Thursday, May 31, 2007

New Blog Layout Under Construction

We are upgrading to a new layout for the site. As you have probably noticed many links and banners from the old site are not up, but we will have everything established back to a every-day normal by June 2nd at the latest and the next article will be posted by then as well.

Thanks for your support and please fill free to share your thoughts about the new design.

Thanks,
RR'08

Friday, May 25, 2007

Blogger Interview with Mike Huckabee

The Republican Race '08 was invited to take part in a Blogger conference call Friday morning with Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) and one of his strong supporters former Governor David Beasley (R-South Carolina).
Governor Huckabee started off the phone conference thanking his wife for being such a saint. Friday was the Huckabee's 33rd Wedding Anniversary.
He also mentioned that he was head for Des Moines, Iowa this weekend to be the commencement speaker at Des Moines University.
He wanted to take a moment to remember all the countries service men and women, and reflected on what a great nation we live in. He finished off his opening comments by wishing everyone a happy Memorial Day and weekend.

I started off questioning asking Gov. Huckabee how important his growing support coming from the FairTax grassroots organization (a campaign with over 30,000 members) has been to his campaign.
He said that FairTax cannot endorse him, however he strongly endorses it.
It's clear to see that he has plans to revolutionize the U.S. Tax system, and supporters of the FairTax are quickly becoming supporters of Huckabee as well. In a FairTax.org poll over 42% said that Huckabee had the best plan for tax reform and that was almost twice the percentage of the second place candidate, Ron Paul, who had just of 22%. In the same poll 96% of voters think that an overhaul of the current tax system is "Very Important". (Results of the poll can be viewed by Clicking Here)

The other big question of the day was some what of a surprise. Kevin Tracy of KTracy.com asked Gov. Huckabee what his opinions were on legislation that would destroy "Net Neutrality" and give ISP's such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verison the power to pick and choose how website are viewed and at what speeds. (I still am not well rounded on this subject, however I encourage you to visit www.SaveTheInternet.com for further information.)
Gov. Huckabee was unfamiliar with the issue, as most of us are, but after a brief explanation by Kevin he quickly took a stand that Net Neutrality must be preserved.

Stay tuned, as soon as the audio recording from the conference call is released we will post it here on Republican Race '08.
Until then, have a happy Memorial Day weekend!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Huckabee Beats Out Republican Field In FairTax Poll

Houston, TX – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) beat out his Republican challengers in a recent FairTax poll on tax reform. With 42% of the vote, Huckabee was seen as the candidate who presented the most effective and comprehensive plan for significant tax reform.

The online poll was conducted by FairTax.org after the South Carolina 2008 GOP Presidential Debate on May 15, 2007. Huckabee won the poll with approximately 2,100 of 5,000 participants in the survey.

“It’s high time we have a different kind of tax structure and the simplest way to eliminate the alternative minimum tax, without raising the budget deficit, is by enacting the ‘FairTax,’” Huckabee said. “The FairTax is the best proposal we have out there because it’s flatter, fairer, finite and family friendly.” Huckabee made his remarks after meeting with officials in support of the FairTax Plan, a nonpartisan, national grassroots campaign to replace the federal income tax system with a progressive national retail sales tax.

“If we had a FairTax, it would not only eliminate the alternative minimum tax, personal income tax, and corporate tax, it would eliminate all the various taxes that are hidden in the system that Americans aren’t aware they are paying,” Huckabee said. “Importantly, the FairTax would be revenue neutral.”

The FairTax plan also abolishes the IRS; closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation; ensures Social Security and Medicare funding; brings transparency and accountability to tax policy; allows American products to compete fairly; reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities; enables retirees to keep their entire pension; and enables workers to keep their entire paycheck.

As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee cut taxes and fees almost 100 times, saving the taxpayers almost $380 million and creating a budget surplus of nearly $850 million. As president, Huckabee said one of his top priorities would be to simplify the U.S. tax code.

Monday, May 21, 2007

New York Republicans Endorse Giuliani

The New York Republican state party official endorsed their native son, Rudy Giuliani (R-New York) this week at their state convention.

"Only Rudy Giuliani has stood at the abyss of terror and destruction and shown a city, state, nation and, yes, the world the true meaning of leadership," state Republican chairman Joseph Mondello said at the event at a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The chairman also spoke on the national party needs to be competitive in all states, even in the northeast saying, "My view of this race for president is that the Republican Party should not go into this election, as we have in the past, having to write off New York, Connecticut, New Jersey. We've got to make this a 50-state election."

Giuliani has been doing quite well after rebounding from the first debate at the Regan Library, he has had an excellent second debate, the pick up of this major endorsement, and a great appearance on "the Late Show with David Lettermen" where he gave answers to presidential scenarios.

Team Mitt campaigns hard in the South. Can he win there?

Mitt Romney (R-Massachusetts) has spent his last week in the South in South Carolina in the debate and in Georgia at the Georgia GOP state convention. His poll numbers are rising in both Iowa and New Hampshire, but his current presence in the south does not seem to be making any huge affects for his campaign, at least not positive ones.
It raises a question that will be very important to Mitt.

Can he win in the south?

His numbers are not great here in "red country" and he has had a hard time thus far proving he is truly conservative on both social and economic issues. If he can not define his positions on abortion and taxes and at the same time assure conservative voters that he will not "flip-flop" on those issues again, the south will be a vary hard place for Mitt to find votes.

Romney toke a big stance at the Georgia GOP state convention in Duluth, GA. During his speech he said that the new illegal immigration legislation is amnesty and should be thrown out. The legislation is co-sponsored by Georgia's senor senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), a Senator who is highly respected among Georgia republican voters. Romney's comments were some what down played though, as Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) had it out even worse for the bill and got most of the media coverage of the night. Newt is also considering throwing his name into the race, however he will not make an official announcement until late September.

In the South Carolina debate Romney had a good start, but trickled further and further down as the night went on as he had to face the facts about his convenient change of heart on issues such as abortion when John McCain (R-Arizona) toke a stand saying he didn't change his positions because of the office he was running for or where he was running (a direct blow to Romney). Romney also had a hard time defining his stance on the 2nd Amendment and Gun Control. He said that he fully supported the ban on assault weapons, but yet supported American's Right to Bear Arms.
If Romney does not straighten himself out on issues near and dear to southern voters, he may not be "whistlin' dixie" when the southern primaries role around.

Huckabee Wins Important South Carolina Endorsement

Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) won over a crucial endorsement in South Carolina this weekend after a very strong performance at the Republican Debate in Columbia, South Carolina. David Beasley, the state's former Republican Governor gave his endorsement quite early saying “I know Mike’s heart and his record. I know he’s one of us” .

“Mike Huckabee is the best candidate because he is consistent on our party’s core values, he has a record of success at winning support from Republicans and like-minded independents, and he has a track record of executive accomplishment that prompted him to be named one of America’s best governors,” - Former SC Gov. Beasley ('95-'99)

Beasley is still highly respected among Conservative voters in South Carolina, he had this to say to his fellow South Carolinians:
“If my fellow South Carolinians are looking for a candidate who best understands them, they could find no more perfect fit than Mike Huckabee. He has a track record of success in cutting taxes, in reforming education and at the White House he’ll understand how to pay attention to the special challenges of rural and small town America.”

It seems that Huckabee's campaign is picking up the most steam out of the bunch, with strong performances in both debates, important endorsements coming in left and right, and a very good showing in polls in Iowa and South Carolina. Voters are very impressed with his authentic appearance and true conservative politics and values. He will be very hard to beat if his campaign continues to grow at it's current race.