The Huckabee Oklahoma Collapse

   In 2008, Gov. Mike Huckabee was the darling of the religious Right and his Oklahoma primary networkers were forerunners of the 2010 Oklahoma Tea Party machine who obliterated the democrat party in the Sooner state.  In 2011, Huckabee announced that he lacked that "fire in the belly" that is needed to run for president.

Committeeman Steve Fair, Gov. Mike Huckabee,
& Charirman Dave Weston, at RNC 2014 Winter Meeting

   Now Huckabee is laying the groundwork for a 2016 presidential bid. His "Huck's Army" machine had moved over to the Santorum 2012 campaign, and will not likely revert back to their former allegiance.

   Huckabee's political contacts have also moved eastward. He left Arkansas and built a mansion on the beautiful Florida beach, near Panama City. He flies into New York for his weekly Fox News Gig. His other associations seem tied to establishment politicians like Senator Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander. Huckabee may claim ties to Tea Party causes, but very few Tea Party groups claim ties to Mike Huckabee, anymore.
   In Oklahoma, Mike Huckabee actively campaigned for Congressman John Sullivan in previous years. Yet Sullivan sided with McCain even when Huckabee won Sullivan's 1st district presidential primary, in 2008. Huckabee's original Oklahoma campaign organizer, Dave Weston, is now the state GOP party chairman. But most every member of the old Huckabee-Oklahoma campaign is now very disappointed with the Huckabee policy statements, like:

• Support for the Michelle Obama school food restrictions
• Proposed ban on words like RINO within political speech
• Support for Common Core mandates

   All of these recent developments have created one of the biggest political suicides in Oklahoma presidential primary politics.
"Renewing the American Dream" dinner with Governor Huckabee

  Last year it made sense to the OKGOP leadership to invite Huckabee to headline a swanky fundraiser at the Renaissance Hotel Ballroom. But as the days grew closer, Huckabee became more toxic. His financial contract with the OKGOP was based on a percentage of the event proceeds going to Huckabee's political purse.
 When it became clear that HuckPAC was funding establishment candidates whom Oklahoma Tea Party activists were strongly opposed to in their primary races; the event ticket sales were hampered. The OKGOP hoped to sell sponsorships for as much as $6000 each.  Some respected Oklahoma poitical bloggers actively encouraged skipping the event and instead dropping off a contribution directly to their county or state party office so that Huckabee would be denied any of the support. Finally, the threat of bad weather created a convenient way to "postpone" the event for an unspecified future date.
   No mention of the event even exists on the OKGOP website. and no future event is yet to be announced, with Huckabee.