By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Tuesday, February 3, at the Brookwood Village Books-A-Million store in Homewood an estimated 150 people threaded their way in line to get former Arkansas Governor turned non-fiction write Mike Huckabee (R) to sign their copy of his newest book, “God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy.”
Governor Huckabee (R) told reporters that people in the fly-over country, what I call the heartland of America, feel increasingly disconnected with the elites in the three cultural bubbles of Washington, New York, and Los Angeles.
When asked by reporters about Tuesday’s eleventh court of appeals decision not to extend the stay on Judge Granade’s ruling overturning Alabama’s Defense of traditional marriage amendment, Gov. Huckabee said that recent decisions by judges overturning ballot initiatives like Alabama’s Defense of Marriage amendment have led people to ask if their votes matter.
When asked by a reporter if the nation was headed toward greater acceptance of homosexuals and gay marriage, Gov. Huckabee said that the cultural elites are headed that way but the people are not. The former Fox News Channel TV host said that in only four of the 34 states that passed statutes or initiatives by a vote of the people affirming traditional marriage did the people actually vote to overturn the ban on gay marriage.
Huckabee said that the real focus needs to be on getting wages for the ordinary working people up. “Their wages have been stagnant for the last 40 years.” Gov. Huckabee stated.
When asked by reporters if the Mike Huckabee book tour will turn into a Mike Huckabee for President campaign in 2016, Gov. Huckabee said, “That appears to be the way that it is headed. I would not have left my show at Fox News unless I was seriously considering it; but I won’t make that decision until the spring.”
Gov. Huckabee said in a statement promoting his book, “We still think the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, but we know it won’t be if we don’t return to the principles we were built on. And it starts with a God who gave birth to this nation and miraculously preserved us through battles we should have lost. The culture I grew up in created a sense of community, but also a sense of accountability. I miss the front porch culture. Communities where people looked after each other, and where we never expected the government to do it, had a real strength about them.”
While at the event, the Alabama Political Reporter talked with former State Representative Mary Sue McClurkin (R-Indian Springs) who, along with Alabama Republican Party National Committeeman Paul Reynolds, accompanied Gov. Huckabee on his bus tour stop in Birmingham.
When Gov. Huckabee ran for President in 2016, Rep. McClurkin headed his Alabama campaign, which carried the state for the former Arkansas Governor and ordained Baptist minister.
When asked if she would like to endorse Gov. Huckabee for the 2016 Republican Primary, Rep. McClurkin emphatically said, “Yes.” Any time you can get such a good man you have to stand up. I wish he had been successful in 2008.
Rep. McClurkin is herself a candidate for Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. McClurkin’s opponent is former Mobile County Republican Party Chair Terry Lathan.
The Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee will select a new Chairman at the Party’s annual Winter Meeting in Montgomery on February 21.
The Mike Huckabee book tour also made stops in Columbus, GA, Montgomery, Decatur, and concluded at an event in Huntsville on Tuesday night before moving on to another state.
