You are invited to join Presidential Candidate
Governor Mike HuckabeeMonday, February 4th, 2008
11:30 a.m – 12:30 p.m.
For a Rally at the Tri-Cities Airport/Tri-City Aviation Hangar
253 Airport Circle
Blountville, TNRSVP to Robert.Kuykendall@explorehuckabee.com or (515) 473-8298.
Also, we have an official invitation you can print out.
We just received word that Tennessee Right to Life has endorsed Mike Huckabee for President. Read the endorsement here. Excerpt:
Tennessee Right to Life announces today the group's endorsement of Governor Mike Huckabee for the February 5 Presidential primary. The strength of Governor Huckabee's public record on matters concerning the protection of human life and strong support among the organization's grassroots members were key to making the decision.
"The beauty of a grassroots organization is that your members set the priorities," said Brian Harris, president of the state's oldest and largest pro-life organization. "For pro-life Tennesseans, the election of a sincere, proven pro-life president is paramount," said Harris. "Our members recognize Mike Huckabee as ‘one of us' and that enthusiasm is driven by his demonstrated record of leadership and sacrifice toward the shared cause of protecting life," said Harris.
A commenter pointed me to a poll done for the Tennessee primary. I had not seen any polls to date. The poll was released by WSMV-TV, Channel 14 in Knoxville. Click here for a detailed pdf of the poll.
The poll was taken before Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Presidential race. The results of the Republican poll are as follows.
As you can see, 26% of likely Republican primary voters are undecided. Couple that with the fact that 25% supported Thompson, we can suppose that close to 50% or Tennessee's likely Republican primary voters are undecided. In other words, roughly 1 in 2 people you bump into in your daily routine are undecided.
The poll also breaks the numbers down regionally, showing what the numbers look like for East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Here's the East Tennessee breakdown:
Again, there is a heavy number of undecided voters in our region, and add the Thompson supporters to the undecideds, and there are roughly 1 in 2 Republican primary voters who have yet to decide on a candidate.
These are the voters we want to, and need to, reach. Here are 5 ways to target these voters this weekend:
We said at the meeting that we would have a sample endorsement letter posted to the site. You can view the sample by clicking here. Feel free to use it verbatim, or just as an example for your own letter.
Northeast Tennessee for Huckabee had a meeting yesterday. There was a good turnout. Below is a picture and very short video clip.
In the meantime, you should also take a look at Governor Huckabee's speech to the AFA on Monday. You can find that post here.
On January 21, 2008, Mike Huckabee gave a speech at the American Family Association's "Rediscovering God in America" conference. The speech is posted below in four parts.
Mike Huckabee will likely make a play for Tennessee. This means that he potentially will be campaigning in the state. We want Governor Huckabee to visit the Tri-Cities. Help us get him here by participating in our area's "Demand Huckabee" effort.
Today, congressman and former Presidential candidate Duncan Hunter announced his endorsement Mike Huckabee for President. In addition to giving a boost to Governor Huckabee's campaign, Hunter's endorsement has driven the right-wing crazy.
I came across the Huckabee campaign's official online headquarters for the state of Tennessee. Check it out here: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=TennesseeHQ.Home. There's not much on there yet, but as we get closer to February 5th, Tennessee is going to become a huge focus for the Huckabee campaign.
I think a reminder of just how far Governor Huckabee has come is in order.
In January 2007, a Rasmussen National Poll for the Republican Nomination put Mike Huckabee with 1%
Roughly one year later, the weekly average for the Nomination put Mike Huckabee in a much better position. Over the most recent 7 week period, Mike Huckabee has either led, or been in serious contention, in the tracking poll.
To be clear, Governor Huckabee's numbers might significantly change due to the South Carolin Primary Results. But even if they do, Governor Huckabee has made an amazing showing thus far. And yes, we did say "thus far." If the past is any indication, Governor Huckabee will be marginalized and written off by both the media and the other candidates seeking the office. And, if the past is any indication, Governor Huckabee will continue to surprise.
Now we are heading into the Florida primary, and on to Super Tuesday. Tennessee is a Super Tuesday state, and we plan on helping Governor Huckabee do well in this state.
We received an email from the campaign reflecting on the race so far, and laying out the strategy for the future. We fall into the Super Tuesday portion of the strategy, and the campaign has laid out the following goal for the Super Tuesday states.
1. Launch of online headquarters in every Super Tuesday primary state. We will need bloggers in each state to help organize our grassroots efforts. We will send state specific emails discussing our goals in each state.
We are pleased to help in this effort. We ask fellow Tennesseans to help us.
Three ways that Northeastern Tennesseans can help is to:
See some funny outtakes from the HuckChuckFacts commercial that featured Governor Huckabee and Chuck Norris.
We are here for the South Carolina primary results. We'll update the results as often as we can.
83% Reporting
Bumper Stickers, Bumper Stickers. We've got bumper stickers. If you're in Northeast Tennessee and would like one, please contact us at tnhuck [at] gmail [dot] com.
What better indication of a swirl of momentum than the amazing fundraising that the campaign has done in the last 36 hours. Last night, the campaign sent out an email indicating that their strategy in South Carolina would require an additional $300,000. As of this post, they are only $15,275 short.
If you would like to give, please use our Northeast Tennessee for Huckabee donor code, which is R6228.
Just released is the details of the upcoming Chuck for Huck BBQ fundraiser for the Huckabee campaign. Click here for the details.
The folks at NETN For Huckabee have posted Governor Huckabee's 'Detriot Economic Club' speech in its entirety. You can view it here. This was a very good speech by the Governor.
Also, we'd like to welcome a new Tennessee Blogger for Huckabee. Huckabeespot began last Friday.
Tnhuck blog is proud to announce the formation of the Northeast Tennessee for Huckabee grassroots organization website. NETN For Huckabee’s site is located at http://www.netnforhuckabee.com.
The purpose of NETN for Huckabee is to organize supporters of Mike Huckabee in the Northeast Tennessee region. Head on over to http://www.netnforhuckabee.com to find out more information and to get involved in the Northeast Tennessee effort help Mike Huckabee become the next President of the United States.
We are here for the New Hampshire primaries. We'll update with results as often as we can.
73% Reporting
Rush Limbaugh: My question for you evangelicals is this. If you're looking for a real conservative, why are you supporting Huckabee? He's completely discredited himself. What about Fred Thompson? If you're looking for a real conservative.
I'll answer this, being an Evangelical. I do not claim to speak for all Evangelicals, of course.
Why do I support Huckabee over Thompson? Here's one big reason. It is precisely because he has credibility on the issue of abortion that I support him. Governor Huckabee is in congruence with the Republican party platform with his support of a Constitutional Amendment protecting the unborn. He also seeks to have Roe v. Wade overturned. In short, Governor Huckabee not only supports the pro-life message, he also has a desire to advance the pro-life agenda.
Senator Thompson has expressed no such desire. In fact, he has expressed that he would very much like to leave the decision of killing unborn children to the individual states. If a state wants to do that, then Thompson apparently has no objection. To people like me that sounds a lot like telling an abolitionist that so long as the federal government is not forcing slavery on the states, then slavery is just fine and dandy. Thus, it appears that Senator Thompson vocally supports the pro-life message, but has no intention of advancing the pro-life agenda.
It really is that simple.
I take this issue seriously. When presented with a candidate who merely wants Roe v. Wade overturned, and a candidate who wants both Roe v. Wade overturned and a Constitutional Amendment protecting human life, then the choice is clear.
Governor Huckabee will be appearing on Sean Hannity's radio program soon. We will upload a clip once it is done. Update: Clips added.
Msnbc has Dr. Dobson's reaction to Mike Huckabee's Iowa Caucus victory:
The results of the Iowa caucuses reveal that conservative Christians remain a powerful force in American politics...That had to be a great shock to those on the far-Left! The New York Times wrote a demeaning obituary of Values Voters in an article called 'the Evangelical Crackup.' CNN piled-on, proclaiming the demise of the 'old values'... Sixty percent of the voters in the Iowa caucuses were self-identified Evangelicals, and 45 percent of them supported Mike Huckabee. The former governor may not become the eventual Republican nominee, and I have not endorsed him, but what happened there last night was evidence of an energized and highly motivated conservative community. Not bad for a supposed bunch of demoralized, depressed, disillusioned and disengaged Reaganites.
Sorry, Dr. Dobson, but that is weak. I do not think that having sat on the sideline so far (and continuing to do so to this moment) in this election that you now have authority to speak on behalf of the Evangelicals who have chosen to participate. Values Voters participated in spite of your leadership rather than as a result of it. The Evangelical "followers" in Iowa (the people you are supposedly leading) were clearly convinced that Huckabee is their candidate. The question I have is where have you been?
Of course, we are proud of Governor Huckabee's win in Iowa. But we realize that the opposition from the Governor's own party is going to come louder, and it will be more organized. If history is any indicator, the attacks will come against Huckabee, and usually those attacks will be fraught with falsehoods. Hence, to the degree that the misrepresentations are shouted by the other candidates, we will be ready to set the record straight.
Today presented another example of why I am fed up with what has come to be called the "Republican Establishment." Among this group are the conservative media entities, which mostly is comprised of blogs and talk radio. Today, Sean Hannity had Governor Romney on his radio program. I have not been impressed with Governor Romney, and have stated that I will not vote for him. Today's radio interview presented a keen example of exactly why I am fed up with the "Conservative Establishment" in general, and Governor Romney in particular.
Among the criticisms that Governor Romney spoke about on Hannity's radio program today was that Governor Mike Huckabee supports "tuition breaks for illegal immigrants." Of course, the governor is referring to a bill that Governor Huckabee supported while governing Arkansas. What was not mentioned was the fact that Governor Huckabee simply has not said he supports tuition breaks for illegal immigrants in his campaign for President. Governor Huckabee has not advocated such a policy in his run for the Presidency. This is common knowledge, and is an inarguable fact. Yet Governor Romney today said that Governor Huckabee "supports tuition breaks for illegals." The key word, here, is the word "supports," which Romney says in the present tense. Thus, Romney asserts that this is a position that Governor Huckabee is currently advocating. Said another way, Romney presents it as if it is without a doubt true that Governor Hucakbee, upon becoming President, will enact tuition breaks for illegals at the federal level. This is simply untrue. This is not a position that Governor Huckabee holds, and Romney knows that. Yet that did not stop him from asserting it today. That is shameful and worthy of rebuke.
To make matters worse, the show's host, Sean Hannity, did not bother to correct this very important error. Conservative talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity have earned a positive reputation among conservatives for seeking and reporting the truth; and this is one of the major reasons they have become so popular. But I want to say that, whatever Hannity's view of Governor Huckabee is (and it strikes me as particularly negative), he ought not to have allowed Governor Romney to present something as fact which is blatantly false. Many folks in America have come to rely on people like Sean Hannity because they are perceived as trustworthy advocates of truth. I must say that today's show has, for me at least, convinced me of a disheartening fact. Apparently Sean Hannity and others are concerned with the truth, but only when it advances their particular agenda. Should the truth reflect poorly on their underlying agenda, they will just as soon resort to dishonesty. That is also shameful and equally worthy of rebuke.
