to the West.

The bottom line is, as long as Evangelical want a litmus test for candidates the Republican party will be divided and the Democrats will win. With the all or nothing approach, you often get nothing.

It is time to look beyond Religion and look for common shared views, goals and direction. You may find that there is a lot more in common than you think.; Reply to this comment


by conspiracygirl February 19, 2008 2:56 AM EST: Ben-Vegas:

I slightly disagree about that. The Bible does mention paid sermons -- and refers to the money earned as "filthy lucre."; Reply to this comment


by mrsmarrero February 19, 2008 2:23 AM EST: I admire Mike more and more. We need someone with his tenacity, someone who just won''t quit, regardless of discouraging odds. In November, back who you must, but during the primary, do all that you can to get Mike to the convention. He is steadfast, and is able to think on his feet. I trust him with being able to logically deal with any problem that this country must face.; Reply to this comment


by greenbaygal2 February 19, 2008 1:23 AM EST: ANTI-HUCKABEE...? IN ELECTION ''08, THIS MEANS YOU ARE ANTI-LIFE ITSELF.; Reply to this comment


by greenbaygal2 February 19, 2008 1:07 AM EST: POWER TO THE PEOPLE !!!

A VOTE FOR MIKE HUCKABEE IS A VOTE FOR YOURSELF! HILLARY WANTS TO TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHT TO EVEN SPEAK ABOUT ABORTION AND REINSTATE BILL''S VETO BY ALLOWING THE KILLING OF AMERICAN BABIES WHEN THEY ARE HALF IN AND HALF OUT OF A WOMAN''S BIRTH CANAL (PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION).

B. HUSSEIN OBAMA "THE TALK,TALK,TALK-SHOW HOST" WHO WANTS THE RIGHT TO KILL AMERICAN OFFSPRING WITH PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION ). HE ALSO STATES THAT HE WOULD LIKE TO "PARNTER WITH IRAQ" (REAL quote-) HE IS "GONNA" CHANGE THINGS. UNLESS, AS HE STATED, VOTERS ELECT SOMEONE ELSE TO RUN "THIS THING". (HIS REFERENCE TO AMERICA).

McCAIN IS WISHY WASHY ON THE RIGHT-TO-LIFE. THIS "MODERATE" BELIEVED IN USING ABORTED BABIES IN PETRI DISHES FOR RESEARCH

THIS IS HOW THE NAZIS BEGAN!

ROBBING VOTES FROM MIKE HUCKABEE, TOO?

TOO REMINISCENT OF GEORGE ORWELL''S BOOK , ANIMAL FARM..
08 IS A YEAR FOR "CHANGE" ALRIGHT.BUT NOT THE KIND MANY AMERICANS WILL LIKE!

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT DECIDES WHO SHOULD LIVE AND DIE, WHO SHOULD SPEAK OR NOT, WE ARE SURELY GOING TO CHANGE.
AS MIKE HUCKABEE SO ELOQUENTLY STATES, "GOVERNMENT DID NOT GIVE LIFE, AND GOVERNMENT CANNOT TAKE IT AWAY".

RUN INDEPENDENT, MIKE ! AN HONEST MAN IN D.C.!

TRIM THE FAT. GO WITH A MAN WHO ISN''T PLAGUED BY SCANDAL. SQUANDERERS! (HILLARY-131 MIL, CAMPAIGN HUCK-9 MIL )

NOT TOO BAD TO ? TRUTH IS...YOU''RE RIGHT... IT''S NOT BAD...IT''S HORRIFIC! WANT A REAL CHOICE? VOTE HUCKABEE!.; Reply to this comment


by oliver71 February 19, 2008 12:05 AM EST: Joy Lin
Great job!!! You should be named the best journalist for the fair and neutral articles. I enjoyed reading them.; Reply to this comment


by ben_vegas February 19, 2008 12:05 AM EST: Simple, Hucks speech value is skyrocketing. Used to be $25,000 a pop for him to talk about Jesus. Now I wonder what he will bring. IIRC the bible doesn''t talk about paid preachers. Back then you were a fisherman, carpenter etc to put food on the table...

Huck is a disgrace!; Reply to this comment


by giantrobot2 February 18, 2008 10:42 PM EST: If Abraham Lincoln was in the Republican presidential race now, he too would be getting the cold shoulder from the Republican establishment and the Liberal Media.

Lincoln had guts to abolish the atrocity of slavery back in 1860''s and Huckabee has the guts to abolish the atrocity of abortion.

Both men are "true conservatives". Men who stick their neck out on the line, risk their career so they can help out the human race.

The Republican establishment didnt want Lincoln to win because they would have to give up some of their power hungry greed. The same is true today, they would rather keep their tax loopholes so they can stay wealthy even at the expense of little children being exterminated thru abortion.

Conservatives need to rally around Mike Huckabee, just as the conservatives rallyed around Lincoln in the 1860''s. We can not become complacent.

Don''t rely on someone else voting for you because you don''t care about politics. We are talking about Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness in America.

This is your country too!

Vote for Huckabee!; Reply to this comment


by marinepatriot February 18, 2008 10:26 PM EST: Keep on fighting Governor Huckabee!

Time magazine named him as being in the top 5 Governors in America for a reason!

Because Mike Huckabee has done the best job in a government position!

The vote for Romney was the vote for Mccain, we get that now! We all see that you were the true, honest and real choice for our party.

We are going to win this because Governor Huckabee is a fighter and he WILL NOT GIVE UP! We wouldn''t want a leader who would just give up, besides they are all backing Mccain now.

We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike!
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We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike!
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We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike!
We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike We like Mike!

Go Governor Huckabee!!!!!!!!!; Reply to this comment