Monday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was in Pelham, Alabama, to campaign for his friend, Scott Dawson.
Dawson is an evangelist who is running for governor in the Republican Primary.
“What a joy to be here with the next governor of Alabama Scott Dawson,” Huckabee told the crowd.
Huckabee also praised his daughter, White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“I am delighted by that young lady,” Huckabee said. “God prepared her for this by giving her two older brothers that were not always nice to her. To be honest Donald Trump was not my first choice for president; I was my first choice for president. I am glad to see a Huckabee in the White House; it is just not the Huckabee I had planned on.”
Huckabee said that it is a delight to see her smack down, “Jim Acosta or one of those fake news goons from CNN.”
The former Arkansas governor said that Dawson has the humility to be governor.
“I believe that Scott has a hard fight on his hands but with your help he will win,” Huckabee said. “I believe that he is not going to disappoint you because he is more afraid that he will disappoint God. Second if he did some of things that others have done you will never read about it in the newspaper because Tarra would put a bullet in his forehead and then start looking around for another clip.”
Popular Alabama radio personalities “Rick and Bubba” were also there to support their friend and regular radio contributor, Scott Dawson.
Bill “Bubba” Bussey Jr. said he had known Dawson for 16 years.
“One day he asked me to meet with him for lunch,” Bussey said recalling Dawson’s decision to run. “There he said, ‘I want you to run for Governor.'”
Bussey said he told him, “I am going to have to have a real clear vision from God on it. I am going to actually have a burning bush moment; not just a feeling. I prayed about it but decided that I was not being called to do that. I told him that if you feel real strong about it maybe you should run. I was pretty honored about being asked but until I found out that he had asked 25 other people.”
Rick Burgess said, “We can’t constantly talk about how bad it is but at some point somebody like Scott has to step and run”.
Burgess said of Dawson, “He will not embarrass you like some who have gone before have.”
“Invest in something that matters,” Burgess said. “Do it for your children. Do it for your grandchildren so we can finally have a man in office that we can not be embarrassed or ashamed by.
Dawson said, “This is about Alabama this is about how you deserve better than we are getting from Montgomery.”
“The last governor that was elected was removed from office,” Dawson said. “Two of the last three governors have been convicted or pleaded guilty.”
Dawson said that there are two things we have got to address head on: ethic and education.
“It is time to get rid of Common Core and bring back common sense,” Dawson said. “We are not against standards but they should be Alabama standards.”
Dawson promised to use volunteers who have passed a background check to make sure that every child can read, write, and do arithmetic by the end of the third grade. Dawson said that favors mandatory drug tests for students participating in every extracurricular activity starting in the 9th grade.
Dawson want to expand rehab in Alabama by opening up the doors to faith based rehab.
The Alabama Political Reporter asked Huckabee: You were a governor and are aware of the steep learning curve it takes to enter that office. Scott Dawson has never served in a state office or in the legislature. How much does it hurt him that he has no government experience?
“You are right that there is a steep learning curve to assuming office as governor,” Huckabee answered. “I was lieutenant governor; but it did not really prepare me for being governor. Neither would serving in the legislature or being a state official. I think that he has not been in lower levels of politics is actually a positive as he does not owe people for helping him along the way.”
APR asked Rick Burgess if he feared that there could be a backlash against his show, which is an entertainment show, for getting so involved in politics.
Burgess said that he did not expect any sort of backlash because politics is one of the things that they do on the show.
“We might have one segment about a national news event, another about politics, then one segment about what is your favorite cookie, then a segment about sports; but you have to be careful about how much you do it,” Burgess said. “This is the only the second time that we have done this. The other time was for Gary Palmer. We are not endorsing Scott Dawson; we are vouching for Scott.”
The major party primaries will be on June 5, 2018.
