Mike Huckabee 2012: Will He or Won’t He? (He Should)

Will Mike Huckabee run for President in 2012?

Republican primary polls suggest he has a good shot; he routinely tops them without doing anything – in contrast to Mitt Romney and especially Donald Trump, who have already begun to campaign.

Furthermore, the likeable former Baptist preacher has a lock on the evangelical Christians, whose support is crucial to the success of any candidate in the Republican primaries.

Perhaps more importantly, Huckabee should run because the field just looks so ‘weak’ in terms of the candidates' personal characteristics.

A Gallup poll conducted in 2007 showed that 84 percent of people are comfortable voting for a black person, 77 percent for a woman, 60 for a Mormon, 55 percent for a thrice-married person, and 42 percent for a person older than 72-years-old.

In reality, these discriminations may actually be more severe due to the ‘Bradley effect.’

The Republican 2012 field are full of these ‘discriminated’ people.

Herman Cain is black, Newt Gingrich is twice divorced, Donald Trump is twice divorced, Ron Paul is 75 years old, Mitt Romney is Mormon, Jon Huntsman is a Mormon, Sarah Palin is a woman, and Michele Bachmann is a woman.

Of course, as Barack Obama (and John F. Kennedy before him) proved, a strong and inspirational candidate can overcome these prejudices.

The problem, however, is that the 2012 Republican candidates are either bland (like Mitt Romney) or shunned by the mainstream Republican Party (like Ron Paul).

In this light, and the fact that Jeb Bush will almost certainly not run, Huckabee looks very strong.

Huckabee supporters will not have to wait very long to find about his decision to run or not. Taking a page out of Donald Trump, Huckabee will be announcing his decision on his Fox show Huckabee on Saturday night.

The shows airs on 8 p.m. Eastern Time.