Saying hello to Mr Huckabee

Making a monkey out of Mitt Romney

American politics
Democracy in America

ONE victim of Karl Rove’s defection from the White House is Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate. On Saturday he came in second in the nonbinding Iowa straw poll with 18% of the vote, behind Mitt Romney, who had 32%. No one expected him to do so well. And that includes the candidate himself; after the results came in, he compared it to the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

To vote, an Iowan must produce a $35 ticket (a bit undemocratic, but let’s put that aside). Campaigns typically pony up for tickets, and some pay for buses to bring in supporters from all over the state. Rich candidates like Mr Romney therefore have an advantage over poorly financed people like Mr Huckabee. But here, Mr Huckabee bought fewer than 2,000 tickets and ended up with 2,600 votes. That suggests that the Romney campaign generously delivered many voters to Huck—and that Iowans don't necessarily feel compelled to dance with the one what brung them.

As a candidate, Mr Huckabee’s chief virtue is that he is an affable fellow and people like him. He tells jokes. He has a funny name, which brings to mind Huckleberry (Finn and Hound), bumblebees, Applebee’s, and so on. He plays in a band called the Capitol Offense. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has a covenant marriage. He does not believe in evolution (although he arguably made a monkey out of Mr Romney). He used to be overweight but lost more than 100lbs and, as governor, started sending kids home with "obesity report cards".

These are excellent traits in a marginal candidate, but may become troubling if it turns out that Mr Huckabee has a serious shot. So: does he? His second-place showing got himsome headlines. The attention lasted until Monday morning, when Mr Rove announced that he would resign as George Bush’s deputy chief of staff and most people forgot about Mr Huckabee. But it was a good splash of publicity for him and will help fundraising. Then there will be even more loaves and fishes to go around, even if there are no more miracles.

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