The Men from Hope

For those outside the state, Arkansas politics has meant just one man, former President Bill Clinton, for years. But Mike Huckabee hopes to change that.

Now, another Arkansan hopes to occupy the highest office in the land. For former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) — a socially conservative Republican — comparisons between his politics and personality and those of Clinton could impact Huckabee’s presidential bid for the White House in surprising ways.

Little was known about Huckabee nationally before he made the decision to vie for the presidency, though he was in the spotlight in 2003 for making Body Mass Index testing mandatory in public schools across the state. The move made his state the first in the nation to compile reports on obesity based on the population of public schools. This mandatory testing policy stemmed from Huckabee’s diabetes diagnosis in 2002.

Just two years later, Clinton would undergo a quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery that would lead him to find a healthier alternative to his beloved Big Mac.

“The biggest comparison made between the two is the issue of health,” said Mark Scott, Huckabee’s director of public communication from 2005-2006. “Clinton worked alongside Huckabee to help take junk food out of public schools.”

Huckabee’s battle with diabetes and weight lost was documented in his book, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork, which attracted national media attention. The book prompted an article in The Arkansas Times on Sept. 22, 2005. In “Huckabee for President,” Warwick Sabin listed the pros and cons of comparing Huckabee to Clinton.

The article noted of Huckabee’s standing as chair of the National Governor’s Association — a position Clinton had once occupied during his stint, which was no doubt a springboard to a higher office.

But the real comparison between the two men begins in the small town of Hope, Arkansas. Hope was made relatively famous in Clinton’s 1992 Democratic Convention acceptance speech, “I still believe in a place called Hope,” a speech in which he positioned himself as the “family values” candidate, a product of an American middle class.

Both small-town boys made it big early on at Arkansas Boys State, a national government education program sponsored by the American Legion, in which high school juniors learn about the responsibilities of elected officials. Both received the program’s most coveted titles. Clinton was one of two senators from the program to visit Washington in the summer of 1963, which has been immortalized in the photo of him shaking hands with then President John F. Kennedy. Huckabee became governor of Boys State in the summer of 1973.

Later in life, Clinton and Huckabee shared the distinction of being some of the nation’s longest-serving governors. Clinton held the position for 11 years (1979-1981, 1983-1992), while Huckabee has held the office from 1996 to 2007. On the May 17, 2005 edition of the Tavis Smiley Show on PBS, Huckabee was introduced as the second-longest standing governor in the U.S.

Both men's wives’ also sought public office, though the outcomes weren’t the same. Hillary Clinton won a seat in the New York Senate in 2000, while Janet Huckabee lost a bid for Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002.

But political experiences aren't the only similarities the two have. They are both Baptists whose birthdays fall within the same week, and they share a passion for playing music — Clinton has a well-known talent for playing the saxophone and Huckabee plays bass for his band Capitol Offense.

However, the fact that Huckabee is a Republican and Clinton a Democrat is probably grounds enough to assume that their political credos are at least slightly more different than their backgrounds. But, much in the same way that Clinton took his centrist agenda to the entire political spectrum in the 1990s, Huckabee seems to have been able to articulate a message of social conservatism that reaches the American middle class.

Despite the absence of major contenders for the Republican nomination from the Iowa straw poll, Huckabee’s strong second-place showing may be an indication that America is in search of a new conservative administration.

Advocating for a new kind of administration would not be so different from Clinton's political strategy, analysts said.

“Like Clinton, Huckabee can claim to be the ‘change’ candidate. As with the 1992 election, 2008 is a time when many Americans will have a negative perception of what is going on in Washington,” said Jay Barth, a professor of politics at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.

The resemblances between the two men are not as shallow as some originally thought when Huckabee first appeared on the national scene in 2005. But Clinton is definitely a tough act to follow and political analysts — as well as the voters — know that Huckabee is not Clinton.

“Huckabee will be evaluated on his own terms,” Barth said.

Clinton believed in a place called Hope, and Huckabee is hoping America will give Hope another chance.