Huckabee out

“Huckabee says he won’t run for president

By Chris Cillizza, Published: May 14

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will not run for president in 2012, taking himself out of contention despite polling that suggested he would be a strong player for the nomination.

“All the factors say go,” Huckabee said during a live, final segment of his eponymous Fox News Channel show. “But my heart says no.”

Huckabee’s no-go decision was preceded by an appearance by Mario Lopez — of “Saved by the Bell” fame — as well as musician Ted Nugent. Before his announcement Huckabee played bass alongside Nugent on “Cat Scratch Fever.”

In the immediate wake of Huckabee’s decision, businessman Donald Trump, himself a potential 2012 candidate, appeared in a taped message to congratulate the former Arkansas governor.

Anticipation had been building since early Friday when Huckabee touted a “very important announcement” to be made Saturday night. He spoke in only the vaguest terms about what he would say, and even his closest political allies did not know what his decision would be.

Huckabee kept the political world waiting for word on his future for the better part of the past two years.

He was a break-out star in the 2008 presidential race thanks to his sense of humor and social conservative bona fides. Polling both nationally and in Iowa — a critical early voting state — suggested that he retained considerable good will and would be a formidable force if he decided to run again.

But he has long been publicly ambivalent about another presidential campaign. “I’m not one who thinks the future of the world is depending on whether I run for president,” Huckabee told The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty in a February interview in New York City.”