Lundquist at Elect Mitt in 2008 reports on this story by George Will.By the way, George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, conservative American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author.
Many Iowans think it would be wise to nominate a candidate who, when the Republicans were asked during a debate to raise their hands if they do not believe in evolution, raised his. But, then, Huckabee believes America can be energy independent in 10 years, so he has peculiar views about more than paleontology.
Huckabee combines pure moralism with incoherent populism: He wants Washington to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in public, show more solicitude for Americans of modest means, and impose more protectionism, thereby raising the cost of living for Americans of modest means.
Although Huckabee is considered affable, two subliminal but clear enough premises of his Iowa attack on Mitt Romney are unpleasant: The almost 6 million American Mormons who consider themselves Christians are mistaken about that. And -- 55 million non-Christian Americans should take note -- America must have a Christian president.
That's why his "I'm-a-Christian-like-you" campaign is only working in Iowa. It will soon cease working as Iowans discover a few things about this guy Huck.
Yes, he's a believer, but so were Carter and Clinton. However, Mikey's not a passionate believer in conservative Iowans' version of immigration, taxes, and other principles.
Another pious populist who was annoyed by Darwin -- William Jennings Bryan -- argued that William Howard Taft, his opponent in the 1908 presidential election, was unfit to be president because he was a Unitarian, a persuasion sometimes defined as the belief that there is at most one God. The electorate chose to run the risk of entrusting the presidency to someone skeptical about the doctrine of the Trinity.
If Huckabee succeeds in derailing Romney's campaign by raising a religious test for presidential eligibility, that will be clarifying: In one particular, America was more enlightened a century ago.
I predict Huck will drop to more modest numbers within three weeks in Iowa. And he'll never have a chance to climb into the teens anywhere else.
If a Unitarian (Taft) was worth supporting over Jennings Bryan 100 years ago, certainly this Mormon is worth gambling on over Mike Huckabee. Americans are enlightened enough to see through Mike's fog.
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