DES MOINES — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee calls his cadre of loyal volunteers "Huck's Army." And one of his premiere battalions is a tight network of Christian home-schooling families who view the campaign as a civic -- and educational -- duty.
Huckabee has spent roughly $400,000 campaigning in Iowa and has hired enough full-time workers in recent months to put his statewide staff into double digits. Yet he's pulled even with or ahead of his chief rival, Mitt Romney, who has spent millions.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, December 13, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
Huckabee supporters: An article in Wednesday's Section A about Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's support among home-schooling families misspelled the last name of the chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Assn., Michael P. Farris, as Ferris.
John and Diane Desaulniers plan to spend the Christmas season making sure Huckabee keeps his momentum. They and their four children -- two in college and two being home-schooled through high school -- have committed to taking on any task that needs doing, whether it's updating campaign databases, distributing yard signs or baking Christmas cookies to energize the staff.
"It's a full family affair," John Desaulniers said.
As other candidates have found over the years, home-schoolers' flexible schedules make them invaluable volunteers. High school-age students can call a halt to calculus to set up chairs for a town hall meeting, or put off biology for a day to stick mailing labels on the latest campaign flier.
In the evenings, families pile into minivans to canvas door-to-door. Parents often send their children to make the pitch, so the whole experience becomes part of their education, like a civics class come to life.
"You get a family where there's eight or nine children . . . you have a team right there. Put several of those out helping, and doing it for free, and that does a lot," said Justin LaVan, 35, a Des Moines lawyer and father of five who serves on the board of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators.
Huckabee's campaign won't talk much about the home-schooling contingent, which is largely made up of conservative Christians. The staff is weary -- and wary -- of stories that make it seem as though their candidate, an ordained Southern Baptist preacher, relies exclusively on votes and volunteers from the religious right.
"All I've heard the last week is pastors, pastors, pastors, evangelicals, evangelicals, evangelicals," said Eric Woolson, who runs the Iowa campaign.
But the buzz in political circles is that a quarter of Huckabee's Iowa volunteers are home-schoolers. "It might even be higher than that," said Danny Carroll, a campaign co-chairman for the state.
