snip from your interview;
Hunter: Well first, listen. The worst thing in show business is whining. I don't believe in it. There are no excuses for a campaign. While there may be reasons for losing, there are no excuses. I don't believe... We've got alot of whiners out there, but I'm a guy that got into politics on a shoestring campaign, and beat a guy who was heavily entrenched and had been in for a long time. I still believe this is the land of opportunity and it extends, it extends even to the “big” races.
Hunter: Actually, there is no monolith republican party. There is not a grand wizard that sits behind a curtain who decides who gets money and who does not get money. Who gets help and who doesn’t get help. The national committee is, as you know, basically a figurehead. Generally speaking, the head of the national Republican Party can get his wife to vote with him on most occasions and that’s about it. And I think that is illustrated by the present circumstances, the present situation.
Hunter: So there is no monolith that makes decisions. And you’ve got to get out and you’ve got to make that sale. And nobody has a right to have support from the millions of people that comprise the Republican party. You’ve got to earn it. For example, Huckabee started with a very small base and very small name recognition, but had enormous organizational capability. And he parlayed those organizational capabilities, along with a good speaking style, and I think good debate capabilities, into making a real race of it with McCain. So I think this is still a big, wide open process. And I came up way short in this process. I ran out of ammunition early, threw the ammo boxes at ‘em, but it’s all fun, and it’s all worthwhile. And I think that we drove some issues.
Hunter: So you could say the same thing about Huckabee. That he started with a small base. He didn’t have the Giuliani/McCain/Romney money supporters. Yet he ended up being the last guy standing between McCain and the nomination. And almost winning it. An argument can be made that if Fred Thompson had not been in the South Carolina primary, if he had gotten out earlier, Huckabee would have won that primary.
end snip....
Now I'm out of here as I've taken this thread off topic enough. Good luck.