Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas, is running for the Republican presidential nomination. At the outset of the campaign, he was an also-ran with no name recognition and no real prospects of making a blip behind the combined names of Giuliani, Romney, McCain and the specter of a Thompson candidacy. Huckabee was lumped in with the likes of Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, and Ron Paul out on the media-void fringe.

However, Republicans don't seem very happy with the top tier. McCain imploded early, and while he's gained back some ground, he's nowhere near the heir apparent to the Republican throne. Romney is still laboring under the "Mormon from Mass" label and his record that he's been desperately running away from since the campaign began. Thompson hasn't made a significant splash, despite high expectations. He looks like McCain. And Giuliani, the front runner, has just barely managed to keep the lead with his constant repetition of (to quote Joe Biden) "a noun, a verb, and 9/11." He's still dodging his pro-choice, pro-gay rights, thrice-divorced credentials. The evangelical right is no where near convinced that he's the guy, and they're making noise to suggest that they might bolt the party if he is the guy.

So, back to Mike Huckabee. He was essentially a backwater candidate. However, he's been tenacious. He's reached out to evangelicals by touting his record as "one of them." Now that the election season is in force, they're starting to listen.

Huckabee came in second in the Iowa Straw Poll behind Romney this past August. Granted, Giuliani and McCain skipped it, but Huckabee's placement was surprising. He's continued to move up the national standings as January looms, but in Iowa, there's talk now that he might actually come in first there. The further national exposure and the perception of winning would likely give him a boost among Republicans allowing him to roll into Super Tuesday where the Southern states are likely to give Romney and Giuliani a huge stumbling block. That could well be Huckabee's chance to shine.

So, why should you be afraid of Mike Huckabee? He's a right-wing fundamentalist, and that defines his campaign. If that doesn't scare you, well, I can't help you. But, all the Republican candidates are like that. Why should Huckabee be any more frightening?

Two words: Chuck Norris.



Huckabee picked up an endorsement from Chuck Norris and did two things that Democrats are scared shitless of doing: 1) was seen in the same time zone as anyone who has ever been in a movie and 2) was funny.

Most people don't know this, but Chuck Norris makes Sean Hannity look like a centrist. He's out there in whackyjob land. He thinks we need to homeschool all children, which could conceivably be accomplished if we just accepted that America is a Christian Nation and women should just stay home. But, like I said, most people don't know that. The most that people actually know about Chuck Norris is that he was Walker, Texas Ranger, and his tears cure cancer (too bad he doesn't cry - ever). Which is exactly what Huckabee plays on in this ad. This ad speaks to Republicans, but replace one line (the part about being a conservative), and it's ready for the national spotlight. People aren't going to be looking to see what kind of politics Chuck Norris espouses, they're just going to see Mike Huckabee standing next to Chuck Norris, telling Chuck Norris jokes and talking about how he's going to put the IRS out of business. The center is going to eat that up. Hillary Clinton is going to look positively shrill compared to that. Even Barack Obama, Mr. Serious With No Tie, is going to come off as stiff compared to a guy who said "there's no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard, just another fist."

Democrats have bought into the right-wing noise machine assertion that they're completely controlled by their Hollywood masters, that they get policy direction from George Soros and Michael Moore. Because of that, no Democrat would even dream of appearing in an ad with an actor, even for the primaries. They believe (rightly or wrongly) that Republicans can say whatever they want in the primary to win the base and then roll on into the general and speak like a rational human being, but when Democrats play to their base, they get torn apart with those words in the general.

So, Huckabee is playing both sides of that coin. He's getting the watchwords out to the base using Chuck Norris, but in the general, the presentation is going to outweigh the message.

And that's why you should be scared of Mike Huckabee. Because even though the points in that ad make my skin crawl, I thought that this ad was fucking brilliant.

-pb