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December 03, 2008

Huckabee on the Chambliss Senate Victory

Hannity & Colmes

COLMES: Welcome to HANNITY & COLMES. Getting right to our "Top Story" tonight.

Conservatives are feeling better today after Saxby Chambliss claimed victory in the Georgia Senate race runoff last night. And guess who the senator is crediting, at least in part, for his victory?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me about Sarah Palin. Will her, will her popularity last?

CHAMBLISS: You know, Brian, I cannot see it diminishing. I -- I mean I can't overstate the impact she had down here. All of these folks did a great job coming in. They all allowed us to add momentum to where we were in the campaign, but when she walks in a room, folks just explode, and they really did pack the house.

Everywhere we went she's a -- she's a dynamic lady, a great administrator, and I think she's got a great future in the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLMES: Hey, where's the thanks to Hannity?

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Why do I get this?

COLMES: I mean, where are you in that thing? Anyway, that's right.

HANNITY: I like Saxby. He's a good man.

COLMES: By campaigning for Chambliss on Monday, the sometimes maligned Sarah Palin may have played a big role in preventing Democrats from reaching 60 votes in the United States Senate.

Does this mean big things for her future?

Joining us tonight, former presidential candidate, host of his very own show right here on FOX News Channel, it is called "Huckabee." It's a good name. Mike Huckabee.

Hello, Governor.

MIKE HUCKABEE, "DO THE RIGHT THING" AUTHOR: What an original title, huh, Alan?

COLMES: I like that very much.

All right. So, is this a signal of a reemergence and perhaps a resurgence of Sarah Palin and what she portends for the future of the Republican Party.

HUCKABEE: Well, I do not think it's a resurgence. I think it's a continuation of the popularity she's enjoying with in the Republican family. People like her. They relate to her. She has energized the base and she definitely has a very important role to play in the future of the party.

COLMES: Is she going to be battling you in a few years?

HUCKABEE: I'm not out there. I've got a show on FOX, you just mentioned it.

(LAUGHTER)

COLMES: Yes.

HUCKABEE: And I've got a book tour going on and a lot of other stuff. I ain't got time to worry about that right now, Alan.

COLMES: This is a.

HANNITY: And a radio gig, he's got.

COLMES: Wait a minute.

HUCKABEE: That's right, starting in January.

COLMES: We don't need all this competition. We don't know -- all right, look. This was -- it turned out half of what it was in the general election. And, you know, obviously, we had a different dynamic. We had three candidates. That didn't happen this time.

If there were a bigger turnout, the conventional wisdom is Chambliss would not have done as well. Is that, you know, less turnout, Republicans win, less turnout, Chambliss wins? More people votes, he does not do as well?

HUCKABEE: Look, here's what I know. Barack Obama put his team down there. They did everything they could to run the same ground game they had run for president. And it just came up short.

I think it's indicative that the Republican Party is far from dead. As you know, I've got a book out that talks about how do we get our groove back and quite frankly, I think you're seeing it. Saxby Chambliss ran as a clear, unapologetic conservative, and he won.

When Republicans stick to our stuff, we win. It's when we ran to the mushy middle, that's when we lose.

COLMES: You say the mushy middle, of course, it is Georgia. A very red state so will that make -- what works in Georgia may not work countrywide, right?

HUCKABEE: Well, look at the marriage issue. 30 states, it's been on the ballot. 30 states, it's won. That's a pretty clear issue when it comes to traditional responsibility of marriage.

And I think you're going to see that as Republicans continually take strong stands, they have a far better chance of winning. This is going all the way back to 1976. It's when we try to act like that we don't really want to believe anything or let it on that we really hold the same convictions, that's when we get our heads handed to us.

COLMES: By the way.

HUCKABEE: When Republicans advertise something and deliver something different, people look for a different product on the shelf the next time they go to vote.

COLMES: One of the things Chambliss said is he thinks he's going to give us an opportunity now to go out and -- to some of our moderates who have not always voted with conservatives, he said, and say look, you know, this is the opportunity. We have to define our party. He wants to go away from the moderates and defines a more conservative Republican Party.

You agree with that?

HUCKABEE: Absolutely. Look, Republicans are pro-life. They believe in traditional marriage. They believe in lower taxes, responsible government. They believe in balancing budgets.

It's when Republicans didn't balance the budget, police corruption, when we were squishy on things like life, that's when we lost elections.

HANNITY: Hey, Governor.

HUCKABEE: When we take strong stands, I think we win.

HANNITY: I agree wholeheartedly. National defense, energy independence, fiscal responsibility, border security, that's the Republican message for victory. It's the conservative message.

I think one of the most telling things -- we brought this up last night. I think the fact that Barack Obama wouldn't put out any political capital to help get this filibuster-proof Senate is amazing to me. Why wouldn't he have tried a little bit? He set his team there, but he clearly did not want to lose, and he clearly does not have the coattails with a massive victory here for Saxby.

HUCKABEE: You can clearly know that they were polling and they knew where the numbers where and it wasn't going to turn out well. I don't think Barack Obama was going to risk going to Georgia and making it look like that he couldn't deliver.

And frankly, he's got a good excuse. He does have plenty to do in preparation for taking office in January. So it's a lot better for him to stay in Chicago, meet with governors in Philadelphia, do things that show that he's actively preparing to take the White House. And I think he knew Jim Martin wasn't going to beat Saxby Chambliss in Georgia.

HANNITY: Let me ask you, because the biggest issue now for most people is the economy, Governor, and I am concerned about these bailouts. We've got -- we now have governors. They want a hundred billion dollars.

HUCKABEE: Right.

HANNITY: We've got a stimulus package, another $700 billion. We've got $700 billion going to banks and insurance companies and financial institutions. There are a lot of bailout fever going on here.

To what extent, do you think, the government should have any role in helping the economy rebound and what should the role be?

HUCKABEE: Well, Sean, I've been consistent from the day that it first got talked about, having bailouts. We shouldn't be in that business. It is not the government's responsibility to take money from a certain group of taxpayers and then decide which businesses in the free market system live and which ones die.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Look, it's a sad thing when any company goes down, but the fact is, who's going to bail out a newspaper that's going under? Who's going to bail out a small-business owner?

There are a lot of businesses.

HANNITY: All right.

HUCKABEE: . that either are mismanaged or the market changes.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: And they don't make it.

HANNITY: All right. Let me ask the question in this topic. I am more sympathetic to the automotive industry, and I know the polls show that most Americans are not, and I'll tell you why I am and I want to get your thoughts on this.

Because a lot of the promise -- for example, the subprime mortgage crisis, where Fannie and Freddie bought up these bad loans, was caused because government forced banks to make risky loans. OK.

Now we have bad trade policy, that impacts the auto industry. We have bad energy policy. That's impacted the oil industry. We have unions and the unholy relationship with Democrats. That impacts the oil industry. CAFE standards, economy standards, safety standards, you know, these new mandates in Florida today.

They've caused a lot of the problem that our big three have. I'm a little more sympathetic to their desire for a loan. Am I wrong?

HUCKABEE: Well, I can understand the sympathy, but it still goes to the president. Is it the responsibility of the taxpayers to fix this by indebting our children and grandchildren.

And Sean, what I worry about the more .

HANNITY: It's a loan.

HUCKABEE: .. than the immediate is the long-term consequence of this incredible debt we'll never get out of.

HANNITY: I agree. But I guess my question is, if they are going to cause all these mandates and force these companies to adopt things that they cannot afford, when does the government gets some blame for causing all of this?

HUCKABEE: I got a better idea. Throw those members of Congress out, get some members of Congress.

HANNITY: Yes, I agree with that.

HUCKABEE: . that will implement the fair tax and change the structure of our economy.

HANNITY: I agree.

HUCKABEE: That's how we're going to fix it.

HANNITY: I agree with that. But now, one other thing, when we come back, I want to talk about the double standard as relates to Nancy Pelosi's plane, the spending if government -- if we ever had an analysis where anger of government like we do the private sector, it'd be an entirely different world.

We'll come back with Mike Huckabee.

Also, who's going to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat? One Illinois congressman has some recommendations for a replacement. We're going to tell you about his controversial idea.

More with Mike Huckabee on why race has just reentered politics, and best-selling author, Pastor Rick Warren, in studio defines the real purpose behind Christmas. And we'll also ask him about the new president, what he expects come Inauguration Day.

Straight ahead.

ANNOUNCER: HANNITY & COLMES is brought to you by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to go to the White House, he is leaving his junior Senate seat vacant, and now, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has the task of choosing his replacement.

It seems the vacancy is giving Illinois congressman and former Black Panther, Bobby Rush, a chance to infuse race into the decision. He's calling on the governor to name an African-American.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BOBBY RUSH (D-IL), ILLINOIS CONGRESSMAN: With the election of President-elect Obama, we now have an African-American in the U.S. -- we have now have no African-American in the U.S. Senate, and we believe that it would be a national disgrace to not have this great seats filled by one of the many capable African-American who are Illinois politicians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Congressman Rush went on to say that if a white politician were appointed, it would, quote, "shortchanged the empowerment of the African community."

We continue now with Governor Mike Huckabee. By the way, his brand new book, number four this week on the "New York Times" list.

Very exciting for your, Governor. "Do the Right Thing." Thanks for being back with us.

I think we just agree, we -- I think one of the benefits -- if you care about race relations getting better in this country, as I do, from early days of my career, and I have tapes of me battling Klan members in Alabama on the radio and standing up to them. If you care about these things and there are important -- the election of Barack Obama was good for America.

This is a step backwards for me. Your thoughts.

HUCKABEE: Well, I think it's almost disingenuous for Congressman Rush to say that we've elected an African-American president and now we insist that the seat of his Senate post be held by an African American. I mean that's fine if that's the most qualified person.

But Illinois needs to look for the most qualified person. If it's African-American, fine. But we ought to be in a time when we don't judge people by their color.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: And I think the election of Barack Obama ought to eliminate that discussion from the glass ceiling. It shattered. It no longer is there.

HANNITY: It's great.

HUCKABEE: If you can become president, you can do anything in America.

HANNITY: All right. Let me go back to this issue. I guess we could say Princess Pelosi? We could say Prince Harry Reid.

You know, Harry Reid made the following comment, and I'm going to follow up and then ask you a question. But listen to what he said. Now, this was a visitor's center that originally they proposed at 71 million taxpayer dollars, and the end figure was 621 million taxpayer dollars. Let's roll this tape he talks about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: My staff has always said, "Don't say this," but I'm going to say it again, because it's so a descriptive, because it's true.

Leader Boehner mentioned that tourists lined up in the summer and winter, long lines coming into the Capitol. In the summertime, because the high humidity and how hot it gets here, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That's Prince Reid, so we have $71 million that becomes $671 million where you have this corporate execs, all lectured about their private jet use, we pay for Princess Pelosi's jet. We pay for it, Governor. And I'm sitting here, thinking, what sanctimony paid bankrupt to Social Security and Medicare. Why isn't there anger towards government and their misappropriation of funds?

HUCKABEE: Well, Harry Reid's statement has to be one of the most bizarre and you want to just say Senator, why didn't you listen to your staff? They are a lot smarter than you are.

I mean here it is, how dare the great unwashed of America, the taxpayers who are footing the bill for that visitor center, show up and not smell as sweet, because they don't get to ride the special elevators that the senator is privileged to.

COLMES: I think he was joking, Governor. I think he was joking.

HUCKABEE: Well, it's a terrible.

HANNITY: We smell?

HUCKABEE: You know what, I've said some jokes for which people have demanded me to make an apology. And.

HANNITY: Do we smell?

HUCKABEE: And I was joking.

COLMES: It was a joke.

HANNITY: What if I said liberals smell?

COLMES: All right.

HUCKABEE: I never said anybody.

COLMES: You have.

HUCKABEE: I never said that my boss.

HANNITY: I have not.

(LAUGHTER)

COLMES: Well, Governor, let me ask you this. You talk about overspending. You don't like the fact that there is all this spending from Congress. They voted for the bailout.

Saxby Chambliss, who you just championed in the last segment, he voted for the bailout. Why would you support him then?

HUCKABEE: Well, because I think he regrets that he did. Yes, he did vote for the bailout.

COLMES: No, he doesn't.

HUCKABEE: Well, let me tell you this. I was with Saxby. I think he knows that that was probably the best vote. In fact, I'm convinced Saxby probably wouldn't have been on the runoff had it not been for that bailout vote.

COLMES: But he hasn't -- he hasn't said he regrets the vote. He never made that statement.

HUCKABEE: But there's a lot of things he is for. He is for the fair tax, he is pro- life, he is pro-Second Amendment. He does believe in things that I believe in. And I think, you know, compared to Jim Martin, who is against the Second Amendment, who didn't believe in lowering taxes, there were a whole lot of reasons to be for Saxby Chambliss.

I'm delighted he won. He's a great senator, a good friend.

COLMES: Governor, you just said in the last segment.

HUCKABEE: And Alan, that election is over.

COLMES: . we should get out -- we should get these people out of Congress.

HUCKABEE: He won, Alan. He won.

COLMES: Yes. You should -- you just said in the last segment we should get this people out of Congress who voted, you know, to spend all this money.

HUCKABEE: Well, I do think we should get a bunch of the people out of Congress. I'd love to see us say, if you're not going to change the tax structure in this country, if you're not going to balance the budget, then we'll bring you home.

COLMES: All right.

HUCKABEE: . and send some folks up who can. I think we could almost do as well picking 535 names out of the telephone book with what I've seen here lately.

COLMES: All right, good. We can replace Saxby. That's fine.

Listen, Governor, thanks. Good luck with your show. Your show's great on the weekends here on FOX News. Great to see you once again.

HUCKABEE: Thank you, Alan.

COLMES: Thank you very much.

HUCKABEE: Thank you, Sean.

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