Huckabee: 'The people of Iowa know me'
While many candidates running for president crisscrossed Iowa Saturday, Mike Huckabee met with volunteers, did media interviews and spent more than an hour at a Johnston shooting range.
“We’ve already been to the far corners of the state and to every county,” Huckabee told The Des Moines Register Saturday afternoon. The media interviews will “reach more people than we would have reached if we had gone back to places we were two weeks ago.”
Huckabee has spent 73 days in Iowa since May when he announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. The former Arkansas governor won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, garnering nearly 41,000 votes, the most ever for a Republican.
Huckabee has been back to the state every year since 2008, he said.
“The people of Iowa know me — I’ve kept coming back here and I’ve been in their homes on weekends,” said Huckabee, who for several years hosted a show on Fox News. “They don’t know some of these other guys ... and they’re starting to have questions.”
Huckabee on Sunday afternoon will host a town hall gathering with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley; Sunday evening the campaign is hosting an exclusive showing of the yet-to-be released movie “God is Not Dead 2.” Demand for the free tickets prompted the campaign to rent a second theater, Huckabee said.
Earlier Saturday, Huckabee meet with campaign volunteers, several from out of state. One was Gil Buenrostro, who vowed in 2008 to do whatever he could to help Huckabee become president if he ever ran again for the office.
Buenrostro has a wedge-shaped red, white and blue vinyl banner that reads “Mike Huckabee For President 2016” on the top of his green-gray Volkswagon Passat. Buenrostro, of Clearwater, Fla., has been driving around the country with the nearly 3-foot tall sign on his vehicle since spring.
He estimates he’s put about 30,000 miles on his Passat, which is missing the “A” and “T” from the vehicle name above the rear bumper. On Saturday, Buenrostro and his wife Jeanette were at Huckabee’s Iowa headquarters in Urbandale.
“People stop us a lot,” Buenrostro said. “I hardly ever find anyone who doesn’t like the governor. So when the media says he’s not on top, I find it hard to believe.”
Huckabee has struggled to gain traction this election cycle with national polls showing him with support of 2 to 4 percent.
“One of the things I always remind people — at least the East Coast media — is that people never pick exactly what is going to happen,” Huckabee told supporters. “They get it wrong every four years. And folks, we are not just hanging on, we’re fighting to the end.
“I want you to believe there is a real possibility for a stunning upset and it’s just not me saying that. Gov. Terry Branstad said the person who might surprise people is Mike Huckabee,” the candidate said as the room erupted in applause and whistles.
Branstad’s comment was reported by Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker in a Tweet on Thursday. Rucker quoted Branstad saying that “I think Huckabee may do a lot better than people think.”
Huckabee Saturday thanked the volunteers, several of whom traveled to Iowa from other parts of the country, for helping with his campaign.
“I’m beyond amazed that people would come, give their time, invest their own money to drive or fly….it just really encourages us and makes us internally grateful for your support,” Huckabee said.
Caucus night event
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will attend a caucus night event at 7:30 p.m. Monday at NOAH’s Event Venue, 1805 90th St., West Des Moines.