Posted on 11/01/2007 4:29:37 AM PDT by dano1
Consistent with his self-promotion as the friendly face of conservatism, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has recently turned toward younger voters in his campaigning.
On Tuesday, Huckabee spent an hour taking questions from Virginia high school students at the XM Radio office in Washington.
The Q & A was broadcast on XM’s POTUS ’08 station and C-SPAN Radio.
Huckabee started off by joking that he was sorry the students had to listen to him instead of Paul McCartney and B.B. King, both of whom have played in the same studio, and closed by emphasizing his commitment to fostering creativity in education.
Beyond outreach at events like Tuesday’s forum, Huckabee has made a regular talking point of his commitment to supporting the arts in education.
Huckabee also told a high school student in Arkansas on Saturday that he supports college tuition assistance for young people who engage in nonmilitary national service.
That refers to programs like AmeriCorps, which gives tuition assistance and a small stipend to young people who participate in community service, such as teaching in an under-resourced school.
Asked by Politico to elaborate, Huckabee said the details have yet to be hammered out.
But “basically the idea is that not just military but other types of national service would qualify students for tuition assistance for their college education,” Huckabee said. “It’s clear that a high school diploma is not an adequate level of educational attainment to be in tomorrow’s workforce.”
Many of the Democratic presidential contenders have put forth similar proposals.
Just last night, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama mentioned his national service plan at the Democratic debate at Philadelphia’s Drexel University.
Republican candidates, on the other hand, have not put out policy proposals on national service, even though former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain have supported such programs in the past.
The other Republican candidates’ shyness about touting national service speaks to the political risk it could carry for Huckabee.
Prominent fiscal conservatives such as Club for Growth President Pat Toomey have recently attacked Huckabee’s credentials on spending and taxes.
Ardent fiscal conservatives are generally opposed to government support for service, saying it’s inappropriate for the government to pay volunteers.
Huckabee dismisses such concerns by noting, “I’m not suggesting the government give somebody something free. You know, we already have national service in the way of the military. If you go into the military, we provide you a GI Bill for college and veterans’ benefits. This would simply say that there would be options beyond the military.”
Given the low proportion of young people participating in Republican primaries, particularly the Iowa caucuses, it remains to be seen whether such proposals will pay off and help Huckabee build momentum, or hurt him by reinforcing the suspicions of fiscal conservatives.
The roughly 20 high school students in the audience Tuesday responded positively to Huckabee, even though in an informal poll they were about twice as likely to consider themselves Democrats as Republicans.
Even so, Huckabee apparently wasn’t so persuasive that the students would change their vote.
Only one of the self-identified Democrats, Arthur Pelham-Webb, 17, of Great Falls, Va., said he might actually cross party lines and vote for Huckabee.
Pelham-Webb said he was especially impressed by the way Huckabee explained his Fair Tax proposal, which would eliminate all taxes and replace them with a national sales tax.
“My father explained it to me before I came, and it seemed ridiculous,” Pelham-Webb said, “but when [Huckabee] explained it, it actually did seem like a plan that could work.”
Consistent with polls that show international affairs and climate change to be top issues for young voters, Huckabee received multiple questions on those issues.
The students had mixed responses to his answers.
Steven Chen, 17, who asked about climate change, seemed to be looking for a more internationalist perspective from the next president.
Said Chen, “he explained about how the U.S. government should act, because he talked about laws that would reduce carbon emissions [in saying he supports cap-and-trade proposals]. But he didn’t really answer the part of my question, which was how our government should work with other governments.”
Marina Arnold, 16, said that while she thought Huckabee’s genial approach would appeal to young voters, she thought that social issues, which did not come up in the forum, would prevent him from making significant inroads among young voters in the general election.
“Young people wouldn’t agree with his social positions,” Arnold said, referring to his staunch opposition to abortion and gay marriage. “But he’s personable, which they like.”
“It’s clear that a high school diploma is not an adequate level of educational attainment to be in tomorrow’s workforce.”
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it will be worth even less with millions of dollars poured into liberal arts programs
Huckabee promotes 'open door' policy at LULAC convention
Thursday, Jun 30, 2005
By Wesley Brown Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - In a impassioned speech before hundreds of influential Hispanic civil rights leaders from across the nation, Gov. Mike Huckabee told a captive audience Wednesday that America is great because it has always opened it doors up to people seeking a better way of life.
"I would hope that no matter who we are, or where we are from, that America should always be a place that opens its arms, opens it heart, opens its spirit to people who come because they want the best for their families ...," Huckabee said as the largely Hispanic audience gave him a standing ovation.
Huckabee was the keynote speaker, along with Tyson Foods Inc. Chairman and CEO John Tyson, at a noon luncheon of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which is holding its 76th annual convention in Little Rock.
About 10,000 political, community and business leaders, along with exhibitors and speakers are in Little Rock attending the convention at the Statehouse Convention Center. The convention started Monday and runs through Saturday.
Although he never actually talked about the U.S. or Arkansas immigration policy, Huckabee made it very clear where he stood on the issue. In his opening remarks, he said the nation will need to address the concerns of the Hispanic community because of its growing influence and population base.
He told the LULAC delegates that their presence in the state's capital city was very important because Arkansas has one of the fastest growing Hispanic populations in the nation.
"Your gathering is so very significant for our state," Huckabee said. "We are delighted to have you (criminal invader illegal aliens)"
Satan also works magic on youngsters. :0)
Ever wonder why the liberal republicans get so much positive ink?
He’ll do well with kids who want the government to assume a parental role in their lives.
Or adults who want government to assume a parental role in their lives.
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