Republican Huckabee appeals to working class in launching 2016 bid

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[May 06, 2015]  By Steve Barnes
 
 HOPE, Ark. (Reuters) - Republican Mike Huckabee launched a bid for his party's 2016 presidential nomination on Tuesday, zeroing in on the plight of blue-collar American workers who have been left behind in the country's rebound from the Great Recession.

The 59-year-old former Arkansas governor and former host of a popular Fox News television show is considered a long shot in the widening race to represent the Republican Party in the November 2016 election. He is the sixth Republican to make a formal run.

Huckabee's emphasis on American workers marks an attempt to expand his base beyond social conservative voters who the former Southern Baptist pastor rallied to an early, surprise victory in the 2008 White House race.

Huckabee made clear he wants the Christian right behind him again in 2016, setting up a competition with like-minded rivals like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But he spent much of a fiery, populist speech on people struggling to make ends meet.

"I don't come from a family dynasty, but a working family. I grew up blue-collar, not blue-blood," he said, in an apparent reference to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a likely rival whose old, wealthy family includes a father and brother who were presidents.

Huckabee may also have been taking aim at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. While her upbringing was not on par with Jeb Bush's, she is seen as part of a political dynasty started by her husband, President Bill Clinton.

Huckabee's message may play well in Iowa, which will begin the nominating process next January. Social conservatives play a prominent role in the state's Republican politics.

"There’s a large segment of working-class evangelicals within the Republican Party and I think he is hitting at the heart," said Tim Albrecht, a Republican strategist in Iowa.

Huckabee announced his bid in the small town of Hope, Arkansas, which both he and Bill Clinton, also a former Arkansas governor, call their hometown.

At a community college where the event took place, audience members chanted, "We like Mike!"

Huckabee spoke of his own simple life growing up in Hope, recalling daily prayers, fishing and hunting. He met his wife in high school.

The candidate said hard-working Americans are being left behind in today's economy, and blamed Democratic President Barack Obama for U.S. economic woes.

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While the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5 percent from its late 2008 level of 6.8 percent, many working Americans have not seen their paychecks rise enough to pay the bills.

"Ninety-three million Americans don't have jobs," Huckabee said. "And many of them who do have seen their full-time job with benefits they once had become two part-time jobs with no benefits at all.

"We were promised hope, but it was just talk," he said, referring to a theme of Obama's successful 2008 presidential bid.

Huckabee reiterated his long-held opposition to abortion and gay marriage, deeply held concerns for evangelical Christians and other social conservatives. In recent years, they have seen same-sex marriage gain wider support and win legalization in an increasing number of states.

"We've lost our way, morally," Huckabee said, referring to abortion as "slaughter" and to "the biblical principles of natural marriage."

In addition to Huckabee and Cruz, Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida, former Hewlett-Packard Co chief Carly Fiorina and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are seeking the Republican nomination.

(Reporting by Steve Barnes; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)

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