Huckabee hits Clintons ahead of launch

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) is hammering the Clintons ahead of his likely presidential announcement next week. 

In a video released Thursday titled “Nailed Shut,” he touts his work in Arkansas following former President Bill Clinton’s tenure as governor. Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 2016. 

{mosads}On Tuesday, Huckabee is expected to make his second bid for president in Hope, Ark., the hometown he shares with the former president. 

“On his first day in office, Gov. Huckabee’s door was nailed shut,” said Rex Nelson of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in the clip.

“It was in Bill Clinton’s Arkansas,” he continued of Huckabee’s first term in 1996. “You had huge Democratic majorities in the House, in the Senate.”

“All of the apparatus of the Democratic Party was aligned against Mike Huckabee, and all of a sudden, this Republican comes out of nowhere and wins.”

“We didn’t slash, burn, hurt or leave people impoverished,” Huckabee said of his time in office. “We empowered people to live a better life.”

The spot then looks toward Huckabee’s possible future, with the former governor next predicting what a prosperous America needs going forward.

“One thing that has to happen in America is moving the power away from Washington, where so many people are disconnected from the way most Americans live,” he said.

“It’s a disaster,” Huckabee said. “Power needs to be local and limited. The closer government is to the people, the more accountable it is to the people being governed.”

Huckabee then promises in the ad he will maximize Americans’ earning potential and protect social security. He also vows he would utilize “moral clarity” in the battle against radical Islam.

“Let’s win the fight for what matters most,” the commercial concludes.

Huckabee would face Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) should he seek the Republican nomination next election cycle.