Posted by
Civis on Friday, July 13, 2007 7:15:00 PM
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took the opportunity to address an audience that is not traditionally supportive of Republican candidates by taking the podium at the National Education Association (NEA) Presidential Forum. The NEA is a powerful teacher’s union whose dollars and endorsements mainly go to Democratic candidates and causes (the union has never endorsed a Republican for president and typically spends $9 out of every $10 it raises on Democrats. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-05-nea-kerry_x.htm). Detractors may say Mike Huckabee’s appearance is an act of desperation to increase name recognition. I see it as an act of strength to stand up tall and communicate your message to those not currently on your side. You did not see any other Republican candidates at the conference desperate to get their message out.
I question the leadership of Republican candidates unwilling to appear at these types of forums and the Democratic candidates that are unwilling to debate on the Fox News network. The strategy of appealing only to your base may get you elected in today’s environment where party lines are split nearly 50/50. However, Presidents do not represent only 50 percent of the population.
I do not want my candidate wavering on his conservative principles to get the liberal vote. I want my candidate to have the courage to address audiences that may have opposing views. There is a better chance of building a conservative majority by addressing audiences that may either be uninterested in politics or hold an opposing view. You never know how many people you may convert.
If we do not spread the conservative message to the left leaning moderates or people that only rely on the mainstream media for news, they may never hear the other side of the story. Instead of being regarded as cold and unfeeling conservatives that do not want poor people to have an education or health insurance, they may come to realize that giving private markets and state/local governments more autonomy may result in better services at better prices. Or members of the NEA may come to realize that competition among teachers is not bad and that merit based pay awards those educators that provide quality services. It also results in weeding out educators that probably should not be in front of a classroom.
Mike Huckabee has stayed on message while exuding warmth, humility, strength, and reason. This is one candidate that knows you should not just preach to the choir. I hope he is able to continue to spread his message as the field of candidates shrink.
Links to recent Mike Huckabee news/appearances:
Mike Huckabee, the first Republican presidential candidate to accept NEA’s invitation to address the Representative Assembly, said he might look “as out of place as Michael Moore at the NRA convention,” but education is an issue that must cut across party lines. The presidential debates have focused heavily on national security, he said, but “there is another issue of national security, and it is the education of our children.”
http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2007/nr070705c.html
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, the only Republican presidential candidate to address the NEA, got a warm welcome from delegates. “I’m astonished there are not more Republican candidates here,” Huckabee said. “Do they not think education is important? Or are they just afraid of the NEA? I don’t know.”
http://www.nea.org/annualmeeting/raaction/07huckabeespeech.html
Clip of Mike Huckabee’s speech at the National Education Association forum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO4_5XOSzKk
Interview on NPR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O00OnCIlSPU&mode=related&search=