Hutchinson, Cotton, Huckabee to speak at Republican National Convention

Three Arkansans will address the nation next week at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, officials announced this week.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and former Gov. Mike Huckabee will each take the stage, delivering short comments in the convention hall.

Hutchinson is scheduled to speak Tuesday evening during prime time, according to his political strategist, Jon Gilmore. The governor is expected to talk for five minutes and will explain why he believes his party’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, would be a better president than Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.

Cotton will speak during prime time Monday about “national security and foreign policy and defense and our troops,” his spokesman Caroline Rabbitt said.

The speech will likely take place during the 9 o’clock hour and “he’s writing it himself,” she said.

This will be the first time either Hutchinson or Cotton have addressed one of the conventions.

Huckabee, who gave prime-time speeches in 2008 and 2012, has also been invited to address the delegates, his daughter said earlier this week.

I'd prefer that Huck were speaking during the VP time slot. ........

Don't know why Huck wasn't at least in the running for Trump's VP slot. Maybe if he had endorsed Trump right when he got out of the race it would've helped, I dunno. Really think Huck would add more to the ticket than Newt or Pence would and would be a more reliable ally if/when things get difficult for Trump. I can envision a Newt or Pence pander to the MSM if (and likely when) Trump says something intemperant while in office. Huck would be a bit more trustworthy, IMHO. Though if Jeff Sessions got the nod, I'll be elated!

I wanted you to hear this directly from me so the information will be first hand and accurate.

First, I will NOT be the VP pick. I never expected I would be, but many of my supporters had hoped. I didn’t want you to be holding out hope—I am not on the list. Donald Trump has every right to make the selection he feels most comfortable with. He won the nomination and has earned the right to make that choice. The choice will be announced tomorrow at 11am EDT in New York, but if you thought the announcement was going to be a last minute surprise about me, relax.

Second, I was scheduled to speak at 9:45 pm EDT on Monday, but because of my being a Fox contributor, I had to choose between a suspension from Fox or speaking. I just can’t afford the suspension from my job right now so I have notified the RNC and the Trump campaign that I (along with other Fox contributors who will have to cancel their speeches) will be unable to do the speech. Heck, it was going to be a real stem-winder of a speech!

I appreciate the many prayers of support you continue to offer. It truly means a lot to Janet and me.

Gratefully,

Mike Huckabee

Not that this is a suprise, but I still don't like it.

Haley Barbour compares Pence to Mike Huckabee, in terms of personality and appeal to social conservatives.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was to speak at the Republican National Convention this week, but no more.
...
But his day job at Fox News gave him, and others in similar positions, an ultimatum. The national television network asked Huckabee to choose between being a paid on-air political contributor and actively campaigning for a partisan cause, in this case Donald Trump.