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So, the big GOP winner in Iowa was Mike Huckabee. Not surprising, considering the polls, but that hasn't stopped the hysteria. Andrew Sullivan last night seemed almost giddy that he'd forseen the surrender of the GOP to the Christianist right, and in the New York Times, David Brooks put Huckabee's victory on par with Obama's for the Democrats as a "political earthquake. "
Forgive me, but I can't get that worked up about Huckabee, though I have no wish for him to win the GOP nomination. For one, the evangelical turnout in Iowa was huge. About 60 percent of Iowa's GOP caucus-goers identified as evangelical and half voted for the former governor; in the general population, 26 percent of Americans are evangelical. New Hampshire is just a few days away, and if Huckabee's victory helped anyone, it was John McCain. If McCain wins New Hampshire, that could give him enough momentum to weather a Huckabee victory in South Carolina and hang on for Super Tuesday.
And what if it came down to a race between Obama and McCain? They'd be two refreshing candidates, largely untainted by scandal, whom their respective parties could rally around positively rather than spending six months tearing down the other guy. I can't help but think that would be an OK thing for this country.
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