Huckabee Strategy Session

I haven't posted a blog post in a while and I'm trying to get back on track. I wanted to make some observations on the status of the Huckabee campaign and where it's headed.

AS OF NOW:

• In the past month or so, there has been an uptick in Gov. Huckabee's support in key primary states and also nationally.
  
• Since the 3rd quarter, the Huckabee campaign's fundraising efforts have stepped up and they are raising relatively more money. The campaign is looking to hire a fundraising chief.
  
• The campaign started an online store and also have begun meetup groups.
  
• Mikehuckabee.com is one of the most visited campaign websites on the GOP side.
• The debates are still helping the Governor very much and more media personalities are including him in the top-tier.
  

ISSUES ARISING:

• The non-social conservatives are defining Mike Huckabee as a 'populist' and socialist tax-hiker- The campaign needs to address this group and not let them define the Governor. This is a serious issue and can hurt the Governor in the long run as more people hear about the Governor from these economic conservative columnists and commentators on Fox News, National Review, Weekly Standard, Townhall.com, NewsMax, Hot Air, etc. Rather than just keep saying the Governor cut taxes 90 times or whatever, the Governor should talk about the benefits of having low taxes and how it helps the economy. The fact that he signed the no new taxes pledge should be stressed.
  
• The misconception about the national smoking-ban - Many including Ann Coulter are accusing of the Governor of supporting an all-nation smoking ban in every public place. That is just not true. The campaign needs to address this and not let others define the Governor.
• Accusing the Governor of being 'soft on terror' - Many who follow the Governor's campaign know that the Governor can't be any more pro- 'war on terror'. Again the problem is that there are many folks out there who do not follow politics. They listen to the soundbites on the news and just one clip of someone like Gary Bauer saying "Huckabee is soft on terror" is enough for them to say "NEXT". The campaign should take notice of this.
• 'The Governor can't raise money which means he can't manage a campaign well" - I've noticed that the Governor has been dealing effectively against this rhetoric but this still remains as an issue. Keep going at it!
  

There are so many other issues but these are the top four. I'm encouraged to see that no one is really writing off the Governor but they are some pro-Giuliani and pro-Thompson commentators that are attacking Gov. Huckabee and defining him through their articles and media publicity. If the campaign can't start defining their candidate much more effectively, then you will see an increasing number of republicans rejecting Gov. Huckabee as a viable candidate.