The Good (and Bad) of Mike Huckabee

To reform-minded conservatives and victory-minded Republicans, Mike Huckabee raises exciting possibilities — and difficult questions.

My latest column for The Week examines the positive qualities and drawbacks that Mike Huckabee would bring to a 2012 presidential campaign.

That was a surprisingly positive profile of Mike Huckabee in the New Yorker last week. For instance:

Huckabee had more executive experience than any other candidate, Republican or Democratic, in the 2008 campaign (with the exception of Tommy Thompson, who dropped out of the race after the Iowa straw poll). “And yet you didn’t hear a Chris Matthews saying, ‘Governor, I want to talk to you about your education policy; you did some innovative things,’” he said. “No. It was, ‘O.K., you were a Baptist preacher. Let’s talk about evolution.’ It’s, like, ‘Are you an idiot? Is that the only thing you can ask me?’”

All the more surprising is that Huckabee polls at or near the top of Republican presidential candidates — and won the second-largest Republican delegate total in the 2008 primaries. It just shows how far charm can take you. (And for those who have never witnessed the Huckabee charm, click here to see him at work.)

To reform-minded conservatives and victory-minded Republicans, the Huckabee presented in the New Yorker and seen on his new Fox News television program raises exciting possibilities — and difficult questions.

Click here to read the rest.