FNC’s Huckabee Ultimatum?
Real Clear Politics’ Erin McPike writes that FNC has given Mike Huckabee a deadline to decide whether he’s running or not…(via J$)
Now, he may have to offer his decision by the end of the month. Republican operatives familiar with the deliberations at Fox News say that the network has told Huckabee he has until the end of the month to make up his mind about the race or he’ll be cut off, just as Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were when the then-contributors were still in the consideration phase.
Update: Politico’s Andy Barr has Huckabee and FNC disputing the alleged ultimatum…
Mike Huckabee is knocking down a report that Fox News has given him a looming deadline to decide whether he’s running for president.
Citing GOP operatives, RealClearPolitics reported Thursday that the network has given Huckabee until the end of May to opt against a run or lose his lucrative contract as a cable pundit.
But Huckabee’s top aide told POLITICO that the network has imposed no such deadline, and Fox also disputed the report.
Related: Politico’s Ben Smith writes that FNC has terminated its deals with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because they haven’t made up their minds…
Fox News has terminated its contracts with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum after the deadline for them to decide on presidential bids passed on May 1, a source familiar with the move told POLITICO.
Inside Cable News 
May 5, 2011 at 1:02 pm
I should think that sucks for him. The other guys were occasional guests, but he’s got a pretty good gig going, and seems to enjoy it. Give that up for a one-in-ten chance of being Prez? Beats the hell out of me.
May 5, 2011 at 1:04 pm
He should not; he hosts that weekend talent show, right?
May 5, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Closer to one in ten for the nomination one in a hundred for POTUS; and I’m being generous.
May 5, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Yeah, I pulled that number out of somewhere. Sue me.
May 5, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Huckabee has a bizarre Opposite World problem. In most cases, the Republican field consists of uber conservatives who can’t win a General, or what are derided by conservatives as RINOs who could win a General, but can’t get the nomination.
Mike Huckabee is a far right evangelical Christian “family values” candidate who seems able to schmooze independents/moderates much the same way Reagan did, but is distrusted by the conservative right who agree with him. I don’t get that..
May 5, 2011 at 1:58 pm
^Basically he’s Bush 2.0.
May 5, 2011 at 2:23 pm
I agree that Bush appealed to moderates, but I don’t recall distrust amongst conservatives.
May 5, 2011 at 2:58 pm
“I agree that Bush appealed to moderates, but I don’t recall distrust amongst conservatives.” – joeremi
Oh, no? Please see: Sullivan, Andrew.
May 5, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Based upon recent election outcomes, being a “moderate” Republican candidate would likely continue to be a disadvantage in the general election. It’s mostly liberals who maintain the myth that “moderate” is preferred over “conservative” to the overall electorate, and that does not appear to be true.
In the ’04 election, Sen. Kerry provided voters a stark choice against Pres. Bush. Then, in the ’08 election, polls were showing Sen. McCain going down in flames until the more conservative Gov. Palin was nominated as his running mate, and she significantly boosted his numbers.
“Independent” does not necessarily equate with “moderate”; they are more often people who base their choices upon their own not-so-partisan sets of criteria.
May 5, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Oh, no? Please see: Sullivan, Andrew.
Sullivan is a crackpot. He gets his own “doesn’t matter what he says” category.
Moderates and independents.
Agreed, Al. I initially intended to represent them as two separate categories, but got lazy. Normally when I say “moderates/independents” I mean “the moderates” and “the independents”. Moderates are less ideological varieties of whatever party they belong to. Independents are more in the ‘pick and choose from this side or that’ variety.
Btw, that ‘pick and choose’ thing they’re so proud of is crap. Get a moral center and stick with it, Sparky. ‘Independent’ is on par with New Age religions that claim “God is within in me”, then ‘pick and choose’ the parts of other religions that are easy to follow. Gimme a break.
May 5, 2011 at 5:22 pm
FNC has terminated its deals with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because they haven’t made up their minds…
Santorum and Gingrich were were suspended back in March, I think because they launched exploratory committees. He’s been appearing, and both have since been appearing regularly on other networks. Does Huckabee currently have an exploratory committee?
May 5, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Agree with Al re Palin; she saved McCain from going down in HUGE flames; in fact, wasn’t he winning until he made the decision to go back to Washington and postpone the debate; or something.
Gen Hugh Shelton, wrote that McCain was “unstable” in his biography.
McCain should really retire.
May 5, 2011 at 7:03 pm
wasn’t he winning?
No, he was in Bob Dole “not a chance in hell’ territory..Palin was a Hail Mary. Unfortunately, putting her a heartbeat away from the Presidency robbed McCain of his “experience” argument against Obama. Not too swift.
May 5, 2011 at 8:56 pm
McCain still got far more votes with Palin than he would have without her. Whitney is pretty much right… that was McCain’s chance to be bold and show his ability to lead. Instead, he resorted to acting like someone with too many years experience as a senate deliberator.
My fear during that long campaign was that Gov. Bill Richardson would have won the Dem nomination and faced-off against McCain. I would have had to vote for Richardson.
May 5, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Huck does not have an exploratory committee because his weekend show would be off if he did. Still I think FNC isn’t going to wait for that if Huck continues to make candidate-like moves, since my thinking at least is that he is going to run.
May 5, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Agreed that he’d be off the network if he had an exploratory committee, but I don’t see why FNC would care one way or the other until he does make at least that basic step toward running. He’s been saying for months now that he won’t make a decision until Summer.
Is he hurting FNC in some way now? I suppose they could just want an excuse to end his contract.
May 6, 2011 at 1:58 am
Think Huck likes his pay check and will milk his weekend talent show through the entire summer; his show is one I avoid all the time.
His and Geraldo’s are a skip at my house.
Noticed that Huck lost all that weight by running…well his chin is getting bigger each weekend.
FNC should cut their losses, IMO.
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