I believe that Huckabee would be a strong candidate, but whether he would be the right candidate remains in question.

Could he beat Hillary? Absolutely.

He appears be a decent man which is almost a novelty for Republican Presidential candidates this year.

He would be strong against any of the Democratic candidates. He would keep some of the religious types Obama attracts.

A previous poster at this site stated that he damaged the public educational system when governor. He does not believe in evolution. He is strongly anti-abortion. Since he is less known we need a crash course in his weaknesses.
I currently have grave doubts about the intelligence and morality of anyone willing to remain affiliated with the Republican party in its current form.

While I'm sure the "influential" Yepsen is a fine person you might want to reflect on the fact that his influence depends entirely on the degree to which Iowa maintains a prominent place in the consciousness of the political world. He has a deep vested interest (which may express itself entirely subconsciously) in a competitive race in Iowa.

I find Huckabee endearing because he seems game. He's run the humor circut, talking with Colbert and Maher, and he looked comfortable with both men. He isn't embarrassed about taking fundamentalist stances, where it counts. I'd never vote for him, but I can see the attraction.

I doubt he could beat Hillary. He's watched the Clinton machine work for decades, he knows how powerful it was in Arkansas,and now it's at the height of it's power. I won't underestimate the power of her name, money and foot soldiers when I'm placing my bets, next November.

For some reason Huckabee is the latest buzz but he really is a mirage that will fade away after Iowa or maybe New Hampshire if he does well in Iowa.

Huckabee fundraising is in the basement. He only has about $1.7 million in cash on hand. Even if he gets a surge of contributions after a good showing in Iowa he has little time to put together the national organization that will be needed for the February 5 primaries.

It seems like a lot of candidates such as Edwards, Obama, and Huckabee are really expecting a good showing in Iowa to perform miracles for their campaigns. An Iowa bounce can only do so much.

In Huckabee's case, it can't instantly build the national organization that he needs to be competitive after the Iowa-New Hampshire road show ends

It's EASY to win in Iowa. Just pretend that the more corn-ethanol subsidies we hand out, the more energy independence we get.

When are the parties going to stop choosing their nominees before we ever get to a state with, uh, a big city?

That said, Huckleberry is probably the only GOP who can hold the Thumper/CEO coalition together one more cycle.

I think Bill Clinton has already said that Huck is the best speaker in the GOP field.

As for me I both like him for his willingness to call a spade a spade and fear him for some of his fundamentalist views. He doesn't appear to be the foreign policy nut like Rudy is or corporatist that most of the GOP field is but just a typical Baptist minister who believes you should live a certain way and when science conflicts with the bible he will side with the bible no matter the evidence to the contrary.

In Josh's interview with Marcos, Marcos said he didn't think Huck would be anything because he doesn't raise any money and in fact his funding numbers are very far behind the other candidates. That could change with a win in Iowa though. There is a huge amount of GOP money still sitting on the side lines right now.

In my opinion assuming that McCain is really out of it then Huck would be the next best candidate for the GOP since all of the other "Top" candidates have so many skeletons in the closet.

Steve G.:

Perhaps Bill Clinton is touting Huckabee because he knows Hillary could beat him by the widest margain? I am sure they are both wary of Guilliani because it actually puts NY and CA is play -- and if Obama or Edwards win the nomination, there's no way they win NY against Guilliani -- you've got to play chess at least a couple moves ahead ; )

This surge is what i've been thinking since he won the straw poll. Huckabee does come across as a nice guy, he is Southern and a Baptist (anti-abortion, etc.), and has a low enough profile that he could come across as different enough from Bush. Where will the Brownback supporters go? Obviously, McCain and Thompson are toast. This leaves Giuliani where you have Dobson et al. threatening at least to break off, or Romney, who is possible because he will say anything to win but also clearly insincere about everything. I don't think lack of money or team is a big issue actually, it's all about what is said on TV "news", plus maybe Limbaugh. I agree with poster who says there is lots of $ waiting in the wings for any Republican, so if the powers that be think he has a chance, the money will appear (although he has occasionally made a tiny remark questioning slavish worship of corporations). The other question perhaps is is he vicious enough sounding on the anti-foreigner meter (muslims, hispanics) to win the (R) primaries. I think he could absolutely win in the general, certainly against Clinton once he has name recognition. Assuming this paroled rapist thing that people have mentioned is too sleazy to mention, we need to start digging NOW for perhaps bizarro quotes and stances on evolution, science, sex, etc. that he or his associates have taken and repeating ad nauseum. Have there been any juicy moments from any of the debates on video? -- I'm worried that if anything he sounded less cromagnon than the others.

Check out my POST/COLUMN on my site about Huckabee:

Mike Huckabee's Behind In Polls - Good News For Democrats

http://www.freewebs.com/coonsey/index.htm?archived=1&page=2

If Huckabee doesn't believe in evolution, (and he has said he doesn't) he doesn't believe in cause and effect. That would make a bad strategist for foreign AND domestic policies.

And, no, "God" is not a wild card.

norbert:

Assuming this paroled rapist thing that people have mentioned is too sleazy to mention...

Huckabee is surely surging in Iowa, as surely as Thompson, McCain and even Giuliani are tanking there, and in New Hampshire and elsewhere.

Like Ronald Reagan, he is extremely positive and extra nice on the stump.

The question really is whether Huckabee is TOO nice to be elected. He need to show some fangs and not just the homespuniness that will guarantee him the moniker "Huckabee the VP-wannabee." Even Reagan told protesters to sit down and shut up once in a while, after all.

That said, Bill Clinton is scared to death of him, as are many other Dems, no doubt.