Huckabee in Florida

On January 26^th several Christian leaders including myself met with Governor Mike Huckabee in Orlando, Florida prior to a news conference. The private meeting in a small suite in a hotel was very casual in nature. Our group was praying together when Governor Huckabee arrived at the small meeting room. Although many politicians may have thought it unusual to find a group he was to meet with praying, he did not. He waited until our prayer ended and then greeted several of us, including me, by first name.

I don’t think anyone can meet with Mike Huckabee and walk away unchanged, even if they have met him before. He has an understanding of people that transcends that of Yale educated professional politicians such as Bill Clinton and George Bush. He talks with people, not at them, which is unusual for politicians in America today. There is a comfort level when meeting with this man that cannot be described; it must be experienced.

After the private meeting all of us, including Mike Huckabee, walked through the Rosen Plaza hotel to the conference room reserved for the noon press conference. The press was in place and set up with several video cameras pointed at the podium. I and three other national leaders stopped directly behind the podium and Mike Huckabee stepped to the back. When he was asked to stand next to the podium as we spoke he said, “I don’t want to stand in front of anyone.” He was, at the time standing in front of me and I said, “I’d rather have you stand in front of me than any man I know,” which got a good laugh from the rest of the group.

Each of the four of us, including Rick Scarborough of Vision America and Tom Glessner of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates gave our endorsements of Gov. Huckabee followed by John Stemberger, a leader of the pro-life movement in Florida. About twenty-five local Christian leaders stood behind us. The press conference was meant to display our support of Mike Huckabee in the heavily evangelical, conservative area along the Interstate 4 corridor. All of our endorsements including mine were about Mike Huckabee’s commitment to life and family. I also pointed up his commitment to Israel and the strong position he has taken against Islamic fascism.

Governor Huckabee was then awarded a “Champion of Life” award by one of Florida’s pro-life groups. After accepting that award the governor spoke for about 5 minutes and opened the session to questions from the press. The first question was about Mike’s health and had nothing to do with the content of the press conference.

Mike Huckabee is a marathon runner who is in better physical condition than 95% of all men his age in America. The first question from the press was, “How will your diabetes affect your presidency?” The governor never had diabetes, but back before he began running, back when he was very overweight, he was diagnosed as “pre-diabetic.” He explained, patiently, to the reported that he was not a diabetic.

Three of the original field of Republican contenders for the GOP presidential nomination, including John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, have battled cancer. Not a single member of the press to my knowledge has asked any of the three about their current situations with their cancer. This is an indication of the hostility of the press toward Mike Huckabee. While there I picked up a newspaper that referred to him only as a “former Baptist minister.” The fact that Governor Huckabee has more experience in the administrative branch of government that any candidate, either Democrat or Republican, is never mentioned.

The establishment, regardless of whether it is the media or the political sphere, is constantly on the attack against Mike Huckabee because they fear him. He represents what all establishments fear the most, and that is real change.

January, 2008 Campaign Update

THE PRESIDENCY AND THE SENATE

Right now our political action committee is focused only on the presidential race and a couple of the Senate seats held by social conservative allies. I will address the presidency first. Government Is Not God - PAC has officially endorsed Gov. Mike Huckabee for the presidency after taking a close look at all of the candidates. On the social issues Gov. Huckabee is 100% with us. His stand on Islamo-facism is also where it should be and the only arguments against him have been in the area of illegal immigration and taxes.

Some taxes did go up in Arkansas while he was governor and he has been viciously attacked for that by Wall Street groups including the Club for Growth, which accuses him of not being enough like Ronald Reagan. Oddly, in his first year as governor of California, Ronald Reagan raised taxes more than $1 billion! Unlike the federal government the States can’t just print money to pay bills; they actually have to balance their budgets. When Mike Huckabee took over from a Democrat governor who was charged with felonies, the state was broke and $200 million in the hole. When he left office last year the state had a surplus of $800 million. When he took over, the schools were ranked 48th in the nation and when he left they were rated at 8th place. Truckers magazine said that Arkansas roads were the worst in the nation when Huckabee came to office and by the time he left office, Arkansas had some of the best in the nation.Cutting taxes is a great idea, but having major bridges on our freeways collapse is not. There has to be balance. Taxes can’t be cut to the point that a state cannot repair its roads or pay its bills. (Photo above: Gov. Huckabee, William Murray, Gov. Beasley)

As for immigration: Gov. Mike Huckabee has always favored legal immigration to the United States including the use of temporary workers for agriculture. He has never favored amnesty for those that came to the United States illegally. Numerous establishment outlets, including the Wall Street Journal have said that he wanted to give in-state tuition to illegals. This is just flat not true. He proposed in-state tuition to the children of illegals only if the those children were in the United States legally and had graduated from Arkansas high schools. Oddly, the Wall Street Journal supports the John McCain proposal of amnesty to all illegals. The Wall Street types will do anything they can and tell any lie they can to stop Mike Huckabee from becoming the Republican nominee for president. Why?

Right now the Wall Street guys own the Republican Party and we are their workers. Every election we do the foot work for the ultra-rich, pro-gay, pro-abortion businessmen and then we get tossed a few bones in the form of legislation that virtually never actually passes.

If Huckabee wins the nomination he becomes the head of the Republican Party and heads start to roll. The leadership will be changed and social conservatives will become the influential leaders in the party, instead of the pro-business types who actually hate our guts and would get rid of us if they could. The writing is on the wall; their days are numbered if Mike Huckabee wins and they will do anything they can to stop him.

Meanwhile: As the chairman of GING-PAC I am doing what I can to help Mike Huckabee. I have done numerous radio shows in New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina and Florida in support of Mike Huckabee’s candidacy. I attended events in New Hampshire before the primary there and GING-PAC ran a half page ad in the program of the GOP’s “First in the Nation” Sunday brunch.

In South Carolina GING-PAC paid for nearly 200,000 automated calls to Republican voters the day before the primary. The calls last 30 seconds and were scheduled to run the day before the election:

Hello, Atheist Michael Newdow wants under God out of the Pledge to our flag and he hates Christian leaders like Gov. Mike Huckabee and me. If elected president Mike Huckabee will appoint the kind of judges who will stop atheist Newdow from destroying our nation’s heritage. How do I know? My atheist mother, Madalyn Murray O’Hair removed prayer from our schools using the courts. As a concerned Christian I support Mike Huckabee for president. My name is William J. Murray and I authorized and paid for this ad.

Just before the primary elections in New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina GING-PAC mailed tens of thousands of letters to social conservative activists telling them why GING-PAC supported Gov. Mike Huckabee.

AND: GING-PAC has financially supported the Huckabee campaign.

You can help support Mike by giving a contribution to him at:

www.MikeHuckabee.com

THE SENATE:

A good friend of the social conservative movement, Senator Jim Inhofe, is really going to come under attack in Oklahoma this year. Jim actually goes to Africa every year during the August recess to preach the Gospel. He leads the Senate Bible study and has always stood as a witness for the Lord on Capitol Hill. The radical left will try to replace him with a pro-abortion Democrat.

Already GING-PAC has given the Inhofe for Senate campaign several thousand dollars, but we could do more if we had the funds.

REAL HONESTY: in my last letter I asked people to send GING-PAC a gift and to also send a separate check made to Huckabee for President for us to pass along to him. I was stunned by the number of checks for $5.00 I received made out to Huckabee for President. We could not elect someone to the office of dog catcher for the funds we received last month. Political campaigns cost a huge amount of money, many millions of dollars. Senator Hillary Clinton has already spent more than $35 million running for president. The radical MoveOn.org has stated they will spend as much as it takes to defeat Senator Jim Inhofe. MoveOn.Org on average raises more money each week than GING-PAC raises each year .... Think about that when you are deciding the kind of check to send to GING-PAC this month. We desperately need some larger checks to be effective this year!

THE HOUSE:

Yet another long term incumbent Republican is leaving the House. Congressman Jerry Weller (R-IL) will retire at the end of this session of Congress after serving the Chicago suburbs for eight terms. Republicans have huge problems in the “land of Lincoln” and winning this seat will not be easy if a “moderate” wins the primary. There are a lot of good blue collar social conservatives in the district that would vote Democrat if the Republican is pro-abortion. There are now three open Republican seats in Illinois including the one being vacated by former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

Please continue to help GING-PAC elect pro-life social conservative candidates such as Senator Jim Inhofe and Governor Mike Huckabee. Click here to help today . Thank you!

William J Murray, Chairman

Huckabee in New Hampshire

New Hampshire is an exciting place in the few days before the first presidential primary. The Sunday before the primary the New Hampshire Republican Party holds its “First in the Nation” presidential brunch at the Hampshire Hills athletic club in Milford. This sprawling athletic center has a gym that seats almost 1,000 and it was set up for 650 to 700 guests who waiting on presidential candidates and their surrogates.

My wife Nancy and I were the “First in the Nation” brunch representing the oldest social conservative political action committee in the nation, Government Is Not God. GING-PAC supports only pro-life social conservative candidates for federal office. This year GING-PAC was a sponsor of the brunch as was one of our arc enemies within the Republican Party, the Log Cabin Republicans. Their tables were pretty easy to spot as there were no women, but the men wore well coordinated wardrobes right of GQ Magazine. Oddly the organizers of the event place are table directly between the speaker’s podium and the Log Cabin table. The media, unable to escape the irony, took numerous photos of our table with the Log Cabin table in the foreground.

The event in this conservative state was upbeat and billed as a salute to Senator John Sununu, who is up for re-election this fall. The morning was upbeat right up to the point that Republican turned Libertarian, turned Republican again presidential candidate Ron Paul took the stage to beat up on America. Only Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter spoke while other presidential candidate sent representatives while they were conducting individual rallies for their respective campaigns.

Before the brunch began GING-PAC volunteers placed flyers in every chair announcing an endorsement of Gov. Mike Huckabee and denouncing the lies being told about his record as governor of Arkansas. GING-PAC also announced the endorsement of Gov. Huckabee at the event in a half page advertisement in the event program that was given to everyone in attendance. The activities of GING-PAC were completely independent of the Huckabee campaign as is required by law.

Early on Monday morning, the day before the primary Nancy and I were on the campaign trail with Mike Huckabee, not representing GING-PAC, but as individuals. We arrived at the Pakrer’s Maple Barn in Mason, NH a half hour early and managed to get the very last parking space in the overflow lot. The restaurant sat 200 people and more than 400 showed up. Rather than a two hour event the Huckabee team announced that the time would be split up for two seating’s and that the governor would speak twice. What a site! There were lots of young men and women many with babies in their arms. A couple of priests showed up and I am pretty sure they were not there to meet Mike Huckabee’s special guest, Chuck Norris.

Gov. Huckabee spoke a message to the people that received thunderous applause and the enthusiasm for him was just incredible. He promised a surprise on election night and from the size of the crowds he is getting and their enthusiasm one has to believe it. Some FOX News and other media outlets have reported that Mike Huckabee had dropped his pro-life, pro-family message. That simply is not true. Washington insiders have said Huckabee can’t do well in New Hampshire because it is too secular. They just don’t know or understand the people of the Granit state who have been overwhelming supportive of him. The momentum is on Huckabee’s side.

Although this venue was very crowded and Mike’s schedule hectic, I decided to try to briefly talk with him between the first and second events. His New Hampshire campaign managers, who I know, ask me to wait for him at an area set aside for the press. I was flat stunned by the number of the press corps that he had one over. One reporter who had covered him on a hunting trip went into great detail to tell me what a great shot Mike was. Another reporter was busy telling a new man on the beat what a great guy Mike was and how easy he was to talk to. In my fifteen minutes there waiting for Mike to finish up a TV interview I did not hear a single negative word from the press.

More than twenty years ago I spoke at a church in Arkansas. The young preacher there told me he was leaving the ministry for politics fight for the rights of the unborn. He looked me square in the eyes and told me that is what he believed God wanted him to do. I thought he was nuts and was very sure that a Baptist preacher just could not get elected to anything. Some years later I spoke at a Lincoln Day breakfast in Arkansas. I was the key note speaker and the guest of honor was First Lady Janet Huckabee.

As Mike walked out the door from his interview his face lit up and he said, “Bill” and through his arms around me. “Brother, Am I glad to see you up here, we need all the help we can get.” I told him I was doing what I could independently and we talked briefly about South Carolina. I didn’t try to detain him on his busy schedule and he thanked me and then that big broad smile turned to a five month old that he took into his arms. As his wife Janet followed him she leaned over to me and said, “Nice half page ad.”

What is the Huckabee magic? They are ordinary American folks from ordinary homes who understand ordinary Americans just like me. Like so many others I work 50 and 60 hour weeks to do what I believe in and to support my family. I work hard to pay a greater share of my income in taxes than Bill Gates. It goes beyond faith and beyond the abortion issue. Mike Huckabee will change the tax code so productivity is not taxed and spend our money so that the roads are fixed instead of tax dollars going to corporate welfare. Mike understands America, not from the Bush and Clinton Ivy League level, but from the blood, sweat and tears level. American needs Mike.

A GREAT SITE TO VISIT: http://www.hucksarmy.com/

GING-PAC Sponsors New Hampshire Event

Government Is Not God – PAC will co-sponsor the New Hampshire Republican Party’s “First in the Nation” Presidential Brunch in New Hampshire. The brunch will be held Sunday, January 6^th just two days before the first presidential primary of the political season.

GING-PAC will run a half page ad in the program of the “First in the Nation” brunch as a co-sponsor. In that half page ad GING-PAC endorsing Governor Mike Huckabee for president. GING-PAC has already contributed thousands of dollars to Governor Huckabee’s campaign. Our half page ad also points out that GING-PAC is the oldest purely social conservative political action committee. The very presence of the GING-PAC chairman, William J. Murray, at this event as a co-sponsor indicates the real influence of social conservatives in the Republican Party.

The “First in the Nation” brunch is a major press event which occurs the weekend that the national media representatives arrive in New Hampshire to cover the primary which is held on Tuesday. Government Is Not God – PAC will have an influence on the news coverage and at least some effect on the outcome of the election with our endorsement of Governor Mike Huckabee.

The “First in the Nation” Presidential Brunch will be held at Hampshire Hills in Milford, NH on Sunday the 6^th between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Media calls are welcome at 202.554.2358.