Since I used to live in the Sunshine State, I know at least a little about what I speak. I lived on the Atlantic side of Florida in what’s known as the First Coast. Our suburb was separated from the city by a three mile bridge. My husband’s twenty mile commute sometimes took over ninety minutes, one way. If there was an accident or construction on the bridge, he had to drive on a loop completely around the other side of the city to get home. Needless to say, he spent many so many hours on the road getting to and from work that we joked he should buy stock in Exxon.

This summer we took a vacation to beautiful Destin, along with about a zillion other people who all decided to arrive — and leave — at the same time we did. A full one-third of our drive time took place in…you guessed it…Florida. Bumper to bumper traffic on roads built eons ago led to much aggravation and even pollution as we sat in our car and poked the last fifty miles at less than twenty miles an hour.

We’ve spent our share of time on America’s roadways. We’ve had three cross-country moves, all on interstate highways. There are some stretches of highways (I-45, for example, in Houston) that have been under construction as long as I have been alive! How can that be, when tollroads open up so much faster? I think the answer lies in government red tape.

That is where Governor Huckabee comes in! Listen, Florida voters! Tomorrow you have the chance to vote for THE conservative candidate, whose record in Arkansas shows an ability to accomplish things that the “status quo” said was impossible:

Governor Huckabee said,
“I can’t part the Red Sea, but I do believe I can part the red tape.”

In the case of roads, or “infrastructure,” Governor Huckabee is the only candidate with a plan to improve them. Take it from someone who used to bounce around in her grandfather’s truck on truly deplorable Arkansas roads…Governor Huckabee did indeed “part the red tape” in Arkansas and led the way towards turning some of the “worst roads in the nation” to some of the best.

Huckabee first mentioned roadways in the Florida debate:

This nation’s infrastructure is falling apart. And if we built those lanes of highways — with American labor, American steel, American concrete – I believe it would do more to stimulate the economy.

And the reason I say that is because when we were going through a recession in my state, we were in the middle of a billion-dollar highway construction program that brought about 40,000 jobs and brought a billion dollars of capital into the economy.

That’s a long-term stimulus package that I think would have more impact on the American long-term future. And it would keep social capital from being wasted, fuel wasted. A lot of people in Florida sit around in traffic every day, never getting to their kids’ dance recitals or soccer games because they’re stuck in traffic, and we’ve done nothing about it.
–Governor Mike Huckabee
Florida Atlantic University Debate
January 24, 2008

A study conducted by Texas A&M University concluded that we spend 4.2 billion hours each year in our cars due to added length of commutes and traffic congestion. That translates to nearly 3 billion wasted gallons of gasoline each year and costs our economy 78 billion dollars, per year!

Governor Huckabee has some ideas about traffic concerns specific for Florida, ones that you voters need to consider:

Florida’s economic engine rests on moving people and freight. It has the longest coastline in the continental U.S. and many vital ports. A strong highway system is integral to moving tourists through the state in a timely manner and taking freight across the country.

There is an immediate need to expand the ports of Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville, which are enormous economic engines not only for Florida but for the entire country. Yet there are challenges ahead:

• Annual operating security costs at the Port of Miami almost quadrupled from 2001 to 2006, from about $4 to $16 million.
• The current expansion of the Panama Canal will allow for much larger tankers to come through Florida. To harness these benefits, we must enlarge the capacities of the Port of Miami, the Port of Tampa, and the Port of Jacksonville.
• The Port of Jacksonville is currently working on becoming a deepwater port and expanding to double its cargo capacity. The Port will need road/rail improvement to transport goods across the state and country.
• Miami has requested $13 million to complete dredging of the Miami River this year or next. This would complete an $86 million dredging project started in 2004 and run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Over the next 20 years, this should generate $100 million in business from ships, letting them use the river at both high and low tides. The river had not been dredged since the 1930’s.
• The Miami Harbor has requested $2 million for engineering and design for dredging the harbor.
• These are just some of the important projects that a Huckabee administration will seek to foster.

As Huckabee states on his website, building roads and improving transportation doesn’t just make things easier for the commuter. It also helps the economy. Every dollar invested in infrastructure is estimated to produce $5.70 in economic activity. Every billion invested in federal roadways results in an additional 47,500 jobs. I am no math genius by any sense of the word, but even I can figure out that building and improving things, like roads, adds jobs and stimulates the economy.

Every once in a long while, a leader comes alone with a special combination of bold ideas, creativity, and common sense. Governor Huckabee is one such leader, and I am proud to be a supporter. Is it any wonder Huckabee has such wisdom?  He states quite emphatically that he is a believer; his faith defines who he is and drives his decisions.  He spends time in the Word of God and allows it to sink in him and guide him as he walks his path.  His current path is this one: seeking the presidency.  Take a look at Proverbs 2 and what God says about seeking wisdom:

1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

Governor Huckabee does search for wisdom.  You decide whether or not he’s found it.  Here’s another “Huckism” for you:

We ought to be people of compassion.  And being people of compassion means we deny ourselves, and our self-centeredness.

Here are some more treasures from Proverbs 2:

 6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.

About the war in Iraq, Governor Huckabee said that he knows some mistakes were made, but the focus should be on the future, not on what’s behind:

In a war, whoever gives up loses.  If we say that’s it, we embolden an enemy that has its intent to destroy us. They don’t care if it takes 1000 days or 1000 years.

Pulling out of Iraq would be tantamount to a loss, and Huckabee would not stand for that.

 9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,

13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,

14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.

16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. ^[a]

18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.

Huckabee is in this race because he wants to serve a nation that seems to have lost its way.

If we are to leave a legacy for the next generation, we need to understand what kind of legacy we are losing as a result of confusing lust with love.  There is something tragic about a culture that loses the capacity to express sacrificial love for another.  We have abandoned that idea in exchange for ego-centered love that uses other people as vehicles for our personal satisfaction.

Who else in among the presidential candidates comes out on the side of sacrificial love?

 20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;

22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Mike Huckabee has great regard for America but does so with remarkable, “big picture” wisdom:

Every single one of us as Americans need to remember that freedom did not come free.  As we get on our knees tonight, thank God we live in a country where people are trying to break into, and not a country people are trying to break out of.

I have had many people tell me that they really do like and “lean toward” Governor Huckabee, but they are worried about voting for him because of his standing in this poll or that poll. They are afraid that a vote for him would be a “wasted vote.” If you find yourself in that category, think about this: why do you vote anyway? Would you jump off a cliff if everyone else told you it was the “in” thing to do? Don’t let those polls or television pundits tell you who to vote for or how to think. The ONLY vote that is wasted is the one that doesn’t follow your conscience.

This principle of “thinking for myself” hit home hard today as my daughter and I were studying The Declaration of Independence as part of our homeschool history curriculum. Thomas Jefferson penned a document that actually had no original idea in it at all. Everything in it was based on similar writings that the English people themselves came up with in their “Glorious Revolution.” Thomas Jefferson used their own words as a basis for America’s decision to break off and become its own country: the King was breaking his own laws in his dealings with the Americas, taxing them without representation, denying the colonists a trial by jury, prohibiting free trade, etc.

Governor Huckabee reminds me of Thomas Jefferson in that he takes good ideas that have been around for awhile (such as the FairTax, the 9-point border plan, support for a Human Life Amendment, and belief that investment in our infrastructure will boost our economy) and embraces them. He is an intelligent man who doesn’t think he has to re-invent the wheel. He isn’t interested in getting glory or power or wealth. His interest is in serving.

You can get a better look at Governor Huckabee, the man, by visiting www.huckisms.com. There are lots of great quotes that reveal just how intelligent, thoughtful, and effective Huckabee is as a man, a leader, and a Christ-follower.

The Lord multiplied the loaves and fishes when the crowds gathered to hear Jesus speak. He can do the same with our donations! If you are stuck on Huck, please consider donating some funds to his campaign. My goal is to raise $500 by the end of this week. Click on the word “donations” above, and I’ll get credit. Even $5 or $10 will be used in mighty, God-honoring ways.

South Carolina was lost by a mere 7700 votes. Let’s give the Goliath News Media pundits some shock-and-awe!!