Sarah Palin Interviewed on Hannity and Colmes

Here is the video from Gov. Palin’s interview with Sean Hannity. The final portion of that interview will air on the program this evening.

Sarah Palin’s Nightline Interview with Charlie Gibson

I have had a chance to watch the interview a few times now, and I would like to comment on it. I had high hopes that the interview would get past some of the petty things that the media has been focusing on over the last two weeks, and in some cases it did. However, the air of incredulity that Gibson took when asking many of the questions really aggravated me.

The questions that I felt were the most ridiculous were the ones where Gibson kept pushing Palin on the idea of “a holy war” because of some comments that she made at a church service. When viewed in context, it is obvious that she was not inferring that America is engaged in a holy war. However, that is not what really bothered me, it is the incredible hostility that the media has leveled against her for her Christian faith.

I was watching the news this morning and Newt Gingrich was talking about how FDR prayed on the radio for seven minutes on D-Day and how JFK also made many blatantly religious comments. These heroes of American liberalism, in times of national difficulty, called on God and called on Americans to do the same. Today, when conservatives talks about God and praying that America is in the will of God they are labled as a religious nut who would lead America down a path mirroring the Crusades.

When did the elite become so frightened of anything resembling the traditional values that this country was founded on? One thing has become incredibly clear in this election, and specifically with the pick of Sarah Palin as McCain’s VP, and that is that the media and the liberal elite absolutely despise traditional conservative Christians. With Obama the media flips out any time the conversation gets off of the issues directly pertaining to this election. With Sarah Palin her family and her religion are fair game.

If there is one thing the media is suceeding in doing this election cycle, it is proving how out of touch they are with Main Street America. I am willing to bet that if you went out on the streets and started talking to every day Americans, Republican or Democrat, most would be happy that we are at place in this country where we can have an African American and a woman both running for two of the most important political offices in the world. While I disagree vehemently with nearly all of Obama’s platform, you will not hear me ever attack his family or his faith. The media needs to practice what they preach and keep this election focused on the issues and not on trying to come up with tabloidesque headlines about Sarah Palin having an illigetimate child or desiring to send America out on a Holy War Crusade.

Mike Huckabee at Ouachita Baptist University

Mike Huckabee recently visited OBU and made some interesting statements having had a month to reflect on his Presidential bid.

Link

ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—Describing some aspects of his recent presidential campaign as “just incredible fun,” former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee recently paid a brief visit to his alma mater—Ouachita Baptist University.

Huckabee, who served 10 years as Arkansas’ governor, put together a surprisingly strong run for the Republican presidential nomination, going from a dark horse candidate to what he described as a “Final Four” finish in this year’s presidential race. Earning victories in eight primaries and caucuses, Huckabee withdrew from the race in early March after John McCain gained enough delegates to win the Republican nomination.

A  1975 graduate of Ouachita, Huckabee also has served as a Southern Baptist pastor, president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and chairman of the National Governors’ Association.

Acknowledging that “the whole experience was, in many ways, surreal,” Huckabee said the pace of a national presidential bid “is happening so fast that you don’t have time to stop and absorb it or even take it in.”

“At many times, I had to stop and remind myself that I was actually running for President of the United States,” he added. “The schedule was grueling and brutal. … It was early morning to late night and constantly being pushed and pulled—almost treated like a property as opposed to a person.”

Despite the hectic schedule under the glare of the national media spotlight, Huckabee emphasized that “there were a lot of special times” on the campaign trail, including guest appearances on Saturday Night Live, the Colbert Report, the Late Show with David Letterman and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

“Doing Saturday Night Live was a real kick,” he noted. “Another fun time was the Leno show. … I got to see there were some great people you get a chance to know in a casual way. All that was a lot of fun and it kind of made up for the days that were anything but fun.”

Reflecting on the political impact of his presidential run, Huckabee said one result was the clear reminder that “ordinary people really can affect the process.”

“For virtually a dime to the dollar of the other candidates, we took this campaign to the Final Four and most folks didn’t think that could happen. I think it’s a transformational kind of experience in politics,” Huckabee declared. “It was very important as a hallmark of the campaign–and hopefully future campaigns–that people will pay attention to the candidates and their message and not just their bank accounts.”

Concerning his decision to seek the presidency, Huckabee said, “I deeply felt there was a need for someone, frankly, to be president who understood the real world where most Americans live.  I think there is a disconnect with most people who have been in Washington for a good while.”

As an example, he cited a Republican debate on the economy in which other candidates “were all singing the Republican song of a great economy.” By contrast, he said he emphasized that “for people in the real world, the economy is not doing that well.”

Taking a page from his campaign playbook, Huckabee detailed such economic concerns as rising fuel prices, education costs and “health care costs rising at twice the rate of which pay was rising. That meant people were working harder this year than they were last year and not getting ahead; in fact slipping behind.”

A key reason for many voters’ concern over the economy is that “when the economy is prosperous, it has a trickle-down effect, but when the economy begins to go into a recession, it’s a trickle-up effect,” he explained. “It hits the people at the bottom first and the hardest because they have the least margin with which to deal.”

Amid his increased influence in conservative Republican circles, Huckabee said one of his goals is to “continue to make the case that there can’t be a separation between economic conservatism and social conservatism.”

“The most basic form of government is self-government,” he added. “Civil government is the result of the breakdown in self-government, family and community. … The degree to which those structures break down, you’re going to have more civil government whether you want it or not.”

Highlighting the need for individuals, businesses and communities to take greater responsibility for their actions if they want to reduce government involvement, he said, “I think that’s missing out there in the discussion.”

Giving a nod to Ouachita’s influence on both his life and political career, Huckabee noted, “I’ve always said that the education I received here gave me a platform that I never had to be ashamed of or run from. I have held my own with people who had Harvard law degrees or MBAs from Harvard or Yale. I don’t feel like I ever had to say, ‘Gee, I don’t belong up here.’ Academically, Ouachita was as good of an education as I could have had.”

Ouachita’s Michael D. Huckabee School of Education was named in Huckabee’s honor in 2005 in recognition of his statewide education reform initiatives as governor.

Huckabee, a former Ouachita trustee, said he believes that “the value of a liberal arts education is more pertinent today than it ever has been.“

“I can’t imagine a student not seeing the value of a liberal arts education today,” he added. “The broader the background one has, I think the better prepared they are to get out there and make it in the real world.”

Huckabee said another benefit of his education at Ouachita “was that it helped me come to deep convictions about principles that I believed in and not just what they were but why—and the ‘why’ is more important than the ‘what.’“

“A lot of people know what they believe; they don’t know why,” he pointed out. “They’ve never followed their beliefs to their logical conclusion.”

“The best value that I had from Ouachita was an analytical education, an education that taught me to think critically and to question and to put my own convictions to the test,” he affirmed. “It was truly a challenging education and I value that a lot.”

Looking to the future, Huckabee acknowledged, “I haven’t really settled on ‘Gosh, here’s what I want to do when I grow up.’ I think I will continue to be involved politically and also from a policy standpoint, helping people to get elected and keeping my own options open for the future.”

“I want to affect the discussion of public policy as it relates to the bedrock issue of why individual morality and the structure of the family really does have an impact on the direction of civil government,” he added. “And the respect for human life is fundamental and foundational to our culture.”

Emphasizing that respect for life is not limited to the abortion issue, he said, “That’s where people get messed up. It deals at the heart of whether or not we are, as our forefathers said, all equal. If there’s intrinsic worth and value in each person, then one person is not more valuable than another or less valuable than another.”

What about another run for the presidency in four or eight years? “I won’t rule it out,” Huckabee responded. “I mean I’m not making an announcement to say, ‘Yeah, I’m going to.’ The circumstances and everything, who knows what they’re going to be? But it’s not like I’m saying, ‘Boy, I’ll never do that again.’ I won’t rule that out.”

Asked about the possibility of helping her husband conduct  a future campaign for the Republican nomination, Huckabee’s wife, Janet, who also attended Ouachita, answered simply, “I’m with him. Whatever he does, I’m there.”

“It was a very, very rewarding experience,” she said of the campaign. “I wouldn’t trade any of it.”

Glancing at the former presidential candidate, she added, “I was very proud of what Mike did. He came from virtually nobody knowing who he was; as we say, he came from being an asterisk to second man standing.”

“I’ve always known that if people got to know him, they’d love him,” she concluded. “We just have to get a few more people to know him next time.”

by Trennis Henderson, OBU Vice President for Communications
web published on 4/2/2008 9:36:17 AM

 

Mike Huckabee Discusses FL Debate Performance

Mike Huckabee GOP Debate Clips (Hannity and Colmes)

Huckabee on the Tonight Show

Mike Huckabee had a fantastic interview tonight on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I imagine the video will make it to YouTube, sometime in the next few hours, but until then, if you missed it, here’s the transcript at the Huckabee campaign blog, along with supporter comments. It was a FANTASTIC interview, including Mike jamming with the Tonight Show band! I’ll post a link to the video of the interview, whenever it gets posted.

Mike Huckabee on Larry King

I just finished watching Mike Huckabee on Larry King this evening. Here are some observations:

1. Huckabee seemed very relaxed during the entire interview. It looks like he has started getting used to the ever increasing barrage of attacks and he is not letting them get to him.

2. He came off very well during the interview. He sounded like he knew his position well, and King gave him enough time to give adequate responses to the questions and comments.

3. Huckabee, although given the opportunity, refused to engage in the outright attempts at character assassination that some of his rivals have engaged in. One of the things that sets him apart and that makes him so appealing is that Hukcabee believes he can become President, not by bashing his opponents into oblivion, but by offering America a better candidate.

4. Chuck Norris has turned out to be a great asset for Huckabee. His endorsement was not a one time sound bite. Norris has been very generous in giving his time and energy to help Huckabee get elected. It is not very often that you see a celebrity so invested in a candidate.

I have to give Huckabee and his team some major props. These last few weeks have undoubtedly been very challenging for the campaign. Huckabee has faced intense scrutiny from all corners of the media. I was afraid that Huckabee might start to lose some of his energy and positive attitude. Well, Huckabee has overcome this latest string of attacks, and if this evening’s interview was any indication, he is ready to go even higher in the polls.

Huckabee on The O’Reilly Factor (Round 2)

I caught the 10pm re-run of The Factor last night so that I could see how O’Reilly handled himself this time around. I was not hopeful when his talking points and his first question to the governor had to do with religious issues. I did not want to watch another interview where the only questions Huckabee got asked had to do with religion.

However, I feel that O’Reilly was much more respectful in this interview. He did not have the condescending tone in this interview that his previous one had. I was disappointed that Huckabee had very little chance to address policy, but both he and Chuck Norris got to plug the website several times. Also, as much as I dislike how huge a role religion has come to play in politics, I felt that O’Reilly gave Huckabee a chance to address some of the criticisms that have been raised against him of late. I thought that Huckabee being able to address the question about turning the office of the President into that of a theocratic ruler was a good thing to set straight.

In the end, the interview did not break any new ground. It did, however, get Huckabee some good face time in front of millions of Americans. The interview also gave Huckabee a chance to clear the air of some of the accusations being leveled against him and most importantly to refer people to his website so that they can learn more about him.

Huckabee on “Money & Politics” (Bloomberg TV)

Gov. Huckabee taped an appearance that will air later today on Money & Politics on the Bloomberg network. But a transcript of that interview is already available. It is a must read for anyone wanting to see more into Gov. Huckabee’s campaign, policy positions, and the man himself.

A couple of excerpts:

MR. COOK: Are you worried about inheriting a recession if you are indeed the next president of the United States?

GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, I think every president has to be worried about the what-ifs. But I learned as a governor, you basically are hired to handle the what-ifs. That’s the job. It’s not the things you plan for; it’s the things you don’t plan for. That’s when character and judgment come into play. It’s not that hard a job just to take out the normal routine, cut the ribbons, make the speeches; you really get paid for handling the crises, the things that nobody saw coming. I did that as a governor for 10 and a half years. That’s what a president has to do. And that’s when you need someone with executive experience who knows that you don’t have weeks to have committee meetings. You make a decision; you’ve got to pull the trigger on it and you’ve got to take action. And then you have to take responsibility for that action. That’s why a president gets elected.

---

MR. COOK: Immigration, another big issue to the business community, a big issue to voters there in Iowa as we’ve seen in polling – this week, you unveiled your own ideas on immigration, including a plan that requires anyone in the country illegally to return home first before giving a possible path to citizenship. Is that really going to work? Aren’t there a lot of illegals who simply won’t step forward if they face the prospect of this touch-back provision?

GOV. HUCKABEE: Well, here’s the thing: Everyone living in this country ought to be able to live with their heads held up not down. Nobody ought to be in fear and hiding to be in the United States. The plan that we call for says they go back, they start at the back of the line, not the front. So you get rid of amnesty, take that off of the table. You have secure borders. But all of this is predicated upon the United States government having a modernized system that doesn’t take eight years of paperwork to get a permit to come pick lettuce.

Let’s face it. The real problem here is not that people want to come to America. Heck, I’d want to come here too if I lived anywhere else on Earth. The problem is a dysfunctional, incompetent government that’s never modernized this process and now have people feeling the only way that they can survive is to break the law and cross borders. Secure those borders, create a real system that puts the people who have been standing in line legally first. The others would come in after them. It can be done. You can get a credit-card application processed virtually overnight and certainly within a few days. And if our government is so incompetent that it can’t do it, then we’ll outsource the process to American Express because I’m pretty sure they could make it work.

Huckabee on Hannity and Colmes

I happened to catch H&C this evening by chance. I have almost stopped watching any televised news because I have been so disgusted with all the major news outlets of late.

They announced that Governor Huckabee would be on the show so I decided to listen to what Huckabee had to say this evening.

Here is what I noticed:

1. Why is it that many of the big name conservatives seem more content to attack Huckabee for things from many years ago that to talk about the issues of today? He has already answered the questions multiple times. It would be nice if they would give Huckabee more time to talk about his vision for America. The people of America want to get to know Huckabee, but a lot of conservative personalities are content to talk only about the few quibbles they have with his record. He has been criticized for lack of foreign policy experience, why not ask about that? He has released a nine point immigration plan, why not ask about that?

2. So far, and this may change, more liberals have given him the chance to actually talk about his policies. Huckabee has a lot to offer America but a lot of the message gets drowned out by people in his own party trying to kill his campaign.

3. Newt Gingrich said that Huckabee needs to come up with short sound bites to answer the criticisms that continue to pop up. I agree. Perhaps if he gives the same answer, the exact same way, over and over, it will start to sink in.

Huckabee is really facing a make or break portion of his campaign. If he can overcome the barrage of attacks that have been leveled at him, he has a good shot at the nomination. He will have to do that by going on the offensive by answering the criticisms quickly and forcefully, and by injecting comments about his policies and vision for American into otherwise negative interviews. I believe that people want to hear what the governor has to say, this is why he has done so well in debates. His message is resonating with the people and it seems that some in the media are afraid of its continued spread.

Hopefully, as he continues to answers the latest criticisms, Huckabee will be able to push his message through the smoke screen the media is trying to set up around him. If he can do that, I believe is momentum in the polls will continue and we may have a new national front runner on our hands within the next few weeks.