Last night, I attended Mike Huckabee’s South Carolina primary party that was being held at the Columbia Convention Center. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing that you already know that Huckabee didn’t get first in South Carolina. Since this fact is well known, I’m not going to focus too much on the party itself but instead focus on several interviews I got from people attending the party. But first, I will tell a little about what happened at the party for those of you who were unable to attend.
When my friends and I arrived at the convention center around 6:30, the “Huckabus” was already outside and there was a fairly large crowd already present. The press was already there setting up their TV cameras and several reporters were making their way through the crowd getting interviews from several people. The mood of the crowd at this time was pretty much optimistic and content in the knowledge that we can pull off this win.
A little before 8:00, the projector was turned on and the coverage of the Nevada caucus was shown. CNN also showed an what the exit polling was for South Carolina. I don’t remember exactly what the CNN exit polling results were but there was a big enough margin between McCain and Huckabee to make me uneasy. This uneasiness was confirmed a little later when the first results came in and McCain had a huge lead over Huckabee. After about 20 minutes of the crowd watching Huckabee slowly close the gap, the Former Governor of South Carolina David Beasley came out on stage to give the crowd a short, encouraging speech. He basically said that the results that were coming in at this point were from the areas that were expected to go McCain and that we shouldn’t be too worried at this point.
While the results were coming in, I walked around and interviewed several people about why they supported Huckabee. The first question I asked was “What drew you to Mike Huckabee?” I got several different answers but almost all included something having to do with his character. For example, when Ben Howell from Greer, SC was asked this question, he answered that Huckabe was “authentic” and had “charisma.” Several other people answered that his moral values also attracted them to him.
The next question I asked had to do with what issue in the 2008 election is most important to them. Once again, morals came up as one of the top issues with five out of the seven people I interviewed stating it. Immigration was also an important issue and, as Christian Stegmaier from Columbia, SC put it, solving the immigration problem is “paramount” to our country. Taxing, and more importantly, Huckabee’s support of the Fair Tax was also on a lot of people’s lists as a top issue in the coming election.
The last question I asked had to do with what people viewed Mike Huckabee’s greatest obstacle in the coming election. The funny thing about this is that just as most people like Mike Huckabee because of his morals, they also feel that these very same morals will be his greatest obstacle. For example, Nancy ( forgive me, this is my first time interviewing people and I only got her first name) said that the “prejudice against evangelicals” is Huckabee’s greatest obstacle. Patrick Garvis from Columbi, SC echoed this same idea by stating that Huckabee’s former position as a “Baptist minister” will make it difficult for him. Another obstacle brought up by Christian Stegmaier was the influence the “drive by media” has and how all the attention is being focused on Obama and Hillary.
One thing about all these interviews is that the people I talked to seemed to view Huckabee as their last hope. They view him as a person who could finally bring morals back to Washington. He is viewed as a person who doesn’t change for anyone and that the Huckabee they shook hands with last night will be the same Huckabee that will hopefully be inaugurated in a year.
By the time I had finished with my interviews, all the results were basically in and the Associated Press had already declared McCain the winner of South Carolina. Shortly after, Huckabee came on stage with his wife Janet by his side to make a speech to the crowd gathered. For those of you who saw it last night on television, I think you would agree with me that it was a hopeful speech that really didn’t sound anything at all like a speech from someone who had been predicted to win but came in second.
When he started his speech, he joked around that when he called McCain to congratulate him, he told McCain that he would have much rather McCain have been the one doing the calling. This got a laugh out of the crowd which was a good way to lighten their mood. He continued by saying that he was very proud that both of the top candidates (McCain and himself) were able to conduct a clean campaign in South Carolina without any attack ads or smear campaigns. Basically, he kept his entire message positive and thanked everyone who has helped out in his campaign.
However, he wanted to make sure everyone understood that it was time to move on to the next battle. He said that now is not the time to ask “what if, its a time to start talking about what now.” He also reminded everyone that just a couple months ago, no one thought Huckabee could be where he is now. He concluded his speech by listing off where the next battles are going to take place and beseeching the crowd that he is going to need everyone’s help in the long road ahead. If you missed it last night, I have posted the entire speech online on YouTube:
First Part of Speech
Second Part of Speech
My overall impression of this event was that it had its ups and downs but I feel that even though everyone might have left that convention center feeling a little down, Huckabee’s speech was enough to help end the night on a high note.
