© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS CBS TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "CBS NEWS' FACE THE NATION. " CBS News FACE THE NATION Sunday, August 12, 2007 GUESTS: MIKE HUCKABEE Republican Presidential Candidate; Former Governor of Arkansas DAVID YEPSEN The Des Moines Register KAREN TUMULTY Time Magazine JIM VANDEHEI Politico.com MODERATOR: JIM AXELROD - CBS News This is a rush transcript provided for the information and convenience of the press. Accuracy is not guaranteed. In case of doubt, please check with FACE THE NATION - CBS NEWS 202-457-4481 BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / 202-419-1859 / 800-456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, August 12, 2007 1 JIM AXELROD, host: Today on FACE THE NATION, an interview with Governor Mike Huckabee one day after the Iowa straw poll. In campaign 2008's first contest last night, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee came in second place after Mitt Romney. So what does that mean? Will last night's results propel him to the top tier of candidates and help him get to next year's caucuses and primaries, where the votes actually count? All questions for Governor Mike Huckabee. And for analysis and perspective on all the weeks' political news, we'll talk with David Yepsen of The Des Moines Register, Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine and Jim VandeHei of Politico.com. But first, Governor Mike Huckabee on FACE THE NATION. Announcer: FACE THE NATION with chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer. And now from Washington, substituting for Bob Schieffer, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod. AXELROD: Welcome again to the broadcast. Bob Schieffer's off this morning. Yesterday in Ames, Iowa, Republican voters there took part in the first critical test in the race for the White House--the Iowa straw poll. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain chose not to participate, though their names were on the ballot. More than 14,000 Iowans paid or let a campaign pay 35 bucks a pop for them to vote for a Republican presidential candidate. While the results of this straw poll are nonbinding, it is the first indicator of whether candidates can translate money and message into votes. And here's how they ran. As expected, Mitt Romney won with 32 percent of the vote. Mike Huckabee came in second with 18 percent, and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback third with 15 percent. Joining us now from Little Rock, Arkansas, former Governor Mike Huckabee. Good morning, Governor. Thanks for being with us. Former Governor MIKE HUCKABEE (Republican, Arkansas; Presidential Candidate): Well, thank you, Jim. It was a great day for us in Iowa yesterday. AXELROD: You know, in the run-up to the straw poll, I saw you quoted a couple different times saying if you were still a second-tier candidate after the straw poll, then you had a problem. So from where you're sitting this morning, you got a problem? Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: No, we're, we're in fact in the first tier, I think, by anybody's estimation. And here's why. It wasn't just that we surprised people with a second showing, it's that we did it with so few resources. I mean, this really was feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves, an amazing kind of day for us. Because if you look at how much money some of the candidates spent to get the kind of votes they got, it's staggering. And we spent less than $100,000 on the straw poll. If we add everything we did over BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / (202)419-1859 / (800)456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, August 12, 2007 2 the course of the last seven weeks in Iowa, that includes paper clips and gasoline for the vehicles to get us from place to place, our total expenses were 150,000. So when you look at what we were able to achieve, it was because people came to Ames to vote for us. And we had remarkable stories of people who came literally from all over America to work for us, and then people from Ames--one girl drove from Ames to Des Moines to get her driver license, because she forgot it, just so she could vote for me. I mean, it was that kind of--it was a movement, it wasn't just a, `Hey, we're giving out T-shirts.' I mean, we gave out watermelon from my hometown of Hope, Arkansas, which, of course, is worth driving to Ames for. AXELROD: All right. On one--on one hand, you do this on a shoestring. Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Yeah. AXELROD: I get that. On the other hand, no Rudy Giuliani, no John McCain, no Fred Thompson. So let's put this in some kind of perspective in terms of moving yourself from the second tier to the first tier. Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Well, it still matters that even though they say they didn't play, they were on the ballot. More importantly, what they did was forfeit the game, and if you forfeit, it's a loss. They knew they weren't going to do well with Iowa voters because Iowa voters tend to be far more conservative. I think they looked at the clear situation and the landscape in Iowa and decided, you know, if we go and play and do what we probably will do, it'll be embarrassing, so we'll just forfeit the game. I don't think it diminishes what the rest of us did. I think it only enhances it and shows that we play in middle America and they know they didn't. AXELROD: I'm looking at something from yesterday that strikes me as the big takeaway that eight years ago this time there were 24,000 voters who participated in the straw poll. Yesterday, 14,000. That's 10,000 fewer Republican voters playing at this. What does that tell us about the state of the Republican Party? Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: It tells us more about how hot it was in Ames, Iowa. It was about 150 degrees, and I think that had a lot to do with it, the state fair going on. AXELROD: Ten thousand fewer voters hot? Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Well, I think so. I mean, it was--there were two things that were working. First of all, there was the state fair of Iowa, which is like most state fairs on steroids. I call it the Barry Bonds of state fairs. It's just unbelievable because we went to it on Friday. And then you do have a situation where the weather and, you know, right now this campaign has been dragging on much longer. So most people have sort of had a chance to take a look at some of the candidates. What we're still dealing with, though, is the universe of people who are willing to drive anywhere from an hour to four and a half hours away to come to Ames and spend all day in a hot sunshine--unless they're in one of the air-conditioned tents of the other BURRELLE'S INFORMATION SERVICES / (202)419-1859 / (800)456-2877 Face the Nation (CBS News) - Sunday, August 12, 2007 3 candidates--you know, to vote in a--in a straw poll. AXELROD: All right.l Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: I think it goes mean something. AXELROD: Governor, let me ask you about the man who won yesterday's straw poll, Governor Romney. You said before he might be a risky standard bearer for the Republican Party because of his flip-flips. Is Mitt Romney a reliable conservative? Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Well, you know, that's going to be for the voters to decide. And I want to be very clear. I didn't say that he was a flip-flopper. I never said that. What I said when asked did I believe his positions on abortion now which have changed? And I said, `I'm going to give him benefit of the doubt and accept him at his word.' Mitt is a good guy. He's got a wonderful family, and I said I'm not going to criticize him for where he stands now. But if we think that the Democrats won't come and use that against him, should he be the nominee, we're kidding ourselves. And so it was reported that I took a shot at him, and actually I thought I was being rather generously charitable to him. AXELROD: You know, a lot of people, I'm sure, waking up this morning and looking at you and looking at the results and saying, `Who is this guy?' So an ordained Baptist minister, solid conservative credentials, a great personal story. You shed a ton of weight in this battle with diabetes. Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Mm-hmm. AXELROD: Did you ever look at the national Republican front-runner, Rudy Giuliani, the pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights Rudy Giuliani and say to yourself, `How come I haven't been able to get any traction?' Fmr. Gov. HUCKABEE: Well, I think yesterday showed that we are getting traction. And I've said a long time if we had just even a little bit of the resources some of these other guys have been able to accumulate, we'd be at the top of the field because of the message. You know, I'm one of the few Republican candidates that's having the courage to talk about how we need to really separate ourselves from being the Wall Street Republican crowd.