He's Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) and, yep, he grew up in Hope, Arkansas just a certain Democratic President we all remember...and as govenor of Arkansas, Huckabee is testing the Presidential waters, according to Mort Kondracke:

A long shot for the nomination in a field currently dominated by such household names as Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as well as Washington-based pols such as Frist and Sen. George Allen (Va.), Huckabee nevertheless is testing the waters. And he thinks he has advantages over Frist and other Senators.

"I think people are looking for a pragmatist who can approach problems and solve them, rather than simply deliberating on them," he told me in an interview last week. "I think one advantage governors have is that their experience in government is practical in solving everyday problems, whether it's education or road-building or cleaning up the environment or promoting the state's economic development, job creation."

Governors, he said, "are not so much about making speeches as making decisions. And we're held accountable, I can assure you, every day on the front pages of the newspaper, for everything we do and say."

That is pretty much it - Huckabee is not exactly a household name in the United States, but as a solid conservative who is a governor, he's actually got a leg up over any non-governor running for the GOP nomnination in 2008 - provided, of course, that he can catch the eye of early primary voters.

As we all say, it is way too early to really know how 2008 will shake out...but never count out the unknown who is quietly working away while his opponents grandstand on the national stage. My bet is still on Romney or Allen (current and former GOP governors, though Allen is currently a Senator), but I'll be keeping an eye on Huckabee from now on, too.

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.gopbloggers.org/mt/majority.cgi/2146