As I noted in the post below, I think Matt Drudge is trying to take down Huckabee as a service to the Rove/Bush team. But some would point to polling evidence that Huckabee’s weak.

That’s not what Drudge was saying, however. And there’s really no surprise in those polling numbers. Consider what that article said:

But Huckabee’s double-digit deficits with the leading Democrats likely suggest that the Arkansas Republican still lacks widespread name recognition nationally, according to Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.

“Americans tend not to support candidates they’re not familiar with, and it’s possible Huckabee’s numbers are low in these hypothetical matchups because he is still not very well known nationally,” Holland said.

The poll also shows that Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona would do best against leading Democrats. He beats Clinton by 2 percentage points (50 percent to 48 percent), ties Obama (48 percent to 48 percent) and loses to Edwards by a smaller margin (8 points) than the other Republican candidates do.

In addition to Huckabee, Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lose to all three top Democrats in the survey.

If Huckabee places in the top two in the first two primaries, he’ll be known quickly. And ten months await for Americans to learn more. With the rest of what I said in my earlier post, I think Huckabee and McCain present bigger problems for the Dems. I included Thompson in the assessment because Tennessee is technically a swing state, though I personally feel Thompson carries more baggage than John and Mike, so he’s not as formidable as they would be.

And I’m all in favor of any contest with the STRONGEST the GOP has to offer. A lot of voters are disgusted with politics and could walk away from a cakewalk. In these times, we need every citizen to be actively engaged in advancing the good within our country. Our candidate will win, but will need that strong active support to push forward policies that correct eight years of putridity.

The only real eye-opener to some in that polling is how wll Edwards measures up on the Democratic side. But I’ve said before that other than Florida and Arkansas, he’s the only Democrat in the field that stands a chance of breaking up the Southern red state bloc the GOP is wholly dependent on.

All three of the leading Democrats can win, so electability shouldn’t be at issue. Weigh them on their merits. I remain convinced that Edwards not only offers the most progressive agenda of the top three but specifically because he’ll work at bettering the lives of the working class (or lower middle class, if you prefer), that he’ll permanently pull Reagan Democrats back into the party and that will end forever the GOP’s reliance on a Southern strategy. The Republicans in Washington have taken Southerners for granted for 40 years and have mutilated the economic interests of Southerners every step of the way.

America rising? You better believe it at The Corner. It’s going to take a sustained effort for years to recover what was stolen from us by the elected Reublicans in the White House and Congress in the last eight years. Many a Republican family has been hurt, oo, and we’ll need them, too, to rise to our nation’s best potential again.