The Wall Street Journal-20080122-Campaign -08- Washington Wire - Insight and Analysis From WashWire-com
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Campaign '08: Washington Wire / Insight and Analysis From WashWire.com
Norris Flexes His Star Power
As Host of Huckabee Fund-Raiser
Mike Huckabee rides in private jets these days, the family dog is in tow, but he still seems in wide-eyed awe of his most public fan. "It's pretty cool to be at Chuck Norris's ranch," he told a tentful of donors this weekend, and from the way they lined up for photo ops with the television tough guy, they all seemed to agree.
Fund-raisers usually are private affairs where big donors are shielded from the media and other campaigns. As Mr. Huckabee heads into a busy fund-raising week ahead of the Feb. 5 primaries, though, the garrulous Mr. Norris invited all comers onto his Lone Wolf Ranch to support the candidate he calls "our only hope."
For a minimum $1,000, some 200 guests were treated to barbecue and a set by Mr. Huckabee and his band, Capitol Offense, which he says he started in the basement of the Arkansas governor's mansion. With the Republican presidential hopeful on bass guitar, its first number, "Only in America," drew a hand with its promising line that almost any kid "just might [grow up to] be president."
By the second well-amplified number, "Roll Over Beethoven," donors were headed for the tent flaps and a handshake with Mr. Norris. Mr. Norris's karate-chopping TV and film persona of the 1980s and 1990s has found new life these days on the Web, where fans compete to report exaggerated accounts of his strength.
Mr. Huckabee has deployed Mr. Norris to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina since receiving his unsolicited endorsement in October, and clearly relishes the association. His administration's "negotiating tactic" with terrorists? "Chuck Norris," he told the donors, introducing Mr. Norris as "our next secretary of defense."
-- June Kronholz in Navasota, Texas
