10:10 PM: Huckabee warns of 'incredible resentment' if primary process cut off
SOUTH MILWAUKEE -- Declaring a GOP nominee before the primary results are in would be an insult to the party's grassroots, Mike Huckabee said Sunday night, warning it could create "incredible resentment" among the party's "foot soldiers."
Huckabee's comments came on the eve of the expected endorsement of John McCain by President George H.W. Bush. Huckabee chalked that up to those in Washington thinking the race for the GOP nomination is over.
"You wanted to have a system that says here a process," Huckabee said at a South Milwaukee bowling alley. "Now that we are in the middle of the process, of the game, people are saying, 'Let's not even finish it out.'"
Huckabee said the move to cut off the process could alienate the party's grassroots and the ensuing resentment could damage party unity.
Huckabee returned to wintry Wisconsin on Sunday after delivering a speech in the Cayman Islands Saturday night. Event coordinators said that 150 people turned out to see Huckabee.
Ben Jageer, 24, of Oak Creek, said he supports Huckabee because McCain "is a little to willing to compromise." He also likes Huckabee's straightforwardness.
Lora Siehr, 48, of West Allis, said that Huckabee "is the right man for the job." But she will vote for McCain if Huckabee is not the nominee.
Huckabee stressed his anti-abortion credentials, his push for a so-called "fair tax" and his stance on immigration, a weak spot for McCain with some conservatives.
When asked about McCain's statement that he would not create any new taxes, Huckabee said that he was ahead of McCain, having signed a No New Tax pledge last February.
He opened the event by inviting the media to bowl a game with him and his wife.
At times the couple would use the media cameras to take photos of the bowlers, getting in their faces and snapping photos.
-- By Samantha Hernandez
Labels: 2008 spring primary