LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who made a strong showing in the 2008 Republican presidential campaign, announced Saturday that he would not launch another campaign, despite ranking in the top tier of possible Republican candidates.
“All the factors say go, b
ut my heart says no,” Huckabee, the Republican winner of the crucial Iowa caucuses in 2008, said on his Fox News Channel show.
Huckabee’s decision further muddies the Republican field as the party seeks a challenger for President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have bumped up since the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Obama’s approval rating hit its highest point in two years, 60 percent, and more than half of Americans now say he deserves to be re-elected, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday. Obama had already been expected to be a fundraising powerhouse in his re-election campaign, with some estimating he will bring in as much as $1 billion.
Huckabee, a prominent social conservative, ranks high in national popularity polls. And, had he run, he would have been a serious contender for the party nod with instant support among Christian evangelicals who dominate the early Republican nominating contests.
Huckabee is the second prominent potential Republican contender to bow out. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former lobbyist and party chairman, was also expected to be a formidable candidate but announced last month that he would not run.
Polls indicate that even the Republican base is less than enthused about the party’s potential contenders as the race takes shape. Republican candidates have been late in announcing their intentions to challenge Obama, and the crowded field is more divided than usual.
On Friday, Congressman Ron Paul, a favorite among the ultraconservative tea party movement, announced that he would again run for president. Though there is not yet a clear favorite among the Republicans looking to challenge Obama next year, Paul is considered too unconventional to have a much of a chance at the nomination. He made a spirited but doomed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination and also ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988.
Newt Gingrich, the former leader of the House of Representatives known for his combative speech and turbulent tenure in Congress, formally announced Wednesday that he would attempt a political comeback by running for president.
Gingrich acknowledged having carried on an affair with a congressional aide, now his third wife, at the same time he was criticizing President Bill Clinton for his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Gingrich’s marital history could mean trouble with conservative Christians who make up an influential part of the Republican base.
Huckabee said the past few months have been times of deep personal reflection, even as he noted that polls put him “at or near the top” among likely Republican candidates.
He said money wasn’t a problem and that his family was supportive of a run. He said he was confident of competing even in the Northeast and among less conservative members of the party.
Huckabee, who has been out of public office since 2007, said he will continue helping others in campaigns for Congress, governorships and other positions who adhere to his ideals of commonsense, constitutional governance and civil discourse.
Had he chosen to run, Huckabee would have been forced to give up the lucrative media career he’s enjoyed since his unsuccessful presidential bid four years ago. In addition to his TV show, Huckabee hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, gives paid speeches around the country and has even launched a series of animated videos for children on American history.
The talk show is the centerpiece of Huckabee’s enterprises, which have made the one-time Baptist preacher from Arkansas and 10-year governor a wealthy man with a $2.2 million beachfront home under construction in Florida.
Among those still considering bids are Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, two darlings of the ultraconservative tea party movement. Real estate mogul Donald Trump, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman are all also mulling candidacies.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum have taken the first official step by forming campaign exploratory committees.
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