The Mike Huckabee appeal is obvious. He comes across as a really nice guy. Not commander-in-chief nice or unpardonably nice, but the kind of guy you wouldn’t mind throwing back a couple of Yoo-Hoos with.
And he’s riding surprisingly high because the demographically-skewed, Silo Majority in Iowa wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of divine intervention. Caucus Christians love a good, theocratic candidate who has worked religiously on his bully pulpit skills.
But here’s what’s hard to get beyond. Should Huckabee actually get the nomination, he would face GOP attacks that won’t be limited to Willie Hortonesque ads that question his clemency judgments. Or references to ethical citations for accepting gifts as Arkansas governor. Or intimations that a 23% national sales tax in lieu of federal income and payroll taxes might be fiscally questionable. Or cheap shots at the “Hickabee” name and Gomer Pyle resemblance.
No, most prominent will be those video outtakes of Huckabee raising his hand when CNN debate moderator Wolf Blitzer asked if anyone didn’t believe in evolution.
Just when you think politics or politicians can’t devolve anymore, we get these sorts of questions – and that kind of answer.