Huck, Mitt and the backfire

Suddenly Mike Huckabee is everywhere. And suddenly anti-Mike Huckabee stories are everywhere. Are they warranted or knee-jerk overreactions?

Jim Geraghty at NRO had some biting words for Huck in that direction, as follows:

Wow. Huckabee's been endorsed by both Chuck Norris AND Jesus Christ. Dang. Here I was looking at poll numbers, advertising, and endorsements, when I should have been detailing and quantifying the "not human" factor in the race.

All because he essentially gave credit for his increase in donations and popularity to a higher power, making an analogy to Jesus feeding the 5000 with two fish and five loaves.

NRO isn't the only outlet bashing Huck, Allah and Bryan at Hot Air and others have been roasting him on the Dumond case. The pushback is frankly rather surprising in it's intensity, and it makes one wonder whether his Baptist preacher tag might not be responsible for some of it (along with rank jealousy). He deserves the heat but not necessarily a searing. And while using one of Christ's miracles to describe his own campaign might not be the best approach, a lot of folks in the hinterlands do the same thing every day in their own lives. So there's a hint of danger in going after Huck too hard.

That brings us to Rudy's Mitt's "don't come to Brigham Young" speech today, where he apparently tried to separate from his faith ala JFK. Many advised him against it but he probably felt he had to in response to Huck's rising popularity. It might be a whistle in the dark since most of American Christendom would probably prefer a Baptist over a Mormon any day of the week if both candidates are similarly qualified and capable. That's just the way it is, and both Mitt and Huck know it. They are the two 'moral' candidates with no divorces or other dalliances in their past.

But the backfire question itself is interesting. Breaking Reagan's eleventh commandment and going too hard on Huck could certainly alienate the social-con electorate, many of whom already feel they are being persecuted by the secular left and are definitely not comfortable with Rudy and only marginally with Fred. Yet Huck could also get into trouble with those same folks if they think for one second that he might be using religion as a prop to get elected.