I HEART HUCKABEE

Mike Huckabee, the Arkansas preacher man and all around jokester, appeared in conversation at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco yesterday and I knew I couldn’t miss it. I showed up fifteen minutes late, snuck in and was glued to his every word.
I’ve liked Huckabee from the start because he’s hilarious, he plays the bass and he has Chuck Norris’ endorsement. I have strong objections to most of his ideas and positions, but I still love to hear him talk. I was curious, though, what an anti-immigration evangelical from Arkansas was doing in San Francisco and who would show up to see him.
It was quite a mosaic, actually, of aging rural white men in varying hues of flannel. Also: one nun and two Chinese people. But they gave him all their support, cheering and clapping and hooting and hollering. At one point, some women from the anti war group code pink interrupted Huck with some light heckling and unfurled a banner. They were promptly escorted out and Huckabee took a moment to say that he is proud to live in a country where people can do that and not get shot. As the second woman was carried out, he shouted to her, “try that in Cuba!” And I almost peed laughing.
Afterwards, I went to the stage to shake his hand and take pictures. I ended up inadvertently taking a picture of him with a young woman named Julie with a country lilt in her voice who took the day off of work and drove all the way from Lodi to hear Mike Huckabee speak. She said if I’m ever out in Lodi, I should come to their weekly organizing meeting which is held in the party room of the Round Table Pizza.
I looked around for Chuck Norris, but he wasn’t there, so I shuffled off a little disappointed. Not because Chuck Norris wasn’t there, but because after feb 5, I’m afraid Huckabee won’t be around any more. And I know I’ve teased him a little bit here, but he was the most direct, capitavating and genuine candidate in the Republican field. He called Romney and McCain out on their records and he had revolutionary and dynamic ideas.
In his honor, though, I will start randomly and inexplicably yelling out “try that in Cuba” at inappropriate moments. Thanks for coming to San Francisco, Mr Huckabe. That’s more than George W Bush has done in two terms as president. It means more than you know. Good Luck!