Huckabee on Hillary: A Healthy Respect

Newsweek features an interview with presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. Among other issues they talk about why conservative Christian leaders don't seem to be giving him a chance yet and about his viability against Hillary Clinton.

The first argument they seem to making about you is, "He can't beat Hillary. He doesn't have the chops to beat Hillary. He doesn't have the money to beat Hillary. He can't do it." Lately, we're also hearing, "He doesn't have the foreign-policy credentials, he can't fight the war on terror." Well, I think I would probably be poised to beat Hillary more than any other candidate in the race. One, because among the things I'll bring to the race will be a more intimate knowledge of her and what she's likely to do. I know her better than any of the other people running for president ... and therefore have a healthier respect for her. On foreign policy ... a lot of people underestimate the exposure that governors have to an international stage. We're dealing with trade issues and cultural exchanges, and in the case of the war, we've all been responsible for being a part of helping send out National Guard troops into Iraq. Most of us have been there--I've been to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait.

What were your dealings with Hillary?
Personally, I didn't have a lot of dealings with her; I had more with her husband. And even those were somewhat limited, because it wasn't like we were hanging out together. But I understand something about some of her passions and priorities. I know a lot of the people she was very close to. Arkansas is a small enough state so that everybody knows everybody. Heck, most everybody is kin to everybody, so it even gets more intimate than that. So, I know her to be a person of incredible discipline, extraordinary focus. Very different from her husband, who is the ultimate accommodator. She is not a natural accommodator. She may evolve into that for the campaign, but it is not her basic nature to accommodate the opposition ... You know I always had, frankly, a decent and good relationship with her and with Bill Clinton and see no reason that I wouldn't continue to, even if we were opponents. It doesn't have to be uncivil. But I do think the Republicans tend to underestimate her, because I hear a lot of them say things like, "I hope she's the nominee; boy, that will energize the base." What they don't understand is it will energize her base, too, and that's a pretty good-sized base.