Huckabee: The presidency isn’t an entry-level job

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee set aside his standard stump speech Tuesday afternoon during his meet-and-greet in Urbandale with homeschoolers and instead talked about education.

Education has three important keys: challenging and rigorous standards, measurements, and accountability, he said.

“I know there are some people who say let’s not have a lot of testing – that we can easily get into over-testing,” said Huckabee, who when he was governor of Arkansas appointed a homeschool parent to that state’s Board of Education. “But for the same reason we keep score at a football game ... there has to be some measurement of how well” students are achieving.

The stop at Lifehouse Community Church was Huckabee’s third of the day. Earlier, he was in Ackley and Grundy Center.

Huckabee has spent 33 days in Iowa since Jan. 1. He will be in the state at least three more times in October, including on Oct. 31 when he attends the Republican Party of Iowa's Growth and Opportunity Party event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

In Urbandale, Huckabee was asked to compare himself to Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and GOP presidential hopeful whose horse-race poll numbers place him among the top-tier of candidates.

Huckabee said he couldn’t say he was better than Carson (“I certainly can’t do neurosurgery.”). However, he added that the “totality of my life experience prepares me to be president. I believe having served as chief executive of a government for over an extended period of time … is a great preparation to run in the election and to govern.”

Added Huckabee: “I don’t think the presidency is an entry-level job.”

Christi Gibson, who recently moved to Iowa from Alabama, said she was impressed by Huckabee’s performance in the first GOP debate and believes he would be “an excellent president.”

But, she added, “I don’t know if he can get elected. I don’t know if the majority of Americans would support what is best for our nation.”

Michael Vokes, a public school teacher whose wife homeschools the couple’s children, is a Huckabee fan. “I like his values and what he stands for.”

In a question-and-answer with the news media, Huckabee was asked about:

• What the government could do to stop mass shootings like the one that occurred last week in Oregon. Said Huckabee: “I don’t know that the government can do a whole lot more. I think the issue is what can we do (individually) to find a greater sense of morality. One thing we could do is never make these guys celebrities or heroes.”
• Gun-free zones around schools: “Every time we’ve had a mass shooting and everyone that the president referred to happened in a gun-free zone. What does that tell us? It probably tells us that if you want to inflict the most carnage, you’re going to go to the place where there will be the least likely resistance, which is a clearly identified gun-free zone. Maybe the idea that we telegraph … to potential murderers where they can most do the damage is maybe not the best idea we’ve ever had.”
• The Oct. 28 GOP debate: “Hopefully, I’ll get a few questions. … I’m optimistic and hopeful that CNBC will have seen the way the (Sept. 19 debate) was conducted and we’ll have a much more responsible and substantive debate.”

Huckabee's visit

SETTING:  Lifehouse Community Church, 3201 99th St., Urbandale

CROWD: About 40 adults, many of whom homeschool their children .

REACTION:  Huckabee was enthusiastically applauded when he said “I don’t feel the federal government should get involved in education.”

WHAT'S NEXT:  Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Huckabee will tour Quality Products Manufacturing, 4300 N.W. Urbandale Drive, in Urbandale. He’ll host at roundtable lunch with biodiesel industry leaders at the Renewable Energy Group’s facility, 3426 E. 28th St., North, Newton.