FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver was on The Dylan Ratigan Show yesterday to talk about the impact high gas prices might have on President Obama’s re-election.
When it came time for me to ask a question, I pivoted and asked Silver about the then-breaking news that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour had decided against a presidential run.
During his response, Silver noted,
I think, you know, the guy with a pretty clear path to the nomination is Mike Huckabee. You have a lack of southern candidates in this field relative to normal. He’s as much of a front-runner as anyone looking at the polls right now. along with Romney and maybe with Trump, I suppose going by the numbers, but, you know, I don’t know why Huckabee wouldn’t want to make a run here. he polls reasonably well against Barack Obama. better than anyone than emergency room and as much support as any other candidate.
I’ve always thought — and still think — Huckabee began his 2012 flirtation as merely a way to keep his name in the news and generate some buzz. He was finally making good money at Fox News, and was building a huge house in Florida, after all.
But now, I’m beginning to agree with Silver. With Huckabee’s consistently good poll numbers — and with a weak GOP field — how can Huckabee decide to not run at this point?