The Economist is the latest publication to sit up and take notice of Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who is moving up the polls in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination. According to a poll in its latest issue, Huckabee rates highly among voters for his personal qualities:
Values voters, typically poorer and less well-educated than other Republicans, sense a kindred spirit.... Plenty applaud a candidate who seems so straightforward, too. In a poll by YouGov/Polimetrix for The Economist (full results here), Republicans rated him the most honest candidate and Americans rated him the most moral of either party (Hillary Clinton was rated the least honest, and, after Mr Giuliani, the least moral).
The Economist then goes on to point out Huckabee's flaws as a candidate, concluding that he "might easily peel enough values voters away from Mr Romney to hand the race to Mr Giuliani, which might in turn prompt pro-lifers to support a third-party candidate in the general election."
