Huckabee supporters interact with former candidate

Woody Elliott stood next to Mike Huckabee’s tour bus holding a copy of the book written by the former Republican candidate for president, and smiled. His father, Emmett Elliott, snapped a picture.

The two Montgomery men drove a hundred miles Saturday morning just to meet Huckabee. They purchased one copy of Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement that’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America. The younger Elliott said he would read the book, then pass it around among family and friends.

But the trip was not just about purchasing a book. “I voted for him and I wanted to shake his hand,” said Woody Elliot.

“All we can say is, ’Go Mike!’” his father chimed in.

The Elliotts were among a steady crowd of supporters who came to Books-A-Million first thing Saturday to meet the former governor of Arkansas and get an autographed copy of his book, which was released Nov. 18.

The book, a collection of plain and simple solutions to America’s problems, as observed from the campaign trail, has already made No. 5 on the New York Times’ Best Seller List. This is Huckabee’s sixth book.

“The book is a way to get a message out and is a way to document ideas and solutions,” Huckabee said as he signed book after book. “The people we met along the campaign trail – their stories bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye. The greatness of this country is best displayed through its ordinary people.”

Huckabee, a Baptist preacher from the small town of Hope, Ark., shook friendly hands and posed for pictures as he took questions on conservative American values and his thoughts on President-Elect Barack Obama.

“It’s important the conservative movement understands there is a way to win an election … to take clear and decisive stands on issues that matter,” he said.

The FOX News analyst who has his own show, said he campaigned for Sen. John McCain until the end, but he believes McCain’s support of the bail-out hurt his cause.

“The bailout is an outrageous assault against the American taxpayer,” he said, adding the billions and billions of dollars will not correct the marketplace.

As he talked about the new administration, Huckabee said he hopes Obama will not raise taxes, loosen abortion laws or recognize gay marriage.

“But, on the up side, (doing those things) would drive people back to conservatism,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee said the American tax structure needs adjusting, but not in the way Obama proposes.

“We are penalizing productivity,” he said. “Barack Obama is not my choice for president, but he will be my president. I will pray for him and support him. Agree with him, and disagree with him, but do so respectfully.”

Bob and Cleo Crowther, Mormon missionaries from Colorado working in Marianna, Fla., told the former candidate they appreciated him and the stand he took on various issues during the presidential election.

“He is a good man,” Cleo Crowther said after getting her picture taken with Huckabee.

Speaking specifically about the book, Huckabee said one of the chapters addresses the problems in Washington, D.C., which he called a “roach motel.”

“They go in but they never come out,” he said of career politicians. “There are 70,000 lobbyists in Washington – 70 for each member of Congress. Rest assured. Those lobbyists are not thinking about the folks in Dothan, Alabama.”

Huckabee, who is broadcasting The Huckabee Show Saturday night from Atlanta as he continues his 56-city book tour, said he can’t predict at this point whether or not he will seek the presidency in 2012.