This one from former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Here is what Gov. Huckabee said in an email.

When someone stands on principles throughout their career in politics, it’s an easy choice to endorse their candidacy for Senate. Today, I am excited to formally announce my endorsement of Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate.

Marco believes in smaller government. He is a firm supporter of life. As the former Florida Speaker he was incredibly effective at bringing new ideas to the table and working to see them passed into law. He is a family man, loyal, compassionate and someone I am proud to call a friend.

I encourage you to watch my video endorsement on my blog here and then share it with friends, family and co-workers by email, Twitter and on Facebook. After you do, please consider making an immediate contribution to Marco’s campaign for Senate at http://MarcoRubio.com.

Last night, his opponent was raising money in Washington, DC. I am told he may have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Today, I am hoping that Marco will receive the financial support of tens of thousands of Americans; the sort who make one political contribution a year, to the candidate they believe in with their hearts not just their heads. Because I firmly believe it is these contributions that will make the difference in this race, not the money raised from lobbyists who make a new political contribution each week, betting the “smart money.”

So please watch my endorsement video today and then consider making a contribution directly to Marco’s campaign for Senate.

Standing with Marco,

Mike Huckabee

Please spread the word!

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Conservative Senate candidate Marco Rubio received two endorsements yesterday from Jeb Bush, Jr., son of our former Florida governor, and from presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Here is part of what Bush said in his announcement.

My choice was a simple one: Marco Rubio represents the best in what our Party should strive to be and who it must engage – he is young, conservative, and believes in the principles of our Founding Fathers, that individual freedom and liberty are what makes our country great and always will.

Marco Rubio is a candidate who can help to bring our Party back on track by reaching out to our youth, entrepreneurs, Hispanics and those who believe that if you work hard enough, anything you dream can be achieved. With Marco, we have a great opportunity to elect a true conservative and a greater obligation to elect a man of principle.

Gov. Huckabee’s official endorsement is expected in about two weeks according to CNN.

Huckabee’s political action committee accidentally revealed the endorsement plans in an email to supporters on Tuesday evening that solicited donations for “candidates for Senate Huck PAC endorses.”

“Candidates such as Marco Rubio of Florida,” the e-mail said.

You can follow Marco Rubio on Twitter: @MarcoRubio

With the addition of the bRight & Early endorsement he now has three big names supporting him.

If you can…

Here’s why.

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9:07 Mitt Romney is first up.

9:10 Says that Washington is liberal and that change would be making it conservative.

“Opportunity is what makes Hope attainable.”

9:15 “I have one more suggestion for energy conservation. Let’s keep Al Gore’s jet on the ground.”

9:16 Says the no mention was made at last weeks Dem convention about the issue of Radical Islam.

Short and well received.

Mike Huckabee is next. I missed the beginning of his speech.

9:31 There are some things we don’t want to change. Freedom, Security, the ability to succeed. (Didn’t get the exact quote).

9:35 “I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich. I’m a republican because I grew up poor and didn’t want to wait around for the government to rescue me.”

Repeats his line that Sarah Palin got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla than Joe Bidden got running for President of the United States.

Missed the end too.

9:44 Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii is up now talking about fellow Republican Governor, Sarah Palin.

10:02 Rudy Giuliani’s turn.

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Gov. Mike Huckabee is on TV now announcing that he has called Sen. McCain and congratulated him on his wins tonight.

On To November.

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Or as some are calling it, Super Tuesday Lite. Texas and Ohio are the big prizes. Vermont and Rhode Island are also in play.

On the Republican side, John McCain only needs a score of delegates to wrap up the nomination. He can get there with only 56% of the delegates in Texas and Ohio alone. Look for him to get more than that. The best possible outcome for Mike Huckabee is another invitation to appear on SNL.

It looks like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will continue to slug it out until their convention. The CNN count only has the two separated by 109 delegates. That separation is unlikely to change much today. It would take significant wins by Clinton in all four contests to bring the count back to a dead heat.

What does that mean going forward? Bulldog Pundit offers this analysis:

Having the contest undecided before the convention would be an amazing thing to watch, just from a “junkie” point of view, and is something people my age have never seen. Just the books that would come out of it years later would be fascinating.

From a “blogger” point of view I would love to see how much of what would be going on in those “smoke filled backrooms” (at least that’s what they used to be called when you could smoke in rooms) filled with party bosses would remain secret in this new media age. One thing is for sure, people wouldn’t be waiting for the evening news to find out what happened. Imagine what a “brokered convention” would be like in the blogger age.

It is going to be an interesting spring and summer.

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I don’t want to see Mike Huckabee as Commander in Chief, but he could get a full time gig in the comedy clubs.

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The latest poll in the sidebar is a very simple one — Should Mike Huckabee drop out of the campaign?

If you want to go into more detail than a simple yes or no answer, leave your comments on this post.

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EXCLUSIVE TO BRIGHT & EARLY

Huckleberry Hound has filed an official protest with the Westminster Kennel Club. The complaint was filed after the Best in Breed award was given to Uno, a tri-colored beagle, at Madison Square Garden.

The Huck campaign said it was exploring all available legal options to ensure a full accounting of the Saturday vote after “dubious final results.”

The odds of moving from best in breed to the prestigious Best of Show are not historically high.

While the movie “Underdog” was a big winner last year, a beagle is always a long shot on the Garden’s green carpet.

The best in show award has been presented 100 times by the Westminster Kennel Club and a beagle has never won. Part of the problem is the breed’s engaging, friendly nature.

Still, Huck vows to hang on and continue with the inquiry.

“We want a fair election up there, and we’re just not sure we had one,” Huck said in an interview on NBC’s “Today Show.”

DEVELOPING

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FOX News (TV) is calling the Kansas Caucus for Mike Huckabee.

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So, I’m sitting here listening to Rush and reading the reaction to Romney’s announcement at CPAC. The thought occurs to me that in all of the discussion about Romney dropping out of the race, McCain and his upcoming speech this afternoon, and all the rest of the talk about the GOP primary, I don’t recall seeing much of any discussion about Huckabee.

I know that he is even further away from winning the nomination than Romney was, but I would think that there would be some discussion of his prospects and influence to the remainder of the race. Or is he so irrelevant that such a discussion isn’t necessary.

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