Huckabee: You Have To Win Iowa from the ‘Ground Up’

DOOCY: “Well, he won the Iowa caucuses in 2008. Can he do it again this time? Joining us right now is the former Governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate and friend of this program, because he used to work here, Mike Huckabee. Good morning to you, Governor.”

HUCKABEE: “Good morning, Steve. And let me wish you a belated happy birthday. In our part of the world, banks and post offices and schools were all closed in honor of your birthday. (Laughter) I just want you to know that”

KILMEADE: “And governor, if you become president will this be a national holiday?”

HUCKABEE: “ You know, it already is in many parts of America. (Laughter) But we will make it so across the rest of the country if I’m president. That’s reason enough to get Steve’s vote.” (Laughter)

DOOCY: “You know what? True story. I was actually born in Algona, Iowa. Iowa is having the caucuses. How are you going to win Iowa just like you did in 2008?”

HUCKABEE: “Well, the same way we did before. And that is that you have to win it from the ground up. There’s no shortcut to winning Iowa. A lot of people will go and buy a lot of media. Eight years ago, we were outspent ten to one. Ten to one. And I won with the largest number of votes that has ever been received by an Iowa caucus voter, or contest in the entire history of the Iowa caucus. So when people say, well, you know, how you going to win Iowa? I’m going to tell you, the same way we did it before. And what you have to do is to built a ground game. You have to get people. This isn’t about going and voting for five minutes on the way home from work. A caucus is an intense process where people have to be very serious. They go, they spend several hours, in probably a drafty school room, and we’re building the ground game and have the largest ground operation of any of the campaigns, in both Iowa and South Carolina.”