Haines says Huckabee will do well in Maryland

Mike Huckabee’s victory in the Iowa presidential caucus gives him a chance to win Maryland’s Feb. 12 primary, said a key supporter, state Sen. Larry E. Haines.

“The people in Iowa overwhelmingly supported Mike Huckabee,” Haines said. “This is a very big win.”

House Minority Whip Christopher Shank, Del. Tony McConkey, former state Sen. Christopher J. McCabe, and former Del. Emil Pielke are among Huckabee’s committed state supporters.

“(Huckabee) is going to do well in Maryland,” Haines said.

Haines predicted Huckabee would “do much better in New Hampshire than what the political pundits have said,” saying he was “not ruling out” a Huckabee victory in the Granite State.

The five-term senator from Carroll and Baltimore counties said that negative attack ads by the Romney campaign had hurt their efforts in Iowa, and would do so again in New Hampshire. Polls conducted in New Hampshire, prior to the results in Iowa, showed Romney and McCain in a dead heat, while Huckabee was a distant third or fourth.

“The victory in Iowa has given (Huckabee) the exposure he needs on television,” Haines said.

Over the next few weeks, Haines promised to “get the message out” to his constituents in support of Huckabee. He also said he would help raise money.

“We don’t have a lot of time to get our message out to voters in Maryland, but we have a grassroots effort of support,” Haines said.