{"id":609,"date":"2008-01-24T19:49:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-24T19:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=609"},"modified":"2008-01-24T19:49:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-24T19:49:00","slug":"ron-paul-wins-poll-in-home-headquartes-of-illegal-alien-exploiters-not-huckabee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=609","title":{"rendered":"Ron Paul wins poll in home headquartes of illegal alien exploiters…Not Huckabee!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

RON PAUL WINS!!! 
\n<\/span>Imp<\/span><\/strong>ortant to
\nrealize this is the home of Tyson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Wal-Mart, George\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, J.B. Hunt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and most
\nof the infamous Arkansas Friendship Coalition organized to protect illegal
\nalien slave labor.  <\/span>They can down play it
\nall they like, but this is very important!!<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www2.arkansasonline.com\/news\/2008\/jan\/24\/huckabee-gets-3rd-benton-county<\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/strong><\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Huckabee gets 3rd in Benton County GOP straw poll<\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Laura Kellams (Contact<\/a>)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

BENTONVILLE – GOP activists in the
\nmost Republican of Arkansas counties handed former Gov. Mike Huckabee a
\nthird-place finish in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153straw poll\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ranking of their favorite presidential
\ncandidates.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

But many of those who voted in the
\ninformal poll at Tuesday night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Benton County Republican Committee event said
\nthey don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finish there will translate to a similar showing in
\nArkansas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Feb. 5 presidential primary.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaign is counting on
\nthat.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve yet to campaign here for the
\nRepublican nomination,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d his spokesman, Alice Stewart, said Wednesday. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Once we
\ndo, we expect to see support all across the state.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Ron Paul came in first in the poll,
\nin which committee members and guests were allowed to participate. Many of
\nPaul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supporters were first-time attendees at a Republican committee meeting.
\nBut Mitt Romney, one of Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief rivals for conservatives\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 votes, also
\nbeat him, despite Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s personal ties to many who voted.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Paul took 52 of 142 votes, while
\nRomney got 35 and Huckabee 30. John McCain came in fourth with 20 votes, and
\nRudy Giuliani had four. Fred Thompson came in last with one vote, despite
\nhaving dropped out of the race earlier in the day.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

State Rep. Donna Hutchinson of Bella
\nVista is a Romney supporter who helped produce radio advertisements in Iowa
\nthat blasted Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record on illegal immigration. She said there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot
\nof disappointment with Huckabee among longtime Republicans in the party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s base
\nof Northwest Arkansas.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The straw poll reflected that, she
\nsaid.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think it indicates a problemthat
\nhas been below the surface that no one has talked about,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hutchinson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A
\nlot of Republicans are upset.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

She said they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like that Huckabee
\ngrew state government and advocated for illegal aliens to receive in-state
\ntuition benefits. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re mostly displeased that he failed to build the
\nparty successfully in 10 years as governor.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But he was our Republican governor,
\nand people didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to say too much [when he was in office],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hutchinson
\nsaid.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Jay Barth, a political science
\nprofessor at Hendrix College in Conway, said the criticism of Huckabee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
\nparty-building efforts is widely held, especially in Northwest Arkansas.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

As the longtime party supporters,
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re particularly conscious of a lost opportunity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a minority statewide,
\nBarth said. He has no doubt Huckabee will win the Republican primary in
\nArkansas, and hefigures it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be with a majority of the vote.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

None of the other candidates are
\ninvesting much energy here, plus, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Arkansas is the ultimate homer state,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he
\nsaid.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Stewart said Huckabee told her that
\nhe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proud of the work he did to support Republican candidates all across the
\nstate. But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also proud of working with people from both parties, she said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Barth said he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprised by
\nPaul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s showing.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He has incredibly fervent support,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nBarth said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Joel Jones of Bella Vista rallied
\nPaul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Benton County \u00e2\u20ac\u0153revolutionaries\u00e2\u20ac\u009d after hearing at the last committee
\nmeeting that a straw poll would take place this month. The other candidates\u00e2\u20ac\u2122
\nsupporters had just as much time to find people to come out to the meeting, he
\nsaid.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Either they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the support,
\nor they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not as passionate,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Jones became a member of the
\ncommittee Tuesday night and said he hopes the other Paul supporters will do the
\nsame, though he pointed out that some longtime committee members also voted for
\nPaul.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

County Chairman George Spence of
\nBentonville said he organized the straw poll for fun and to help build the
\nparty. The committee raised almost $1,000 at a chili supper that took place
\nbefore the meeting, and a crowd including lots of unfamiliar faces overflowed
\ninto the hallway outside the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s usual meeting room.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t over-interpret these
\nresults,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Spence said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is just one small slice. But we had a good time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

State Sen. Dave Bisbee of Rogers,
\nlike Spence, cast his vote for McCain. A former Senate floor leader for
\nHuckabee, Bisbee said after the vote that he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thrilled\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to see that Romney
\nbeat Huckabee.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Asked why, he said he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to
\nsay anything negative about the former governor.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I was the governor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s floor
\nleader while he was governor, but this is president of the United States,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he
\nsaid. Mc-Cain is the only candidate he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comfortable supporting as
\ncommander-in-chief, Bisbee said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He said he still thinks Huckabee
\nwill win the primary election here.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But this shows it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be
\noverwhelming,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs,
\na Huckabee appointee to the Arkansas Highway Commission, voted for the former
\ngovernor. He said was disappointed that Huckabee couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t win the Benton County
\npoll but said it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no sign of things to come.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think there are a lot of people
\nout there who still are going to vote for Mike. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to do quite well in
\nthis state,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Barnett said.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was published Thursday,
\nJanuary 24, 2008<\/strong>. <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Front Section, Pages 7 on 01\/24\/2008<\/span><\/em><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RON PAUL WINS!!!  Important to realize this is the home of Tyson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Wal-Mart, George\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, J.B. Hunt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and most of the infamous Arkansas Friendship Coalition organized to protect illegal alien slave labor.  They can down play it all they like, but this is very important!!   http:\/\/www2.arkansasonline.com\/news\/2008\/jan\/24\/huckabee-gets-3rd-benton-county Huckabee gets 3rd in Benton County GOP straw poll … Continue reading Ron Paul wins poll in home headquartes of illegal alien exploiters…Not Huckabee!!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huckabee-shameful-record","category-presidential-candidates"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}