Huck at Chuck’s Ranch

ABC News’ Kevin Chupka reports: A day after what many Beltway insiders consider a debilitating loss in South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said his campaign was hitting “the reset button.”  During a press conference at the Lone Wolf Ranch of Chuck Norris in Navasota, Texas, Huckabee spoke of a tough yesterday and what he still sees as his bright tomorrow.

“This is a long haul. Nobody has taken the whole thing yet. It’s still wide open. And what’s good for us is that, as the candidates are starting to filter out, and some are not going on, we’re not that category.”

However, the affable governor did not linger on South Carolina.  He and his campaign are hoping for a strong showing in Florida, but now need to overcome former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has all but set up permanent residence in the Sunshine State, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who will certainly be riding a wave of momentum coming out of South Carolina victorious.

As for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, Huckabee, like many keeping a watchful eye on this election season, sees the writing on the wall.  “Thompson said it was Iowa, then South Carolina, and in both cases, it hadn’t happened for him, so, I have to make assumption, based on what he said in his speech last night, that we’re only a time frame away from when he says that it’s over," said Huckabee. "It’s not my decision to make for him, but if he doesn’t, then he has to explain why he said it would be over if he didn’t win Iowa, and didn’t win South Carolina, and he didn’t come close in either contest.

Of note is the fact that Huckabee is using the “d” word –- delegates.  In most campaign cycles, the word is reserved for last ditch efforts when a campaign is hanging by a thread.  The condensed primary schedule, and packed Republican field, this time around, may mean that the delegate count matters more and earlier than ever. “This is a contest about delegates, and even the contest of the delegates isn’t one that’s gonna be over after Florida, or probably even after Feb. 5th … now, I think everybody’s sort of retooled and said, ‘no, this could go on all the way to the convention’ -– it very well could.”

Huckabee even left open the possibility that he and someone like McCain could broker a deal to share delegates, come convention time, to form a ticket that would beat former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who currently leads in the count. “If he [McCain] was in that position, and wanted to be, maybe, willing to broker things together, and he could be my vice president, I’m certain I would give every consideration to that,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee’s host and supporter, Chuck Norris, chimed in on his support for the governor, and why he decided not to endorse McCain, whom he has known for over 20 years. He claimed that recent presidents have aged at a rate of three to one during their tenures, due to the high stress level of the job. “Now, I’m thinking if John takes over the presidency at 72, and if he ages three to one, how old will he be in four years? He’ll be 84 years old.  Can he handle that kind of pressure in that job?  And so, that’s why I didn’t pick John to support, because I was just afraid that the vice president would wind up taking over his job within that four-year presidency,” Norris said.

Huckabee wouldn’t comment on whether or not he thought McCain was, indeed, too old, but said, “It’s a tough job to get, and let me be very candid with you.  It ought to be.  Somebody has said this presidency is just –- the process is too long and it’s just too difficult –- I say, no, it isn’t.  It oughta be long and it oughta be difficult.

"You’re asking for the toughest job in the world, and if you aren’t ready to tough it out to get it, you’re probably not gonna be ready to tough it out to handle it.  So, the fact that it’s taking this incredibly long process, and it shows that we have to really get out there day after day, and frankly, take punches, hit the ground, get back up, and answer the bell again, I think people want to know that you’re not easily discouraged, because they think if you’re the leader of the free world, and everyday, somebody says something you don’t like, and you don’t wanna come out of bed that day, you have no business being president of the United States.”

Following the press conference, Huckabee went across the ranch to enjoy a Texas-style barbecue with supporters who paid a minimum of $1,000.  Norris spoke to the crowd before introducing the governor, who reduced his stump speech to only a few minutes, and confidently looked ahead to the Texas primary in March, obviously believing he’ll still be on the ground, grinding out wins by then.

Once the politic-ing was through, Huckabee’s band, Capitol Offense, played a few songs for the Texas crowd of about 150.

Huckabee is spending the night at his home in Little Rock again, before taking it to the streets of Florida and Georgia, Monday and Tuesday.