On Sarasota stopover, a more confident Huckabee

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SARASOTA — During a stop here on Saturday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sounded very much like a man getting closer to making a second run for the White House as he explained why 2016 might be his year.

huck2“Eight years ago, most people didn’t know who I was,” Huckabee said, referencing the 2008 campaign, when he won Iowa but struggled in Florida. “I was a guy they were just barely getting to know. And I think that is a very different equation for me going into this particular cycle. I think the money will be very different for me. And hopefully the political support. And I’d like to believe the results will be, too.”

His confidence is rooted in the fact that he has had a weekly television program on Fox News for the last six years. In early January, Huckabee announced he was quitting the program so he could seriously talk to donors and supporters about making another run for the White House.

During a book-signing event at Bookstore1Sarasota, Huckabee, 59, said he still intends to make an official announcement later in the spring.

Huckabee, Arkansas governor for more than a decade, said he thinks he can fix the nation’s “failed foreign policy” and create an economy that works better for the working class.

But he said he knows he will need to have a stronger showing in Florida, where his 2008 campaign unraveled.

Huckabee said if he runs again, he will be more aggressive in making sure he has money and supporters to tackle Florida.

“Our problem was, Florida is a state you got to have money to buy media,” Huckabee said, recalling the shoestring budget that hampered his campaign in Florida in early 2008. That time around, John McCain carried the state and essentially sewed up the GOP nomination. “In Iowa you can run it grass-roots. New Hampshire you can. And to a degree South Carolina. But Florida is a big-budget state because there are so many major media markets.”

Huckabee knows he is already going to need a different Florida campaign chairman to coordinate here if he runs in 2016. That’s because in 2008, his biggest supporter was a young state legislator by the name of Marco Rubio.

“I love Marco,” Huckabee said of Rubio, who is now a U.S. senator from Miami and is considering his own run for president in 2016.

“He is a dear friend and a terrific guy.”

In fact, Rubio was a key reason why Huckabee, who used to support easing the embargo with Cuba, now opposes it.

Huckabee said if he runs in 2016 he will oppose attempts to lift the embargo because of the human rights problems in that nation.

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Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966. ""More Wallace" Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.
Last modified: January 31, 2015
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