Soon-to-be-former Gov. Huckabee and wife on "wedding" gift registries

All 2008 all the time!

Governor Mike Huckabee and his wife are moving out of the Arkansas governor's mansion.

Huckabee was prohibited from running for re-election because of Arkansas' post-Clinton term-limit law, so he'll be moving into private life--But the Republican is being mentioned as a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2008.

He must not want to become president that badly. He and his wife Janet recently bought a house in North Little Rock. The couple, who've been married for years, have "wedding registries" for their new homes set up at Dillard's and Target.

What, no Wal-Mart?

From the Pine Bluff Commercial:

Mrs. Huckabee's friends created the registries at Dillard's and Target stores to help ease the transition to private life for the couple, (Huckabee spokeswoman Alice) Stewart said.

She declined to say if the governor was sure that accepting gifts would be legal or whether he planned to report any valuable gifts they receive, the Arkansas News Bureau of Stephens Media Group reported on its Web site.

Arkansas law prohibits public servants from accepting any gift worth more than $100, unless the gift is conferred "on account of a bona fide personal, professional or business relationship" independent of the recipient's official status.

"Items costing more than $100 which are given to public servants to show appreciation for their efforts (i.e., to reward them for doing their job) or to reward them for past or future action are prohibited under this rule," the law states.

Some of the gifts on that registry exceed that $100 value.

Besides politics, the once obese Huckabee is best known as a man who lost over 100 pounds and is now a marathon runner. He ran in the New York City Marathon earlier this month, completing the race in 5 hours and 33 minutes.

Likely 2008 Republican presidential contender Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee is also a marathoner, as is Democrat Tom Vilsack, the governor of Iowa--another presidential hopeful. Like Huckabee, both men are leaving office in January, but neither politician has set up a "wedding registry," to the best of my knowledge.

Technorati tags: Huckabee Arkansas 2008 politics Elections Republicans Frist Vilsack