.
REUTERS/Keith Bedford
Posted on 12/26/2007 10:36:06 AM PST by NormsRevenge
OSCEOLA, Iowa - Presidential contender Mike Huckabee bagged a pheasant Wednesday, offering Iowa voters the image of an experienced outdoorsman on the hunt, shotgun blasting and dogs braying.
Just a campaign gambit? "Maybe it will show that I certainly understand the culture of being outdoors," Huckabee said. "It's not something we had to go out and get a primer in. It's very much ordinary to me."
The former Arkansas governor said back home he would be duck hunting on the day after Christmas, but pheasant hunting in Iowa — eight days before the state's leadoff nominating caucuses — was a good substitute. He also offered a lecture declaring that hunting is good for wildlife.
"The truth is hunters are the ones who preserve the species," he said, since hunters have an interest in preserving wildlife and their license fees pay for conservation efforts. "In many cases extinction comes from not having some level of hunting. It's the hunters who actually keep the wildlife alive. A lot of people think that when you hunt you're destroying the wildlife."
Huckabee led a motorcade of photographers along gravel roads in hilly rural Iowa, hopping out of a pickup truck to take to a snow-covered field wearing his bright orange vest along with Dude, an energetic hunting dog. Huckabee and three hunting companions tramped slowly across the field and their shotguns were blasting within minutes.
Of four birds flushed by the party, three were felled. Huckabee claimed the third with his .12-gauge shotgun. He proudly displayed the birds and said jokingly, "See that's what happens if you get in my way."
He also jested about Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident in which a fellow hunter was shot. Asked why Cheney hadn't been invited, Huckabee chuckled, "Because I want to survive all the way through this."
Huckabee's folksy approach and familiarity with hunting offered a contrast with leading rival Mitt Romney, who said early in the campaign that he was a lifelong hunter, only to have an aide say he had been hunting on only two occasions. Romney later said he had hunted more than twice but only for "small varmints" and that he did not own a gun or have a hunting license.
Huckabee said he began hunting at the age of 11.
"It's an opportunity to experience Iowa at its best," he said. "Hopefully we'll just shoot pheasants and not each other. We'll name the pheasant for the other candidates. It gives us a real incentive."
Polls indicate Huckabee has moved ahead among Republicans in Iowa, and he's offering contrasts to the very wealthy Romney.
"The people of Iowa don't want to be forgotten when someone goes to the White House," he said. "People in middle America feel like folks will come and campaign in Iowa and then they get elected and they forget that people out here in flyover land still exist. Some of us grew up in the middle of the country and still live here."
.REUTERS/Keith Bedford
Dude!
Genuine hunting is one thing - - it’s natural for man - - but hunting as a political gimmick is sickening.
“Thou shalt not k. . .wait, I think I’ve got a clear shot here”
Note: the one flying is a rooster but the one he is holding is a hen. Illegal where I come from.
I can hardly wait to see how this is made fun of and distorted.
Awesome contrast with Romney. Kudos to the Huckabee campaign — that’s the contrast they need to push to hang on for a win. I wonder whose idea it was?
LOL!
Agreed. Although at least he hit the pheasant. I suspect any of the other candidates would have to be shown how to load the gun.
Did he eat it?
L A M E
Anybody that votes for someone for bagging a pheasant is no smarter than a pheasant.
I am tired of this pandering.
no, it’s not natural. It used to be a need....not anymore.
This reminds me of the John F’n Kerry hunting photo op, but then again Cheney’s mishap also comes to mind. Is this kind of thing helpful in a campaign?
Game farm hunts allow hens, in most states. So this wasn’t really hunting....it was a staged shoot.
Nice catch on the hen...
Exactly. Remember when Kerry made an donkey’s behind (oh yeah, that’s the dim’s symbol so why not?) of himself by going hunting in Ohio. He looked foolish, and it may have actually cost him some votes.
Haven’t seen the video on Hucklebee. Any less foolish, or did he pull it off well?
“Note: the one flying is a rooster but the one he is holding is a hen. Illegal where I come from.”
Impeach him, we need hearings now , this is a constitutional crisis!!
"Hi Iowa Voter, what do you think about Mike Huckabee's positions on the War on Terror, economic policy, government's role in society, Iranian and Syrian nuclear proliferation and immigration?"
"I dunno. But he shot a bird. That was cool."
No Huckabee fan here but at least he is a real hunter and didn't have his game shot for him and carried back by his butler like John Kerry did.
They have already have and no doubt Rush will run with it as he did with a quote from an anonoymous poster at Atlantic Magazine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.