GOP chooses Huckabee
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 12:23 p.m., February 11, 2008
Updated 12:23 p.m., February 11, 2008
Lyon County Republicans showed up early Saturday morning and sat, listened and voted. After that, they joined GOP voters across Kansas in making Mike Huckabee their resounding choice for the Republican presidential nominee.
Even as Sen. John McCain appears to have the party’s nomination all but wrapped up, Huckabee ran away with the support of 309 Lyon County Republican Caucus voters who cast their ballots at the Anderson building on the Lyon County Fairgrounds. The former Arkansas governor earned 157 votes, or 51 percent, to easily outdistance McCain’s 102 votes (33 percent).
Huckabee was even more dominant in the statewide count, earning 60 percent of the vote to McCain’s 24 percent and winning all but one of Kansas’ 105 counties. With his victory, Huckabee earned all 36 Kansas delegates for the Republican convention this summer. The doors to the Anderson building opened at 8 a.m., and most attendees took seats in metal folding chairs before the caucus process began at 10 a.m.
The county’s turnout for the state’s first February GOP caucus since 1988 wasn’t as big as Lyon County Republican Vice Chairman Karen Hartenbower had hoped, but she still used the word “awesome” to describe the experience. She felt like the caucus gave Kansas Republicans more of a voice than in previous presidential elections.
“Because in the past, we haven’t had the presidential preference primary in February,” she said. “The local vote did not get to have any say in who the delegates were going to vote for, the state party told them. And this time, we have a say in that, and that’s what the caucus is all about.”
Voters were equally excited about getting a chance to be a part of selecting the state’s delegate allocation.
“I just think that it’s one of our rights in this country, and that we need to exercise our rights in order to keep them,” said Dustin Lantow. “Also, I think our voices need to be heard, so this is one way to make them heard.”
Floyd Casabier is a supporter of the Bush administration and said he had been behind McCain since the beginning of the campaign. To him, the biggest issues of this election are the construction of the border fence in Mexico and the economy.
“I thought all the candidates, everybody, had good points, but McCain is the one that stuck in my mind, so that’s what I’m going for,” he said.
Once voters were seated, representatives of each of the three major GOP candidates remaining in the race — Huckabee, McCain and Rep. Ron Paul — were allotted five minutes to speak on behalf of their candidate, and voters were then allowed to ask questions about each one.
Andy Van Zee represented McCain, telling the voters to ask themselves, “Who in 2008 could you feel confident in electing as your next wartime president?” He said McCain had stood behind the war in Iraq even as it was unpopular and the Democrats said it couldn’t be won. Van Zee said McCain was a social conservative with a 24-year pro-life voting record and a fiscal conservative who speaks out against “pork barrel” spending.
Jonathan Haney, who introduced himself as a veteran of tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq, spoke on behalf of Paul, known most prominently as the anti-war candidate in the GOP field.
“Ron Paul is the only candidate to make a hard, fast pledge to stop treating the members of our military like expendable fodder, and is committed to bringing my brothers and sisters home from overseas,” Haney said.
Haney said Paul believed in the rights of veterans, taxpayers, health care consumers, farmers and the rights of the unborn child.
State Sen. Tim Huelskamp spoke on behalf of Huckabee. He told the crowd that 24 hours previously, he didn’t know which candidate he would be voting for. Then he met Huckabee in Topeka during one of the former governor’s four campaign stops in the state on Friday. He said the opportunity to look someone in the eye told him a lot about his character.
“When you look at Gov. Huckabee’s record as an executive, and unlike any of the other candidates, he’s actually had to lead a government,” Huelskamp said. “And incidentally, don’t forget, that was a government that was run previously by cronies of the Clinton family. And he spent years cleaning that up. Seventeen elected officials after he took (the office of) governor were indicted or put in jail.”
As the voters’ questions of each candidate representative continued, Hartenbower took the microphone and said that anyone in a hurry to vote could do so. A number of voters got up and headed toward the voting tables, while others stayed until the Q and A was complete.
Paul earned 29 votes in Lyon County, or 9 percent of the vote. Eleven county caucus participants voted for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney despite Romney’s decision earlier in the week to suspend his campaign. Seven voters cast provisional ballots, two were uncommitted, and one person voted for political activist and former diplomat Alan Keyes.
The only county that Huckabee didn’t win was Trego, located in the west-central part of the state, where he and McCain tied with 15 votes apiece.
thatoneguy (anonymous) says...
What the hell is wrong with Emporia? Mike Huckbee say he can talk to God on his cell phone. He wants to CHANGE the CONSTITUTION to be more godly. Shows how much old farts do their homework. I guess if you voted for the Huckster, you owe it to the world to just not vote anymore.
February 11, 2008 at 10:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )