David Broder’s column in yesterday’s Washington Post highlighted Mike Huckabee’s strategy for upending Mitt Romney in New Hampshire – surprise him just like Buchanan surprised George H.W. Bush in 1992 and like BIll Clinton surprised Paul Tsongas that same year.
Huckabee believes that there is a lot discontent out there:
“The economy looks good when you measure it in macro terms,” Huckabee said Thursday during a stopover in Washington, “but a lot of families are struggling just to reach the next step on the ladder.” Having grown up in a family where “you finished everything on your plate, because you never wasted a thing,” Huckabee said that he empathizes with the anxiety of “people who have no trust fund, no safety net to fall back on.”
He didn’t have to name Romney as the “trust fund” candidate in the race. The former venture capitalist’s wealth has been well publicized. All Huckabee has to say is “I’ve walked the aisles at Wal-Mart” to make his class consciousness evident.
Huckabee is easily the most interesting Republican candidate out there and he has nowhere to go but up. The remaining question is whether he is willing to do what it takes to raise money. Because that is something that his predecessor from Hope, Arkansas excelled at doing.