Free Republic

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.

<p>After months of planning, FR's DC Convention is coming together.</p> <p>Help make history, join in Free Republic's return to DC as a national group and help to herald in another wave of conservative activism Free Republic is famous for!</p> <p>“Reagan is good for business” was Andrew’s introduction to politics. “I was real little, but that’s what my dad used to say.” Andrew Wilkow began his radio career at the college radio station. Conservative leaning politics were always his heart and he expressed his views on the air regularly, much to the anger of his co-workers. “I was basically just anti-P.C. at first.” He broke out of music radio in 2002 when he was given a trial/fill-in slot for Mark Levin on his hometown station, WABC in NYC. “That was huge and that’s when I first met Sean Hannity.” Soon after that he earned a weekend slot then a full time job at an upstate station. I basically did a 300 mile roundtrip every weekend for over 3 years to do both shows. Wilkow’s move to SIRIUS brings his new sound of conservative talk radio to a national audience. To quote Andrew, “Now is the time for the new school of conservative voices with a whole new style and passion – moving to SIRIUS lets me take that style and passion nationwide."</p>

Blanche Lincoln Calls Constituents Un-American, Then Reconsiders Oh, Blanche Lincoln, blue senator in a red state, you must act more wisely than this: “It’s so sad, because it’s diminishing to the process, it’s diminishing to our outcome,” Lincoln said in a conference call with reporters. “I think it’s sad that they choose to do that. I think it’s un-American and disrespectful.” She later retracted, saying she doesn't actually think everyone who disagrees with her is un-American: “Although I do believe that some of these protesters are disrespectful of other citizens in the audience who truly want to ask questions about...

From the Arkansas meeting... What I Saw at a Health Care Forum The forum I attended included a soccer mom, a small business owner and a grandmother. 8/6/09 "Most town hall attendees are hard working, freedom loving people who say they’re scared at the prospect of a government run health care. These are people who have taken the time to read the 1,000+ page health care bill and don’t like what they see. They are common sense people who say if it’s good enough for us, it should be good enough for our elected officials. These are not rabid extremists’...

The two telephone town halls will begin promptly at 7:10 p.m. CDT on August 13 and August 27. Any resident throughout Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District can connect into the telephone town hall by dialing the following toll free number and using the included PIN code: Phone: 1- 877-269-7289, PIN: 14573. Anyone may listen to the call and specific instructions will be given to callers if they would like to ask Congressman Ross a question.

Link to video footage of the Vic Snyder and Mike Ross poorly scheduled townhall meetinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpa5IoiF_g Another video link http://keeparkansaslegal.blogspot.com/2009/08/healthcare-townhall-meeting-httpping.html

KTHV-TV reports: The forum was led by democratic congressmen Mike Ross and Vic Snyder. They say health care costs are growing at twice the rate of inflation and health insurance will reach a point in the next 10 years were employees and employers won't be able to afford it, they say doing nothing isn't an option. Audience members accused them of supporting a government-backed health plan that would take away Americans' personal choice and freedom.

Man could face death penalty for slaying of soldier in ArkansasBy The Associated Press Story Updated: Aug 1, 2009 at 3:30 PM CDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark., -- Prosecutors say they'll seek a death penalty against a man accused of killing a soldier outside an Army recruiting center. Abdulhakim Muhammad pleaded not guilty on Friday at a Pulaski County court hearing to charges that he shot and killed Pvt. William Andrew Long. The judge set a trial date of Feb. 15. Muhammad's lawyer says his client is in good spirits but wouldn't say whether his client's calls to reporters to claim...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An unruly Little Rock crowd heckled and shouted at two Arkansas Democratic congressmen Wednesday, accusing them of supporting a government-backed health plan that would take away Americans' personal choice and freedom. At one point, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross sat with his head in his hands while the crowd shouted. He and fellow Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder told audience members at a forum at Arkansas Children's Hospital that they wouldn't support a completely government-run, single-payer health insurance plan.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An unruly Little Rock crowd heckled and shouted at two Arkansas Democratic congressmen Wednesday, accusing them of supporting a government-backed health plan that would take away Americans' personal choice and freedom. At one point, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross sat with his head in his hands while the crowd shouted. He and fellow Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder told audience members at a forum at Arkansas Children's Hospital that they wouldn't support a completely government-run, single-payer health insurance plan. "But that's what Obama wants!" an audience member shouted, leading to more heckling. Ross, who represents south Arkansas,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After his talks with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Bill Clinton sure has a story to tell. And one of the first in line to hear his tale is President Barack Obama. "I suspect that President Clinton will have some interesting observations from his trip and I will let him provide those to me," Obama told MSNBC on Wednesday. The former president was chosen by the North Koreans from among four possible envoys proposed to them to try to gain freedom for two American reporters sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. Other...

Here they are, boys and girls. The four "moderate-conservative" House Dems on Henry Waxman's Energy and Commerce Committee who had their choker chains pulled by Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the lefty leadership in the lower chamber and ended up voting to approve a version of Obamacare that promises higher costs, lower quality and restricted access: Mike Ross (Arkansas), 4th District (202) 454-5262 Baron Hill (Indiana), 9th District (202) 285-0966 Zack Space (Ohio), 18th District (202) 347-3042 Bart Gordon (Tennessee), 6th District 1-800-444-BART I did some checking, and one of the reasons why a few of the above probably...

Capital murder charge filed in Army recruit killingBy: Associated Press - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 07/23/2009 LITTLE ROCK—Prosecutors have filed a capital murder charge against a man who confessed to killing one soldier and wounding another outside an Army recruiting center in Little Rock. Abdulhakim Muhammad, 24, is also charged with attempted capital murder and 10 counts of firing a gun from a vehicle. Muhammad is accused of fatally shooting Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville. Both had just finished basic training and were outside the recruiting center June 1 when Muhammad drove...

Hillary Rodham's 1974 Watergate "Procedures were Ethically Flawed" Jerry Zeifman sent us the letter below, which is "based largely on material previously published" in his book, "Without Honor: The impeachment of President Nixon and the Crimes of Camelot.'' The book is now out of print. However, a small supply of the limited first edition is still available. Information about it, and how to obtain a copy, may be found at: www.iethical.org/book.htm Previously published in the NEW YORK POST August 16. 1999 HILLARY'S WATERGATE SCANDAL By Jerry Zeifman IN December 1974, as general counsel and chief of staff of the House...

Hours after calling their chairman a liar, Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stood by that chairman’s side and announced together that the once-collapsed healthcare negotiations are back on track. “The chairman and I would like to retract some of the things that we said earlier today,” Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the chairman of the Blue Dog healthcare task force said while standing beside Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) after the two emerged from an emergency meeting of the Democrats on the committee. “Our group of seven has always believed that we want to be a constructive part of...

TEXARKANA, Ark. – Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars, was convicted Friday of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex. Alamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional mutterings during testimony. His five victims sat looking forward in the gallery. One, a woman he "married" at age 8, wiped away a tear. "I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S....

Evangelist Alamo found guilty of kid-sex crimes He calls himself 'prophet that went to jail for the Gospel' Evangelist Tony Alamo, left, is escorted from federal court in Texarkana, Ark., on Thursday. A jury convicted him Friday of taking five girls across state lines for sex. TEXARKANA, Ark. - Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who became an outfitter of the stars and fought the federal government over claims he underpaid followers for church work, was convicted Friday of taking five girls across state lines for sex. Alamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional...

How do you outgun the NRA? Very, very carefully. Mark Pryor knows all about that. The Democratic senator from pro-gun Arkansas was nowhere to be seen on the Senate floor during Wednesday's showdown over a proposal, championed by the National Rifle Association, that would have gutted state gun-control laws across the nation. Toward the end of the vote, Pryor entered the chamber through the back door, took a few steps inside, flashed a thumbs-down to the clerk, and retreated as fast and furtively as somebody dodging gunfire. Several minutes later, the Democrats had racked up more than enough votes to...

SACARMENTO, CA - A national "Tea Party Express" tour (website: www.TeaPartyExpress.org ) will conduct a series of 35 tea party rallies across the country 35 days from now. The "Tea Party Express" will rally Americans to oppose the current policies of higher deficit spending, higher taxes, bailouts and quasi-socialistic government policies. Starting in California on August 28th, the caravan will travel eastward towards its final destination of the massive 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on D.C. The "Tea Party Express" is a project of the Our Country Deserves Better Committee, one of the nation's largest conservative political action committees. What started out...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political action committee, Huck Pac, is undergoing a "restructuring," Executive Director Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday. The restructuring includes the loss of at least one longtime Huckabee aide, Wendy Dooley; the apparent disappearance as a separate entity of the Vertical Politics Institute, a think tank Huckabee formed last year; and the move of VPI's chief to the campaign of Curtis Coleman, a Republican weighing a run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. Huck Pac hasn't filed any quarterly financial reports for 2009 with the Federal Election Commission. The political action committee's mission, according to its Web site,...

The conservative Blue Dog Democrats were top dog in the House's negotiations of health care legislation Monday, but past revolts by this pivotal voting bloc usually ended with members bowing to the party's liberal leadership. The Blue Dogs, who hold enough seats on the Energy and Commerce Committee to kill the bill this week, spent the day in closed-door negotiations with Democratic leaders and pressed demands for more cost controls and greater protections for small businesses and rural areas. "I would term them as productive meetings, but we still have a long way to go," said Rep. Mike Ross, Arkansas...

BLUE DOG DEMS CAN KILL OBAMA HEALTH CARE REFORM There are EIGHT "Blue Dog Democrats" who sit on the Energy and Commerce Committee. If these eight Democrats do not support the legislation, passage would likely not succeed. It is CRITICAL to contact them TODAY and make your voice heard. John Barrow (GA-12) p: (202) 225-2823, f: (202) 225-3377, email. Bart Gordon (TN-06) p: (202) 225-4231, f: (202) 225-6887, email. Baron Hill (IN-09) p: (202) 225-5315, f: (202) 226-6866, email. Jane Harman (CA-36) p: (202) 225-8220, f: (202) 226-7290, email. Jim Matheson (UT-02) p: (202) 225-3011, f: (202) 225-5638, email. Charlie...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Heifer International has opened a $7.5 million museum at its Little Rock headquarters to illustrate the work it does around the world to help impoverished people feed themselves. The museum, called Heifer Village, opened in June and will add an important element to Heifer educational programs, which demonstrate the charity's mission to provide animals and training so the world's poor can have sustainable nutrition. Narrative elements run through the museum's exhibits, showing the effects that fair trade, clean water or mosquito netting can have. Under a ceiling of rich, amber-stained wood, natural light falls on the...

Arkansas blue dogs: No timetable for health care reform legislationBy John Lyon / Arkansas News Bureau Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:22 PM CDT LITTLE ROCK — Two members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation who helped put the breaks on legislation to reform the nation’s health care system said Friday they don’t believe the reform effort should follow a timetable. U.S. Reps. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Marion Berry, D-Gillett, were among 40 members of the Blue Dog Coalition of centrist Democrats who wrote to Democrat Party leaders Thursday demanding changes in health care legislation the leadership was drafting. Party leaders had said...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of fiscally conservative House Democrats, said Wednesday a House plan to overhaul the U.S. health-care system is losing support and will be stuck in committee without changes. "Last time I checked, it takes seven Democrats to stop a bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee," Ross told reporters after a House vote. "We had seven against it last Friday; we have 10 today." Three House committees are slated to begin considering the $1 trillion-plus bill this week, but the Energy and Commerce looms as the biggest challenge. That's because it...

According to The Nation, former president Bill Clinton has said that he is now "basically in support" of gay marriage. During an appearance at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington on July 8, the former president said that he thinks it is "wrong for someone to stop someone else" from marrying. "I personally support people doing what they want to do," Mr. Clinton said. Mr. Clinton also said that he supports states' right to decide the legality of same-sex marriage and that he thinks "all these states that do it should do it." He said he does not believe...

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday the release of nearly $60 million in federal stimulus fund for unemployment benefits in Arkansas. The state qualified for the funds after changing state law in March to change the period of time it uses to calculate unemployment benefits. Act 802 of 2009 also authorized the state Department of Labor to use stimulus funds to provide an additional $25 a week to workers receiving unemployment insurance, and it increased the amount of an employee’s salary that businesses must pay unemployment taxes on from $10,000 to $12,000 starting in 2010. The...

Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette Employer: CITY OF NORTH LITTLE ROCK Location: AR 72114 United States Last Updated: 07/11/2009 Job Type: Employee Job Status: Full Time Please see Job Details for Apply instructions. Job Description NLR NORTH LITTLE ROCK CITY OF NORTH LITTLE ROCK www.northlittlerock.ar.gov HYDRO OPERATOR: $18-$24 HR DOQ CLOSE 7/24/09 Assist maint @ Murrary Hydro Plant. req. on website Applications obtained: HR Dept. 3rd floor, 120 Main St., NLR, AR 72114 As an equal employment opportunity employer, The City of North Little Rock is seeking qualified black and female applicants.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Mike Huckabee is turning into a front-runner for his party's 2012 presidential nomination almost by default. A pair of sex scandals involving Republicans once touted as White House contenders and the abrupt exit of another hopeful from the public stage are helping Huckabee boost his odds as he weighs another presidential run. "Given that the dominoes are falling, the fact that he's still standing works to his benefit," said Hal Bass, political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University.

ON A SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL CLEANSING, SHE DIED IN A SOUTH JERSEY TOWNHOUSELUCILLE HAMILTON paid $621 to have her "spiritual grime" removed by a voodoo high priest in an ordinary townhouse on a winding street in Camden County, a friend said. Hamilton, 21, a male living as a woman, flew in on Friday from her home in Little Rock, Ark., to the house on Loch Lomond Drive in Gloucester Township, friends said, to take part in a three-day spiritual cleansing referred to on the priest's Web site as "Lave Tet." By Saturday night Hamilton was dead, and authorities are awaiting...

The tables were turned on a would-be burglar at a Little Rock business early this morning. It happened just after five o'clock at BMW Motorcycles on Jones Street, just north of I-630. Police say the suspect, Haywood Patterson, 43, was hit in the upper body and face from a shotgun blast, and his injuries are life-threatening. He was arrested a block away from the business. Officers were called to the scene when the burglar alarm went off. An employee who had been sleeping inside told police a loud noise woke him up. When he went to investigate, he found a...

WASHINGTON – Conservative Democrats in the House rebelled against their party leaders Thursday, raising concerns about the cost of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and seeking to put the brakes on legislation. The fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition planned to present a letter to House Democratic leaders asking for more time, members of the group told The Associated Press. Democratic Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas said that if the Democrats' liberal legislative plan came to the floor as proposed, an "overwhelming majority" of his group would oppose it. The Blue Dogs claim 52 members, so that could endanger the...

A state licensing commission said Wednesday it is appealing a court ruling rejecting a permit the commission issued for a coal-fired power plant in southwestern Arkansas. The Arkansas Public Service Commission said it petitioned the Arkansas Supreme Court to review the state Court of Appeals' ruling that would force Southwestern Electric Power Co. ( SWSEO.OB - news - people ), a unit of American Electric Power ( AEP - news - people ), to start over in its effort to obtain a permit for the $1.6 billion coal-fired plant the company hopes to build. "The commission hopes that the Arkansas...

Mike Huckabee, himself once an object of significant media attention, has always chafed a bit at Sarah Palin's rise. And in two different bytes on "Fox News Sunday" today he didn't mince words about her decision to resign. "In a primary this is going to be an issue she'll have to face. Will she be able to withstand the pressure?" he asked. And, referring to the ethics inquiries Palin faces, Huckabee said of his own time as a GOP governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic state:"If that had been the case for me, I would've quit in my first month. If...

As many people across the nation enjoy a day off for July 4th, the grills will be fired up and the fireworks will light up the night sky. It is a time for celebrating our nation’s freedom from the British government’s tyranny and control over a group of independent patriots, determined to build a nation based upon individual freedoms and rights. While the current trend in Washington is to move toward the oppressive, suffocating monstrosity of big government (which is spawning TEA Parties across the nation), it is a time for my family and me to reflect, not only on...

Slaying an afterthought to LR robbery, police say Teens’ accounts of killing differ in affidavit BY JACOB QUINN SANDERS ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE All that the four teenage boys wanted to do, Little Rock police say, was rob the old man and scare him a little. Killing him, police said, was an afterthought. According to an arrest warrant affidavit unsealed Wednesday, the four boys, who ranged in age from 14 to 16, met Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Eddy Lane and Lark Place in a quiet, older neighborhood just south of Base Line Road, just to hang out. One asked if...

FAYETTEVILLE - Under Arkansas law, officials now state Ulmer's unborn child will not count as a "person" in this murder investigation. Officials say this means Ricky Ray Anderson will not be charged with the alleged murder of Ulmer's child. According to the state medical examiner's office, Ulmer's unborn baby was 10 weeks old. And Prosecuting Attorney John Threet says since the unborn child still had two weeks to go before Arkansas law recognizes "it" as a person, Anderson cannot be charged with the murder of Ulmer's unborn child. "If the unborn child is less than 12 weeks, then there's not...

Three suspects appeared in a Little Rock courtroom this morning and pleaded not guilty to murder charges in a burglary-turned-shooting Tuesday afternoon that left a homeowner dead. The three juveniles are all charged as adults in the killing of Maurice Clark, 67, at his home at 4 Lark Place, just south of Baseline Road. They're identified as: Thomas Stacy Caffery, 17 Craig Deshaun Woods, 15 Mashawn Kendrick, 14 Bonds for each of the teens, who are all from Little Rock, were set at one-million-dollars. They are also charged with theft of property and fleeing. According to police reports read in...

1. Alaska 2. Maine 3. New Mexico 4. Arkansas 5. Texas 6. Missouri 7. Oregon 8. Idaho 9. Virginia 10. Wyoming

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 9:29 AM CDT The fatal shooting of a Sequoyah County man by his daughter Thursday was justified, and no charges will be filed, District 27 First Assistant District Attorney John David Luton said Tuesday. Luton said he and Assistant District Attorney Kyle Waters reviewed investigators’ reports regarding the death of Keith Arnold Foreman, 47, of the Brent community.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Hogs on the highway aren't always motorcycles. Arkansas State Police say a tractor-trailer rig hauling pigs overturned early Monday on a major highway and some of the four-legged hogs got loose. The wreck and the roaming porkers closed a stretch of Interstate 430 connecting Little Rock to North Little Rock. State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said morning commuters were detoured around the area as troopers and others tried to corral the escaped hogs. The swine could weigh as much as 800 pounds each. Authorities said the truck was carrying about 90 hogs. Some of them remained...

Freepers: As usual, I try to find "experts" on certain issues here before I go searching for the "googled" or "wiki" answers.I have a large hive of honey bees (non-african) in my wall of my house. I have tolerated them for a wile (they have been there for four-five years), but this year they are much, much more numerous and I fear that the mold/mildew inside of my siding will be detrimental in the long run. I want to safely remove them without destroying the hive and transplant them to a bee box. Beekeeping has been one of my "learn...

Judge receives mental update in Pressly case Slaying suspect has confessed three times, prosecutors say BY JOHN LYNCH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The Marianna man accused of killing TV news anchor Anne Pressly has “confessed” three times to the slaying, a Pulaski County prosecutor revealed during a court hearing Tuesday. The claim by chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson prompted a challenge from defendant Curtis Lavelle Vance, who said his statements were made under duress because Little Rock police had threatened his life. “That was under extreme pressure,” Vance said. “I had a gun in my face.” Prosecutors denied Vance’s allegations of coercion...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A deputy prosecutor in Arkansas says the man charged with capital murder in the beating death of a TV anchorwoman has confessed to the killing. Curtis Vance is charged in the beating death last October of Anne Pressly, an anchorwoman for KATV in Little Rock. Pressly survived five days after she was found severely beaten in her home.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday officially named former U.S. President Bill Clinton as special envoy to Haiti. The position calls for Clinton to work to create jobs and access to basic services for the people of Haiti. “All I want to do is help the Haitians take over control of their own destiny,” Clinton said. The U.N. Office for the Special Envoy for Haiti said unemployment reaches 70 percent nationally and 78 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day. Even though Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Ban said he believes that it...

Tom Cox, president of the Arkansas Tea Party organization, will announce his candidacy for the Senate on Monday at a gathering of the Arkansas Tea Party group in downtown Little Rock. Cox, who plans to run in the Republican primary, is the first leader of the grassroots anti-tax movement to run for federal office. He is seeking the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln. The local businessman, who has not previously run for elected office, became involved in the Tea Party movement after watching CNBC host Rick Santelli’s February rant against the federal stimulus. . . . ....

Tea Party organizer launches Senate bid Posted: 07:40 PM ET From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Tea Party movement appears to have produced its first official candidate for national office. Tom Cox, the founder and chairman of the Arkansas Tea Party organization, announced at a rally on Monday that he will seek the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Blanche Lincoln. Cox, who owns Aloha Pontoon Boats in North Little Rock, has never sought elected office before. But after organizing a large Tea Party protest against the administration's fiscal policies in April, Cox said a number...

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel joined 21 other state attorneys general Thursday in writing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to oppose any proposed effort to reinstate the federal assault-weapons ban, which was passed in 1994 but expired in 2004. President Barack Obama said in April that the ban "made sense" but that he wouldn't push to reinstate it because it would be difficult to pass in Congress. McDaniel said in a news release that he shared Obama's desire to reduce crime. "However, based on the facts available, there is no reason to believe this law will result in any meaningful reduction...

On a Sunday morning in Wichita, Kan., a man is murdered while attending church. The killing is immediately labeled a "hate crime" and an act of "domestic terrorism." The news media is outraged. Television networks act as if the man was a martyr, and the story is front-page news in every newspaper in the country. Attorney General Eric Holder orders the U.S. Marshal's Office to increase security around the slain man's business and around similar businesses. Later he announces that the Justice Department will launch a federal investigation into the murder to see if it was a conspiracy. The next...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Mike Huckabee is returning to the site of one of his biggest presidential primary wins and wading into Iowa state politics -- a move seen as risky but potentially rewarding should he opt for another presidential run. Huckabee will be the draw Wednesday at a Spirit Lake fundraiser for Bob Vander Plaats, a top leader in Huckabee's caucus campaign who is expected to run for governor next year and who has the backing of many social conservatives. "Bob Vander Plaats is an exceptional leader. That's why I'd like to see him win next year," Huckabee said...