Everyone knows that Huckabee supporters in this campaign are mostly from “the not very rich” as most people in Main Street are.

His main opponent also counts with different type of endorsers as the link below shows

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56177

Yesterday, Governor Huckabee’s interview with Jorge Ramos aired on the program Al Punto, a Spanish-language Sunday morning news program, much like Meet the Press.  The interview was conducted in English, recorded at the Univisión Miami studio, then Spanish-language translations were dubbed over the original audio.  Huckabee was scheduled in between John McCain and Mitt Romney who appeared on the same program.  Originally, efforts were made to have Governor Huckabee appear on a Spanish-language morning news and variety program, much like the US mainstream media’s Today (MSNBC), Good Morning, America (ABC News), Fox & Friends, etc.  However, time constraints and the rapidly approaching primary precluded this.  The Sunday morning news format appearance, while it does allow for much greater depth, has an audience limited to “news junkies” - regardless of the language.   A morning news show appearance would have been much shorter, but it would have reached an entirely different audience.

Ramos, is an excellent journalist (biography) whose high standards reflect well on Spanish-language news reporting in the US.  A native of Mexico City, he pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Miami after immigrating to the United States.  He is also an accomplished, award winning author.  For almost 15 years, he’s been the principal newscaster for Noticiero Univisión.  He did his homework when it came to Governor Huckabee.  His first question was directed at the in-state tuition question.  (See our blog post on the same subject.)  Here’s a partial list of the books that he’s published.   Most interestingly, he released an “audiobook” in 2004 entitled: “The Latin Wave: How Hispanics will Choose the Next President of the United States.”  Perhaps he won’t be ignored by English-speaking media in the next election cycle!  His words, more than astute punditry, seem almost prophetic today.

Click here to watch the entire interview.

Governor Huckabee joins members of the Florida legislative leadership, including Speaker of the Florida House Marco Rubio, State Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla, and State Representative David Rivera, and other members of the community for coffee at Little Havana’s well-known restaurant (link is to map), Versailles , located at 3555 SW 8th St., at 11:00am today.

Mike’s opponents may criticize him for “only” being a governor from “small Southern state,” but he is a “quick study.”  During his 10-years as governor, the Huckabee administration, from time-to-time sought export markets for Arkansas’ rice crop — including Castro’s Cuba.  (Let’s not forget that even Ronald Reagan wouldn’t use food and starvation as an instrument of foreign policy when dealing with North Korea.)  However, now that he is a presidential candidate, he has openly stated that his national responsibilities go far beyond agricultural trade and require his strong anti-Castro, anti-Chavez, anti-Communist positions that are crucial components of his overall national security policy.   He has sought out the advice of Cuban-American leaders which have had key roles in designing his Latin American foreign policy positions. 

¡Nos vemos en calle ocho!  See you on Calle Ocho (eighth street)!

*Blog editor: For our website visitors who are not familiar with Miami’s geography, Southwest Eighth Street runs east-west through the heart of what is commonly known as “Little Havana,” the center of the Cuban-American community.  Every March, large portions of Eighth Street are closed for the Calle Ocho Festival, an annual event.  The Versailles Restaurant has been a culinary and cultural landmark for decades

Mirando lo que está ocurriendo en nuestra nación y lo que se ve en los mercados internacionales parece que nos estamos moviendo vertiginosamente de la R (recession) a la D (depression).

Los miles de millones que se quieren invertir para levantar la economía no pueden hacerlo porque en realidad eso lo que hace es hundirla más. La razón es que ese dinero no existe es “fiat money”.

Cuando el desenlance final ocurra (quizás antes de la inauguración del nuevo Presidente) yo quiero tener de presidente una persona que sea humana, que trate de protegerme de los grandes intereses que en su afán de sobrevivir me van a tratar de exprimir hasta la muerte.

Huckabee probó tener compasión por su pueblo en sus años como Gobernador de Arkansas.

Ninguno, repito ninguno de los otros candidatos tanto en el Partido Republicano como en el Demócrata, se aproximan a Huckabee en esta categoría porque se deben a los grandes intereses que los respaldan.

El pueblo tiene la última palabra, ser manipulados por los grandes intereses y votar por uno de sus candidatos o votar por quien tiene probada preocupación por ellos.

With the rapidly approaching Florida primary election, January 29th, and the even closer South Carolina contest, time is very short.  (Welcome to all of our new online friends in South Carolina!  – Bienvenidos a todos de nuestros nuevos amigos en linea  de Carolina del Sur!)  The news from Michigan tonight was no surprise; but considering that Romney outspent Mike 50 to 1 to win in his homestate, the results were not terribly discouraging, either.

Well, as many of us in Miami (a Latin fashion “Mecca”) know, there’s nothing like some new clothes and Café Cubano to pick up your spirits.  You’ll have to make your own coffee, but we can help with your new clothes — at least if you’re going to be at the Dade County Fair Grounds this weekend.  See our meetup page for more details.  You can take the graphics from our website to make your own iron-on t-shirts.

***Blog Editor’s Update***  Judging by the number of e-mail responses and questions about these t-shirts locally and from across the country; there is a lot of interest in this topic.  It is obvious that the initial estimate of “a couple of dozen” t-shirts for just our own Meetup group was a big underestimation of the interest in Mike Huckabee t-shirts.  Tonight my 11 year old daughter and I hope to put the final touches on the producion of these t-shirts so that we can increase our capacity.  We hope to perfect the process and maybe even post an instructional video.  If time permits Thursday, January 17th, we’ll head up to Rodney Roger’s Meetup Group gathering in Aventura.  Rodney is the Miami-Dade co-chair of Huckabee for President and he’ll be participating in our “caravan” and Dade County gun show activities this weekend.  Also, Huckabee field representative, Daniel Diaz, will be speaking Thursday about how we can help Mike become our next President.

One of the big issues in this election is illegal immigration with most Republicans favoring strict enforcement, enhanced border security (”the fence,” biometric identification documents, augmentation of the Border Patrol, etc.), and no immigration policy or reform that could be considered “amnesty” and, as such, encourage further illegal immigration.   Actually, these ideas form the cornerstone of Governor Huckabee’s immigration policy.

As if on cue, Mitt, Senator McCain, Rudy and their “spin-meisters” are endlessly repeating their anti-Huckabee talking points when it comes to immigration.  This would be fair enough - if based on the issues with an honest and complete review of a candidate’s record.  However, one of the most-often repeated items mentioned when attacking Governor Huckabee on his immigration policy record goes something like this: “Not only did Mike support in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, he wanted to give them scholarships!  And now he’s denying he ever did it!”

Mitt has devoted an entire “attack page” on his campaign’s website to this topic.  In effect, Mr. Romney is trying to manufacture a scandal by word parsing that would make the Clintons proud.  Needless to say, on the surface, this is a political “bomb” with any voters who have children, plan to have children, or have any family member who may require financial help as they pursue higher education.  These voters are not going to be receptive to hearing Governor Huckabee’s ideas and positions if they are convinced that he ”supported special tuition breaks for illegals.” (emphasis ours) as mentioned on the Romney attack page.  Further, if allowed to continue and unchallenged, Mike’s opponents will frame his past policy as pandering to the Latino vote at taxpayer expense and then lying about it. 

However, if the in-state tuition issue and Mike’s record are examined, or even just briefly thought about objectively; it becomes clear that the Governor’s record is a fine example of the decision making that kept him in office for over 10 years - leaving office with one of the highest approval ratings of any outgoing governor in the nation.  As Mike’s grassroots supporters, we must able to quickly and clearly respond to these attacks against Mike on the emotional issue of immigration.  As his Hispanic grassroots supporters, there will be more attention paid to what we say on this subject.  Fortunately, in our South Florida group we have a number of members who have lived in Arkansas, or the surrounding states, when this controversy was playing itself out in Arkansas during the Huckabee administration. This provides us a perspective that is not dependent on the mainstream media, or just what we can find when “Googling” the issue.  (ABC News This Week video)

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Los enemigos de Huckabee no pierden la oportunidad de mencionar que el, es un “subidor de impuestos” empedernido.

Si tenemos en cuenta que Arkansas es un estado pequeño y pobre, entonces podemos evaluar si las acusaciones tienen mérito o en realidad tenemos que decir que Huckabee hizo una labor increíble teniendo en cuenta los recursos que el estado tenía y la condiciones políticas imperantes .

Arkansas en el año 2006 tenía el número 48 en la nación (antepenúltimo) con respecto a entradas personales.

Debido las pobre situación económica del estado, este recibe $1.40 del gobierno federal por cada dollar que contribuye comparado con California, Nueva York o Massachusetts que reciben alrededor de $0.80.

Un punto importante acerca de Arkansas es que la mayoría absoluta (75% 0 más) de sus líderes políticos son Demócratas o sea, no es terreno nada fácil para ningún Republicano.

Durante la Administración de Huckabee, la legislatura Demócrata de Arkansas aún durante períodos de malas condiciones económicas (menos entradas por concepto de impuestos) siempre insistió en que se mantuvieran los servicios del gobierno en vez de cortarlos.

Es encomiable que Huckabee hubiera pudiera cortar los impuestos en noventa ocasiones diferentes.

Cuando Huckabee empieza su período de gobernador, Arkansas es un estado que es historicamente conocido como poseedor de bajos impuestos, pobre educación y pobre transportación (incluyendo carreteras en pésimo estado).

Es claro que el tuvo que aprobar la subida de los impuestos para mejorar la educación y las carreteras.

Y también es claro que lo que el aumentó fue superior a lo que cortó.

Pero también es claro que durante su período de gobierno, los aumentos de impuestos fueron presentados y aprobados no solo por su legislatura sino también por los votantes que lo reeligían cuando venían las elecciones.

Muy notable y digno de elogio es que siendo Republicano en un estado muy Demócrata el pudo lograr no solo que el pueblo lo reeligiera sino que promovió exitosamente pasos conservadores como rechazar el matrimonio de homosexuales el cual fue aprobado por 74% de los votantes.

La capacidad de persuación de Huckabee es muy necesaria para nuestro país en este momento en el cual los Republicanos y los Demócratas funcionan como “perros y gatos”.

Tenemos situaciones extremadamente graves que se avecinan y necesitamos una persona con la sabiduría de Huckabee para lidiar con ellas.

Before the January 29^th Florida primary, there are major gun shows in Broward and Dade counties.  These are opportunities that should not be missed by Huckabee supporters.  Yesterday on his website, Mike released a new policy statement about 2nd Amendment rights.  This is one issue where clear differences can be drawn between Mike and other top Republican contenders.  These gun shows are opportunities for us to interact with gun owners who are no strangers to politics and a potential source of support for Governor Huckabee.

January 12 & 13: Fort Lauderdale at War Memorial Auditorium, 800 N.E. 8th Street, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33304, 954-828-5380

January 19 & 20: Miami at the Dade County Fairgrounds the Southern Classic Gun & Knife Show, 10901 Sw 24th St. (Coral Way), Miami 33165-2337, (305) 223-3247  (map)

January 26 & 27: Tallahassee at North Florida Fairgrounds, 441 Paul Russell Rd., Tallahassee, FL, (850) 878-3247 (map)

La cantidad (más de doce millones) de personas que ilegalmente han entrado en nuestro país en los últimos años es prueba de que en realidad no tenemos fronteras que funcionen adecuadamente.

El pueblo sabe que junto con las personas que han venido a trabajar, miles de terroristas deseosos de matar a miles de nosotros han entrado también.

Las fronteras no funcionan adecuadamente porque nuestro gobierno (Republicanos y Demócratas) quieren que así sea para lograr la implementación de sus agendas.

Si queremos analizar los bajos números de aprobación del presidente y del congreso tendríamos que colocar gran parte de ello en el hecho que:

a)Lo que han hecho y hacen con respecto a esto es totalmente ilegal ya que rompe multitud de leyes deliberadamente.

b)El pueblo en mayoría abrumadora está opuesto y escandalizado por esta acción bochornosa.

Huckabee traerá cura a esta situación con su plan de nueve puntos - Secure America Plan en

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=26

Supporters of Mike Huckabee have to do their homework — more so than other supporters of other Republican candidates. Why? The rapid rise in the polls that Mike achieved by “unconventional” methods (Solid, consistent debate performances; clear statements of position; “grace” while under attack, etc.) as opposed to hiring a bevy of high-dollar, inside the beltway K Street consultants and spending millions of dollars on media saturation that has left his opponents frustrated with no idea of how to respond effectively. This has lead to a massive disinformation campaign being unleashed. As we attend Republican events leading up to the Florida primary, we may be confronted by these attacks by supporters of Gov. Huckabee’s opponents, or worse, by members of the press corps. If this happens, it is not the time to choke!

The good news is that the Huckabee campaign has made it easy to do our homework and prepare ourselves with its well-organized website. The issues page (link) has many position statements. Furthermore, the “Truth Squad” web page (link) has responses to a number of the more notable negative issues and events that have occurred recently. Together it is a large amount of material, but reviewing it will be well worth the effort and increase your ability to effectively advocate for Mike as the primary draws near.

After reviewing all of the position statements, you may find that you do not agree with everything. Nobody agrees with anybody 100% of the time! However, be ready to explain this, as well. “While I agree with Governor Huckabee on most other issues, I do not share his position on (fill in the blank), but I can respect his sincere beliefs about this. Perhaps he’s more knowledgeable on this subject than I am.”

Also, remember that former Governor Huckabee spent many years as a Republican governor of a very Democratic state. (In many Arkansas counties, the general elections were not held for many years because the Democratic primary determined the winner.) Be careful if you are confronted with a question that begins, “How can you support Huckabee? Are you aware that while he was Governor that he (fill in the blank)?” In order to govern effectively in Arkansas, a state with substandard education, a crumbling road infrastructure, and systemic inefficiencies that were created by decades of political cronyism and not a small amount of corruption – the product of years of “one-party” rule; he had to strike political compromises with the leaders of Arkansas’ Democratic Party machine.

Moreover, Arkansas, during his tenure as Governor, experienced a massive wave of illegal immigration — drawn by jobs in the poultry, lumber, agriculture and manufacturing sectors. This immigration was unimpeded by the federal government. Mike was powerless to stop the influx and mandated by law to provide education and other services to the immigrants. He had to make the best of a bad situation and make decisions that might, at first glance, be an affront to those that support secure borders – like the majority of the Republican Party. However, we should view Mike’s first-hand experience with issues like this as an asset that he’ll take to the Oval Office where he can help solve these important issues.

Now, do your homework!