Even if Obama and Huckabee don’t win their nomination fights, they represent a changing of the guard in African-American (from Sharpton/Jackson-style leadership) and evangelical politics (from Falwell/Roberston-style leadership). They will be leaders for years to come and will be less hard-edged and vested in the disputes of the past than their predecessors. They will have cross-over appeal (Obama, among whites; Huckabee, among the media–unless he actually wins the nomination). And they are both are winsome guys. You don’t have to be a fan of their presidential candidacies–I emphatically am not–to acknowledge that this changing of the guard is a most welcome development.