What a difference three months can make.
Back in September, Mike Huckabee was being written off. He’d raised less than a million dollars in the Third Quarter and had less cash on hand than every other Republican.
Today, he’s leading in two of of the three early primaries, and the man who led Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign is taking over as his campaign chairman:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A veteran Republican strategist considered by many the architect of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide election victory is set to take the helm of Mike Huckabee’s surging presidential bid, CNN has learned.
Ed Rollins — the longtime GOP strategist who worked in the Reagan White House, ran former Sen. Jack Kemp’s 1988 White House run, and played a key role in Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential bid — will be formally named Huckabee’s national campaign chairman later Friday at an event in New Hampshire.
Rollins told CNN’s John King that over the last several months he has become “more and more impressed by the day” with Huckabee.
“I had given up the profession and felt this was probably my last campaign and I wanted to help,” Rollins said. “Mike is someone with great communications skills and a very approachable message and that is why you see his support growing not just in Iowa but across the country.”
The impact of Rollins’ presence on the campaign can’t be understated. He was the Karl Rove, James Carville, and Lee Atwater of the 1980s. He knows what he’s doing, and the fact that he’s signed on with Huckabee is a sign that 2008 is going to be a far different year than we thought it would be even a month ago.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
My mission is three words over the next two months:
Stop Mike Huckabee