Huckabee to Endorse, Campaign for Rand Paul

From today's edition of POLITICO's Morning Score — Huckabee to endorse and campaign for Rand Paul and Todd Lally in Kentucky later this month.

This is surprising (at least, in the case of Paul), because Huckabee has always had well-reasoned reservations about libertarian ideology. It is unsurprising, because Huckabee knows he will need Tea Party support in 2012 — and because, since January, his former campaign manager, Chip Saltsman, has been consulting the Paul campaign.

2012 SNEAK PEEK - HUCKA-TEA - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will travel to Kentucky this month to campaign for two of the 2010 cycle's original tea party insurgents: Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul and House candidate Todd Lally. He'll formally endorse both of them and hold separate events to boost their campaigns, likely on Sept. 25. It's almost a distant memory in a post-9/14 world, but it was in Kentucky back on May 18 that the tea party revolt first exploded this year.

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As Alexander Burns, the man behind Morning Score, points out — this is all about 2012.

Huckabee Stumps for Brady in Marion, IL

WSIL TV has a great story (with a video) on Huckabee's stop in Illinois to campaign for Bill Brady in his race for governor — including analysis of Huckabee, Illinois, and 2012:

he Bill Brady campaign brought a well-known republican to Marion Tuesday to help with the race for Illinois governor.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee delivered Brady’s message like a pro Tuesday. He may have been delivering a message of his own as well.

Huckabee knows something about campaigning and rallying the base.

Despite raising relatively little money, Huckabee managed to win the Iowa Caucuses in the 2008 race for the Republican presidential nomination. That success propelled him to a series of primary wins in the South.

Huckabee was the last candidate to concede the Republican presidential nomination to Senator John McCain.

Since 2008, Huckabee’s voice has grown in the Republican Party. He currently has a talk show on Fox News.

....

Brady told reporters he admired Huckabee’s record of fiscal conservatism, and promised to emulate it if he’s elected.

“[Huckabee ]knows how to rebuild an economy, how to lower the burden of taxes on families and businesses, [how] to grow private sector jobs and spend state resources [responsibly]," Brady said.

Huckabee and Brady—who are also social conservatives-- find especially friendly crowds in southern Illinois, making Marion a good place for Huckabee to focus on national issues as well.

....

David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, covered Huckabee during the 2008 presidential primary.

“Governor Huckabee's visit to Southern Illinois is politics at a couple of levels. First, he's helping the Republican candidate for governor. Second, he's helping himself run for president in 2012," Yepsen said.

Huckabee said he doesn’t know if he’ll run for president again, but drumming up support for Brady now could be helpful in a couple of years.

“In 2012, Illinois will have an early primary,” Yepsen said.

“Republican candidates will come out of the contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada and they’re going to be looking at Illinois, Barack Obama’s home state, and they’re going to want to do well.”

If Brady becomes governor, his endorsement would help.

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