COUNCIL BLUFFS, Ia - Mike Huckabee promised Iowa voters Saturday that they can maintain their influence as the leading caucus state by supporting him for president.

Huckabee pointed out that he was able to come from behind in the polls to become Iowa�s Republican front runner despite �being outspent 20 to 1� by the other candidates on fliers, TV ads, and consultants.

�This election is going to be an opportunity to prove that, in America, the presidency is not so much a matter of money. It is about the message, and it is about the direction this country is going to take,� he said. �It would forever enshrine Iowa�s role and significance in having the caucus.�

The former Arkansas governor spoke to a crowd of about 120 people who came to a downtown civic center on a blustery weekend morning. He was scheduled to continue his Western Iowa tour later in the day at stops in Sioux City, Orange City, and Sheldon.

Steve Jacobsen, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter Sarah, who helped make several pro-Huckabee signs, were among those waiting to talk to the candidate after the event. The 47-year-old IT director from Glenwood said Huckabee�s appeal shows that his message has strength beyond all the other candidates� �glitzy ads.�

�I just like him because I know he has a basic value he�ll use in any decision,� Jacobsen said. �I don�t have to worry about where he�s going to come from when he makes a decision.�

Jacobsen said Huckabee�s position on taxes most appealed to him because the current system for filing taxes is too burdensome and difficult.


Huckabee spoke for about a half hour on a whole slate of issues, including his support for replacing all federal income and payroll taxes with a progressive national sales tax, from which people below the poverty line would receive a full rebate.

�Imagine how much of a difference it will make to small business owners who now spend so much time and energy just trying to comply with the tax code,� he said. ��.The FairTax gives us the best way to revitalize our economy and particularly untax the poor and give them a chance to meet the next rung on the economic ladder.�

Huckabee also touched on his proposals to invest more in preventative health care, spend more money to better equip the military, secure the nation�s borders against illegal immigration, and oppose amnesty for people already here illegally.

He reaffirmed his stance against recognizing gay marriage and abortion, and spoke more about the issue after a woman asked him to pray with her group protesting that morning in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.

�Either we value human life or we don�t,� he said. �In many ways, I got into politics because I�m deeply pro-life and I believe that, on this issue, the future of our civilization will live or die.�

Not all of Huckabee�s promises dealt with such weighty topics. At the start of his speech, he apologized to the crowd for being a half-hour late and blamed the delay on waiting for �the world�s longest train.�

�When I�m president, we�re gonna fix that,� he said, generating laughter among the crowd. �We guarantee short trains in Council Bluffs.�

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