President Clinton Predicts Huckabee Win in Iowa
by Josh Gerstein
Wed, 2 Jan 2008 at 7:14 PM
One of the nation's top political handicappers, President Clinton, is predicting that Mike Huckabee will win the Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa Thursday.
"Governor Huckabee has got a little hometown pride going because it looks like the Iowa Republicans are going to give him the caucus," Mr. Clinton said Wednesday afternoon, alluding to the fact that he and Mr. Huckabee both hail from Hope, Ark. The former president made the comments at a speech in Dubuque, Iowa on behalf of Senator Clinton's presidential campaign.
Mr. Clinton said Mr. Huckabee was getting traction by avoiding the doom and gloom purveyed by other GOP candidates. "He looks to me like the only one who can tell a joke. It's a pretty dark crowd," he said.
In a brief interview with The New York Sun , Mr. Clinton said he was not taken aback by Mr. Huckabee's surge in the polls in Iowa. "You know he was underestimated. He's got on well here and it doesn't surprise me," the former president said. "It's like he said. He's very conservative but not mad about it."
The two former Arkansas governors have worked together recently on children's health and diet issues. Mr. Clinton suggested there would be no bad blood if his wife faced Mr. Huckabee in November. However, the former president made clear there would be plenty of arguments over policy. "We disagree about nearly everything. ….I have nothing bad personal to say about him," Mr. Clinton told the Sun.
Mr. Clinton raised Mr. Huckabee's success in Iowa while trying to boast about the respect Mrs. Clinton gets from people who know her work. The former president said a recent poll questioning Arkansans about potential general election matchups found Mrs. Clinton led all the Republican candidates . She was preferred over the bulk of the GOP field by double digit margins. Mr. Clinton said the only close call was with Mr. Huckabee, who trailed the former first lady by a single percentage point.
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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