I think it was just meant as a joke. Like Trump's potential candidacy.

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"Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar."
- Abraham Lincoln

After missing the announcement, not seeing the actual video (but reading the statement), and reading through this thread I have to say that I am torn.

First, I am actually extremely impressed with the decision that Mike Huckabee has made. Here is a man that lead virtually every poll against other Republicans, and was the closest to Obama in the polls. He has the strongest, widest, most loyal base of any candidate. He was a shoe-in for the nomination and a guarantee to seriously challenge Obama. This man had the best chance of anyone to be the next President of the United States, and leader of the free world. And he walked away from it. For no other reason than he felt God was calling him to other things. And that I seriously respect. Who else would have given up this opportunity for untold fame, fortune, and power? It is a person who cares about being right with God more than all the materialistic things that come with life. For this, I cannot be upset at the man.

However, I am disappointed in the way that this all went down. It sounds as if Fox News had some contractual rights to Mike’s announcement and we all know what Fox is best at: Ratings. What would have been dubbed as a brilliant PR spectacle if he would have announced his candidacy, turned into a ratings driven hype built for no other reason than to increase viewership. And for this I am disappointed. I have no idea how much input Mike had into the setting and the hype, but it was truly distasteful to those of us who have put in so much time and effort. I know Mike feels bad for it, but it remains that they intentionally played on our emotions.

In regards to this site, I absolutely would like it to continue in its community driven form, albeit with a different goal which will have to be decided on in the near future.

May I suggest that there be a 24 hour moratorium on talk about which candidates are better than others. It’s been a tough day and out of respect to our members please refrain from it for now.

Thank you all for your work and dedication
Sincerely, Brett

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I'm thinking of supporting Trump. He likes Mike maybe he will pick him as VP.

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Never lose sight of who Mike Huckabee really is. Feel honored that you support a man such as this.

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Thanks, Brett. I was going to only quote your last suggestion - I am not ready for all the back-and-forth about which potential candidate is worthy of my support - but your whole post is definitely quote-worthy. I would have to say I agree with ALL of it.

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Dare I say...what about supporting Ron Paul?

Wow. I guess you do dare to say it??? Purposefully ignoring such a polite request?

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"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
"Duty is ours; results are Gods."
-quotes attributed to President John Quincy Adams

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Please show a little respect. Have some compassion and realize that this isn't going to sway anyone.

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Earlier this evening, I was full of excitement, anticipation, and hope. I couldn't wait to put my "boots on the ground" and start getting Huckabee on the ballot in VA. Then at 8:56 PM I felt like I got kicked in the stomach. I feel the deepest disappointment and emptiness.

Most of all, I am terribly concerned for my beloved country, because I don't see any other GOP candidate who can win against the Obama machine.

Please, everyone, don't start posting here about your favorite second-choice candidate(s). Save that for tomorrow, or better yet Monday. For now, please just let us all grieve in peace. Many of us are total Huck-a-holics and have spent YEARS posting here, some of us every day...some of us have posted or read here several times a day. Our earnest hope has been killed tonight, and the body's not even cold yet. Have some respect. And in particular, don't post here about Huckabee running as VP with any candidates who aren't solidly pro-life...Mike Huckabee entered politics mainly because he wanted to make a difference in the battle against abortion.

I just want to curl up and go to bed for 3 days.

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So here they come looking for Huckabee's voters. These two would have to perform a miracle to get my vote.

I am shocked. His decision was so definitive I don't know how he could jump in late and explain his change of mind. So for now I am moving on to Herman Cain.

If anyone is interested that missed the live announcement, the video of it can be found at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyM-Y-Ag7c

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Its sad that Huck isn't going to run, but can't ignore the fact that our country is going down in flames. We don't have time to mourn! Now is the time to make a stand and a decision and get to work asap time is short! The republic is dying!

I have to say, this is hitting me harder than I thought it would. Having come aboard to Team Huck sometime after Duncan Hunter left the primary in 2008, I came right in during the good times of Huckabooms. Those that were there during the start of the 2008 campaign are the one's I really feel badly for. You guys made it possible for the real possibilty of Huck becoming President if he chose to go for it. That reality is what makes his announcement not to run so much more disappointing: I truly believe he could have won this thing.

I would encourage members here to not abandon Huck's TV show or this website. This is about more than just a run for POTUS, it's, as Southern Doc said, about a cause we believe in. Allowing his shows ratings to drop or this website to close shop isn't helping anything but instead being mad that Huck didn't do what we wanted him to do. It's not about us, it's about a shared cause we believe in.

I too didn't think this was handled all that well. I have to think there was truth to the talk that Fox was leaning on Huck to make a decision and forced his hand to make a decision sooner than he would have liked to. As I said previously, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Huck gets a Monday thru Friday slot at Fox soon replacing Beck. That's a lot of money to leave on the table if he instead ran for POTUS!

Disappointing night for me, but I'll still pop in here to wrangle with y'all!

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Couldn't agree more.

I am very dissappointed and, while I take the Governor at his word about how he came to his decision, I do wonder how much the bin Laden capture may have influenced that decision.

Three weeks ago, President Obama looked like someone who would be easy to beat. He was unpopular in many corners and was perceived to be both disengaged and indecisive. A growing number of voters weren't even sure that he was actually a native-born American.

Then the President had the best week of his Presidency. He finally put the birth certificate issue to rest. Three days later, he humiliated several of his would-be opponents in the White House Correspondents' Dinner. And then, the very next day, of all things, the U.S. captured the most wanted individual on the planet. It turns out that the President was very involved in the later phases of that operation and, by most accounts, made some gutsy calls. His popularity bounces. And then we get a good jobs report.

President Obama went from looking like the philosophy student on the college debate team who is asking why the whole world can't just get along to looking like a decisive executive. He went from being on the defensive to putting his opponents a bit on the defensive. In just three weeks. And all of this means that the burden of defeating him in 2012 went from being simply hard and grueling, which any election is for any top-tier candidate, to being much, much, tougher.

And so, maybe as the Governor was praying and counting the costs of getting the job done and realized that it wasn't right for him at this time, given the increasingly difficult effort required to get the job done. Defeating any incumbent President is an extremely difficult task and doesn't happen often. Since 1900, only four sitting Presidents have sought re-election and failed to get it (Taft in 1912, who lost largely because the Republican vote was splintered when former President Roosevelt decided to run against him; Hoover in 1932, who could not escape the impact of the Depression and the Bonus Army; Carter in 1980, who could not get past the Iran Hostage Crisis; and Bush in 1992, who, like Taft, was defeated with the help of a third party candidate). It seems that the rule is that if things are perceived to be going pretty well and the President's political base is not severely divided, he's most likely in for another term.

I believe Huck could have beaten Obama. But to do so, it would have required an incredible amount of effort for the next year and a half, followed by an incredible amount of work trying to straighten out the mess that is in Washington right now. I don't know if anyone can relate to believing that something that probably can be obtained is not right for the present time. For example, some of of us could probably earn more income if we were willing to substantially sacrifice time with our families. But we often make the decision that the benefit is not worth the cost. Perhaps the Governor made the same decision.

And, as bad as we feel right now that he's not running, another fact is that if he ran and lost, he would have a very difficult time getting support for a 2016 bid.

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Buddy Roemer is a very dark horse, but he appeals to me.

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I am still in shock and am trying to make sense of it. I'm wondering if he has been working so hard non-stop for so long that the frustration of still being ignored by the pundits and the establishment in spite of the polls made giving up a very peaceful place to be. He even made reference to the pundits again when he said he didn't fully understand it himself-but he was sure the pundits will. I would have and did interpret everything lining up in favor of him having a successful run as God opening the door or paving the way. I am very disappointed and sickened with this announcement after being so pumped up and excited about what I believed to surely be an announcement to run. I definitely would not want Mike to run without God's blessing so I guess we just have to respect his decision.

I, too am very sad and disappointed at Gov. Huckabee's announcement, but I've been asking God, if the Governor is not the one, to raise up a man or woman that will have His blessing and His wisdom to lead our nation back to Him. Now, I guess we will just have to wait and see what unfolds.

I sincerely hope that HA will continue. I so appreciate all the intelligent, thoughtful commentary here. I think of all of you as friends. It will be interesting to hear what all of you think about other potential candidates. I would offer you John Kasich, but we need him too badly here in Ohio!

Amen! Same here!!


Amen! Same here!!

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Well that is a bummer, but I respect his decision.

I have been feeling lately that the race for POTUS seems more and more like a reality TV game show, where being a good liar, schemer, controller, looking good, being popular, and having the right celebrity endorsements are all that matter to the voters. And behind the scenes, this show is produced primarily by the Unions/Socialists on one side and the Corporations/Capitalists on the other. The person's ability to lead and to do the job well are irrelevant. Not a very positive picture I know, but that is how it seems to me. Until that changes, I wouldn't want to be part of that either. My hope is that people will open their eyes to this and bring the process back to the people.

My guess is Mike will focus on fixing congress, and continue to grow his fan base (albeit more slowly now), leading to a Republican majority in the house & senate in 2012. I think he would have won the nomination, but I'm not sure that anyone could beat Obama. Getting paid to campaign and having a billion dollars to swamp the airwaves with attack ads is going to be pretty tough to beat. On the other hand, pretty soon people will start feeling the impact of his actions, and will begin to hold him accountable. But that may not start until 2013?

I also suspect Mike has something else up his sleeve? He has said all along that he would announce this summer, why did he pull it up?

I don't get FOX, can someone summarize what the Trump thing was?