The Republican Party’s religious right base is supposed to be seen, not heard. Candidates are supposed to pander to this crowd, not actually come from this crowd. They’re supposed to be the foot-soldiers come Election Day, and then quietly sit back while the party directs its attention to billionaires, oil companies, and the neocons.

Steven Benen on the 'Hucklebee Panic' and why after years of giving lip service to the rural, evangelist right, their NASCAR and their Ten Commandments monuments, the "high priests of mainstream conservatism" are starting to see Mike Huckabee as the genuine embodiment of all those things they've been pretended to hold dear to woo the foot soldiers -- and are starting to wet their pants. Or as Kevin Drumm puts it:

I think this brand of yahooism puts off mainstream urban conservatives every bit as much as it does mainstream urban liberals. They're afraid that this time, it's not just a line of patter to keep the yokels in line.

Over on the other side, that tiny enclave of sane Republicans is even more vitriolic:

John Cole:



If only I felt better about the Democratic frontrunners....