Despite all the signs saying yes, the former governor says, 'My heart said no.' Huckabee won't run in 2012

Mike Huckabee opted against a run for the 2012 Republican nomination Saturday night, saying that despite all the signs saying yes, “My heart says no.”

The former Arkansas governor’s decision instantly reshapes the contest, creating a wide-open field in Iowa, where Huckabee won the 2008 caucuses, and an opening for some of the second-tier hopefuls who could appeal to Huckabee’s base of conservatives and evangelical Christians.


Most of those candidates began the jockeying immediately, with statements praising Huckabee landing almost the moment he finally revealed his decision in the closing moments of his Fox News show, just before 9 p.m., saying he had reached it after intense prayer.

“For me, to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it with God’s full blessing is unthinkable,” the former pastor said, driving the suspense up to the last moment. “I can’t know or predict the future, but I know for now, my answer is clear and firm: I will not seek the Republican nomination for president this year.”

It was one of the most-hyped recent political statements, with the least surprising outcome.

For an hour, the entire political world sat transfixed by a sort of Southern-fried Catskills variety show, featuring a former “Saved by the Bell” cast member (Mario Lopez), the pol himself playing bass on “Cat Scratch Fever” with Ted Nugent and even a postscript from developer Donald Trump, who praised Huckabee.

The consummate outsider who has always kept his own counsel, Huckabee took a parting shot at the critics whose respect he’s never had in full — and whose acknowledgment he’s clearly craved. “Even though I wasn’t actively campaigning, polls have consistently put me at the top, or near the top, to be the Republican nominee,” he said.

Though he’d “shattered” assumptions that he only had regional appeal, Huckabee pointed out, his name would sometimes “go unmentioned” while pundits were discussing others in the field who were barely cracking single digits.

Despite few signs of visible political movement, Huckabee was able to stay undecided for months thanks to that consistent strength in both national and early-state polls. He would have entered the race as a clear frontrunner and, unlike during his dark horse run in 2008, likely seen the doors of donors and institutional players open to him because of it.

The decision to stay out for now allows Huckabee to continue one thing that has eluded him for much of his life — making money. As far back as last February, he was citing the paycheck he’d be walking away from as a factor against running. And a source inside Fox News told POLITICO that Huckabee has been discussed as a possible replacement for the departing Glenn Beck.(Huckabee’s executive producer, Woody Fraser, is said to be close with Fox News president Roger Ailes.)

But he made clear he plans to stay involved and have a role in the debate in the future of the presidential campaign. Some of his supporters argue he should be on every short list for vice president.

The hourlong show served as a synopsis of the man himself: a man scarred by growing up poor in Hope, Ark., angered by an establishment that never included him, a proud devout Christian and a teenage DJ who dreamed of the klieg lights.

Huckabee’s un orthodox approach to revealing personal political news capped a two-day media tour of Fox properties in which he whipped up a frenzy of interest, while leaving his own closest friends and advisers in the dark.

It wasn’t clear how close Huckabee actually came to running — at times, his advisers seemed to want it more than he did, as his senior adviser, Ed Rollins, acknowledged Friday.

Rollins had been working for weeks putting in place the pieces of a campaign. But reached moments after the announcement, he was unfazed.

“Whatever,” he told POLITICO, chuckling. “Wish him well.”

Rollins said he knew Huckabee had struggled with the decision.

So did Mike Campbell, a major Huckabee booster in South Carolina, who until recently predicted a run.

“If his heart truly wasn’t in it and he didn’t have the fire in the belly to do it, then he shouldn’t run, no matter how strongly those of us who thought so fondly of him wanted him to do it,” Campbell said.

Another adviser, David Polyansky, said he respected “what had to be a wrenching personal decision.”

Rollins predicted a race in which Huckabee continues to “subtly” antagonize Mitt Romney, his nemesis from 2008 over whom he vaulted to win the caucuses. Even as he prepared to pull out of the race on Saturday, Huckabee has made his dislike for Romney clear — tweaking the former Massachusetts governor’s health care speech during the hour-long Saturday show. That sentiment alone was seen as a potential temptation to him to run.

Rollins added: “I think it easily opens up the social conservative side.” He predicted that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and another Minnesotan, Rep. Michele Bachmann, could be the immediate beneficiaries, especially if Sarah Palin stays out of the race.

Huckabee’s move could also benefit Rick Santorum, the deeply conservative former Pennsylvania senator, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who plans to work Iowa aggressively.

The fluid race also is likely to include former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. And many Republican elites are still hoping Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will get in. Both, though, are moderates and less likely to run strong in Iowa.

That did not stop Huntsman from almost immediately making a play for the Huckabee vote with an emailed statement.

“Our country has been very fortunate to have Mike Huckabee as a leader and public servant. His commitment to this country and its core values — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — is a model to which all elected officials should aspire,” said Huntsman, another former high school rocker who mentioned Huckabee’s bass-playing and thanked him for his “friendship.”

Pawenty’s statement took note of Huckabee’s wife, Janet, whom the former pol credited with pushing him toward a run, instead of away from one.

“Mike Huckabee is a friend and colleague, and an important leader within the Republican Party,” Pawlenty said. “Mike and I agree our nation is facing big challenges and desperately needs new leadership, and I plan to work hard to earn the support of the millions of Americans who have supported him. Mary and I wish Mike and Janet all the best.”

Gingrich, playing for that Christian conservative vote in Iowa, issued a four-paragraph statement praising Huckabee’s “character.”

“His statement tonight emphasized the spiritual dimension of his life and his decision process. It is a wonderful example for all Americans of someone trying to do the right thing,” Gingrich said. “Governor Huckabee will remain a major force for conservatism and he will play a major role in shaping America’s future. Callista and I wish him and his family a wonderful, happy, and successful future.”

And Santorum tweeted he was “so impressed” with Huckabee for “putting the role of prayerfully following God’s will as the most important factor, because it is.”

By 11 p.m., neither Romney nor Bachmann had issued a statement.

Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns contributed to this report.