In what might be an odd twist, Mike Huckabee gained the support of a national trade union this week, along with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
Both Huckabee and Clinton received endorsements from The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Edwards picked up a nod from the carpenter’s union.
The Machinists union has 700,000 members and estimates a third of the membership votes Republican. It is the first time the union has done a dual endorsement. It chose to do so this year to encourage all members to participate in the election…
“Mike Huckabee was the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members and the only one willing to figure out where and how we might work together,” said Buffenbarger. “He is entitled to serious consideration from our members voting in the upcoming Republican primaries.”
Read the full story from the AP and Houston Chronicle
In other news, it appears the candidate list for the Texas GOP Straw Poll in Fort Worth will be mighty slim this weekend.
Huckabee just announced he would not be attending the event, which will leave “only two” GOP candidates making an appearance.
While the GOP hoped for a star-studded event featuring all the candidates, just two will appear, diminishing the poll’s importance in the early stages of the presidential race. But party officials predict thousands of delegates will still attend, making for a big political show in Cowtown.
Now I am confused by the article in the DMN. It says (as written above) that only two candidates will appear – but then later in the story it lists five candidates who are appearing:
Ron Paul: The Lake Jackson congressman, the only anti-war Republican running, is making the biggest push, providing buses from Houston, Austin and San Antonio. A former Libertarian nominee for president, he’s emphasizing gun rights, opposition to abortion and a call to dismantle the IRS.
Duncan Hunter: The California congressman emphasizes his role in building border fences, and he chaired the powerful Armed Services committee until this year but has had trouble gaining traction.
Hugh Cort: A homeland security expert and self-described Christian conservative, he warns that Osama bin Laden is smuggling weapons across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Raymond McKinney: The Savannah, Ga., Republican emphasizes a shift toward nuclear power to cut pollution and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
John Cox: An Illinois businessman and former county GOP official.
Did I miss some special/fuzzy math somewhere? Either way, being his home state, this is Ron Paul’s chance to show he’s worthy of a nomination. If he can’t win in his home state (especially with the top dogs not attending) his campaign could be in trouble for sure. If you were lucky enough to get an invite and want to pay the $50 for a ballot ($75 at the door), I hope you enjoy your time and vote Huckabee. For the rest of us we’ll just stand around and watch the results from home.
Finally, Huckabee has a scheduled blogger’s conference call this afternoon. I’d love to be a part but my regular job kinda keeps that from happening. We’ll try and get a link to the audio of the call as soon as it’s available. Maybe they’ll hold a call on Saturday or Sunday one of these days.
