Hucka-DAMN!

Kansas: Huckabee 60, Maverick 24.
Louisiana: Huckabee 44, Maverick 42.
Washington [with 87% reporting]: Maverick 26, Huckabee 24.

Remember when Huckabee said "this is a two-man race, and we're in it"? And remember how I laughed because he was delusional? Well he may be better at counting than I gave him credit for.

Yesterday was a big day for Huckabee bringin' the crazy. First, and most frighteningly, on religion:

"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Jesus Christ. (Literally.)

And on immigration:

"Every one of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 came here legally," he said, per NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy. "Our government welcomed them in. Well, there's a couple of things we're going to do differently. I say we ought to put a hiatus on people who come here and give them permits if they come from countries that sponsor and harbor terrorists. Let's say until you get your act in order, and we'll get our act in order."

In Huckabee's defense, he did backtrack on the immigration issue a bit. But still, he was really swinging for the fences yesterday, huh? (Let's hope that God quote goes mainstream; that's a pretty dramatic position to take, even for a former Baptist minister.)

(Also, he told Joe Scarborough this morning that "When we were in college we used to take a popcorn popper -- because that was the only thing they would let us have in the dorms -- and fry squirrels in the popcorn popper." The man's gone 'round the fucking bend.)

Big giant (and not particularly flattering, from where I'm sitting) Huckabee profile in the upcoming NYT Magazine. Several fascinating insights (Huckabee, still, has no national finance director), as well as this gem:

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has no such reservations. He considers the "Left Behind" books, in which the world comes to a violent end as Jesus triumphs over Satan, a "compelling story written for nontheologians."

Which I think is basically saying, "It's like theology for dumb people."

...Or, in other words, theology. (Rimshot!)

Update: Those who get up in arms about such things are up in arms about this bit:

I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: "Don’t Mormons," he asked in an innocent voice, "believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

Despite that fact that one of the main points of the profile is "Mike Huckabee is meaner than he looks," I do actually buy his explanation here (that it was an honest question asked to a reporter who "frankly is fairly well-schooled on comparative religions"). But I think this is a pretty good illustration of why you may want to ask someone other than a reporter when you have a question like that.

Here are a few of the conclusions from this article that I find particularly surprising:

• "Not one of the Republican candidates is viewed favorably by even half the Republican electorate, the poll found."
• "Even after what her aides acknowledge have been two of the roughest months of her candidacy, [Hillary Clinton] is viewed by Democrats as a far more electable presidential nominee than either Senator Barack Obama or John Edwards." ("63 percent of Democratic voters said that of all the Democrats in the race, she would have the best chance in the general election, compared with 14 percent who named Mr. Obama and 10 percent for Mr. Edwards.")
• "Not only do substantially more Democratic voters judge her to be ready for the presidency than believe Mr. Obama is prepared for the job, the poll found, but more Democrats also see Mrs. Clinton rather than Mr. Obama as someone who can unite the country."
• "At 21 percent, the approval rating for this Democratic-led Congress is at a new low, reflecting the defection of independent voters, a potentially worrisome development for Democrats going into next year’s Congressional elections."
• "In fact, about as many of Mrs. Clinton’s backers say they are supporting her because of her husband as say they are supporting her because of her own experience."
• "Mr. Edwards is viewed favorably by 36 percent." (I guess that one's not so much "surprising" as "unfortunate.")
• "In a week when Mr. Romney delivered a speech intended to deal with concerns about his religion — he would be the nation’s first Mormon president — the poll found that little more than half of Republican respondents thought the United States was prepared to elect a Mormon to the Oval Office. That said, it also found that 45 percent were unable to say what Mr. Romney’s religion was."

People are so awesome.

The Hill's Aaron Blake notes the growing movement among Arkansas Republicans - and to be clear, "growing movement" is entirely my phrase; the actual article calls it something closer to "a couple of overexcited bloggers" - encouraging Gov. Mike Huckabee to abandon his presidential campaign in favor of making a run at Mark Pryor's Senate seat.

I'm of two minds on this one. On the one hand, I've mentioned before my general fear of Huckabee, and I admit that I'd like to see him off the national stage. And honestly, I don't think I'd mind having him as a member of the Senate: he's like Sam Brownback, only jovial.

But on the other hand, I'm not blind to the big-picture expected-value considerations here: [(the likelihood of Huckabee going to the White House) * (the crazy, crazy shit that he'd do the country if he got there)] vs. [(the likelihood of Huckabee going to the Capitol) * (the cost of a power-shift if the loss of Pryor's seat leads to the reversion of Senate control to the GOP)]. Given what I'd estimate to be the considerably greater chance he has to win a Senate race, I suppose I should probably be rooting for Huckabee to continue his White House run.

I tend to suspect, though, that the discussion is moot: considering the very real possibility that Pryor would beat him in the Senate race (Pryor's not fantastically popular, but neither is he a slouch), and further considering that if Huckabee abandons his presidential run only to lose a Senate campaign, his political career is all-but-tanked, I'd have to imagine that Huckabee's feelings about a plan like this one would be, at best, skeptical. Still, fun to think about.

Mike Huckabee, on Imus yesterday (according to Wake-Up Call): "I don't know everything about foreign policy, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." Hard not to like the guy, isn't it? Even if he is crazy.