Republican Mike Huckabee seeks to broaden his appeal

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GOP leader in Iowa is trying to win over N.H. and nation

By Jill Zuckman | Tribune national correspondent
9:28 AM CST, December 15, 2007


BOSCAWEN, N.H. - In Iowa, where he's leading the Republican field, Mike Huckabee bills himself as a "Christian leader." But here in New England, where voters are more taciturn about their religious beliefs, Huckabee is a "committed conservative," according to his television ads.

With his 14th visit to New Hampshire this weekend, Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, is trying to build on his inordinate success in Iowa and pick up momentum against a more competitive Republican field. To remain in contention for the GOP presidential nomination, Huckabee needs to show that he can broaden his appeal not just to New Hampshire but nationally as well.

He's also trying to expand his campaign, which is suddenly under pressure from all the attention, to a more national operation. Friday, Huckabee announced that veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins would take over as national chairman of his campaign in an attempt to do just that.



New Hampshire poses a special challenge for Huckabee, who is polling in the single digits in the state, trailing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

"It's going to be very, very difficult for him to get over the hump in a state like New Hampshire that has essentially no socially conservative voters to speak of," said Andrew Smith, a University of New Hampshire political scientist and pollster.

Iowa's strong contingent of Christian conservatives seems drawn to Huckabee's background as a folksy preacher. But if Huckabee can sell himself in this first-in-the-nation primary state, it is likely to be through sheer force of personality as a wisecracking candidate who feels voters' pain and is willing to say so in often-colorful terms.

"Live free or die -- I get the picture here," Huckabee on Friday told employees on the plant floor at Elektrisola, a manufacturer of magnetic wire, echoing the New Hampshire motto.

To those workers he sounded a populist appeal -- decrying jobs sent overseas, lambasting the federal tax system that eats up their paychecks, and underscoring his roots coming from a family of modest means. "It's not OK if you guys are invisible to the people who get elected to office," Huckabee said.

What he did not talk about was his ardent opposition to abortion or his support for a constitutional amendment banning the procedure. Nor did he discuss his support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

While he talks openly about faith and politics elsewhere, saying his religion drives his decisions, Huckabee did not mention it in Boscawen or at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in nearby Tilton.

Huckabee said he's not trying to obscure his faith or his social conservatism as he campaigns in a state where Republicans tend to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

"I've never downplayed or up-played it. More people have asked me questions about it than perhaps any other person running," he said at a news conference packed with a newly attentive media contingent. "What I'm playing up is the fact that I've got more executive experience actually running a government as a governor. That's what's important. People shouldn't vote for me or against me because of my faith."

Rollins, who helped guide Ronald Reagan into the White House, said Huckabee will work for New Hampshire votes by relating to ordinary people's problems. "We're going to be full-bore here," Rollins said. "We're not writing off this state."

While he has little infrastructure in New Hampshire compared to other candidates, Huckabee can point to a small but solid roster of well-known supporters. He's also a natural at the type of retail politics essential for success in this state.

At the Cheshire County Republican Christmas party recently, "he worked the room as well as I'd seen any candidate work a room all year," said Fergus Cullen, the New Hampshire state party chairman.

"I just find him to be very honest," said Dan Philbrick, Huckabee's Strafford County co-chairman, who signed on when the former governor was barely registering in the polls. "He's not scripted, he doesn't have a big staff telling him what to say and not to say. I think he's going to surprise everyone here in New Hampshire."

Still, Huckabee has a lot to overcome. He's up against Romney, a well-known former governor from next-door Massachusetts; McCain, who is still popular after winning the state's 2000 Republican primary; and Giuliani, lionized for his performance in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks.

David Carney, a longtime Republican strategist, said Huckabee's socially conservative views won't disqualify him, but that he's hurt by having a limited operation in place.

"In this year, anything is possible, but ... I don't think people should expect him to win New Hampshire if he wins Iowa," Carney said

For his part, Huckabee said he understands that it's his turn under the spotlight as the media scrutinize him and opponents criticize him. Most recently, he apologized to Romney for asking if Mormons believe Jesus and the devil are brothers.

"Lately I've been accused of just about everything including the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and being complicit in ... the JFK assassination," he told the factory workers. "Don't tell me what they'll do next."

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jzuckman@tribune.com