Mike Huckabee: Don't Beat Up Everyone in the 'Conservative Tent'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, wrapping up the day-long Iowa Freedom Summit Saturday, called on his fellow conservatives to tell Americans "what is right in this country" rather than "beating each other up in the conservative tent."

"We have plenty of things to talk about," said Huckabee, who resigned from his Fox News Channel talk show earlier this month to explore a bid for the GOP nomination in 2016. "But governing America isn't always easy. It has been said that there are two things you should never see. You should never see a law or a sausage made. I have seen both. I still eat sausage. There are plenty of people in America who want the sausage, but they don't want to kill the pigs."

Huckabee said he governed in "the state that was the bluest state," but noted all seven of Arkansas' constitutional officers are now Republicans, and a GOP supermajority rules in the state's House and Senate.

Huckabee, a former Iowa caucus winner in the 2008 campaign, offered a criticism of several of President Barack Obama's policies, while making a pitch for his own candidacy, even though he has not yet officially announced his intentions.

He also addressed Obama's inability to "identify the clear and present danger" of Islamist terrorism, saying his administration "cannot see the difference between good and evil in this world."

The president has elevated climate change as a danger to the world, said Huckabee, rather than the threat of violent elements spreading fear, and said the United States hasn't done enough against such groups.

Further, Huckabee said, Democrats are more worried about raising the minimum wage than cultivating jobs that pay better.

He warned against the problems created by career politicians.

Term limits are also needed for the judicial branch, he said, because nobody "ought to wear a black robe for the rest of their lives and believe they are unaccountable."

Common Core was also covered.

"Some of you may have heard Huckabee supports Common Core," he said. "Whatever Common Core might have been, it has warped into a 'Frankenstandard' and anyone who tells you that I support Common Core is being dishonest."

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