Huckabee rallies support for Vander Plaats in Cedar Rapids

The Tea Party movement represents an energized Republican base, and its members shouldn't think of looking elsewhere, is Mike Huckabee's advice.

“I think the Tea Party has energized a whole new political group of people,” Huckabee, the former Arkansas Republican governor and current FOX News commentator. “It's been 100-percent positive.”

Huckabee, in Cedar Rapids today to rally support for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, said the year-old protest movement has attracted new activists to the party.

“Maybe they voted, but these aren't the people who went to the county committee meetings,” Huckabee said. “They started standing up and speaking up.”

Huckabee and Vander Plaats want to make those new activists feel at home.

“For the most part, they'll join up with conservative Republicans,” Huckabee predicted.

He's probably right: In a CNN/Opinion Research last week, 44 percent of those who had attended Tea Party events or otherwise supported the movement identified themselves as Republicans. Of the 52 percent who self-identified as “independent,” 87 percent would vote for a Republican congressional candidate if an independent alternative weren't available.

Huckabee wants to make sure an independent isn't available.

“If the Tea Party falls into a third party, it's the end of it,” he said. “Their power now is that they represent a mood and a spirit, not an organization. When they become institutionalized, that will be their demise.”

Vander Plaats is the best fit for the newcomers, especially those concerned over the state Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage, according to Huckabee.

“Bob hs been the most stalwart, clear candidate on conviction when it comes to something that's not just a social issue, it's an economic issue,” said Huckabee, arguing that limiting marriage rights to heterosexual couples strengthens families' earning power.

Marriage could be a difference-maker in the run to June's GOP primary. Former Gov. Terry Branstad leads Vander Plaats in recent polls, but the head of the Iowa Family Policy Center. has said his group's members will skip the election if Branstad is nominated.

“The thing to do is to get Bob nominated and get him elected, and that's not even an issue,” said Huckabee, who organized a Cedar Rapids phone bank Wednesday for Vander Plaats. “The smart thing is for people who are dissatisfied with business as usual to vote for someone who won't be business as usual.”

After a $1,500-a-plate luncheon for Vander Plaats, Huckabee is scheduled to key a rally at 5:30 p.m. at the Cedar Rapids Marriott Hotel, 1200 Collins Rd. NE. The rally is open to public.

“People just absolutely love Gov. Huckabee,” said Vander Plaats. “For him to be here and to endorse our campaign in a very tight primary between me and Gov. Branstad, it means a ton to us, and I think it's going to be one of the differences.”

It's not meant as a criticism of Branstad.

“He's a very dear friend,” Huckabee said. “This is not about Terry Branstad, this is about a very deep, strong, personal relationship I have with Bob Vander Plaats,”

And it's not about the next Iowa caucuses, just under two years off.

“It's a little getting ahead of the process when people are trying to lay out 2012,” Huckabee said. “I'm not going to rule anything out, but I'm not even going to start thinking about my position in 2012 until sometime in 2011.”