By Lee Bandy, South Carolina Insider, posted on Hastings Wyman's Southern Political Report ~ Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was strolling down Main Street in York, S.C., last Tuesday wearing a huge grin on his face.
The Republican presidential hopeful was riding a crest of positive media stories following his better than expected showing in the Ames, Iowa straw poll two weeks ago.
Today, Huckabee is a step closer to being a top-tier GOP presidential candidate, giving his campaign new energy and hope. In York County, Republicans turned out in large numbers to greet the rising Republican star.
Many had been longing for a candidate – a true conservative -- they could back with enthusiasm. They weren’t happy with their current choices. The top three – former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney – were suspect. And they weren’t sure they could trust former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who is expected to jump in the race after Labor Day.
Huckabee walked into the Palmetto Room on York’s Main Street, which was brimming with local Republicans anxious to see the new celebrity and hear what he had to say. He wasn’t prepared for the raucous reception he got. They gave him a hero’s welcome. The applause and cheers were deafening. They never seemed to end. Buoyed by the response, Huckabee charmed his audience for the next 30 minutes with his jokes, down home personality and resume. He also let them know he is a different kind of Republican, one who comes from humble beginnings – a working class family. His interests and priorities are allied with working people, he said.
He said, in an interview, that if Republicans have any hope of winning the election, they are going to have to reach out to voters beyond the GOP: “We can’t win without our base (conservative Christians),, and we can’t win if all we have is our base,” Huckabee said.
He also said Republicans cannot win the presidency if the party’s interests are aligned more with Wall Street than Main Street; “I’m convinced if we come across as a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street, we’re going to lose. We need to show that we are the party of Main Street America.“
And for that to happen, a candidate has to be somebody who has lived in a place more like York, than New York.”
“What voters are looking for is somebody they can unite around, and I think we have proven that we could be that candidate,” he said.
Huckabee said his strong showing in Iowa has given his campaign new direction and promise: “People now return our phone calls,” he noted. Huckabee promised to work hard for South Carolina. He considers South Carolina critical to his chances.
Mike Campbell, son of the late GOP Gov. Carroll Campbell, predicted the former Arkansas governor would win the nomination: “We’re going to nail down his nomination in South Carolina,” he vowed. Campbell is Huckabee’s state co-chairman.
The South Carolina Republican primary – the first in the South -- is set for early January. No one has ever won the GOP nomination without first winning the Palmetto State contest.
“This ought to be about grass-roots,“ Huckabee said of the type campaign he hopes to run in South Carolina.
Since Ames, the Huckabee campaign has seen the number of financial backers double. His web site has seen an extra 3.2 million hits.
Ken Dortex, a York official and Huckabee supporter, said the former Arkansas governor was beginning to pick up primary votes. “It gets stronger every day,” he said.
Betty and Dick Bartlett were sporting “We Like Mike” t-shirts. They had driven over from Charlotte, N.C. to see the candidate. They also had sent out 100 e-mails to friends and neighbors urging them to attend the York Main Street event.
“The Ames success has given us new life,” Huckabee said. “It certainy has changed the whole process for me.”
