Rod Dreher is much more sympathetic to Gov. Huckabee then I would be (not that that’s a stretch), and I think that the Crunchy Con somewhat overstates the Churchy Con’s wider appeal. Nevertheless there’s a lot to what Rod has to say in this passage:

[Huckabee’s] scoring with folks for much the same reason Obama is: because he’s an exceptionally good orator whose style is in tune with the mood of the country right now. Plus, his Joe Lunchbucket economic populism is striking a resonant chord with many Republican voters.You could see as far back as the Pew political typology in 2005 that the Republican vote was moving more toward economic populism, without leaving behind social conservatism. Somebody was bound to find that sweet spot sooner or later. If Huck doesn’t make it this year, he’s not going away, and besides, there will be more Huckabee-style Republicans emerging in years to come.

Indeed there will, and the way that they will be brought into (or kept within) the fold will end up making a mockery of what is left of Goldwater/Reagan conservatism. It may well win elections, however. Christian Democrats often do. And there’s the rub.

Meanwhile Cato’s David Boaz surveys the whole scene and asks, “what fresh hell is this?” Good question.