Huckabee Says He'd Be A Winning Contrast To Clinton

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Sunday he would make a strong Republican opponent to Democratic front-runner and former Arkansas first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a race for the presidency. Huckabee said his nomination would set up a sharp contrast between the two and energize voters toward the Republican ticket. Conservatives would be wrong to think that someone more like Clinton could draw more votes and defeat her, he told reporters. "Quite frankly, Americans are going to look at a contest where there's contrast. That's what I bring to the race, someone who can contrast in terms of philosophy and record, but also who's going to be able to challenge her on key fundamental issues like education and health care," Huckabee said. In January, he completed more than 10 years as governor, and hails from the same Arkansas town of Hope as former President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, now a U.S. senator from New York, was first lady of Arkansas before her husband became president in 1993. "Hillary is a strong, strong candidate, much stronger than a lot of Republicans want to accept," Huckabee said. "But the reality is that if we put someone up whose views on some of the issues that rally our base don't rally our base, then we're going to be in big trouble."Along those lines, he also suggested he could match Republican Fred Thompson's image as a mainstream conservative who could win votes. Thompson has done better in polls than Huckabee even though the former U.S. senator from Tennessee has not yet announced his candidacy. The former governor said Thompson's delay may partly be due to Huckabee's profile. "I think that's one of the reasons that maybe he's delayed," Huckabee said. "He's looked at the fact that if he's looking for a consistent conservative, that would be Mike Huckabee." On the resignation of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who pleaded guilty in a gay sex sting, Huckabee said Craig did Republicans a favor and prevented protracted criticism of Congress in general. "If he had stayed, I think it would have been a very, very challenging environment. You might say we would be waiting until the other shoe dropped, which would not be a good situation for the Senate, for Sen. Craig or anybody else for that matter," he said. Craig was arrested at a Minneapolis airport restroom after an undercover police officer said the senator gave signals, including tapping his foot, that indicated he wanted to engage in lewd conduct.