SEMI-LIVE BLOG - Huckabee Call With Bloggers

Okay I am about four minutes early but that is good. I've got some coffee and I am ready to go. As of right now it is two minutes before the bottom of the hour. Stay tuned. I'll try to stay up to the minute on the call with you. Hopefully my fingers will cooperate.

Okay it is now 9:31 still waiting for Governor Huckabee to arrive.

9:33. Here comes Mike!

Mike is expressing his admiration for us bloggers. Media is astonished about the success despite the lack of money and ads. We're part of the success. We are getting out the message whether it be positive or being the truth squad against negative attacks. We are the Wind Beneath His Wings! There are now over 400 bloggers for Huckabee (wow)! He is proud to be named the best campaign on the web! He enjoys meeting us in person (I for one can't wait for the day he returns to Georgia so I can meet him myself!). He loves our suggestions (Paypal etc) and the staff take them seriously and into consideration. They do listen to us!

HERE COMES THE QUESTIONS:

One Mom: Here's a great explanation of her question, Mike's answer and analysis on Mike and Homeschooling. Way to go Kerry! Thanks for the link yesterday too! :)

Michigan Redneck: She has a question about the Fair Tax I had problems hearing her question (bless her heart). There's no need to fear though. Aslansmane's Weblog was listening and summarizes the question and Mike's answer.


I FINALLY GET MY MOMENT IN THE SUN!! I've been on these calls since late August. I finally got lucky enough to ask a question. I was euphoric and tried to control myself while asking my question. Luckily I had gone over it in my head last night and this morning so I was prepared. I think I did well enough.

My question was about fundraising and website infrastructure. I mentioned that we did a fantastic job raising money on November 20th. I noted that near the end of the day the website was swamped and crashed a bunch. I asked that if we do our jobs and get you a win in Iowa (or a good showing) are we ready for a $500,000 r even $1 Million day afterwards? Mike was very confident in the fact that we would be ready. They have had to upgrade the server a lot so far this quarter. Also they are suring up website security measures. For example on the day following the Chuck Norris ad there were hackers trying to take down the site completely. This is why the site was slow during that period of time. I am now confident that we can handle the high amounts of traffic of increased donors after our eventual successes!

Next is a question from the blog, Christianity Lived Out about Parental Rights Amendment. He needs to do more research on the issue. Mike is definitely against the UN Rights of A Child but the issue in question is totally different. I was not aware of this myself.

Mike And Arts Blog - Do you have a plan to increase the promotion of your education platform? Mike has been trying very hard to talk about this issue on the trail. However he is very disappointed that the issue is not being used in the debates. The last debate on Fox News was the first major debate with an education question at all. Mike was not allowed to answer the question and was very vocal to Chris Wallace afterwards about not being allowed to answer it. He hopes to get questions about this issue on Wednesday night. More on that below.

Jeff - Southeast Michigan (of the blog Conserve Thought). Jeff asked about Michigan and the status on where it stands in the process. Michigan had set its primary date for January 15th sometime ago. There was some litigation but the courts eventually backed off and thier date is now final. This means that Michigan will be holding the 2nd Primary after New Hampshire's on January 8th. Mike said that while Michigan has moved up the media has not moved up its status. The focus is still on Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. That is where much of the resources are going to go. He is hoping for support from his bloggers and grassroots efforts for him to do well in Michigan. The media seems to think Mitt Romney will do well and win by default because he was born there (and because of his father). Also we now know that South Carolina's GOP primary is January 19th. I believe that is now a final decision as well. So at least we now know where everything stands.

Give Hope Another Chance - Immigration. Mike was able to reiterate his stance on illegal immigration, securing the borders and answering the critics about the scholarships he gave in Arkansas.

Michael from Europe asked an excellent question. Here is his blog and some explanation to the question and his thoughts about the call as an added bonus.

Brooklyn Blessings - She asked a great question. She deals with many legal immigrants and she wanted Mike to talk about them because they feel turned off by the anti-immigration crowd even though they are focused on illegals.

Florida 4 Huckabee - He was very happy to see Mike doing so much in Florida lately with all the fundraising and debates there. Nathan had two thoughtful questions. He was wondering about an answer to the Club For Growth's attacks in the Truth Squad section. Mike said that they are working on a comprehensive answer to be posted soon by his staff. He does know that we need to have more Truth Squad presence on the website.

Also asked of the governor was what kind of questions Mike wanted to hear/see during Wednesday's YouTube debate on CNN. Mike is really anxious to answer questions about education and health care. He believes (as do I) that the American people want to know where the candidates stand on these key issues and that the debates thus far have not lived up to our standards by not asking many questions about these key issues.

And we're out! Mike again thanked us for all that we do. We are his heroes! "Keep those fingers busy!" Mike said as he stressed our importance, "I'm riding you all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!" Thanks Mike it was an honor to ask a question of you today. These calls have been wonderful. I am proud to support you!