An Interview With Mike Huckabee

Here's a great interview with Governor Mike Huckabee by the Raleigh, North Carolina News & Observer. Because these articles sometimes disappear from the web, we provide an excerpted version for you below. To see the complete article, click HERE.

Even though the presidential election is not until 2008, potential candidates to succeed President Bush are already making their way around the country. When they visit the Triangle, The News & Observer will try to ask them a few questions.

Before entering politics, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was an evangelical Baptist minister. But Huckabee has always been a bit hard to pigeonhole.

Although a conservative Republican, Huckabee recently signed into law a minimum wage increase; his position on immigration is close to that of President Bush; and he often talks about helping the poor.

Within the past year, Huckabee has lost more than 110 pounds and is now preaching healthier lifestyles. A native of Hope, Ark. -- yes, just like Bill Clinton -- he has been governor for 10 years and now heads the National Governors Association.

The interview is part of a series of talks with potential 2008 presidential candidates as they visit North Carolina.

Q: What do Republicans need to do to hold the White House?

A: I think we have to appeal to the average American. The Republican message is one that really should be communicated to folks out there raising families and trying to pay the rent.
Sometimes, I feel like we are getting a message that is very appealing to corporate boardrooms and a room full of CPAs. But there are a lot of folks out there who are just wondering whether they will have enough gas in the pickup to get to work.
Will they be able to meet their obligations if their son breaks his arm on the playground?

Q: Do you view yourself as a pickup truck Republican?

A: I grew up blue collar, virtually no collar, quite frankly. I feel like I have never gotten that far away from my roots. I tell people I have a lot more in common with folks working in the kitchen than I do folks at the head table. I had to learn how to sit at the head table. I know how to behave back cleaning up the kitchen.

Q: Do you consider yourself more politician or preacher?

A: Neither one. I'm an evangelical Christian believer. That shapes so much of who I am and what I am about. I think that shapes my political views in a way that is sometimes difficult for people to predict. For example, I am unapologetically a conservative Republican.
But I'm not mad at anybody. And I don't have a stinger out for someone.
Because of my faith, I am not indifferent to people who are struggling and who are poor. I feel like our party needs to do a better job of being inclusive in our policies so it touches all the people in our culture, including the people who are struggling the most. Two things govern my political philosophy. One is the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto to you." And the other is Scripture from Matthew chapter 25, verse 40: "Inasmuch as you have done to the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." I feel like that gives you real good ditches to drive between.

Q: How is the war in Iraq going?

A: I was there in January and had an opportunity to visit in Iraq and Afghanistan and Kuwait. I went on to Pakistan to see the relief efforts. In talking with Arkansas soldiers, I said I don't want the official version. I want you to tell me if what you are doing here is significant and really makes a difference. I didn't find anyone who felt their time was being wasted or abused....
I could see very clear progress that is being made. The establishment of democracy is, at best, messy. It's been messy in this country. We've been at it 240 years and we are still working on getting it right. It took women 150 years in America to get the vote. The Iraqi women had it from the very first time they had a free election. Their purple fingers affirmed it.
It's too late to argue, "Should we have gone and had a different strategy going in?" The issue now is to make sure that when we leave, there is a strong beachhead of democracy that's in place and growing.

Q: How did you lose all that weight?

A: The old-fashioned way. I ate less and I exercised more. As my doctor told me, this is not rocket science. If you burn more than you consume, the weight will come off. ... For the first time in my life, I started exercising. It's something I've never done. I've run from it. Hated it. So that was a very different lifestyle for me. For a Southern boy like me, growing up in the Deep South, deep fried, I gave up fried foods, sugar, a lot of processed foods. But I find now that I don't miss them at all. I feel better than I ever felt in my life. I'll be 51 this summer, and I am doing things that I couldn't do when I was 18.

Q: Do I understand that you have sort of become the state's official nag?

A: (chuckles) I'm sure some people feel that way. I'm pretty adamant that the government shouldn't tell people what they can and cannot do. But the government should encourage good behavior. The health issue is one for me that should be front and center, not just because of a lifestyle priority, but really an economic necessity. Americans are essentially killing themselves with chronic disease driven by three behaviors: overeating, under-exercising and smoking. Those three behaviors drive chronic disease, and chronic disease drives 75 percent of America's health care costs. When you stop to think that we spend 16 percent of our GDP on health care and no other nation on earth spends more than 10 percent, what we really have is not an economic crisis at all. What we have is a health crisis. Most politicians talk about health care, which focuses on how we get and spend money on disease. It is the wrong question. What we need to be talking about is how do we create a healthier culture. We cannot spend our way out of this.