Mike Huckabee in Henniker

Mike and Janet Huckabee, along with Chuck and Gina Norris, appeared at New England College ths evening.

Would you like to know the difference between being a longshot second-tier candidate and the winner of the Iowa caucus? There were rows of TV cameras, about a dozen wandering reporters, and huge amounts of attention. I was approached by the Washington Post, ABC, Reuters, and Avisen (the Danish press).

The doors had opened at 3:15, but I didn’t get there until a little after 3:30. This violates my usual time guideline of “be there half an hour before any civilized person would arrive,” but I had laundry to get started before I left the house.

The place was crowded before I arrived. In fact, the gymnasium staff were pulling open more bleachers and discussing the fact that the event would be standing-room-only soon. A young man was walking around selling buttons for Mike Huckabee and against Hillary Clinton. If I had thought to bring any cash, I might have picked up one of the Huckabee buttons, but that’s a different story.

The local band Mama Kicks! covered a number of classic rock songs while we were waiting for Gov. Huckabee & co. to arrive. There was also a group from a global warming group that has crashed every Huckabee rally I’ve attended. This time, they had one of their number dressed up as a snowman. If he found it uncomfortably warm indoors, I suppose that going outside in the 20-degree weather would have done him some good. It seems to be good for the 8 or so inches of snow accumulated outside the gymnasium.

Anyway … I didn’t get a lot of pictures, because I was about as far from the stage as I could be without leaving the gymnasium. But I’ll put up what I can. I was called by name by the Huckabee campaign staffers. I do really appreciate that.

Gov. Huckabee came out on stage and picked up the bass. He immediately congratulated Mama Kicks! for being voted the best band in New Hampshire, and said that even though he played with the band on the Tonight Show, Mama Kicks! is as good as they. I’m not sure exactly how many songs he played, as this was when I was being interviewed by the reporter from The Washington Post. He asked me a number of questions about why I was there, who I am, and what issues prompted me to support Gov. Huckabee. I told him, of course, that I back Gov. Huckabee because he’s a true believer — he says what he means and means what he says. His message is that same now as it always has been. I believe in the right to life, the protection of traditional marriage, and tax reform.

Chuck Norris then spoke. He talked about how he came to be a supporter of Mike Huckabee, but went on to say that an endorsement and an advertisement would only carry Gov. Huckabee so far. What really makes it possible for Gov. Huckabee to resonate with so many people is that he has a message which connects with people.

He also said that he’s read the so-called “Chuck facts,” and that his favorite is the one that says that there was a plan to put his face on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t strong enough to represent his beard. (My wife’s favorite is the one that says Chuck Norris appeared on “Wheel of Fortune” once, but he went first, and the rest of the contestants spent the next 28 minutes awkwardly looking around waiting for the wheel to stop. I think that mine is: Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas. … but I digress.)

Then, of course, Mike Huckabee spoke. He talked about his upbringing in Hope, Arkansas and being raised poor. One of the stories he told was one I’d heard before, and find very inspiring. It’s about a time when the governor was coming near Hope, and his father took Mike to see him speak, saying, “You might never get the chance to meet a governor.” His father certainly had no idea that Mike would be the governor of Arkansas some day.

He went on to explain his plans. He talked about his goals. He wants to see the US able to feed itself, fuel itself, and defend itself. He wants to secure our borders, change our tax system, and become energy independent. Our oil use and the way the oil market works now means, as he put it, that we fund both sides of the war on terrorism. Our tax dollars pay to fight against terrorism, while our purchase of fuel helps fund the nations that support terrorists.

Even if we don’t buy oil from Iran, we’re buying from a system that helps Iran get higher prices.

Gov. Huckabee is right about this.

He went on to talk about the Fair Tax in particular, and then went on to talk about education and health care.

There was quite a lot of applause from the audience. Many people had signs, which they were waving.

This was really a wonderful event. From my point of view, it was great to see so many people come out, and it was good to see the press attention.  Nothing has come easy to Gov. Huckabee in this campaign — he entered the race as an impossible longshot, and had to work for every point in the polls until he was considered “viable.” Now, finally, all of that work is being recognized. Voters appreciate his honest, genuine message and approach.

Tonight, though, there was a different energy about the rally. We already know that we can win, and have won the first round of this nomination process. We’ll see what happens in New Hampshire and in the later states. But we’re not just the weird folks backing Mike Huckabee anymore. We’re the ones whose candidate won the Iowa caucuses. Therefore, we’re being noticed.

I’ll say more about the various interviews and try for those pictures later. The battery in the camera needs to be recharged so I can download them, an I’m tired …

WordPress.com Political Blogger Alliance