Huckabee Quotes from the Myrtle Beach GOP Debate

“I think we need to make it very clear, not just to the Iranians, but to anybody, that if you think you’re going to engage the United States military, be prepared not simply to have a battle. Be prepared, first, to put your sights on the American vessel. And then be prepared that the next things you see will be the gates of Hell, because that is exactly what you will see after that,” South Carolina front-runner Mike Huckabee said.

Huckabee said he hopes the U.S. economy isn’t headed into recession, but four factors are creating challenges for the economy — sub-prime mortgages, health care and education costs and fuel prices.

“When gasoline gets as high as it is, and oil goes to $100 a barrel, it impacts the way people live. It may not impact people at the top, but people who barely make it from paycheck to paycheck know that it doesn’t just affect the fuel going to and from work,” the former Arkansas governor said. “Everything they reach for on the shelf of their store costs more because it took more money to transport it to that store.”

Thompson accused Huckabee of ignoring the principles of Reagan.

“This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” Thompson said, adding that going the way of Huckabee would endanger Reagan’s formula for a strong U.S.

“He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy … he believes that Guantanamo should be closed down … he believed in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas. He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers.”

Huckabee responded that if Reagan were governor today, he’d be lambasted for raising taxes in his first year as governor of California. He also suggested a way to return to a strong coalition and strong GOP.

“Make sure that people understand that when we lower taxes, when we cut spending, when we have a strong national defense, when we stick to our principles on the sanctity of human life and the primacy of traditional marriage. And we also unapologetically hold to the idea that the Second Amendment is just as precious as the First Amendment.”

While Thompson said he was able to change Washington from the inside as a senator who worked on welfare reform and helped generate balanced budgets, Huckabee argued that as a governor, he implemented the laws created in Washington.

“It’s easy to be in Congress and pass a bill that maybe will change some mandates to the states, but those of us who had to govern at the state level were forced with something that members of Congress didn’t have to do. They actually had to make it work,” he said.