COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Saturday named himself the standard bearer for religious conservatives, and said he believes the religious right will be a major player in next year’s presidential elections.
“There is clearly a search on for an authentic conservative candidate in the Republican Party,” Huckabee said in a meeting with reporters.
Huckabee later addressed the policy board at Focus on the Family on Saturday, hoping to get the blessing of religious conservatives and edge out Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who is seen as the early leader to be the Republican candidate of choice for the religious right.
Huckabee said an “authentic” conservative candidate is one who hasn’t flip-flopped on family values and other issues dear to religious conservatives.
He said the difference between him and Brownback is that he served as governor and got close to the issues that affect everyday people like funding education and fixing roads, while Brownback served in Congress, a body Huckabee said has failed to deal with major issues.
“A Washington address is not an advantage,” Huckabee said.
Brownback did not answer an e-mail seeking comment.
Huckabee rejected long-standing complaints that Focus on the Family has improperly tried to influence politics and that it has abused its nonprofit status, saying church members have just as much right as anyone else to try to influence candidates and issues. He said Focus on the Family does not tell anyone how to vote.
“There is no disenfranchisement for people of faith. All people should be represented, including people of faith,” he said.
Huckabee said Republicans deserved to lose in last year’s elections because they failed to deliver and “spent money like drunken sailors after six months at sea.”
“If you get hired to do a job and you fail to do it, you get fired,” he said.
He said Republicans can make a comeback in 2008 if they focus on issues like education and transportation, and reaffirm their dedication to family values.
Huckabee is the third presidential hopeful in just over a week to visit Colorado. A week and a half ago, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson held a fundraiser, and on Thursday, John Edwards held a rally with students at a local college.
Huckabee said candidates are flocking to Colorado because it’s the center of the Rocky Mountain West, once a Republican bastion that is now turning Democratic, earning Denver the right to hold the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
“Colorado and the West is really in many ways what I call the new Iowa. Anyone who discounts the importance of Colorado and the West in presidential politics in 2008 is making a huge tactical mistake,” he said.
Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, said Brownback has the edge over Huckabee with religious conservatives because of his roots in Kansas, with its long-standing conservative tradition, and backing from religious groups. He also has a track record as a conservative in Congress.
Loevy said both men are smart to court the religious conservatives because in the primary, they need to rely on the party’s core constituency to win the primary, and religious groups like Focus on the Family can play a big role.
“One way to establish that they are conservative on social issues is to visit Focus on the Family,” Loevy said.
