Mike Huckabee has always presented himself as the regular Joe candidate, the underdog without a huge bankroll supporting him. Huckabee is very publicly considering a run for the 2016 GOP nomination for president. However, since becoming a Fox News commentator, his habit of insisting on flying in chartered planes to appear at political rallies is costing candidates and state and local political organizations big dollars.
A piece at Politico reports Huckabee’s new-found penchant for private planes and reveals the former Arkansas Governor has racked up $253,000 in air travel expenses in the past few years.
The costs of Huckabee’s travel often end up being paid by candidates and political organizations that fly him out to appear on the stump or at issues-oriented rallies. Huckabee “appears to rely on private flights far more frequently than his potential rivals in the 2016 field,” Politico reports.
Former Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker noted that the Iowa GOP paid $15,944 for Huckabee’s flight in February 2013 and also notes that it was the “only time” he ever remembered paying for a speaker’s chartered flight. On the other hand, Spiker also said that he was told that was the only way they could get the former Ark. Gov. into the state in the required time.
Despite Huckabee’s higher-than-average costs of travel – several campaigns told Politico private flights are unusual in their experience – the news site could not find any one complaining too much about the costs they are expected to pay.
In fact, most went out of their way to praise Huckabee as “gracious” and free with his time even as he has a staff that is very protective of their boss. The piece also notes that Huckabee has a very tight schedule with his various radio and TV responsibilities.
“We fly commercial air when we can, because it’s less expensive. When we must use private air, we use private air,” Huckabee spokesman Sylvester Smith said. “In the months between May 1 and June 27, he spent all of five nights at home. That’s it. I don’t think anyone has suggested he is lazy or needs a place to go.”
Still, the high travel fees reportedly paid to Blue Diamond Travel and MDH Group for Huckabee’s expenses are in contrast with the Huckabee who made a major issue out of the high expenses incurred by his rivals.
As Politico reminds readers, in his 2008 book, Do The Right Thing, Huckabee slashed at his opponents. “The well-funded candidates didn’t just take in money,” Huckabee complained, “they burned right through it with their private jets, five-star hotels, and lavish meals,” he wrote. “We ate a lot of burritos and cheap burgers on the bus.”
Further, in the run up to the 2008 GOP primary, Huckabee campaigned as the hardscrabble, up-from-the-bottom candidate who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
“One of the reasons I’m running for president is because I think America needs folks who understand what it is to start at the bottom of the ladder and climb their way to the top,” Huckabee said on NBC’s Meet the Press in 2007. “We’ve got a lot of people who are born on third base and think they’ve hit a triple.”
Politico reports that Huckabee’s travel expenses cast that attitude in a difficult light.
Now, as a non-candidate, Huckabee’s spending on air travel appears to far outstrip that of his potential 2016 competitors: A review of FEC records found that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s PAC has spent about $68,000 on chartered flights over the same time period…
With his new life as a highly paid and in-demand media personality and public speaker raking in millions, it seems Mike Huckabee is going to have to craft a different image than in past campaigns.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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