The Tolbert Report

I finally tracked down the details on the fundraiser with former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former head Hog Houston Nutt that Skip Rutherford tipped me off to earlier.  It will be tonight in Oxford at the private residence of denist Walker Swaney, who interestingly enough was a major donor to the Fred Thompson for President Campaign.  $250 per couple will get you in and $500 per couple with get you a picture and some face time.   I am also told Coach Nutt spoke in chapel at Ouachita Baptist University earlier this week, an alma mater Huckabee and I share. 

Huck PAC and
The Lafayette County Republican Party

Cordially invite you to a reception with Governor and Mrs. Mike Huckabee And Ole Miss Head Football Coach Houston Nutt In support of Huck PAC

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Home of Dr. and Mrs. Walker Swaney
634 North Lamar * Oxford, Mississippi

Business Attire | Hors D’Oeuvres

5:30-6:15 PM Private Reception and Photo Opportunity $500 per couple

6:15-7:00 PM General Reception $250 per couple

Please RSVP to 662-513-0705 or elamconsult@bellsouth.net

Gov. Mike Huckabee today issued an endorsement that can only be seen as a pay back for a long time critic. Through his Political Action Committee – HuckPAC – he announced that he was endorsing Republican John Parke for District 31 who is running against David Sanders. Sanders has written columns criticizing Huckabee in the past.

What makes this endorsement odd is that only recently Parke was unapologetically pro-choice. He made this clear in his response to Arkansas Right to Life for their voter guide in 2004. This is a clear example of Gov. Huckabee holding a grudge and using his political action committee for political paybacks instead of endorsing based on candidates that represent the values he champions.

If Gov. Huckabee does not want to support the pro-life candidate in this race because of an old axe to grind, that is fine but to support John Parke in the primary when his stance of the issue of life is so questionable is beyond the pale. Parke’s election year conversion is the exact same thing that Gov. Huckabee criticized Mitt Romney for doing.

I have always respected Gov. Huckabee for his strong support of pro-life issues and do not understand how he can make this endorsement. I have contacted HuckPAC for their explanation and will let you know if they respond.

Sanders today also announced some key endorsement within District 31 from Justice of the Peace Doug Reed and Barbara Howell and Saline County Judge Lanny Fite.

UPDATE – Sarah Huckabee, executive director of HuckPAC, passes on this note.

“Our endorsement of John Parke has nothing to do with political grudges, but has everything to do with helping elect the best candidate in the race. I have personally spoken with John several times about this issue and I believe his heart and his belief that every life is sacred is sincere. If we had any question about where John stood on the life issue he would not have received an endorsement from Huck PAC.”

So it looks like the election year conversion was enough to convince them that Parke is alright.  I suppose we will have to take their word for this explanation of a rare primary endorsement over a candidate with a long track record of being pro-life.

Also, Max Brantley points out that Parke’s son worked on the Huckabee Presidential campaign.

Gov. Mike Huckabee’s political action committee – HuckPAC – made its first Arkansas endorsement today for the 2010 election cycle for Rick Crawford.

“I am pleased to endorse Rick Crawford for Congress, representing the First Congressional District of Arkansas,” wrote Gov. Huckabee on his blog on HuckPAC. “Rick is a strong conservative candidate and is waging a campaign based on smaller government, and getting the economy back on track.”

I can’t help but point out an interesting connection between Gov. Huckabee and the Crawford for Congress Campaign. According to their third quarter financial report, Crawford for Congress employed Dresner, Wickers & Associates as their campaign consultant, which also was a major consultant for Huckabee for President. Company principal Bob Wickers is the lead consult for Crawford and worked for Huckabee for President.

In addition, Bryan Sanders is heading up the Little Rock office for Dresner-Wickers. Sanders just happens to be the fiancée of Sarah Huckabee, Gov. Huckabee’s daughter and director of HuckPAC.

Jonah Shumate, campaign manager for Crawford for Congress, confirms today that they are still using Dresner-Wickers as their consultant. “The Governor’s endorsement is based on the relationship between Rick and the Governor” added Shumate. “We are honored to have the endorsement of Governor Huckabee who is a trusted conservative voice not only in Arkansas but all over the nation.”

While Rick Crawford appears to be a solid conservative worth of an endorsement for Gov. Huckabee, the connections do sort of make you wonder.

Michelle Malkin was in Little Rock today to speak at a Tea Party Rally at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Little Rock. The rally was at noon for the 12/12 at 12 theme.  Malkin sat down with me to share her thoughts on the impact of the Tea Party movement on the political landscape and she also discussed our own former Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Maklin said that she will be addressing primarily the debate over health care reform in her remarks on Saturday and she warned not to underestimate the significance of the Tea Party movement.

“I think there has been a vacuum in mainstream media coverage of what has been going on on the ground,” said Malkin. “I think there has been so many liberal elites in the mainstream media who have already convicted or framed or pegged the Tea Party movement as some sort of outgrowth of the Republican Party.  I think that mischaracterization has obviously colored their view of what is going on.”

As for the impact of the Tea Party movement on the 2010 election cycle, Malkin said that in her view “this movement is not as much an anti-Obama, anti-Democrat movement as it is a grassroots revolt against the GOP establishment.”  She pointed to the Republican primary races in the Florida Senate between establishment figure Republican Gov. Charlie Christ and the conservatives’ favorite Republican state house minority leader Marco Rubio, as well as the Senate races in California and Colorado, as examples of where Tea Party activists are having an impact.

I also asked Malkin about her thoughts on Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a figure she has written quite a bit about.  “I think obviously after the Lakewood police department massacre in Washington State that his chances (of running for President) have been possibly irreparably damaged and I know that he has been on a rather vehement campaign to try and do damage control in the wake of that.  But that particularly case casts greater and hotter light on his overall clemency record and decisions that he has made.”

She defended her coverage of the event pointing out that she has extensively covered “the left’s war of police” and that she has personal ties to the Washington state area.  So in her view, her coverage was not just from a purely political perspective. “I do have to tell you that I have heard from many people, not just partisan Democrats but conservatives and a lot of family members who have been affected directly by his clemency decision who are very unhappy with the way he has managed his PR campaign in the wake of that shooting.”

Americans for Prosperity is bringing in another speaker to Arkansas in their efforts to defeat the health care reform bill. This Saturday morning, they are flying in conservative columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin to speak at 11:00 noon at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Little Rock.

Malkin has made a name for herself as one of the leading critics of Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Recently she has chronicled the criticism of Huckabee’s role in the Maurice Clemmons release and subsequent shooting of four Washington police officers but this is just a continuation of her constant criticism during the 2008 Presidential primaries hitting particularly hard on his role in the pardon of Wayne Dumond as well as his stance on illegal immigration. In one post discussing Huckabee’s possibility as a VP candidate, Malkin referred to him as the “GOP immigration drag queen.”

Still, Americans for Prosperity thinks Malkin is the best spokesman to follow up last month’s appearance from Dick Morris. “Michelle Malkin is renowned for her no holds barred style of journalism, and we are elated to have her join us in Arkansas,” said AFP Arkansas director Teresa Oelke. “I think Arkansans will be surprised to find how laden these bills are with special interest pay-offs, pork barrel spending, and Michelle Malkin will hold nothing back in her assessment of the corruption in the debate,” stated Oelke.

For information, click here.

As I mentioned this morning, I resigned my position as Arkansas coordinator for HuckPAC today where I served in a volunteer capacity. My departure was with a heavy heart but was done after serious prayer and consideration. Some have asked about the timing. As most could imagine, the recent news of the last two days along with the response did play a role in this decision but was not the sole factor.

I may say more in the coming days but for now I will leave it at this. I still firmly believe in the ideals and principles championed by Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The above audio clip is from Mike Huckabee’s radio program “The Huckabee Report” on Monday, November 30, 2009.

According to reports breaking late Sunday, Maurice Clemmons is being sought by police in the killing of four Washington state police officers.  Clemmons had been sentenced to prison in Arkansas for armed robbery but had his sentence commuted in 2000 by then Gov. Mike Huckabee.  The story is developing fast but has the potential to be damaging for Huckabee after the criticism he received for the parole of convicted rapist Wayne DuMond by the Arkansas parole board during the time Huckabee was governor.  DuMond was accused of rape and murder after being released but died in prison before standing trial. 

….

“The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State,” said Huckabee in a statement tonight. “The murder of any individual is profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within. “

”Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. this commutation made him parole eligible and he was then paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.”

…….

“I think I can speak for colleagues in the other judicial districts, the other prosecuting attorneys around the state and say that Gov. Huckabee was reckless, wanton, and unaccountable for it,” Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley said in a statement this evening. “I hope to God it is not the same fellow…it will be my worst nightmare realized.”

UPDATE - First interview following the story braking…

“If I could have known nine years ago, looked into the future, would I have acted favorably on the parole board’s recommendation? Of course not,” commented Huckabee in an interview Monday morning with Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio. “One of the things that is horrible and one of the realities confronting the criminal justice system is that it is far from perfect and in this case it failed miserably of all sides.”

UPDATE II – Joe Carter, director of research for Huckabee for President shares some interesting insight on the clemency issue. The whole thing is worth a read but here are some highlights…

After reviewing hundreds of cases and interviewing numerous people involved in the process, I concluded to my own satisfaction that the governor’s actions and judgment were generally defensible. Yet there remained about a half-dozen situations in which even after reviewing all of the information I was unpersuaded that justice had been served. Although I was sympathetic with some of the justifications offered for making the decisions, I found them inadequate for a number of reasons.

For example, in a number of the cases—and almost always in the most controversial requests for commutation—there was sense that the petitioners were attempting to redress injustices committed by the “Clinton machine.” The disdain for Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates that peaked among conservatives in the early 1990s remains palpable among Republicans in Arkansas. Many of the petitioners and supporters of the commutations and pardons were truly convinced that they were simply rectifying injustices committed by the former Democratic governor and his cronies. (This was especially true in the infamous Wayne DuMond case where the victim was a second cousin of Bill Clinton.)
…
Ironically, what makes Huckabee such an appealing Presidential candidate—his empathy for all people and genuine belief in the individual—is also the trait that will prevent him from ever reaching the White House. His experiences and intuitions that served him well as a minister of the gospel were not always applicable in of governor of a state. The unfortunate reality is that for politicians, unlike pastors, there are limits to compassion.

UPDATE III – Here is the Gov. Huckabee interview with O’Reilly tonight.  Several people have asked me my opinion on this whole affair.  I plan to share these tomorrow.  As a long time Huckabee supporter, it will be painful.

Appearing today on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Mike Huckabee debated health care reform with Howard Dean but he also indicated for the first time that he is currently leaning against running for President in 2012. Huckabee cited several factors that will be influencing his decision.

Host Chris Wallace showed several polls from Iowa and nationwide showing Huckabee leading the field of 2012 hopefuls included Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney. Wallace then asked Huckabee “why wouldn’t you run for President in 2012?”

“The reason I wouldn’t is because this Fox gig I have right now is really really wonderful,” said Huckabee. “It is easy to say ‘Oh don’t you just want to jump back in it.’ But jumping into the pool, you have to make sure there is some water in it. And there is a whole different deal between some folks taking a poll and whether there is the financial support.”

He went on to say regarding the chance of him running again, “It is less likely rather than more likely just because I would have to see that the Republicans would be willing to united behind me. The last time out my biggest challenge was with the establishment Republicans.”

He also said that he would be watching the 2010 congressional elections and the result of these would weigh heavily in his decision whether or not to run.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be speaking at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas on December 14. He will be speaking to the public and signing copies of his new book “A Simple Christmas” at 2:00 that afternoon.

Gov. Huckabee spoke at the Clinton School last December as well on his new book “Do the Right Thing” which focused heavily on his 2008 Presidential bid. Last year’s speech can be found on the Clinton School’s website.

“We’re honored to welcome Governor Huckabee back to the Clinton School,” said Skip Rutherford, Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service. ”He supported the initial funding for the Clinton School and has been a friend for many years.”

Huckabee will also have a couple public appearances in Arkansas as part of his book signing tour. He will be signing his Christmas book at the Barnes and Noble in Little Rock on Tuesday, November 24 at 7:00 pm and at the Books-a- Million in Hot Springs on Friday at 7:00 am.

Mike Huckabee interviewed Patti and Guy Cannady over the weekend on his Fox News television show “Huckabee.”  The Cannady’s truly are amazing people.  My prayer are with them.