Despite his surprising Iowa caucus victory, Mike Huckabee’s candidacy had been slipping out of the spotlight in January. He fell behind McCain and Romney. It seemed that no one was taking the ordained minister-turned-politician seriously anymore.

But then came Super Tuesday, his surprising Southern victories and Romney’s teary-eyed drop out on Thursday.

Photo by yaquina on flickr.com, licensed under the Creative Commons.

Now Huckabee is the only major contender left in the Republican race besides the front-runner, John McCain. The question is: Will people follow McCain to his seemingly inevitable GOP nomination, or will there be a conservative backlash against the “maverick” Arizona senator?*

We are dealing with two ends of the Republican spectrum, since the middle-ground candidacy represented by Romney has ceased to exist. McCain makes many conservatives uncomfortable with his hospitable stance on illegal immigration. On the other hand, Huckabee proposes radical ideas on the religious, constitutional and economic fronts.

Of course evangelical Christian “values voters” will follow him to the end of the Earth because of his harsh stances on evolution, abortion, stem-cell research and gay marriage. He also has a startlingly intimate relation with the Big Guy Upstairs, as evidenced by a very public cell-phone conversation with God during a 2004 rally. And then there was his stated belief that it was God who caused his surge in the polls during the early primary season.

But let us not get too caught up in the Father, lest we forget the Son. Huckabee has said on multiple occasions that, through entering the political game, he is trying to “take this nation back for Christ.” Does that mean he is tight enough with our Lord and Savior to properly gauge Jesus’s opinion on contemporary public policy? As Huckabee is pro-capital punishment, he stated that if there was ever someone to argue the issue, it would have been Christ on the cross. As Jesus did not complain, capital punishment is just. Right.

Leave that to scholars of the New Testament to decide, but Huckabee’s popularity among heavy-duty Christians is no surprise. Just look at their other options: a party maverick who flip flops on abortion, and Ron Paul, who wants to defer the issue to the states. The Huckster, on the other hand, wants a full-out federal ban. When you consider that abortion is the issue for many people, Huckabee’s sudden ascent to the position of “possible-maybe-if-there’s-a-miracle” status is creating quite a buzz.

The question really is: Can a super-conservative “Bible Belt” candidate appeal to enough mainstream voters to be a viable alternative to McCain (or Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, for that matter)? While Clinton is popular within her party, there is a building belief that she would not win a general contest against McCain. But who would win between Huckabee and Clinton? Would conservatives of all creeds unite behind the Biblical superstar?

In reality, that may be a moot point. The GOP’s best bet would be to hand McCain his well-deserved nomination and throw Huckabee on the ticket as his running mate. This move would unite the values voters with the less radical but more numerous McCain supporters. It would also curb Huckabee’s religious propositions for domestic policy. More importantly, a McCain/Huckabee ticket would be a serious hurdle to overcome for either Democratic candidate, especially Clinton.

Most Northwestern students identify as Democrats and thus probably give little thought to voting for Huckabee. But should we be giving this man more consideration? Unlike Bush’s history of failing at everything he tried, Huckabee’s history consists of one success after another. No matter what your opinion of him may be, Huckabee certainly has the qualifications to be the President of the United States after eleven years as governor of Arkansas, during which Time magazine labeled him one of the five best governors in the nation.

Some of his policies are worth consideration as well. The Fair Tax offers a streamlined taxation system that could save the government enormous amounts of money by a blitzkrieg-style demolition of the IRS. Beyond this money-saving plan, he pledges to make the United States energy independent within ten years, using the U.S. government as the primary market for alternative forms of energy.

The problem with Mike Huckabee is that even once you convince yourself that he might be a good president with regards to secular issues, you remember his very serious 1992 proposition for a general quarantine on all AIDS patients (well after the nature of transmission was understood). Not to mention, his demands to amend the Constitution to reflect the word of God, or his claim that his theology degree makes him the most qualified person to wage the War on Terror.

For better or worse, eight years under Mike Huckabee would probably end with a permanently conservative Supreme Court and an overturned Roe v. Wade. On the other hand, the nation might have a newer, fairer and more efficient fiscal program and a seriously revamped energy market that could forever crush our addiction to foreign oil.

As the primaries continue, it will very quickly become apparent whether Huckabee is a serious challenger to McCain’s or is an election-history footnote. If he gets the nomination, it will be a miracle. But, as a minister, would he want it any other way?

*Correction - Sunday, February 10, 2008: Due to copy editing errors, this article originally misidentified both John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is a former Arkansas governor. McCain is a current Arizona senator. Thanks to Fact Check for the corrections.