Does Newt Like Mike?

I was surprised to see New Gingrich as one of the Vertical Day Guest Bloggers on MikeHuckabee.com.

Newt compliments Gov. Huckabee throughout his post (of course, it is written for the Huckabee blog, but still...):

"I’ve been very impressed with the Governor’s openness to new ideas and solutions for improving our country."

"He showed genuine leadership a few weeks ago by being the first candidate to sign the Nine Nineties in Nine debate pledge."

"By committing to a much more in-depth, solution-oriented political dialogue in our country, Governor Huckabee showed that he’s truly interested in real change."

(Emphasis all mine)

All this to say, if Newt does not get into the Presidential race (which I think he will not), is he setting up to endorse Mike Huckabee? This isn't the first time he's spoken highly of the Governor, and I have a feeling that it won't be the last.

Will James Dobson and Newt Gingrich endorse Mike Huckabee? Only time will tell...

Thompson won't debate Huckabee

Thompson Campaign Says No to Huckabee Debate Challenge

September 11, 2007

The Brody File has been told by Fred Thompson's campaign that he will NOT debate Mike Huckabee one on one. Huckabee had issued the debate challenge last week. Here's what Thompson's Communication Director Todd Harris just told me:

“We have the greatest respect for Gov. Huckabee and respect his desire to elevate the discourse in this campaign. But there are nine people running for the GOP nomination and an arbitrary pairing of just two of them does a disservice to the voters. We will push hard for Lincoln-Douglas style debates once we get into the General Election, when there are only two candidates running.”

To be fair to Thompson, when he said ON The Tonight Show that he backed Newt Gingrich’s debate plan, that plan was for the General Election, not the primaries. You can read about the Gingrich plan here.

You can read more about Mike Huckabee’s challenge to Thompson here.

I will say to Huckabee’s credit he is the only candidate so far that has officially endorsed Gingrich’s debate plan, though Thompson sounds like he’s ok with it too.

Everybody talks about how Thompson will be a thorn in the side of Romney. It looks to me like Huckabee will be a thorn in the side of Thompson. All of them want to be the social conservative guy.

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/229168.aspx