Huckabee: The New Great Communicator

Charmaine was backstage with Governor Huckabee as he walked off stage from the podium after delivering his blockbuster speech to The Washington Briefing 2007: Values Voter Summit by the Family Research Council last October.

Charmaine (Ph.D. in political science) wanted to policy-wonk-talk with the next president of the US of A.

But Huckabee had something better to talk about. He wanted to continue their earlier conversation on running — not the country — but running marathons.

Huckabee had advice for Charmaine for when she would run the Marine Corps Marathon. His Huckabee-Reagan advice was, “Finish strong, with your arms raised up!” Finish with your head up and win with a smile.

Your Business Blogger, The Dreamer, Charmaine

Following the Huckabee advice to Victory

Thank you (foot)notes:

Alert Readers will remember that Charmaine worked in the West Wing of the Reagan White House in Presidential personnel. Motto: Personnel Is Policy. If a voter wants to know how a candidate will govern, the voter should look to who the candidate hires.

Look who Huckabee hires.

And look how Huckabee communicates. Even The Washington Post gets it right. See: Analyzing the Dance of the GOP Debaters. In the Style section.

By Amy Argetsinger

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, December 11, 2007; Page C01

What accounts for the astonishing Mike Huckabee surge of recent weeks?

“He listens,” says Karen Studd. “He’s willing to hear other perspectives.”

“It’s about innovative ideas,” says Karen Bradley…

A man of confident gestures and lively demeanor, Huckabee just might be this cycle’s Great Communicator in the quadrennial contest that Bradley claims always comes down to the candidate with the greatest “shaping” ability — the subtle body language that conveys warmth, strength, energy, whatever it is that makes people think they like and trust you….

Mike Huckabee: It’s not any one trick or gimmick; he’s simply the most “integrative” guy in the race, the professors say. Talking about the need for preventive health care, he moves his hand forward and brings his body’s full weight along, his eyebrows lifting in perfect synchronicity. The message? “That all of him is invested,” says Studd….

“He’s capturing the complexity,” says Studd.

And no one knows how to put on a listening face like Huckabee. Eyes wide open, brows at attention, very I’m taking it all in.

Be sure to read Huckabee, like Reagan, wouldn’t be an ‘easy kill’ by James P. Pinkerton,

So is Mike Huckabee an “easy kill” for the Democrats? And are the Republicans the distinct underdogs, no matter whom they nominate for the presidency?…

But it’s also possible that the Democrats might have miscalculated the Republican race – certainly plenty of Republicans have done so – and now they are spinning, while reassessing.

It’s happened before. Long ago, I worked in Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. And I well remember Democratic politicos insisting that Reagan was the weakest Republican opponent that Jimmy Carter could face as he sought re-election that year. Was that “psychological warfare” by the Democrats? Or did they really think that the 69-year-old “cowboy” ex-actor – not yet known as “The Great Communicator” – would be the easiest Republican to beat? Probably a little of both.