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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee speaks at the Iowa Faith & Freedom 15th Annual Spring Kickoff in Waukee, Iowa, on April 25, 2015.(Photo: Nati Harnik, AP)
WASHINGTON — Mike Huckabee is expected to join the Republican presidential field today by emphasizing his ability to take on the Clintons and Democrats while he was governor of Arkansas.
The Huckabee event at Hempstead Hall, located at the University of Arkansas Community College in Hope, begins at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET.
"Every day of my life in politics was a fight, and sometimes it was an intense one," Huckabee says in a video that will introduce him in his hometown of Hope, Ark.
"But any drunken redneck can walk into a bar and start a fight," Huckabee says. "A leader only starts a fight that he's prepared to finish."
In Huckabee's case, that means finishing what he started in 2008, when he surprised the GOP establishment with his victory in the Iowa caucuses. The former Arkansas governor eventually won eight states, mostly in the South, but he didn't have the resources to topple eventual nominee John McCain.
This time, Huckabee vows he'll be competitive.
"I'll have a lot more money to start with than I probably had well into the campaign eight years ago," Huckabee told Fox News in mid-April. "I'm confident that we are going to have the money to compete."
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Huckabee, 59, is sixth in the RealClearPolitics polling average of 2016 GOP presidential candidates, many of whom have yet to formally declare their intentions. But he's got better favorable ratings in national and statewide surveys than Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker, and he is also well-positioned with blue-collar voters, senior citizens and conservatives as well as the evangelical voters who helped fuel his 2008 Iowa victory.
Religious conservatives could have several candidates to choose from in 2016 besides Huckabee, such as Walker, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, who won the 2012 Iowa caucuses.
Bob Vander Plaats of The Family Leader, an influential conservative group, and Huckabee's 2008 Iowa campaign chairman, said the former Arkansas governor should not be dismissed.
"Huckabee has a great chance to repeat what he did in 2008, but his campaign will have to be different," Vander Plaats said. "When people know you and you're an established figure, you have to have campaign apparatus and money."
In his Fox News interview with Bret Baier, Huckabee did not declare Iowa as a must-win but said he'll need to set a tone in the early nominating contests.
"I don't think it is all based on one state. But clearly coming out of Iowa with momentum is important," he said. "We need to do well in South Carolina. We need to show that we at least are competing in New Hampshire."
As governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007, Huckabee was a foil to the Clinton administration. He has said it is "fair play" to judge Hillary Clinton for her record as a senator and secretary of State, and not by Bill Clinton's personal life.
Using Hope, Ark., as the backdrop to his campaign launch is an interesting choice for Huckabee, in part because the tiny town of about 10,000 people is also Bill Clinton's birthplace. Clinton famously said in 1992, when he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, that "I still believe in a place called Hope."
After the 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee turned to broadcasting full-time and became well-known to conservatives through his own Fox News show. He has been a popular draw as a speaker and book author.
In 2012, Huckabee flirted with the idea of running again but ultimately decided against it. He quit his Fox News show in January to consider the 2016 race.
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Huckabee's latest book — God, Guns, Grits and Gravy — delves into the impact of Washington, New York and Los Angeles on culture, which he dubs "Bubble-ville." With his chatty, folksy style, Huckabee offers his view on the effect government has on people's lives, the dangers of social media, and his take on immigration, China and other issues.
In the 2016 campaign introduction video, Huckabee makes clear that he will fight Washington in this race.
"One thing that has to happen in America is moving the power away from Washington, where people are so disconnected from the way that so many ordinary Americans live," he says. "It's a disaster. Power needs to be local and limited, because the closer government is to the people, the more accountable it is to the people who are being governed."
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During the campaign, Huckabee can expect questions about raising taxes as Arkansas governor. The anti-tax Club for Growth, which ran ads against him in the 2008 campaign, said Huckabee's "big government record" would stand out negatively in the 2016 field.
The former governor, who now lives in Florida, counters that he balanced the state budget every year for 10 years, cut welfare and raised average family income by 50%.
After his announcement in Arkansas, Huckabee will campaign Wednesday and Thursday in Iowa on a "Factories, Farms and Freedom" tour. He then heads to South Carolina for a speech Friday on economic opportunity in Greenville.
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