On that Huckabee comment, what’s striking is that Huckabee had a fine answer earlier on Fox News Sunday, when he said, “In fact, I’ve done everything I can to say I’ll be happy to talk about my faith. I’m not going to evaluate someone else’s.”

He had a fine answer in the beginning of his response to the New York Times reporter, “I think it’s a religion,” he said. “I really don’t know much about it.”

Was the question from the reporter — Is Mormonism a cult or religion – a “gotcha”? Sure. But Huckabee walked into it nonetheless.

And, as I’ll address in greater detail in the near future, this is starting to become a pattern with the former Arkansas governor…

UPDATE: Team Huck’s statement:

News Release: Huckabee Campaign Responds to AP/New York Times Report
December 11, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, AR – A report released tonight cites an upcoming article in the Sunday edition of The New York Times Magazine which quotes former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee asking a question about the content of the Mormon faith. In fact, the full context of the exchange makes it clear that Governor Huckabee was illustrating his unwillingness to answer questions about Mormonism and to avoid addressing theological questions during this campaign.
“Governor Huckabee has said consistently that he believes this campaign should center on a discussion of the important issues confronting our nation,” said Senior Advisor, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, “and not focus on questions of religious belief. He wants to assure persons of all faith traditions of his firm commitment to religious tolerance and freedom of worship. Governor Huckabee believes that one of the great strengths of our nation lies in its diversity of thought, opinion and faith.”