Huckabee Bails from 2012 Presidential Bid

As anyone who has read this blog for some time knows, I cannot stand Mike Huckabee who I see as a dangerous - and phony - snake oil merchant of the Christian Taliban who would love nothing more than to overthrow the U.S. Constitution and install the Christianist version of Sharia law on every citizen. The man is a menace. Thankfully, Huckabee has announced that he will not be running for the GOP nomination - at least for now - which scrabbles up the GOP field in terms of who will be the new darling of the insane and bigoted GOP base. Given the make up of the GOP base and how the early primaries stack up, to win the primary contests being a objective fact embracing grown up disqualifies one as a likely contender. Never mind that in the general election moderates and independents would likely run screaming from the favorites of the base. It's a sad state of affairs but one that has long been developing and one of the reasons I left the GOP many years ago. The Washington Post has coverage on Huckabee's withdrawal from the 2012 contest. Here are some highlights:

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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will not run for president in 2012, . . . . A Huckabee-less field also makes the Iowa caucuses far more competitive as the Arkansas Republican would have been a clear favorite in the state following his surprise victory there in 2008. That’s good news for people like Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn), former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — all of whom are expected to make a major push in the Hawkeye State.

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The GOP race is now also without a well known social conservative candidate — a void that will be even more pronounced if former Alaska governor Sarah Palin decides against the race.

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Huckabee said he disliked many aspects of running for president, including the fundraising and the marathon of debates. He also said he believed that President Obama would be harder to beat than many Republicans believed. Huckabee’s ambivalence was also driven by the success he had found in the private sector since the 2008 race.

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[R]oughly three weeks ago, according to one insider, Huckabee began to back away from the race — expressing concerns about the slings and arrows he would take from his 2012 rivals. “He started complaining about getting beaten up,” said Ed Rollins, who managed Huckabee’s 2008 campaign. “He didn’t like that.”

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Yes, he likely would have been "beaten up" and rightfully so given his extremism and contempt for the U. S. Constitution's protection of others outside the batshitery of the Christianist world view. Now, it will be interesting to watch and see how others in the GOP field prostitute themselves to the GOP base.