10 Republicans On Stage But Room For More, Huckabee Says

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Are 10 Republican presidential contenders enough? One of them, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said Sunday there is room for more. <br/><br/>Huckabee commented when asked in a broadcast

Sunday, May 27th 2007, 3:10 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Are 10 Republican presidential contenders enough? One of them, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, said Sunday there is room for more.

Huckabee commented when asked in a broadcast interview how he felt about the possibility that Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator, might enter the 2008 race.

``I don't know enough about his record in terms of the issues but, you know, I think any of us who are running have to recognize that there's going to be room even for more than the 10 who are already on the stage,'' Huckabee said.

Another Republican hopeful, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, said he does not know much about Thompson's conservative record while in the Senate.

``He's a one-term senator,'' Gilmore said.

``He's kind of the guy that's hanging around out there, flirting with this, and he's well known because of his ``Law & Order'' appearance. But the question is, is there a solid, consistent record there of supporting conservative principles? That's going to have to be seen after he gets in the race.''

Huckabee was on ``Fox News Sunday'' and Gilmore appeared on ``This Week'' on ABC.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Can anyone be a New York Yankees fan and a Boston Red Sox fan and win the presidency?

Democratic candidate Bill Richardson wants to have it all.

``I'm a Red Sox fan,'' said the New Mexico governor, who was born in Pasadena, Calif., but spent his early childhood in Mexico City, where his father worked for a U.S. bank.

As a teenager, Richardson attended a boarding school in Concord, Mass., where he pitched on the baseball team _ a sport he follows closely to this day. Richardson graduated from Tufts University in 1971 with a master's degree in international affairs. He also pitched a season in the Cape Cod summer league.

Questioned by The Associated Press this year, Richardson said if he were not running for president, his dream job would be playing for the Yankees _ because of his childhood idol.

On Sunday, he explained further: ``I've always been a Red Sox fan. But I said if I weren't running for president, I would like to be No. 7 _ Mickey Mantle _ playing center field for the New York Yankees.

``My favorite team has always been the Red Sox. I'm a Red Sox fan. End of session,'' he said.'' But, he added, ``I'm also a Yankees fan.''

After declaring his allegiance to both the Red Sox and the Yankees, Richardson joked: ``This is the thing about me: I can bring people together. I can unify ... ``

``Yankees fans and Red Sox fans?'' interviewer Tim Russert asked.

``Yes,'' Richardson asserted.

``Not a chance,'' Russert shot back, laughing.

Richardson was interviewed on ``Meet the Press'' on NBC.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Replace the federal income tax with a 23 percent national sales tax, GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says. Doing so would make April 15 _ the income tax filing deadline _ ``just another beautiful spring day.''

``You get rid of the income tax. You get rid of all the withholding. You get rid of corporate taxes completely, totally, because those taxes are not really paid by the corporations,'' the former Arkansas governor said Sunday.

Huckabee said the ``fair tax'' system means that taxes are paid only when a product or service is purchased.

``The best part is that if you don't consume a whole lot, if you, for example, want to save money, you're not penalized for saving money like our current system. But the best thing about it is that when you get your paycheck, you get the whole thing. You get the entire paycheck. The government doesn't take it out.''

He appeared on ``Fox News Sunday.''