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August 20, 2008

Mike Huckabee on "Hannity & Colmes"

Hannity & Colmes

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: And welcome to HANNITY & COLMES. We're glad you're with us. I'm Sean Hannity, and we get right to our "Top Story" tonight.

After weeks of speculation we could just be hours away from the announcement of at least one running mate. Now it appears that Barack Obama is poised to name his vice-presidential nominee as early as tomorrow, and there were reports today that some Obama staffers across the country were being dispatched to make preparations in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, suggesting the nominee might, in fact, be Senator Evan Bayh.

Earlier today, Senator Obama campaigned in Virginia, and tonight he's spending the evening in Richmond, that, of course, the home of Virginia governor Tim Kaine. So maybe it's Kaine.

Meanwhile cameras have been staking out good old Senator Joe Biden at his house catching him running errands with his nephew, and some reports suggest that he's a lock. So maybe it's Biden.

And joining us now, former presidential candidate, FOX News contributor, Mike Huckabee is with us.

Good to see you, Governor.

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Great to be with you. Actually all of that is wrong. Barack Obama.

HANNITY: It's Hillary.

HUCKABEE: No, he's flying into Little Rock, and tomorrow he will have the surprise ticket.

HANNITY: And that is?

HUCKABEE: Not me.

HANNITY: It could be.

Well, look, and certainly, any one of those guys do you think has a better chance than another or.

HUCKABEE: You know what's happened over the last couple of weeks. Barack Obama is clearly begun to sink. John McCain has come up. The Saddleback thing was a home run for John McCain.

HANNITY: Absolutely.

HUCKABEE: He absolutely did exactly what he needed to do. But if you look at where the race is, Obama's support is extraordinarily deep, but it's not that wide. John McCain's is very wide, but it's not that deep. And when I say deep.

HANNITY: But it's getting deeper.

HUCKABEE: It's getting deeper.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: And Saddleback helped him, but there's still that question mark among conservatives -- and what's shaping up to be an interesting thing -- Barack Obama needs some depth, or actually needs some -- you know some greater sense of -- maybe some.

HANNITY: Breadth.

HUCKABEE: Yes, some breadth.

HANNITY: We're going to go into this poll that came out -- this Reuters/Zogby poll today.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

HANNITY: For the first time, McCain is up by five in this poll.

HUCKABEE: Right.

HANNITY: Any other poll around the country it's pretty much dead even, but a dramatic shift has taken place. I mean I think when he played the race card, I think it was a mistake, you know, children of the world, his Berlin speech, certainly didn't hurt him, his changing positions on just about everything that he ran on, that is now hurting him.

So it, obviously, is a position he -- will he consider Hillary because he's now weakened?

HUCKABEE: He ought to. I don't think he will, but if he wanted to change the dynamics of this entire race, that's the place he needs to go because it brings the Democrats together and brings the wow factor that he had at one time, and he does not have it right now.

HANNITY: Would it be a sign of weakness?

HUCKABEE: No, it would be a sign of -- he's more interested in winning than he is in his pride. I think it would be very, very difficult for him to make that decision, but I do believe that that's the one person that sort of just takes everybody's breath away.

HANNITY: Yes, I think very well-said.

All right, let's go to the Republican side. There are three names seem to have emerged. One of them is a Democrat. I think this would be a disaster.

HUCKABEE: I can't imagine Joe Lieberman.

HANNITY: I can't imagine Joe Lieberman.

HUCKABEE: . being on the ticket, and I think John McCain knows that while Republicans could accept Joe Lieberman as secretary of defense.

HANNITY: Great idea.

HUCKABEE: . or secretary of state, that's fine.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Everybody loves Joe Lieberman.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Republicans want to elect a Republican.

HANNITY: Right.

HUCKABEE: . not only to be president, but to be in the position should something happen and be the next president.

HANNITY: I would have suggest that he'd be now arguing with his party from now until Election Day and then even beyond, which then leaves two candidates.

Now I know there was a little bad blood there between you and Mitt Romney. I'm -- if I had to choose between Pawlenty over Mitt, I'd pick -- pick Mitt Romney. I think he'd be a good choice. I think he'd balance the ticket in terms of his economic expertise versus the national security strength of McCain.

Why are you hesitant on Romney?

HUCKABEE: Because of the shift of positions on all the issues. It has nothing to do with the person.

HANNITY: Not all of them. On a couple.

HUCKABEE: Well, but, I mean, everything from the Reagan tax cuts to abortion to same-sex marriage, and.

HANNITY: Sounds like you're still - OK, painting.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: I know you're right, Governor, because.

HUCKABEE: Those are the issues, but Tim Pawlenty, I think, is fresh, and he doesn't have, you know, some of those other issues. I think there are other people. I mean he could go with somebody that we haven't even talked about. A Frank Keating from -- former governor of Oklahoma.

HANNITY: Sarah.

COLMES: One person on the Republican ticket who changed his positions is enough, so I agree with you. That's a good idea. And I've got a Republican for John McCain.

HUCKABEE: OK.

COLMES: Chuck Hagel.

HUCKABEE: No. I don't think it's going to work.

COLMES: There you go. Yes, I think that won't work either.

HUCKABEE: That might work for Obama more than it would work for John McCain.

COLMES: Now there's a -- you talk about bringing the country together and being bipartisan and truly uniting after.

HUCKABEE: Yes, but Democrats are going to react to Chuck Hagel just like Republicans would react to Joe Lieberman.

COLMES: Right.

HUCKABEE: I mean people want to know that your party is selecting and nominating somebody from -- among your own.

COLMES: But does.

HUCKABEE: It's just the way it is.

COLMES: Does he have to have a pro-choice -- pro-life, I should say - - candidate.

HUCKABEE: John McCain?

COLMES: John McCain.

HUCKABEE: If he goes somewhere else, he will have an extraordinary large bridge to build, and he will have to have that person come out and convince everybody that no matter what, he wouldn't change the policy.

COLMES: But if John McCain.

HUCKABEE: . of the Republican Party.

COLMES: . says he's going to appoint pro-life justices, if he says he's going to do things that are, you know, in keeping with conservatives.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

COLMES: . are you going to let one issue get in the way of who best - - if you wouldn't believe it.

HUCKABEE: Alan, you have to understand.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: . this is not just one issue. This is an issue that is so fundamental to many of us, and let me include myself.

HANNITY: And me, too.

HUCKABEE: Because if you don't believe that a human life has value and worth, and that some life is worth more than others and some is worth less than others, then that's going to influence your judgment about.

COLMES: Look, I don't want to argue abortion. We're not going to argue -- we're going to do that later in the show (INAUDIBLE).

HUCKABEE: But let me just say that John McCain was so clear and so powerful in his answer to Rick Warren, who I think, by the way, handled that so masterfully.

HANNITY: He did.

HUCKABEE: Better than anybody else who's done a debate.

John McCain was so spot-on and gave reassurances to the conservatives and to pro-life people that I think it boosted him dramatically.

COLMES: Look -- what bothered me is, you know -- no one was supposed to know the answers to the questions.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

COLMES: And yet Rick Warren said that every -- both candidates knew some of the questions ahead of time. I thought the deal was no one's supposed to know the answers, everyone's kept isolated. The candidates supposed to be there ahead of time and kept the.

HUCKABEE: He gave them broad strokes, but he did not give them.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: . the specifics, but I.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Here's the contrast. John McCain when asked what does life begin? At conception. No ifs, ands or buts. Barack Obama, gee, I don't know.

Look, if you're going to be.

COLMES: It's not I don't know.

HUCKABEE: He said it's above my pay grade.

COLMES: He said it was above his pay grade. And maybe it was something for God to think about not for human beings to decide.

HUCKABEE: But God has made it pretty clear that biologically and scientifically -- liberals always like to talk about science and how much they love it -- you can't say this is.

HANNITY: Set them straight, Governor.

HUCKABEE: . any -- scientific reputation about when life begins as human.

COLMES: Obama is not a scientist. He's not a theologian. And it's above his pay grade.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: We're going to take a break.

HUCKABEE: OK.

COLMES: We'll (INAUDIBLE) Kumbaya and high-five each other and do the fist bump. More with Mike.

HUCKABEE: There you go.

COLMES: . after -- I'll do it when nobody can see it during the break.

Huckabee joins us -- continues with -- well, that's Governor Huckabee to you -- after the break.

Critics blasting Obama for his voting record on abortion. A nurse who says Obama's decision to vote down an abortion bill changed her life forever. She's soon to be here with her emotional story.

And there's breaking news tonight, Barack Obama goes after FOX News for giving Jerome Corsi a chance to make his case here on HANNITY & COLMES. We'll have the tapes. And Corsi, we'll hear a response coming up.

ANNOUNCER: "Top Story" is brought to you by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLMES: We now continue with former presidential candidate and FOX News contributor, Mike Huckabee.

Governor, now, if Clinton gets the nod, which.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

COLMES: . seems like a long shot at the moment.

HUCKABEE: Right.

COLMES: . conservatives will attack Bill Clinton's business interests. If senators who are well-known get the nod, they'll say Obama is supposed to be the agent of change, that's not happening. If someone unknown or a wildcard -- oh two inexperienced people. So the die is cast. Those are the attacks we're going to hear from the other side.

HUCKABEE: Well, just like next week in Denver, we're going to hear that John McCain is the reincarnation of George W. Bush.

COLMES: He's not?

HUCKABEE: And (INAUDIBLE) Republicans, you know, that's the worst thing in the world because many of us still like George W. Bush.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: But the bigger point is, is that's what parties do.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: They should point out the weaknesses of the others. What Obama's got a real issue -- he's got to somehow explain that he really does understand that Russia's invasion of Georgia does not threaten Alabama.

COLMES: Yes, well.

HUCKABEE: You know there's that sense of which.

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: . the experience issue and the judgment issue -- I think, it's not only reflected in the polls, but here's the problem Obama has more than anything else. For all the months that he ran as a different kind of politician, the agent of change, this is our time, we're not going to be like the other guys, that was fine.

Now he's just like the other guys. He's partisan. He is attacking.

COLMES: Governor.

HUCKABEE: I mean.

COLMES: John McCain was the maverick who went against his party, and all those anti-Republican positions have now changed. He's a maverick no more. The John McCain of 2000 would not vote for the John McCain of 2008.

HUCKABEE: Of course he would.

COLMES: And vice versa.

HUCKABEE: Of course he would.

COLMES: He wouldn't support McCain-Kennedy. He wouldn't support McCain-Feingold. He wouldn't vote for legislation in his own (INAUDIBLE)

HUCKABEE: He hasn't run away from.

HANNITY: He supports Feingold. He supports Feingold.

COLMES: He switched. He wouldn't vote for.

HANNITY: He supports it.

COLMES: . campaign financing, when he's not only allowed.

HANNITY: I interviewed him.

COLMES: Excuse me.

HANNITY: I'm educating you.

COLMES: You'll be up in just a moment. Thank you for educating me. We'll do it off-camera later.

HANNITY: You're welcome.

HUCKABEE: Referee.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: It's a very unpleasant place to be.

HUCKABEE: Let's roll the flag.

COLMES: But here's a guy -- he's got lobbyists running his campaign. He speaks -- spoke out against lobbyists. Got more lobbyist on his campaign than Obama does. He's got his chief foreign policy lobbyist who does lobbying for Georgia and then he comes out with an anti-Russia statement right away, right off the bat.

HUCKABEE: Great (INAUDIBLE)

COLMES: Retracts from that and becomes closer to Obama's position a day later. Come on.

HUCKABEE: Well, but here's what you have to remember. Obama's strength, his only strength, was agent of change, unlike the other guys. Now he's like the other guys. When John McCain has taken positions, he has not relented from campaign finance. Frankly, I wish he would. I wish he would renounce that because I don't think it's been a good deal.

But he's hung on to it. But John McCain has consistently been pro- life, he's consistently been strong military, he's consistently been for a secure nation that bites terrorism on their grounds, not ours.

HANNITY: Hey, Governor.

HUCKABEE: And that's what separates him from Barack Obama.

HANNITY: I've interviewed him, he does stand by McCain-Feingold.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

HANNITY: He does stand by the Gang of 14. And his issue on immigration is I lost, the American people spoke out, they had a different opinion. He hasn't changed that much. He was against the tax cuts but for the reason that it didn't include spending cuts, which by the way is principle conservatism.

All right, let me ask you this. There's a new issue that has emerged. In our next segment, we're going to air an interview that I had yesterday with Jill Stanek. She testified multiple times before Obama's committee. It deals with the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.

She talks about cradling and rocking to -- of -- for 45 minutes a down syndrome baby that was dumped in the soiled utility room at the hospital. Barack Obama was the only senator to stand up in a bill that would have protected that baby. He called people who challenge him a liar. This is now emerging. Tape has now emerged that shows he is the one that is dishonest.

Will that be a big issue in the campaign?

HUCKABEE: I hope so because, again, I want to point out that if you're wrong about the fact of human life and the respect for human life, then it affects everything.

Think about our military. Our doctrine is we leave no man behind on the battlefield. Why is that? It's not because the function of the soldier, it's the personhood of the soldier. It's his value to us, it's not in his ability to throw the grenade or what, the rifle.

HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE)

HUCKABEE: His value is because he is one of our sons, he's a husband, he's a father, he's a human life, and we recognize it. So in the womb or on the battlefield, life is precious.

HANNITY: Right. Romney, Pawlenty, you're going to support them?

HUCKABEE: I'm going to support our ticket. You bet.

HANNITY: The ticket.

HUCKABEE: Absolutely.

HANNITY: All right. Good to see you, Governor.

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