Mike Huckabee on 'Hannity & Colmes'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," January 15, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: Welcome back to "Hannity & Colmes." Joining us now, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Governor, did you have to do better tonight to stay more viable in this race, in the Michigan primary?

MIKE HUCKABEE (R-AR), FMR GOVERNOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we did pretty well in the Michigan primary. You know, nobody thought we would do well at all, and we were competitive. We beat everybody but the two people who had deep roots there, who had won there. We are proud of our showing, came in third, and we are still on our feet.

Here's what's going to happen. We're going to get to South Carolina. We're here now. We're going to win Saturday, and it's going to be a big night for us.

COLMES: Is that a must-win for you? Must you, to stay viable, win South Carolina?

HUCKABEE: Well, I don't think we're out of the game if we don't, but I'm just telling you we're going to win in South Carolina. We're running well here. We've got great support. And my prediction is you're going to be talking to me Saturday night as the winner of South Carolina...

COLMES: I hope you come on with us Saturday night.

HUCKABEE: ... because people are looking for somebody who I think recognizes that I represent what they stand for, which is a pro-life, pro- family, pro-2nd Amendment, lower taxes, actual running a government, some experience in getting it done. They want results. They don't want people to just talk about it, but somebody who's actually done it.

COLMES: All right, Governor, you made a statement at a rally in Michigan within the last 24 hours. You said, I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. You said, I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it'd be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do."

That makes people a little worried. It sounds like you're looking to have a theocratic state when you make statements like that...

HUCKABEE: Oh, no, Alan.

COLMES: ... going to make change in Constitution...

HUCKABEE: Not at all.

COLMES: ... in keeping with your view of God.

HUCKABEE: On two things. The context is two things, human life amendment, which I support and which has been in the Republican platform since 1980. And by the way, Fred Thompson doesn't support it, nor does John McCain. And yet it's part of our platform. And it's a very important part of our platform to say that human life is something we're going to stand for. And the second thing is traditional marriage.

So those are the two areas which I'm talking about. I'm not suggesting that we rewrite the Constitution to reflect tithing or Sunday school attendance. I want to make that very clear.

COLMES: Fred Thompson was on the show just a few moments ago...

HUCKABEE: Alan. I think maybe you should obey those things.

COLMES: Well, thank you for the suggestion.

HUCKABEE: Go ahead.

COLMES: Fred Thompson on this program just a few moments ago said he was the only real conservative in the race and went after you on the issue of taxes and what you did in Arkansas. He said he's the only conservative.

HUCKABEE: Well, of course, that's nonsense. You know, Fred hasn't — he's talked about everybody but Fred. And he says, I'm a conservative, and leaves it there. But Fred was a foreign-registered agent. He was in a law firm that lobbied for Libya. He doesn't support the human life amendment. I don't know where he gets this idea that he's the only conservative. He's taken a few votes, I don't remember seeing the "Fred Thompson secure the border plan" when he was in the Senate for eight years.

Some of us have had to deal with the issues that Washington messed up when we were out in our states. And in my case, I actually led our government to function...

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Hey...

HUCKABEE: ... and I think that's what people are looking for. If you'll talk to the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in Arkansas, they'll tell you that my governing was conservative, that it was pro-business, that it was pro-growth, and that they did quite well when Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas.

HANNITY: Hey, Governor, welcome back to the program. Sean Hannity here. We have a pretty unprecedented situation. And I spend a lot of time talking to the conservatives and communicating with them. You win Iowa. McCain wins New Hampshire. Governor Romney tonight wins Michigan. It's pretty tight, when you look at the polls, both in Florida and in South Carolina, leading into super-Tuesday. Fairly unprecedented ground here, especially with this compressed and accelerated primary season.

Is it fair to say that maybe that you're all so good that maybe everybody likes a little bit about something about all of you?

HUCKABEE: Well, you know, Sean, I think it's an indication that our party is alive. It's well. Nobody is just running away with it. And you know what? A few months ago, there were a few candidates, and it was all said that they were the only ones in the race. Guys like me didn't even get mentioned. Our faces never got put up on the screen. And now look at where this whole thing is. So I'm very pleased with where we've come from and where we are.

HANNITY: Yes.

HUCKABEE: I'm going to be even more pleased Saturday night winning South Carolina.

HANNITY: All right. When we were in South Carolina for the debate the other night, it got pretty heated in the exchange between yourself and Senator Thompson. And he ended up calling — basically, saying your views are Democratic. Now, if we go back to 2000, between President Bush and Senator McCain, South Carolina, important state, things get heated. Are you prepared to fire back at any candidate that attacks you?

HUCKABEE: Well, you know, I didn't think it was heated. I wasn't heated toward Fred. Fred was heated up. And it was good to see some life in Fred. But you know, you don't get any more 2nd Amendment than me. And I've not just talked about it, I have a record of promoting it. You don't just talk about lowering taxes. I did it. You don't just talk about holding government down. I did it. You just don't talk about being pro- life. I signed legislation. I didn't just give speeches about it.

If you look at the real record, what people want in a conservative is somebody who doesn't just make speeches about it or even takes a few votes, but somebody who actually has accomplishment and whose pen has signed the legislation that helped turn the corner. And if you're looking, you know, at my record in the state — I know there's critics out there, Sean. That's part of politics. If you don't have critics, you're not doing anything. Charles Kettering said it this way, that nobody stumps his toe standing still. And I didn't stand still. We improved education and health care and highways. And that's what people expected me to do, and that's govern.

HANNITY: All right.

COLMES: All right, Governor. We thank you for — maybe we'll see you Saturday night. We're doing a special "Hannity & Colmes" at 9:00 Eastern. Maybe we'll see you then and see what the results are. Thanks for being with us tonight.

HUCKABEE: It'll be the Huckabee victory party. I'll look forward to inviting you. Be sure and come.

COLMES: All right. We have it on tape now. Thanks for being with us tonight.

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