{"id":15168,"date":"2008-04-10T11:10:51","date_gmt":"2008-04-10T15:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/15168.html"},"modified":"2008-04-10T11:10:51","modified_gmt":"2008-04-10T15:10:51","slug":"huckabee-to-follow-in-robertsons-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/huckabee-to-follow-in-robertsons-footsteps\/","title":{"rendered":"Huckabee to follow in Robertson’s footsteps?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1988, TV preacher Pat Robertson launched a Republican presidential campaign predicated on a vaguely theocratic, right-wing platform. He actually fared well in a couple of contests — he even came in second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of George H.W. Bush — before a poor showing on Super Tuesday forced him from the race.<\/p>\n

But Robertson didn’t just seek votes on the campaign trail; he collected names and addresses. Indeed, before he even launched his campaign, he told his supporters that he’d only run if 3 million people signed on as campaign volunteers.<\/p>\n

This, of course, created quite a voter list of conservative evangelicals, which Robertson used to create the Christian Coalition a year after ending his presidential bid.<\/p>\n

Robertson has since become a laughingstock, and the Christian Coalition barely exists, but by using his campaign lists, Robertson was able to create a political powerhouse.<\/p>\n

I get the sense Mike Huckabee has the same idea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mike Huckabee will hold a conference call with supporters tomorrow night to discuss his plans for a new political entity and to assure them that he plans to keep an active presence in this campaign and in future cycles, according to an aide. […]<\/p>\n

“You will hear insider information about Huckabee’s scrappy campaign that surprised the nation and stunned Republican Party elites,” promises [Christian publisher and Huckabee backer Steve Strang] in an email to Huckabee backers. “The ‘preacher who dared to be president’ will also discuss his plans for the future and reflect on the changing state of the conservative movement.”<\/p>\n

Huckabee won’t formally launch his new political organization until next week — think tax day, April 15th — but he’ll use the call to begin to develop what his supporters hope ultimately becomes a high-profile role in Christian conservative politics that will enable him to run again for president.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jerry Falwell died last year; James Dobson isn’t as active as he was; and Robertson is generally perceived as a clown, leaving a vacancy among religious right leaders. Why not Huckabee?
\n
\nHe’s already won over the faithful, he has a background as a Baptist preacher, and he probably cultivated some fairly impressive voter lists during his campaign.<\/p>\n

There’s been quite a bit of talk in recent months about whether the religious right, as a movement, is dead. I can see the argument from both sides, but the bottom line for me is that the rank-and-file people who make up the religious right — the ones who watch the 700 Club, listen to Dobson’s radio show, etc. — haven’t gone away. The Christian Coalition has faded, and some of the lesser-known groups haven’t grown in stature or size, but the group’s members are still out there, believing in a right-wing theocratic agenda.<\/p>\n

Huckabee, who probably recognizes this, may intend to stand in the gap (so to speak) and be a Pat Robertson for a new generation.<\/p>\n

He’s even gone Hollywood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee has signed a contract with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, daughter and senior advisor Sarah Huckabee tells CNN.<\/p>\n

“Nothing has been decided,” the younger Huckabee says of future projects, “[it] probably won’t be just one thing but maybe several different things. Just exploring options right now.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have a hunch we’ll be hearing quite a bit from Huckabee in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1988, TV preacher Pat Robertson launched a Republican presidential campaign predicated on a vaguely theocratic, right-wing platform. He actually fared well in a couple of contests — he even came in second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of George H.W. Bush — before a poor showing on Super Tuesday forced him from the race. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}