I\u2019ve been through election nights that brought a political earthquake to the country. I\u2019ve never been through an election night that brought two.<\/p>\n
Barack Obama has won the Iowa caucuses. You\u2019d have to have a heart of stone not to feel moved by this. An African-American man wins a closely fought campaign in a pivotal state. He beats two strong opponents, including the mighty Clinton machine. He does it in a system that favors rural voters. He does it by getting young voters to come out to the caucuses.<\/p>\n
This is a huge moment. It\u2019s one of those times when a movement that seemed ethereal and idealistic became a reality and took on political substance….
\n….[Mike Huckabee has appeal because he] understands much better than Mitt Romney that we have a crisis of authority in this country. People have lost faith in their leaders\u2019 ability to respond to problems. While Romney embodies the leadership class, Huckabee went after it. He criticized Wall Street and K Street. Most importantly, he sensed that conservatives do not believe their own movement is well led. He took on Rush Limbaugh, the Club for Growth and even President Bush. The old guard threw everything they had at him, and their diminished power is now exposed.<\/p>\n
…Huckabee [also] understands how middle-class anxiety is really lived. Democrats talk about wages. But real middle-class families have more to fear economically from divorce than from a free trade pact. A person\u2019s lifetime prospects will be threatened more by single parenting than by outsourcing. Huckabee understands that economic well-being is fused with social and moral well-being, and he talks about the inter-relationship in a way no other candidate has.<\/p>\n