Huckabee: The GOP's Obama?

What explains Mike Huckabee’s sudden transformation from long-shot hopeful to polling contender nipping at Giuliani’s heels? It’s not just tardy rallying of the religious right behind the Baptist preacher, argues the New York Times' Frank Rich, but Huck’s Obama-esque rejection of the Rudy-Romney “calling cards of fear, torture, and nativism” and gentle, non-partisan approach to politics.

Rich reminds us that Huck’s rise followed CNN’s GOP YouTube debate, where he shut down Romney’s barb over Huck’s support for a program aiding illegal immigrants' children by saying: “we’re a better country than to punish children.” Huck, with no money and obvious flaws, may ultimately be doomed, but his success so far “shows just how in sync his benign style is with the cultural moment.” (More Mike Huckabee stories.)