WASHINGTON -- Republicans in Congress act like they are still in the minority, and that angers former Gov. Mike Huckabee, he said Friday.
Speaking before the Family Research Council's 10th Values Voter Summit in Washington, the presidential candidate and former Southern Baptist minister said he wasted time campaigning for conservative candidates in 2014.
"I thought if we got the majority in the Senate and added to the numbers in the House, we'd have people who would stand up and do something. I thought that we would have people who would come and defend the Constitution, and exercise the role of the legislative branch as a check and a balance against the overreach of the executive," Huckabee said. "After a few months, I realized they're not doing any thing differently in the majority than they did in the minority."
Huckabee has been a perennial favorite at the annual Values Voter Summit, which he used as a springboard for his first presidential campaign. He finished second in the 2007 presidential straw poll, first in 2009 and second in 2010. Results of the 2015 straw poll will be announced today.
The crowded ballroom welcomed Huckabee to the stage with a standing ovation.
Tapping into a theme of his campaign, Huckabee made his case for why he'd be the best Republican to take on the Democratic front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"I'm telling you, you're going to hear a lot of people telling you they're ready to take on this election," Huckabee said. "But there's only one person that's going to be on that debate stage for the Republicans who has consistently challenged the Clintons, defeated the Clinton machine, and lived to tell about it."
His speech also touched on energy production, same-sex marriage and abortion.
Many other straw-poll candidates took the stage Friday to raucous applause including businessman Donald Trump; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; former Texas Gov. Rick Perry; and Dr. Ben Carson.
The event attracts conservative Christian activists from across the nation. Organizers estimated the crowd at 2,600.
Carrie Bowe, 31, of Charleston, W.Va., said Huckabee could be the best choice to face Clinton.
"I really liked how he related the fact that he's been fighting the Clintons his entire elected career," Bowe said. "So he's kind of the person for the job to do that in the presidential election."
She's still weighing her 2016 options, though.
"I'm hopeful for him this time. I think he's a good conservative choice," she said. "He's probably in my top three."
Traci Beach, 47, of Sumrall, Miss., said she likes Huckabee's experience as a preacher and said Americans can trust him to put God back into the White House.
She has narrowed her list of candidates to three.
"Now that I've learned more about him I do like him much better," Beach said. "I definitely want somebody like Huckabee that is a Christian. I like Donald Trump, he's a great speaker, but to me I'm not sure exactly where he stands when it comes down to it. With Huckabee you don't have to worry about that."
Metro on 09/26/2015