Florida’s primary results yesterday were unlike South Carolina’s –  where we wanted to win and expected to win.  Florida was a clear loss for those of us who wanted to put Mike in the Oval Office in 2008.

In South Carolina, Mike’s second place finish with Thompson still in the race and making his best showing ever, combined to give us a “silver” (in Romney-speak) that legitimately could be “framed” as a political victory for us.  Unfortunately, we (as grassroots Huckabee supporters predominantly in Florida) did not handle the South Carolina primary results correctly.  When the mainstream press mischaracterized Mike’s South Carolina finish as a “disappointing loss,” we should have responded with press releases that countered, what eventually became, “conventional wisdom” in Florida.  Signs and banners that would have caught the news cameras attention, etc. would have been grassroots tactics that we could have employed.  We failed our Grassroots Politics 101 midterm. 

In any event, the good news is that we have a chance to redeem ourselves — on the final examination that will come during the Republican Party’s national convention.  Our grade will be determined by the number of delegates that Mike has going into the convention.  Just because the Florida primary is over, we cannot afford a siesta.  For example,  Diana Hernandez’ picked up on an item from Moms for Huckabee that referred to an Alabama for Huckabee blog post.  (Link to blog’s main page.  Link to the post, Alabama, Let’s not roll over and play dead yet!) 

Hat’s off to Diana!  Like her, you can be the eyes and ears for the pro-Huckabee blogosphere.  So-called, “alternative media” (the blogosphere, talk radio, podcasting, viral video, etc.) is only way conservatives can even begin to “level the playing field” in terms of the mainstream media.  During the Florida GOP debate, we saw how Governor Huckabee was treated — in terms of time alloted to speak.  MSNBC, certainly did what they could to stop Mike’s message from reaching a large audience.  It is up to us to bypass the mainstream media, by any means necessary, and deliver Mike’s message.

***Blog Editor: speaking time statistics taken from the following.

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)

(more…)

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)

Como fue reportado hoy en el New York Times (link):

Mr. Huckabee, a former Republican governor of Arkansas who ran a campaign with minimal resources, now finds more money flowing his way. As he jetted to New Hampshire from Iowa, money began to show up, click-by-click over the Internet - a total of $350,000 by the time he had landed at dawn. By Thursday, the campaign hopes to have an online total of $1 million in fresh cash.

Ésta es buena noticia, pero Rudy y Mitt ya tienen millones depositados y esperando.  ¡No podemos descansar!

Today, all eyes are on Iowa. In little more than 48 hours the Iowa caucuses will begin. Governor Mike Huckabee, who was all but written off several weeks ago as a “second tier candidate,” is now in the fight of his political life to win against Mitt Romney who has outspent him 20 to 1. His success is even more remarkable more if you look at the combined expenditures of all of his well-financed opponents. If the current polls are any indication, Mike will finish first, or second.

Already, the highly paid political spin masters are making excuses for their candidates. They are trying to minimize Huckabee’s achievement. For example, “Huckabee’s strong showing in Iowa is understandable because of the many evangelical Christians in the state and the fact that Arkansas is a rural neighbor.” (These guys ought to check a map. Arkansas does not border Iowa.)

The “real test” for Mike will be in these next few weeks. New Hampshire, which does border Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, will be tough. We, as his supporters, MUST maintain an unwaivering, positive attitude. Any measure of success (3rd or even 4th place) in New Hampshire should be considered a victory. South Carolina is shaping up to be an excellent opportunity for Mike, but his limited finances are going to mean that grassroots organizing in that state will be crucial if he is to keep up that elusive political commodity known as “momentum” as he goes father south to Florida with its new early primary. Florida is being touted, by the Giuliani camp, as the first real test of a Republican candidate — a large state, with many electoral votes, that has a growing multicultural population in urban, suburban and rural areas.

Florida is the “lion’s den” for Mike. He’ll be walking into a multi-million dollar political ambush that has been prepared to finish off any opponent that stands between Rudy and the nomination. Even if the results of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina are interpreted as “successes” for Mike and result in a large influx of campaign cash; it may be too late for the Florida primary on January 29th. You cannot create a “conventional” campaign organization, much less successfully campaign, purchase media time slots (most of which will be already taken by Mike’s opponents), etc. in so little time.

The only way to succeed is by a massive grassroots effort that must begin immediately. We are already in the countdown to the final days leading up to the Florida primary. Every day is precious! Attend a meetup group in your area. (Link to “Get Involved” webpage) Put a bumper sticker on your vehicle. (You may have to print it your own computer and tape it to the inside of the window. They are that hard to come by!) Attend any Republican gathering, even if you’ve never gone before, and convince those present that Mike is the only candidate at this point that will mobilize the base in a way that will insure the voter turn out that will be necessary to win. It is up to us!