In today’s Times, Brooks writes about the Obama and Huckabee upset. About Huckabee he writes,

Huckabee won because he tapped into realities that other
Republicans have been slow to recognize. First, evangelicals have
changed. Huckabee is the first ironic evangelical on the national
stage. He’s funny, campy (see his Chuck Norris fixation) and he’s not
at war with modern culture.

Second, Huckabee understands much
better than Mitt Romney that we have a crisis of authority in this
country. People have lost faith in their leaders’ 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.

Third, Huckabee 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’s 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.

In that sense, Huckabee’s victory is not a step into the past. It opens up the way for a new coalition.

Last night, I wrote that Huckabee was going to be a one hit wonder. But now, I’m rethinking things.

I watched Huckabee on one of
those Sunday morning shows this week, and I was surprised by how much I
liked him. He came across as earnest and well meaning. He handled Tim "Happy Cheeks" Russert’s questions with agility. I’ve heard that he has a bad temper, but that didn’t come across on TV. He was very flipfloppy on immigration, but he did a good job of discussing his flavor of politics.

I’m pretty far on the left, but I come from a family of
Catholic pro-lifers and I can see how he would appeal to them. They
would identify with him, much more than Romney who talks like, "CEO’s
pet robot from Jupiter" (a line from Russell Arben Fox) and would seem out of place at a
Little League game. For some reason, Huckabee’s religion seems a lot
less scary than Romney’s. I don’t think it’s an anti-Mormon thing, but
I’m not sure what it is.

On Sunday, Huckabee said that his religion shapes his political ideals,
but not his policies. For example, he said that he wouldn’t make laws
about teaching creationism in schools, but it did make him interested
in helping the least of our brothers. That sentiment runs very strong
amongst folks like my dad. I think that the Republican party could
survive without the country club types.

Now, I don’t agree with Huckabee. I think that the Democrats with their proposals for national health care and childcare policies are the better bet for middle class Americans. I still think that a Republican has no chance in November. But Huckabee speaks the language of social conservatives, and he’s sweet enough to pull in some religious Democrats in a general election.

Romney is done for. McCain might rally. But Huckabee is going to do very
well in Kansas. This is going to be a good fight.

UPDATE: Henry at Crooked Timber has an interesting take on Huckabee and the Brooks column.