I (Still) Like Mike

With the campaign season starting unseasonably early, campaign fatigue is starting to set in even for the political junkies among us. In fact, the Iowa Caucus, despite being held so early, seems to be late in the race. It is, in fact, just the beginning.

Whoever wins the Iowa Caucus will be given that magical and elusive gift of "momentum." And Iowa will either make or break some candidates. Every candidate (except Giuliani) seems to sense that and is making Iowa the battleground state for politics. Everyone, Republican and Democrat, has battled ferociously and undecided Iowans now must choose between bloodied and battered candidates.

Despite the obvious beating he has taken from Republican opponents, the media and yes, even despite his own blunders, I still can't write one guy off. I still like Mike. Mike Huckabee, that is.

I know he has made blunders. I know his opponents have tried to smear him. I realize that the media, both conservative and liberal seem to have turned, en mass, against him. But, you have to give this man one thing - he just doesn't quit. He's still out there, stumping with his cheerfully corny humor, pulling together an unlikely coalition of conservatives. He's still shrugging off the sight of his own political blood, and pressing on. He's still making moneyed opponents scratch their head furiously and wonder, "How does he do it?"

The answer is simple: Mike is Mike. He's not an Establishment Republican. He's not a talk show Republican. He's not a typical Republican. He's a middle class Republican. A common man Republican. Call it populism (I don't think it is entirely); call it Evangelical-ism (it's not just that); call it whatever you want: it's here and everyone is going to have to deal with it.

Just as Tancredo forced everyone to address the immigration issue, Huckabee is forcing Republicans to think of the common, middle America Republican. And no one really knows what to do with it. Hence, everyone and their dog is piling on. Typical Republican opinion mongers don't know what to do with Huckabee's political pragmatism. Typical Democratic rattletraps don't know how to handle Huckabee's ministerial roots.

It's OK. Mainstream Americans aren't afraid of a pragmatic social conservative. We like the fact that he's never been pro-life or pro-gay. We know Mike did a great job governing Arkansas. We don't trust most of the media moguls anyway, and everyone knows better than to listen to a rival's attack ads. So, Mike is still our man.

Is Mike perfect? No. Do I have disagreements with some of his policies? Sure. Are there criticicsms to be made of his candidacy? Yes, and I hope to address that in a later post. But when it comes time for me to vote, I haven't found anyone better, or even as good as the other man from Hope, Arkansas.

Yep, I still like Mike.