The Mike Huckabee Evangelical road show goes on. At least for now. He'll be in Wisconsin today since their primary is coming up next Tuesday, but Texas is really where the action is. Read below from today's Dallas Morning News:
Texas evangelicals are planning a big push to help Mike Huckabee in the March 4 primary, and the former Arkansas governor said Tuesday he's counting on Texas to help him stop the John McCain juggernaut and win the Republican nomination.
"Texas is very, very important to us," Mr. Huckabee told reporters over breakfast, adding that "we have a real shot in Texas because Texas is a very conservative state."
Some Christian conservatives in the state were slow to warm to Mr. Huckabee, but as the field has narrowed, voters and opinion leaders have become more comfortable with him.
"When you look between Huckabee and McCain, the conservative choice is stark," said Kelly Shackelford, head of the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute and a longtime Huckabee supporter, though Mr. Shackelford was quick to add that most conservatives would willingly help Mr. McCain over the Democratic alternative if he wins.
But for now, Mr. Shackelford said, social conservatives in Texas are "100 percent Huckabee. I don't know anybody who's not."
He and a handful of other Texans have formed a federal political action committee, Texans for Conservative Principles, to support Mr. Huckabee. A field director will be deployed to help with grass-roots organizing, and a Web site will be unveiled later this week to make the case that Mr. Huckabee would best represent core conservative principles.
Mr. Shackelford didn't provide details on fundraising but said there won't be any TV ads.
Evangelicals have been key to Huckabee wins in the Midwest and South.
Mr. Huckabee said he'll spend "a lot of time in Texas" before the primary. "I understand Texas a whole lot better than anybody else running," he said, noting the four years he'd lived in the state, attending Baptist seminary in Fort Worth and working for evangelist James Robison.
The whole article is here.
I know, I know. There's no way Huckabee can win, but why drop out? It's not that he's embarrassing himself. He represents millions of Evangelicals across this country who care deeply about the life and marriage issues - not to mention the culture war that many Evangelicals believe we are engaged in. He gives voice to that.
Plus, McCain and Huckabee don't dislike each other. There's no animosity between them so it's not like this is tearing the party apart. Also, time is on Huckabee's side. The Democrats may be duking it out for awhile so it's not like Huckabee has to get out so McCain will have more time to unify the party. He's already starting that process.
Finally, let's remember if Huckabee wins Texas, it gives him a second place finish and more clout at the convention when it comes to the party platform. It also sets him up nicely for 2012. There are so many advantages. The only danger here is that Huckabee may come across as a "hanger on." The last thing Huckabee needs or wants is to be looked at as a Larry Holmes type. Holmes is the famous boxer who kept getting back in the ring, even at age 50.