Reporting from Grand Rapids, Mich. — Team Huck rolls into the bookstore like a NASCAR pit crew, red shirts adorned with the corporate logos of Mike Huckabee's website, his speaker's bureau and his publisher. "Huck" is emblazoned on their epaulets.
They strip the protective wrapping off the large lectern that they install at all such appearances. Huckabee doesn't sit at tables. He stands, as a president would, even to sign books. And sign he does: as many as 600 copies of "A Simple Christmas" per hour, racking up even more sales. There is no time lost on opening remarks.
Where presidential hopefuls once traveled the country courting party bosses and county chairmen, today they often choose a different approach -- the national book tour. As practiced by Huckabee, Sarah Palin and others, it has become a low-risk, high-reward form of virtual campaigning.
The author-politicians can operate in an environment more tightly controlled than an official run for office. They can focus on building personal ties to their most passionate supporters, independent of local party officials. They can sidestep the national media in favor of generally hospitable local coverage.
A payoff either way
After all, they're in town to talk about books, not issues. And their tomes, packed with homespun anecdotes, are largely personality-driven.
"You stay close to the action, but not close enough to be responsible for any of it," said Republican image consultant Brian Kirwin. "It's not a press conference or an interview that can be edited later."
What's more, if the run for office doesn't pan out, there's still a big payday to be had from a bestseller.
In the case of Huckabee, the conservative former governor from Arkansas, it's a paean to Christmas and his own humble beginnings. Onetime Alaska Gov. Palin is plugging "Going Rogue," the sharp-edged, score-settling account of her 2008 vice presidential campaign. And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who like Huckabee sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, is scheduled to have a book out next spring. Titled "No Apology: the Case for American Greatness," it is expected to focus more on issues and policy themes.
The potential 2012 GOP hopefuls are following the lead of Barack Obama, who three years ago used his book "The Audacity of Hope" as a springboard to his presidential run.
