Huckabee putting Hope in spotlight

FILE - In this April 18, 2015 file photo, former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H. For Democratic politicians, same-sex marriage has become an easy issue: They're for it. Many Republican VIPs,  notably the presidential hopefuls,  face a far more complicated landscape. Some of the most conservative contenders such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Huckabee, are comfortable using forceful language in opposing gay marriage and railing against judges who have struck down state laws against it. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
FILE - In this April 18, 2015 file photo, former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H. For Democratic politicians, same-sex marriage has become an easy issue: They're for it. Many Republican VIPs, notably the presidential hopefuls, face a far more complicated landscape. Some of the most conservative contenders such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Huckabee, are comfortable using forceful language in opposing gay marriage and railing against judges who have struck down state laws against it. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)

More than 20 years after Bill Clinton launched his first presidential bid, the other man from Hope, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, is set to make his presidential announcement in his hometown.

Huckabee, who failed in his 2008 bid for his party's presidential nomination, will unveil his 2016 plans in the Hempstead County community where he spent his entire childhood.

The event starts at 10 a.m. at the Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope campus and will be followed by a three-day tour through two key early voting states -- Iowa and South Carolina.

Huckabee spokesman Alice Stewart said that Huckabee wanted to emphasize his hometown roots as a way of demonstrating the values of "family," "hard-work" and "sacrifice" that he learned growing up there as the son of a firefighter, values Stewart said will resonate with voters nationwide.

"It's an important story he wanted to make sure was put on the national stage," Stewart said. "There's no secret that President Clinton was born in Hope, it's the perfect opportunity for Gov. Huckabee to remind people that of all the potential 2016 candidates, he's the only potential candidate that has taken on and defeated the Clinton Machine on numerous occasions. Hope is the perfect place to outline that."

Huckabee and Clinton were both born in Hope, although Clinton spent most of his childhood in Hot Springs, 80 miles to the northeast.

Guy Royston, the director of the visitors' center at the historic Hope Amtrak station, said he was surprised and pleased when he learned a few weeks ago that Huckabee would be putting Hope in the spotlight.

"For us, it's a huge honor that someone from our town... that he's going to have this huge milestone and he wants to have it in our town," Royston said. "We're a small town like most of the towns in Arkansas. For us, it's just a huge honor."

Although Clinton announced his 1992 presidential campaign in Little Rock, he used his Hope connection during the 1992 Democratic National Convention in an oft cited documentary, The Man from Hope, to show voters his story and also highlight his goals as a candidate.

In 2007, Huckabee made his presidential announcement on the Sunday political program Meet the Press with Tim Russert. At the time, Huckabee was a relatively unknown candidate using a national program to reach a national audience.

Today, Stewart said, the national audience is coming to Hope, with around 100 media members, including some international news outlets, converging on the town of about 10,000.

Hal Bass, a professor of political science at Ouachita Baptist University, said that Huckabee's choice of Hope to make his announcement could resonate well beyond Arkansas.

"It's a very tactical decision," Bass said. "He's grafting on this Clinton, Man from Hope business. It worked well for Clinton. The evocative name, Hope, is something that gives energy and direction to a national campaign."

Bass also said that the shared hometown gives Huckabee a chance to make a case to Republican voters that someone who beat the "Clinton machine" as a Republican governor has the best chance at defeating Hillary Clinton, who is expected by many to be the Democratic nominee in 2016.

"I think in a crowded field [of Republican candidates], you're looking at a double digit field here... you've got to pick up some way to distinguish yourself," Bass said. "It remains to be seen whether 2016 primary voters are going to get worried about what was going on in Arkansas [politics] in the 1990s."

Jay Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix College, said the Hope site is a smart start to a national campaign.

"Rather than contrasting himself with other Republican candidates, it provides a contrast with the probable or possible general election opponent [in Clinton]... it gives [Huckabee] higher stature," Barth said. "I think it makes good sense as an overall strategy."

Dennis Ramsey, the Mayor of Hope, said he's heard that as many as 2,500 people will be coming into town for the announcement, one he plans on attending.

"[Huckabee's] running a blue collar campaign and obviously Hope is a blue collar city," Ramsey said. "There's something about that town called Hope... People are aware of Hope, Arkansas."

Metro on 05/05/2015

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