Huckabee circles May 5 in Hope as decision day

Mike Huckabee meets with reporters Friday at the Hotel George in Washington. He said later in the day that he’ll make an announcement May 5 in Hope on whether he’ll run for president.
Mike Huckabee meets with reporters Friday at the Hotel George in Washington. He said later in the day that he’ll make an announcement May 5 in Hope on whether he’ll run for president.

WASHINGTON -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is returning to his hometown of Hope on May 5 to announce whether he'll run for president.

Huckabee, a former Fox News television personality, announced the date and place during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Friday evening.

"Come to Hope on May 5, you'll find out what's going to happen," Huckabee said. "I hope people will come to Hope, Arkansas, and not just to tour the Bill Clinton birthplace. But there's going to be an announcement that day, and everyone will know after then for sure whether Mike Huckabee is in the race or not."

Earlier in the day, when the 2008 presidential contender met with a dozen reporters at the Hotel George in Washington, D.C., he insisted he has not made a decision. He said he wants to make sure he has the proper campaign structure in place and that he can raise the money needed to win before he decides.

"I don't want to jump in a pool that doesn't have any water in it," Huckabee said. "It [doesn't make] for a very pleasant swim. I think this time it will be a very different issue in terms of financial support."

Huckabee is one of at least a dozen Republicans who have said they are interested in running. U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida have announced bids in recent weeks. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday became the first prominent Democrat to announce a bid, although several others have expressed interest.

In 2008, Huckabee raised a lot less money than U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and a lack of funds hindered him at key points in the race.

If he runs again, Huckabee said, he expects to raise the necessary funds with the help of a super PAC, which is a political action committee that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but cannot coordinate with a candidate once he announces.

In January, Huckabee left Fox News and his weekly talk show, Huckabee, after six years, saying it was the honorable thing to do as he considered a bid. On Wednesday, he announced that his nationally syndicated radio commentary would no longer be broadcast starting May 1. Huckabee is to speak at the New Hampshire GOP's Leadership Summit in Nashua today, along with several other potential Republican presidential candidates.

Huckabee served as Arkansas governor from 1996 to 2007. After joining Fox, Huckabee built a home on the Florida panhandle. In 2010, he and his wife, Janet, became Florida voters.

Speaking with reporters, Huckabee outlined a path to the Republican nomination, saying he'd have to win Iowa again and make a strong showing in New Hampshire, South Carolina and several states in the so-called SEC primary, including Arkansas.

The first time he ran, Huckabee received more than 4 million votes and carried eight states, including Arkansas. In 2011, he weighed a second White House bid but opted to remain at Fox News.

"Most of the people who were with me eight years ago are still with me. Many of them were very disappointed that I didn't run in 2012 and have hoped [for] and encouraged a race this time," he said. "If I do in fact announce that I'm going to do it, then I'm sure they will be delighted."

Huckabee said his past with the Clintons is a factor in his decision, saying he thinks he has the best chance of defeating Hillary Clinton because he isn't intimidated.

"Obviously things are progressing along, and one of the factors that has given me a great deal of perspective going into a possible 2016 race is the fact that if Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee, which she certainly appears to be. There's only one person I know in the Republican field that's consistently run against the Clinton political machine, the Clinton political money," Huckabee said. "[In] most all of my races, both Bill and Hillary Clinton came back to Arkansas to campaign for my opponents, so I know the process quite well."

Huckabee said he doesn't plan to criticize other Republican candidates if he enters the race, saying he considers many of the potential candidates "good friends."

"I wouldn't want to get into, again, doing the work of the Democrats for them. They will have plenty of opportunities to say what they think," Huckabee said. "I will talk about the fact that I do understand what it takes in running against the Clintons and how tough that can be, how formidable that is, but I think Hillary also brings some very special challenges to her race."

Ouachita Baptist University professor Hal Bass said with the rash of presidential announcements over the past few weeks, Huckabee's announcement of an announcement date is a way of keeping his name circulating.

"You just keep the suspense building, and you make sure people don't forget about you while all the other stuff is going on," Bass said. "It's just a matter of making sure people remember you are still in the ballpark, too."

He said Huckabee also might be sending a message to perspective campaign staffers.

"There's a limited number of campaign experts out there, and you want to make sure that your people don't get tempted to go somewhere else while you delay a decision," Bass said.

Bass downplayed the significance of Huckabee's experience with the Clintons, a point Huckabee has raised before, including when Hillary Clinton announced her bid Sunday.

"I don't think he ever did run directly against the Clintons. I guess you could say that he ran against the Democratic Party organization in Arkansas to the extent it was under Clinton," Bass said. "I guess you could make that claim."

He said it's not clear whether Huckabee's past brushes with the Clintons will matter.

"I'm doubting the things that happened back in the '90s are going to be at the top of voters' minds in 2016," Bass said.

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