We were beginning to
worry about Mike
Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor and dark-horse presidential candidate has been flying so far under the radar that at times he’s seemed to disappear altogether. We were thinking about calling area emergency rooms, just to make sure Huckabee hadn’t been in an accident. The next step would have been to hand out missing-person fliers bearing his photo and the question, “ Have you seen this low-polling candidate ? ” After that ? We don’t know if Nancy Grace does shows on thin white guys with presidential aspirations who go missing in the middle of their campaigns — but we were willing to call the blond bulldog and ask. Turns out, none of that will be necessary. Huckabee is still out there, and is still running for president or vice president, whether anyone notices or not. And he’s figured out how to get his name in the headlines again, if only for a news cycle. During an appearance this past weekend on CBS’ “ Face the Nation, ” Huckabee took a swipe at fellow GOP hopeful Mitt Romney for calling himself a lifelong hunter — even though Romney has never held a hunting license and has only been hunting twice in his life. “ I think it was a major mistake, ” Huckabee said. “ It would be like me saying I’ve been a lifelong golfer because I played putt-putt when I was 9 years old and I rode in a golf cart a couple of times. ” Good lines. But good enough to make national news ? It must have been a slow day on the campaign trail.
Truth be told, we haven’t really missed hearing from Mike Huckabee. The state’s doing fine without him, and there hasn’t been any thinskinned whining emanating from the governor’s mansion since the thin man took his leave.
But given the way this presidential election is shaping up, it was heartening to see news being made by anyone other than a presumed front-runner in either party. It seems all we get, more often than not, are reports from the campaigns of Clinton, Obama, McCain and Giuliani.
That’s unlikely to change. This campaign promises to be shorter than any we’ve ever experienced, thanks to the establishment of early primaries by many states. There will be far less time this election cycle for relative unknowns like Huckabee to raise money and get their messages out.
As we’ve already opined, that’s a shame. And more than that, it’s dangerous. At a time when we need the most capable leader we can find, money and name recognition are likely to carry the day. Competence and the presence of real ideas ? We’ll just have to hope for the best.
Not that Huckabee’s remarks about Romney qualify as real ideas, or anything close. But maybe the attention those remarks drew will help remind people, most notably those in the national media, that there are candidates out there besides the front-runners.
One of them — one of them other than Huckabee — might make a great president.
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