Greeting to all. Anyone still out there? Are we still hoping for Mike to jump in?

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Lee

Still here. I still think he's going to run. With Bush in though, all bets are off. Huckabee will not be as strong in Iowa and the south. It's actually hard to see Jeb Bush not winning the nomination. But, that was also the case with Clinton in '08 - so anything can happen.

Still waiting. Not interested in another Bush. Presidencies are not dynasties. Need some experienced fresh blood in office. Bush experienced, but not fresh.

Thanks Christopher for making the Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Huckabee in 2016 post!

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Still Here!

I know there are a lot of people out there wishing Mike would run and I know he would if he thought he had a good chance of winning. I believe the main thing holding Mike back is his lack of committed financial support. He has even mentioned that his lack of financial support cost him dearly in 2008.

Huge Money is only important if you are trying to get name recognition, drive an opponent's negatives up or trying to get out your opinion on a critical issue.

MONEY DOES NOT VOTE!! PEOPLE DO!!

There are already enough people that knows Mike and his stance on the issues for him to win. The main problem is not lack of MONEY but lack of strong support. The "Center Right" and yes I said "Center Right" because if you do not support Life and Marriage you are not even center let alone "Center Right".

We always start with 8-15 Candidates and end up with at least 4-5 that divide the vote to where our leading candidate has only about 18 to 24 percent of the vote. The more liberal side of our party will only run 2 or 3 candidates at most, this gives thier leader between 25 - 33 percent of the vote, which wins the primary.


DEMOCRATIC PARTY:

Possible Democrats running - 7
Real possibilities! 4-5

Joe Biden
Vice President

Hillary Clinton
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (New York)

Joe Manchin
US Senator Joe Manchin (West Virginia)

Martin O'Malley
Governor Martin O'Malley (Maryland)

Bernie Sanders
US Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont)

Elizabeth Warren
US Senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)

Jim Webb
Former US Senator Jim Webb (Virginia)

REPUBLICAN PARTY

Possibly could run! 26

May actually test the waters! 16-20

The number of possible candidates that would split our vote is 12. That leaves Jeb Bush, Chris Christy and Mitt Romney as leaders in the other group. If Romney ran, at least one of the others would drop out very soon leaving them with only 2 to divide the more liberal vote in our party.

I believe very strongly that MONEY is not our problem, our main problem is our clinging to candidates to the bitter end, and the bitter end for canididates is when they run out of money. I do not know of any of our candidates ever dropping out of the race to help a fellow like minded conservative candidate beat a more liberal candidate.


Marsha Blackburn
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)

John Bolton
Former UN Ambassador John Bolton (Maryland)

Jan Brewer
Former Governor Jan Brewer (Arizona)

Jeb Bush
Former Governor Jeb Bush (Florida)

Ben Carson
Dr. Ben Carson (Maryland)

Chris Christie
Governor Chris Christie (New Jersey)

Bob Corker
US Senator Bob Corker (Tennessee)

Ted Cruz
US Senator Ted Cruz (Texas)

Carly Fiorina
Businesswoman Carly Fiorina (Virginia)

Jim Gilmore
Former Governor Jim Gilmore (Virginia)

Lindsey Graham
US Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)

Mike Huckabee
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (Florida)

Bobby Jindal
Governor Bobby Jindal (Louisiana)

John Kasich
Governor John Kasich (Ohio)

Pete King
Congressman Pete King (New York)

George Pataki (Former Governor NY)

Rand Paul
US Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky)

Mike Pence
Governor Mike Pence (Indiana)

Rick Perry
Governor Rick Perry (Texas)

Mitt Romney
Former Massachusets Governor Mitt Romney (California)

Marco Rubio
US Senator Marco Rubio (Florida)

Paul Ryan
Congressman Paul Ryan (Wisconsin)

Rick Scott
Governor Rick Scott (Florida)

Rick Santorum
Former US Senator Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania)

Rick Snyder
Governor Rick Snyder (Michigan)

Scott Walker
Governor Scott Walker (Wisconsin)

If we Huckabee supporters would just commit to building a real viable grassroots organization that could literally show by name and county, an activate leader organizing groups in all of the 3000 + counties would get Mike more media coverage than several million dollars spent in TV adds. There are almost that many people who are listed here at Hucks Army, Hucks Army Facebook 6000+. There are 20,000 people listed at Huck Pac.

If we really want Mike to run, then it is up to us to organize a REAL ACTIVE ON THE GROUND GRASSROOTS ARMY. I believe without a doubt if we had an organization in place like this Mike would have already announced. It is important to remember that in the Iowa Straw Poll, Mike did not spend one dime on a single radio or TV add. Mike did not have a single paid add during the Straw Poll.

It was not MONEY, it was a very few small groups of very dedicated and organized people that in less than 60 days pushed Mike form one of the very bottom candidates to a strong second place finish, this strong second place finish is what caused Mike to be featured on the following Sunday morning programs, instead of Romney who actually won the Straw Poll. Those Sunday Shows gave Mike his first step to attracting national attention.

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I do not agree that Bush has the strength some might think he has in the south. The south is generally socially and fiscally to the right of the rest of the nation. Bush is running as a moderate. He is for common core. He is for amnesty. He is not his father and certainly not his brother on social values, US strength globally, etc. I believe if either Christie or Romney also run, it gives a strong split to the moderate win of the party. The question then becomes, of the list of other options, who gains traction. I believe Paul has a floor around 8% and a ceiling in the mid to low teens. I think he will be in the race long term and his support will not move more than a couple of points from the 9-10% range.

It comes down to whether Huckabee is splitting votes with one other strong socon candidate (cruz could be likely) or if he is splitting with 2, 3, or even more decent socons. There is also going to be room, at least for a while, for a guy like Carson just as a fresh face. He should not have more than mid single digits by the time people get serious, but by then the nominee might be decided.

The wildcard could be a guy like Scott Walker or Kasich. They are strong ficons with Midwestern pull in states we need to win. I could see Bush tagging Walker very early on, although I think a governor at the top of the ticket might go a different route.

Jeb Bush isn't going to win the nomination. No way. He's got 2 big problems. First, his name is Bush. Since the meltdown in 2008, people don't want anything to do with a Bush. Second, he's too far to the left of the primary electorate. The two things put him in a box he can't escape.

A lot of GOP primary voters who vote "liberal/moderate" do so on the basis that they want a candidate who can win the general election. Their top issue is electability. Bush is toxic to the general electorate in November and very unelectable. This makes him a poor candidate to the moderates in the GOP primary. Then, his positions make him a non-starter for the conservatives. Therefore, he has no base of support, so he goes nowhere. He may poll well based on name recognition, but once the voting starts in Iowa in 2016 he's a goner.

George W. Bush won in 2000 because he was the conservative candidate against the more liberal McCain. Jeb Bush will be far to the left of the other candidates. I wouldn't worry at all about Bush.

If I was a betting man, and I'm not, I would bet on Scott Walker getting the nomination. He seems palatable to all wings of the party. The conservatives like him because he fights the left and wins. The moderates like him because he wins elections in a light blue state like Wisconsin. The moderates really don't have principles other than "winning" and money. It's important to remember that. It's how both McCain and Romney won the nominations in 2008 and 2012. They were seen as the most electable candidates. Unfortunately, the right of the party hasn't figured out how to unite around a single candidate yet.