Can Huckabee tame the Tea Party?
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) has the chance to be a top-tier candidate in 2016 but hell have to tame the Tea Party to do it.
Even before he announced over the weekend that he was resigning from Fox News to explore a presidential run, Huckabee was already leading in some early Iowa polls.
But even though Huckabee could still appeal to the religious right, the smaller government and anti-tax chorus has only grown louder in the years since he last ran for president.
That group was skeptical of the former governors fiscal record in Arkansas and past support of Common Core education standards before, and he can expect even more pointed questions as he traverses the early primary states.
I would never underestimate Governor Huckabee. Hes proven to be a very savvy campaigner and effective communicator, and the last six years or so on Fox News has only elevated his stature, said Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa conservative leader who backed Huckabee in 2008.
But well definitely be asking questions on limited government, parental rights and local controls as they relate to education. And quite frankly, 2016 is different than 2008 and 2012, Vander Plaats added.
Huckabee was the surprise of the 2008 GOP race, winning Iowa before falling just short in the Palmetto State, and then running out of money and steam. Since then, his long tenure at Fox has only improved his stature with many conservatives.
But with that increased exposure, Huckabee will face both heightened expectations and new scrutiny as he looks to adapt to a party base that is much more focused on taxes and spending than it was in his 2008 run.
Hell also need to assure Tea Party activists that his turn against Common Core, toxic with parts of the GOP base, is genuine.
Generally people are more focused on fiscal issues than they were, said South Carolina GOP strategist Joel Sawyer. It would be a mistake to write off anyone who has national name recognition who has done well in this state before ... but the electorate in South Carolina has shifted away from looking for who is going to be the most socially conservative.
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Can Huckabee tame the Tea Party?