Today, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He did so from his hometown of Hope, AR in a plain-spoken, yet at times fiery speech.  He ran for the GOP nomination in 2008, winning the Iowa Caucus with strong support from Evangelical Christian voters and other social conservatives.  He hopes for the same kind of support this time around.

With regards to domestic issues, he focused on improving how our VA serves the nation’s vets.  He promised to work on fixing Medicare and Social Security for the next generation while keeping the our country’s promises to the current retirees. He spoke in support of Second Amendment right to bear arms, and being a gun owner himself.

On foreign policy, he blasted President Obama on several fronts.  He criticized him for his treatment of Israel and the pending nuclear arms deal with Iran.  On the later point he declared the Iran would never get a nuclear weapon while he was President.  He also stated that he would never apologize for America. In another swipe at Obama’s foreign policy he said, “As president, I promise you, we will no longer try to contain Jihadism. We will conquer it.”

Governor Huckabee no doubt hopes he can capitalize on the President’s deep unpopularity with the religious Right and a perception of Obama/Clinton foreign policy failure to carry him across the finish line to the GOP nomination this time around.  He will have to vie with several other Republican candidates for that conservative vote.  He benefits from the name recognition and platform he gained by hosting his own show on Fox News.  His folksy style is something the common person can relate to, something Mit Romney struggled with in the last election.  He does not have Romney’s money, so he will need a string of early primary wins in order to win over the donor money he will need to take him further than in 2008.