It's been eight years since Mike Huckabee last ran for president, but polls are giving him an early lead in the 2016 GOP primary, including coming in ahead of Hillary Clinton in one battleground state, should he choose to run.
Iowa voters in
CNN's September poll chose Huckabee by 21 percent, giving him the lead over all other potential GOP candidates, reports
The Daily Beast.
The only other prospective candidate coming near Huckabee was Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, with 12 percent of the voters.
Remaining candidates such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, along with others who are gaining early presidential buzz, only garnered single-digit percentage responses, the poll shows.
In addition, Huckabee came out ahead of Clinton in a
Public Policy Polling survey in North Carolina earlier this month, where he gained 46 percent of the voters to Clinton's 45 percent.
But the former Arkansas governor did not did not talk about his nomination potential with The Daily Beast, but instead discussed domestic and foreign policy, including solutions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and protecting American sovereignty and security.
Further, Huckabee talked about his plans for relieving middle class suffering, saying the nation's laws and policies are harming Americans.
"Open immigration policies bring foreign labor to work on the cheap — even in high-tech sectors where students who worked in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] programs are being passed over for immigrants," he told The Daily Beast.
Further, Huckabee says that the United States is "proudly a nation of immigrants, but should be a nation of laws. We are ignoring our laws and traditions for political purposes."
And domestically, Huckabee is calling for Americans to be self sufficient, saying that the country should be able to feed, fuel, and fight for itself.
His points are virtually the same as during his 2008 candidacy, says The Daily Beast, but at that time, Republicans were still optimistic on the economy.
Huckabee also rejects the "two-state solution" to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, calling it a "politician's pipe dream." The U.N, however has agreed on a resolution supporting that the countries "live side by side within secure and recognized borders," and Huckabee's stance may play well with GOP supporters who reject the UN.
Huckabee's middle America roots may also play well come 2016, says The Daily Beast, as it reflects the GOP's shift to the non-urban working middle-class population.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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