During Saturday's broadcast of his Fox News program, Mike Huckabee hosted and promoted the “transparency” efforts of Florida State Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R), who Huckabee described as an innovator and local politician doing good work.
Left unsaid by Huckabee was his political relationship with Haridopolos. During Huckabee's 2008 presidential run, Haridopolos endorsed Huckabee for president and served as the co-chairman of his Florida campaign. Last October, Huckabee and his political organization Huck PAC endorsed Haridopolos. And in boosting Haridopolos on his Fox show, Huckabee extended a favor to a local politician who reportedly just hired “a public relations firm to boost his national profile.”
Haridopolos' political team is clearly pleased with the Fox exposure: the Huckabee appearance has been promoted on Haridopolos' campaign website, Facebook page, and Twitter. The Fox appearance also drew notice in the Florida media.
The Haridopolos promotion is just another example of Huckabee using his Fox News program as an extension of his leadership PAC. Indeed, it's not hard to see how such Fox-backed promotion benefits Huckabee's political ambitions, especially if he decides again to run for president and needs support from Florida GOP leaders like Haridopolos.
Media Matters has noted that Fox News personalities like Huckabee, Dick Morris, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have used their Fox News positions to benefit and promote their outside political interests.