Huckabee Swings By Pella For Town Hall Style Meeting

Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee (file photo)

Pella, Iowa- Marion County Republicans held a candidate forum Thursday night at the Central College campus. Representatives for several of the Republican Presidential Candidates were on hand to give caucus style 3-5 minute speeches to the attendees, advocating for why attendees support their respective candidates. Also on hand was Mike Huckabee, who gave a 15 minute speech advocating his candidacy.

“I believe America’s in real trouble today,” Huckabee said. He noted two issues that he says should be of major concern to Americans: the Domestic Economy and the Tax Code. “I think our tax system is totally out of control,” Huckabee said. Huckabee pushed for the implementation of a Fair Tax system, saying the wrong behavior is being rewarded in our society when it comes to taxation. “We are punishing the things we ought to reward and rewarding the things we ought to punish.”

Huckabee also offered positive words for the Republican field for President. “They are my friends, not my enemies,” he said. Huckabee pointed out that Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is also running for President, served as his Florida Statewide Co-Chairman in his 2008 bid for the Presidency. Huckabee said he wants to earn the Republican nomination without breaking the legs of his opponents.

He did offer a contrast to the other candidates, however. “I am the only guy in the whole race who has faced the Clinton Machine repeatedly and not only beat it, but lived to tell about it,” Huckabee said. He also said that running against the “Clinton machine” was not and will not be easy. He noted that when he first ran for office in Arkansas, the state was more lopsided Democrat than Massachusetts. “It is not an easy climb to top that hill,” he said.

Huckabee also offered comments on Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on the Obamacare subsidies. Huckabee called the ruling “irrational and utterly indefensible”. He also offered a prediction that the Supreme Court would redefine marriage. (Huckabee’s prediction would become true on Friday.) Huckabee said that the Supreme Court has no authority to redefine marriage and is now a political branch, not a judicial branch. “They can no more repeal the nature of marriage than they can the law of gravity. For them to believe they have the power to do that is utterly absurd. Have we lost our minds?”

Huckabee took questions after his speech for approximately 30 minutes, in a town hall style format from event moderator Dr. Bob Leonard.