Can you blame him? I've been told for months now that Huckabee won't be running and I tend to take such rumors with a shovel-full of skepticism. But now it's official that he likes his TV gig (badly enough to force you to watch the whole thing till the end last night), enjoys his new home, and has insufficient egomania to drag himself and everyone he loves through a brutalizing process toward a likely defeat. What segment of the vote does he leave to others? Well, he is an arch social-conservative; and has a record of tax hikes and clemency for prisoners; he's an evangelical fave; a Greater Israel fanatic; and a folksy, genial bass-player.
The answer is: no one. But if you ask yourself who has his kind of populist appeal with evangelical Christianists … the answer becomes clearer. Santorum has all the stern fanaticism of the Catholic far right but none of the star quality. Barbour's gone. Romney's just too slick for the base culture warriors. Johnson and Paul cannot stir the religious vote and that goes for Huntsman and Daniels.
I'm left with Bachmann and Palin. It's their game of chicken now.
(Photo: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee talks about his new book, 'A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion that We Don't!),' at the National Press Club February 24, 2011 in Washington, DC. By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.)
The Dish 