He’s a Preacher! He’s From Hope! (Gov. Huckabee, Free Republic W2 Inaugural Ball article)

Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee likes to rock. And he’s bringing his bass guitar to Washington, plus some strong political ambitions.

Huckabee’s eight-member group, Capitol Offense, is the only band with a sitting governor as leader. It will play at an inaugural ball hosted by the Web site Free Republic. In 2001, the band played for a party at George W. Bush’s first inauguration. Last summer, they jammed at a Republican National Convention party.

“We play the tunes baby boomers danced to during high school and college,” says Huckabee, 49. “We try to bring back good memories and make new ones.”

They’ve opened for Dionne Warwick, Percy Sledge, and Charlie Daniels. One of Huckabee’s favorite moments: hanging out backstage with guitarist Richie Sambora in Nashville.

Huckabee will be strumming and networking in Washington—the GOP governor is eyeing a 2008 run for president. Does he stand a chance? Note this: He’s originally from Hope—yes, the same place as Bill Clinton—and he has spent his political career studying Clinton’s folksy style. While Clinton blew on a sax, Huckabee plays guitar.

In the last year, Huckabee lost about 110 pounds. Healthy living landed him a book deal with Time Warner.

I was not trying to start an argument, and I agree that we have too many Dims in the legislature, that the party is shamefully weak, that we have our share of morons, but probably no more, proportionally, than the general population nationwide, and that a governor can only do so much. To do nothing, though, is inexcusable, and that is mostly what Mikie has done.

If all we require of a governor is that he occupy a seat, we would be as well off with a random drawing. What we need is someone that can demonstrate some leadership. If a governor has a legislature full of the opposition party, that is no excuse for allowing criminals like Dumond out of jail or sitting idly by while the Lakeview lawsuit is allowed to ruin the state's budget and the entire school system while driving our property taxes through the roof.

We all know what Swifty was doing in '92, when the Lakeview suit was begun, then we had good ol' Jim Guy struggling to fill his pockets, and now we have had umpteen years of Huckabee doing nothing but following along with the legislature.

I'll say it again; he is not a conservative -- not by anybody's measure --, he is not a leader, and we could not be worse off with a Dim in the governor's mansion. NO to Huckabee for President!

I would certainly not mind if he were to run.

As far as a decision of who to elect, I would defer until after the primary.

I do not see Huckabee as you do. Perhaps it is because I have watched him explain most of these issues on PBS over the years. He has a in depth understanding of the issues and has explained adnauseum the lack of power the the governors office has in the state, and the things he has tried to focus on.He certainly realizes the fact the Arkansas cannot afford any further tax increases.

If he has a fault, it is that he lacks the spin machine necessary to protect himself from political blame for things he cannot control.

The legislature and the state constitution have him bent over a barrel. The balanced budget requirements have forced every accounting trick in the book to be used to find money for all the crybabies who need social services while the legislature cuts everything but their own special projects.

The education mess is now under court control. This happened not because of Huckabees lack of leadership, but because the legislature failed to do what he asked early on. In fact, they fought him all the way to the courthouse.

Now we have the "one size fit's all" answer to the problem and it will break us and our Constitutional protections against higher taxes. All of this because of congressional greed.

My personal situation will be devastated by another tax increase. I am not working and I am paying just shy of ten percent sales taxes and hundreds in state income taxes on a paltry income that is not even subject to federal tax. I am forced to charge it on a credit card.

But I do not blame Huckabee for this, any more than I blame Bush for Levi and other companies leaving Arkansas.

The people I blame are the Clintons, who set Arkansas up as a welfare state where it is more profitable to spend down, sell your assets and apply for assistance then it is to attempt to make a living. The large amount of State assets tied up in regional and local state funded assistance operations was the first thing I noticed when I came here in 1990. All of that still exists and has grown some. But it has not grown under Huckabee. He has tried to reign in the costs but has been defeated at every attempt.

The liberals hate him for trying, the now the conservatives hate him for failure. I would say, based on that, that he did what we paid him for, or at least attempted to do so.

There will be a reckoning one day and he will be shown to be moderately effective in some areas, and a failure in others. But he never had a rats ass chance to begin with, as will be the case with the next Governor. Arkansas is and will remain a poor stepchild of the U.S. economy.

Business prospects of the new global economy will pass it by as did the old, only this time it will be much worse. The labor and talent pool here is so thin that no business can survive for long and few will attempt to start without huge financial incentives. And for that reason there will never be a tax base that is not strained to the limits which will prohibit future investments in growth and infrastructure, particularly in the southern and central portions of the state.

Anyone who thinks Huckabee is at fault for this is just not smellin the coffee.

Thanks to all of you who defended Gov. Huckabee. He has done a very admirable job while in office, especially dealing with an incompetent and ineffective legislature. Governor Huckabee was the one leader willing to compromise when trying to get his agenda through.

When the issue of school consolidation was facing the state, he compromised, but the Democratic leadership refused to budge. We had such profound statements like this one from Bill Stovall, the Speaker-elect: "I ain't never done that, and I ain't gonna start. I got principles." This was printed in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette mind you. He has lost his temper a time or two in his couple of terms in 8 years in office, but how can he be expected to capitulate when he knows he speaks for the good of Arkansas. Compromise is good, but it's a two way street and the small-town Democrats refused to do the right thing.

I for one will be supporting Governor Huckabee in any future political endeavor. I don't know about President in '08, but a Vice Presidential pick I believe is quite possible and he's young enough and passionate enough to stick it out and run for President after that. If the state leg had passed the things Governor Huckabee had hoped for, our state would be much better off, but alas, the Democrats continue their streak of obstructionist and harmful politics

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