President '12

Huckabee predicts big GOP gains in '10

bniolet — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:51:45 -0500

Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee sees big gains for Republicans in the U.S. House next year.

Huckabee will be in Raleigh Thursday night to sign copies of his new book "A Simple Christmas" at Quail Ridge Books and Music on Wade Avenue and the N&O's Ray Martin caught up with him.

Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, and is considered by many to be the early favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. He also hosts his own Fox News show that airs on weekends at 8 p.m. In a brief interview, Huckabee reflected on his book, playing the guitar and the state of the Republican Party. He remained ambivalent about a potential White House run.

This is your seventh book. What motivated you to write a book about Christmas?

It was mentioned by my publisher, and I kicked the idea around and decided to go with it. It's turned out fabulously. This has been by favorite book. When people read it, it makes them think of their own lives and their own Christmas stories, which was exactly my intention.

Huckabee: Help Dole

bniolet — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:54:38 -0400

Former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has asked supporters to help former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole retire more than $350,000 in campaign debt.

Dole, a Republican, ran up the debt in her unsuccessful attempt to fend off a challenge from Kay Hagan, a Democrat, in a bitterly fought campaign, reports the Atlantic's Politics blog.

Huckabee's message may be a move to win support of Bob and Elizabeth Dole for a future presidential run. In his plea for help, Huckabee describes the Democratic effort within North Carolina during last year's election.

The Democratic Party spent $12 million to defeat her in North Carolina and special interest groups spent millions more.
The Obama campaign opened 50 field offices with 400 paid staff and 21,000 volunteers, all geared to three weeks of early voting. North Carolina had the biggest increase in voter turnout of any state in the nation, a reflection of the huge amounts of money poured into the state.
I hope you will join me in assisting her with a generous contribution today to retire her debt of $356,043. I believe it would be a travesty if she were left with a debt after all her hard work as a public servant.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:09:38 -0400

* Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum notes that he and Jesse Helms voted for Sonia Sotomayor before, but says they wouldn't again.

* Scheduler for U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx gets in trouble for a tweet about drinking "office beers" on "taxpayer time."

* U.S. Senate could take up bill regulating tobacco as soon as today, Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan have vowed to fight it.

* Charlotte officials wonder if they should put in a bid for the 2012 Democratic or Republican national conventions, given a $60 million price tag.

Jindal to address Locke Foundation

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:30:10 -0500

Bobby Jindal will speak in Raleigh on Feb. 4.

The Louisiana governor, a rising star in Republican circles, will be the keynote speaker at the John Locke Foundation's 19th anniversary celebration.

Jindal was touted as a possible vice presidential candidate during the recent election and is considered to be a potential presidential candidate in 2012.

"In his first year in office, he already has helped Louisiana state government recover from the bureaucratic mess associated with its poor response to Hurricane Katrina," said President John Hood. "He also has called special legislative sessions focusing on ethics reform and on eliminating burdensome taxes that deter investment and limit growth."

He will speak during an evening reception and dinner at the Marriott Crabtree Valley.

Past speakers include conservative columnists George Will and Peggy Noonan, former independent counsel Ken Starr, and former Weekly standard editor Bill Kristol.

Tickets are available online or by calling 919-828-3876. Individual tickets cost $60.

Asheville men push Palin for '12

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:01:07 -0500

Two Asheville residents are pushing Sarah Palin for 2012.

Republican voters Randy Thomas and Richard Bernier created a Web site — draftpalinforpresident.com — on Friday to encourage the Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential nominee to run in four years.

"As the 11th governor of Alaska, she has successfully fought the special interests, the lobbyists, the Big Oil companies and the good ol' boys network to reform a system that had bred corruption in her state," they write on the site's home page.

Bernier, a medical equipment salesman, told the Asheville Citizen-Times that they are hoping to get the same kind of "election machine" that helped Barack Obama in place early.

After appearing on CNN and MSNBC today, the site's membership jumped from 50,000 to more than 100,000 from all over the country, while it received about 15,000 pieces of electronic "hate mail," said Thomas.

He said the ultimate goal is to provide Palin with a list of supporters.

"She keeps talking about 'if God opens a door' for her, so we want to go to her and say here's a list with some names on it go for it," he said.

Thomas, who owns a Web hosting service, said he saw Palin speak in Asheville during the campaign and thought she was very approachable.

There is some precedent for this kind of effort. In February of 2007, a blogger named Adam Brickley created the "Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President" Web site.