HuckPAC comes in 3rd in fundraising
According to a press release from Mike Huckabee, his political action committee HuckPAC has raised just over $300,000 during the first six months of 2009. The email I received from them did a fairly good job at putting a good light on these somewhat low numbers. Their financial goal for 2009 was to raise $750,000, so they are well on their way to meeting that goal. While that is all fine and good, it brings to mind a discussion that has been going on at Kevin Tracy.
The discussion began with this article, discussing the problem Mike Huckabee continues to have raising funds. Kevin, as well as I, was an ardent supporter of Mike Huckabee during his 2008 campaign, but that hasn’t kept him from raising questions about how the campaign was ran and how bad the fund raising always seems to be for Huckabee. If you will take the time to read the article I mentioned, plus a couple of others he has written, I believe you will find he is being tough on the Huckabee organization, but also fair.
During the 2008 campaign, Huckabee continually lagged behind in fundraising, especially to Mitt Romney. That came as no surprise, considering how well connected Romney is to the Republican establishment and their network of deep pockets. Huckabee was not well known and even with his low funds, he shocked everyone at how well he did.
After the campaign, he landed a spot on FOX and now has one of the most popular programs on that network. He also has spots on ABC Radio and does political commentary on FOX News programs. Given those facts, his name recognition has risen dramatically and if he chooses to join the 2012 campaign for President, he will certainly be in much better shape than he was in 2008. Now, back to the numbers.
I mentioned the email I received from HuckPAC that disclosed their fundraising numbers for the first six months of this year; again that was just over $300,000. Compare that to the numbers from Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC and Sarah Palin’s SarahPAC. Respectively, they raised $1,924,273 and $732,867. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t expect HuckPAC to be able to raise as much money as Mitt Romney’s organization, but to come in 3rd, with less than half of the funds raised as SarahPAC makes me wonder.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like and support Mike Huckabee, but these numbers would make anyone who doesn’t have complete blinders on stop and think. There was a comment on one of Kevin’s articles that I want to quote here. It was from One Mom and she raises a very good point.
This problem has been dogging Huckabee for a long time now. Just imagine how different things might have been if he had the money of Romney backing his campaign. I still don’t get how someone who was polling so high could raise so little money.
It will be quite some time before any serious campaigning gets underway for the 2012 Presidential race. A lot of things can and probably will happen between now and then, but make no mistake. If Mike Huckabee intends to compete in the next Presidential campaign, his fundraising needs to improve. As Kevin noted on his own blog, we still like and support Huckabee, but we would be less than honest if we did not take note of these shortcomings. If they are not addressed, then we may see Mike Huckabee become just another great politician who could and should have done greater things.
Thanks for the plug, Larry. I also want to thank you and the others who have stepped up and spoken out. This is a VERY serious problem for Governor Huckabee and thus a very serious problem for his supporters who are actually paying attention and know what’s going on. We NEED to speak out about this if there’s going to be any chance of solving the problem.
Thanks for stopping by, Kevin. I just hope HuckPAC will take notice and start working on this problem. In two years, the campaign for Iowa will be starting and they need to get as much of a head start as they can.
You are right Larry, on every count.
What I find tiresome is Huckabee staff continuing to put out their spin and not address this issue head on and honestly. Chris over at Junction Pool is already touting that the 2012 campaign won’t be about money and organization, but about ideas. Now that is SPIN and apparently an attempt to prepare Huckabee supporters right now for continued poor fundraising numbers.
All the great ideas in the world will not counteract low financials.
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Very true, Kerry. All the great ideas in the world can not be implemented or even discussed and touted without organization and money.
During the 2008 campaign, I wrote several articles bemoaning the fact that Huckabee was a good candidate but wasn’t being given a fair shake because of his money problems. He couldn’t even compete in a lot of states because he didn’t have the money to defend himself against the attacks of Romney, Hannity, Limbaugh, etc. 2012 will be no different unless he is able to obtain the money and the means to fight the battle.
This reminds me of some of my Civil War history. Did you realize that the best general did not win the war? Robert E. Lee was a masterful general and could out maneuver Ulysses S. Grant with no problem. The thing that cost him the war was his lack of money and his lack of troops. Grant simply overwhelmed him with resources and he finally had to surrender at Appomattox.
The same thing happened to Huckabee in 2008 and unless something changes in 2012, I am afraid it will be no different. These changes need to start happening now.
I’m working on a project to supplement my income a bit and stumbled across Jim Gilmore’s statement when he dropped out of the Presidential race in 2007. I think this is sad, but incredibly true…
“… I am proud of the fact that my campaign focused on the issues, worked hard to block amnesty for illegal immigrants, brought attention to the need to protect private property rights, and called for a new path in Iraq that would provide our valiant military men and women with a more clearly defined and achievable mission.
However, I have come to believe that it takes more than a positive vision for our nation’s future to successfully compete for the Presidency. I believe that it takes years of preparation to put in place both the political and financial infrastructure to contest what now amounts to a one-day national primary in February. …”
This is ultimately what did Huckabee in back in early 2008 and what’s going to do him in again if they don’t resolve these ongoing fundraising issues they have.
Very true, Kevin. What’s really sad is that he has the chance to learn from what happened in 2008 and he has nearly two years to change his organization for the better. It doesn’t appear that those changes are taking place..
Good analogy, Larry. Way to bring American History into it!
(Hallelujah, somebody else likes it!!)
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The big concern is not even how much money Romney raised – money begets money – but the money that Palin’s PAC brought in. That’s very troubling. HuckPAC should have raised at least as much as Palin, but he didn’t come close.
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You mentioned Mitt’s connection to the Republican Party and it’s deep pocket but you might not realize that it was Romney’s own deep pockets that funded his campaign. Huck isn’t moneyed, Romney is — if Huck wants to bankroll a future campaign then he’ll have to pull in $750,000 a month.
Huck needs to raise his goals; they are much too low for a candidate with a national following and a very good TV show to boot.
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Thanks for taking the time to comment, Matt.
Yes, I knew Romney funded a lot of his own campaign. A lot of discussion took place during the 2008 campaign about him trying to buy the nomination. I forget the exact number, but he spent several million of his own money during the primary.
Huckabee is fighting an uphill battle and it isn’t a lost cause, but it will be if he doesn’t improve his fundraising. It is even more embarrassing because he fell so far short of Sarah Palin’s numbers. He has much more substance than she does, yet she easily raised more money than did he. I don’t know what else to call it but embarrassing.
Matt, of course Romney poured in millions of his own money, but the mere fact that Romney has money makes it easier for him to bring money in. As I said earlier, “money begets money”. Sarah Palin on the other hand does not have that money foundation which brings us back to the big question “why can’t Governor Huckabee raise money that will allow him to be competitive?”
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That is a very valid point, Kerry. There really is no reason why Governor Huckabee should not be able to raise at least as much money as Sarah Palin and the question “why?” begs to be answered.
I’m not a Huckabee supporter so can give you the outsiders impression in this fundraising race. I know Huckabee has his own show but it’s on Saturday night and no matter how good he may be that’s not exactly drawing a huge audience. He got knocked last year by fiscal conservatives as a profligate tax and spender and now is a time when Republicans absolutely MUST hang their hats on a fiscal conservative. He had a great opportunity last month to appear on The Daily Show and discuss the topic of his choice —- and he chose abortion. Abortion! Now that may be an important issue but if that’s what he thinks was on America’s mind last month then he needs to spend a little more time watching Fox News. Huckabee needs to convince his own party that he understands the economy and that he is up to managing it. He starts in a deep hole in that regard and when he had an enormous opportunity to make his case on Stewart he squandered the chance. Finally, other than his show Huckabee has been out of the news for a very long time. Sarah Palin — who I also do not support — and I very strongly do not support — she has not left the news cycle since the election. There’s nobody out chanting “Run, Huck, Run” the way they’re cheering on Sarah. She has been totally bashed by the media and got a strong sympathy vote from supporters. She’s a natural politician with a genuine flair for making stuff up and sounding honest and folksy while she makes herself seem like just folks. Sarah is someone conservatives want to have a beer with — same as W — while Huck, who’s obviously much smarter, has a much netter command of the issues, and plays a mean guitar, is just too nice a guy, too low key, and can’t generate the enthusiasm Sarah brings to whatever event she attends. Sarah is a social phenomenon. Mike isn’t and will never be. He’s far and away the better candidate and hopefully America will figure that out when the time comes. It seems to me you guys are panicking wayyyy too early.
First of all, thanks for adding your perspective as an “outsider”, Mike. Believe it or not, it does help sometimes to bring things back down to earth.
You obviously know how I feel about abortion and that I believe it is a very important topic. However, I agree that Mike Huckabee needs to show the rest of the country that he is able to tackle the economic issues as well. I guess I look at it this way. He already has a lot of the social conservatives sewn up because we know full well how he stands on those issues. I think it would behoove him to talk about the economic and foreign policy issues as well.
As for us panicking about the fundraising, let me say this. You need to understand where some of us long time Huckabee supporters are coming from. We witnessed some of the same lackluster fundraising throughout the 2008 campaign. There were always promises of how they were looking to do better and how they could stretch every dollar they received. While the stretching the dollar part was certainly true, the campaign did not improve it’s fundraising and the same is holding true now. That’s why some of us have written these articles. It is not a panic or a condemnation of Mike Huckabee, but an acknowledgement that something needs to change if he is to be able to compete financially, if he even joins the race.
Thanks again for sharing your perspective.
Understood. And $300,000 in 6 months does seem pathetic; but so does $732,000 and she’s a phenomenon! The Republican Party has NEVER had anybody like her before. I find her dreadful but there are plenty of conservatives who absolutely adore her and yet her PAC has managed only $732,000. Both numbers are completely irrelevant because eventually they need to raise those kinds of numbers every day! But when you compare Huckabee’s numbers to Sarah’s I actually think he’s holding up quite well. It’s apples and oranges of a kind but given her adoring fans I would think she’d be substantially further ahead of Huckabee after 6 months.
And you know, I hope, I meant no disrespect to the abortion issue. I just think he showed poor judgement in choosing that issue when the country was completely focused on economic and health issues. He doesn’t get a national audience like that too often and he missed a chance to get himself into the news cycle on the relevant issue of the day. You have to ask yourself if he isn’t out of touch.
I know you meant not disrespect to the abortion issue and I do not believe you meant any towards Huckabee himself. The abortion issue is obviously important to him, me and others, but he did miss the opportunity to speak out on another important issue.
If you will read some of Kevin Tracy’s writings, you will find that he believes Mike Huckabee caters entirely too much to the social conservatives and that there are other issues that are important as well. I wonder if he is not correct in that assessment.
Mike – you are exactly right about the topic choice for the Jon Stewart show. If he really wants to build and expand his base, then in that venue the economy would have been a better choice, and not just ranting about Obama, but presenting a plan and real solutions.
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I need to reconsider my comments above that took Huckabee’s fundraising lightly. I did a quick check to see what the viewership was for his show and it appears to be on the order of 1.5-2.0 million viewers weekly — plus his radio audience though I expect there is substantial overlap in those audiences. Well that math is quite simple — just 1 dollar per viewer over 6 months is $1.5 million and he has just $300K. OK, I have to agree, there’s a problem here. But (and this is why I said “I need to reconsider” not “I need to retract”) how many of you strong Huckabee supporters actually think he’s going to run? I took Larry’s advice and read thru Kevin Tracy’s comments and it seems to me there are plenty who think he will look at the financial windfall of his current activities and choose not to run. Well, given that attitude, and given the severe economic conditions, how many of those people are going to choose to give their hard-earned dollars to Huckabee until he makes a more definitive commitment to the race? Romney is in. Palin is exciting. Huckabee? Why not wait before sending money in?
Good point, Mike-I think you’re right about people not wanting to commit to a candiate that may not run. Also, many donors are concentrating on the congressional and gubernatorial races of 2010, especially in areas of vulnerability. As you point out, it wayyy too early to pick a front runner for 2012. I honestly think that the eventual GOP candidate has yet to be discovered and that most of the smart money is waiting for a real star to emerge from the current political and economic fog.
I also think that Huckabee’s Fox program is a net negative for him. It makes it too easy for moderates on both sides of the aisle to pigeon hole him as a right-winger and easily dismissable, given the company that he keeps in the spin doctor ranks. While I don’t discount his audience numbers, he is mostly preaching to the choir with the show. Certainly, he can keep a segment of the base fired up, but he’s not introducing himself to anybody new-crucial to grow a PAC and win elections.
I’ve always been a bit dumbfounded at how poor Huckabee’s fundraising abilities have been, ever since the early days of the campaign back in ’07. One thing that I’ve learned in my hands-on political experience is that nobody can raise money like the candidate, and if the candidate doesn’t make it a priority, they will churn out very dismal fundraising numbers.
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