Will It Really Kill Him?

All this brouhaha about Mike Huckabee and his appealing for the paroling of a rapist who later killed someone when he was Governor of Arkansas is of little interest to me.

The story goes that a relative of Bill Clinton was raped and her rapist went to jail. Anti-Clinton forces in Arkansas, where they were more ferocious than anywhere else early on, thought the convicted rapist got an unfair deal because his victim was a relative of the Clintons. The pressure put on Huckabee to push for his parole was obvious from anti-Clinton forces, but whether or not Huckabee's pleas for parole were political or just his Christian sympathetic personality is up for question. Perhaps this is the unintended consequence of his Christian beliefs, sort of like his sympathetic stance on illegal immigration and his reluctant support for the death penalty.

Even if Huckabee's support for parole was politically motivated, I cannot see how it would hurt him in the primary. Rather, it may actually help him. Republicans are only motivated due to their hatred for the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. In the general, however, it could hurt with independents, especially if he is not facing Clinton and anti-Clinton sentiment is not an issue.

Less than a month away from the Iowa caucus and with Huckabee opening quite a lead there, is it too late to derail his momentum? Is it too late for his GOP rivals to come back and stop him, or should Democrats be preparing to face the former Governor of Arkansas in the general. Is that why this issue is suddenly coming to light?