Huckabee plans area meetings

GOP hopeful trails pack, poll shows

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is scheduled to visit the Lowcountry on Friday afternoon to mingle with conservation voters, those seeking tax reform and people interested in helping his campaign.

Huckabee is scheduled to meet privately with members of the S.C. League of Conservation Voters at 3 p.m. in Charleston.

He also will speak at 4:30 p.m. to supporters of the Fair Tax at the Charleston Bagel Bakery at 656-A Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant.

The Fair Tax is a plan to replace the federal income tax system with a national sales tax.

Huckabee, who served as governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007, also is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser at the Beulah restaurant in Mount Pleasant later Friday.

He hasn't visited the Charleston area as often as other leading Republican candidates, though his wife, Janet, attended the Charleston County Republican Party's convention in April and spoke on his behalf.

Huckabee got off one of the best lines in last month's Republican debate in Columbia when he said, "We had a Congress that spent money like John Edwards in a beauty shop," a reference to the Democratic presidential candidate's infamous $400 haircut.

But he still faces an uphill fight here.

A poll conducted last month showed him essentially in a statistical tie for last place among state Republican voters.

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postand courier.com.