Huckabee stresses experience in office to separate himself from crowded field

MANCHESTER - With 17 candidates competing, Mike Huckabee says the race for the Republican presidential nomination is like watching NASCAR.

'You never know who's going to have a wreck,” the former Arkansas governor told about 40 people in Manchester Tuesday.

As with NASCAR, the campaign is getting a lot of attention, including the 24 million people who watched the first Republican candidate debate.

'That's a good sign for the country. It's indicative of the fact that there's a real interest in this country right now, where we're headed, what's going to happen and what kind of country will there be for these little guys over here,” Huckabee said as he pointed to a pair of youngsters also inside the Pizza Ranch where he met with supporters.

Huckabee, who had to cancel an appearance in Independence and was an hour later for the Manchester event because of travel delays, made the case that no other candidate has the experience he gained during his tenure on the Arkansas Statehouse.

He thinks voters are looking for 'someone who has actually governed, has a strong record of governing in a tough environment, who's faced the Clinton machine and has the ability to articulate our message and get votes Republicans don't historically get, like African-Americans and women and union members - all of which I have a strong, long-standing history of achieving.”

And while there are 16 other Republicans who want the job, 'I want to do the job,” Huckabee said.

'Quite frankly, I think the next president had better walk into the Oval Office on Day One understanding what it means to sit in that chair, sit at that desk and make the tough decisions,” he said.

One of the easiest decisions for Huckabee would be asking for congressional approval of the FairTax, which he called 'fair, flat, finite and family friendly.” It's a tax on retail purchase that would replace income and payroll taxes.

He also wants to protect Social Security and Medicare rather than 'means test, cut or gut.”

Huckabee also promised that by 2020 - when he hopes to be up for re-election - Islamic State will have been defeated and energy prices will be lower because of the development of biofuels, hydro, nuclear, wind and solar.

He also wants to launch a decadelong effort to find cures for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease - the big drivers of health care costs.

Not everyone in his audience was as enthused about the FairTax as Huckabee, but he defended it as a way to encourage companies to repatriate the $11 trillion they have parked overseas, boost manufacturing and job creation and reduce the tax burden, especially for low-income Americans.

The FairTax, he added, would eliminate the economic incentive for hiring undocumented immigrants.

Huckabee, whose poll numbers, put him in the middle of the pack, said his plan is to win the Iowa caucuses as he did in 2008 with the largest number of votes in the history of the caucuses.

'I need your help,” he said, and promised to be back 'many, many times.”