Mike Huckabee has for months been meeting with donors and Republican Party insiders in preparation to run for president in 2016.
Republican sources say that the former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate will likely make a formal decision on whether to run next spring.
In the interim, Huckabee and his team have been meeting with potential campaign contributors, conservative activists, elected officials and other GOP power players — both nationally and in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — and openly asking them for their support.
Huckabee has reached out to people who supported his 2008 bid as well as those who did not. If he pulls the trigger, Huckabee is determined to have the resources and do what it takes to win. In his first campaign, Huckabee surprised the field by winning the Iowa caucuses, the GOP primary’s first nominating contest, but fell off in subsequent early primaries. Huckabee believes this past experience could give him an edge.
“I’ve done this before; I know what it takes,” is how one source close to Huckabee described the governor’s thinking Tuesday in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Since ending his presidential bid and leaving the Arkansas governor’s mansion, Huckabee has forged a new career as the host of his own Fox News television program and conservative talk radio show. Many Republican insiders question Huckabee’s interest in the 2016 contest, speculating that he’s looking to stoke attention for a media career that pays handsomely.
“He is discussing running so that he commands higher speaking fees and his ratings on his TV show stay high. I just don’t see him getting in the race,” a Republican operative said.
But on Monday, Huckabee invited a group of journalists, including the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, to join him at a hotel near the District for a discussion that centered on world affairs. The source close to Huckabee said his team knew the event would generate attention for the governor’s presidential plans, but emphasized that it fits the seriousness with which he is approaching 2016.
Longtime advisor Chip Saltsman is on board and directing traffic for the governor as he prepares for a possible run, a fact described by one source as a sign that Huckabee could be all in this time after flirting with a bid in 2012 before opting against. Motivating Huckabee is a feeling that he could be untouchable in the Iowa caucuses.
A recent CNN poll showed him leading a field of 11 potential candidates with 21 percent. His nearest competitor, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the 2012 vice presidential nominee, garnered 12 percent. Sources say that Huckabee believes Iowa could give him a solid springboard into frontrunner status, despite the fact that it failed do so in 2008, and that its influence in GOP presidential primaries has been uncertain in recent cycles.
An Iowa Republican who supported a 2012 candidate and is regularly active in the caucuses said Huckabee’s Hawkeye State network has stayed together since 2008 and continues to strongly support the governor. Huckabee’s social conservatism plays well in Iowa, as does his consistency on the issues. But if another Republican who focuses on social issues runs for president, that could complicate his path to the nomination, as could his position on education.
“Really only hang-up I hear, and it’s talked about a lot, is the Common Core issue,” this Iowan said. “Huckabee hasn’t changed his stripes — he’s not all over map on issues; he’s the same guy he was in 08. But Common Core — it’s a stickler for a lot of folks.”
