Obama vs. Huckabee?

The last couple days I've gotten nothing done of my staff application, largely because I've been happily drowning in YouTube videos, poll data, and candidate websites. At points, the TV has been running CNN while the computer played NBC (ok, so that's because my brother was skipping back and forth between CNN and football... but still!) It's been an intense weekend and a weekend of immense joy. I am thoroughly pumped about the possibilities for this presidential election.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating questions for me right now is that of Huckabee. Assuming my dear Barack wins the Democratic nomination, who would I want him to compete against? I wonder the most specifically about Huckabee because of the pull he understandably has over evangelical voters. I envision one of two potentially favorable scenarios:

Obama vs. not-an-evangelical- Obama has so much pull over independents, even Republicans, and already has a lot of supporters among Christian leftists and moderates. Maybe more evangelicals could be pulled in, not only as Obama supporters but, more importantly, as supporters of certain voting habits when it comes to social justice and environmental issues.

OR

not-Obama vs. Huckabee- Huckabee gets the evangelical vote and maybe wins. And while I feel compelled to vote for someone further left than Mike, he still is not so much the neocon some Republicans would want. From the bit I know, he talks more about poverty as a moral issue than I would have expected. And I think that's something very positive. I would feel disappointed if he helped cement evangelicals further into a not-questioning pattern of voting Republican... but if he helped change the face of evangelical Republican politics in a way at all friendly toward social justice issues, perhaps that wouldn't be so bad? (Though, like I said, barring some vision of Jesus on the road to Chapel Hill, the Democrats have my heart...)

The most frightening thing I can think of is Obama vs. Huckabee. Huckabee might hold onto evangelicals that would otherwise move over to Obama. Evangelicals I eagerly hope will loudly support Obama in a way that encourages other evangelicals to consider new issues and forces the media to stop generalizing about how evangelicals vote and end criticism of evangelical hypocrisy when it comes to certain issues. But then on the other hand, perhaps that would be the best possible situation? Obama and Huckabee both appeal to people wanting to move in a new direction with more bipartisan cooperation, and both are seen by many as more "genuine" than other candidates. And for goodness sakes, should I really be disappointed if the person I think is the best Republican candidate with regards to certain issues wins that nomination? Why should I complain?

I saw two fascinating articles today, both on Obama vs. Huckabee. One called it a contest of the Secular Left vs. the Christian Left. The other called it the Christian Left vs. the Christian Right. I'm not sure either sets of labels is correct, but how killer-interesting is that?

This election is so much fun for me. Four years ago I was a high school senior, daughter of conservative-leaning fairly-apolitical parents. I knew little of substance about candidates or issues. I went to school in the fall, registered as a Republican, voted straight-ticket.

My how things have changed. I finished a political science major this fall, will graduate in May. I'm now a registered Democrat, and I actually know a good deal about the issues I care most about, outside of what TV media reports (from newspapers, books, classes instead-- which in my opinion are vastly superior sources!). And the issues I care about in and of themselves are different. There are many things I care about now that weren't even on the map back then. I ask much better questions these days, and I know the kinds of answers I'm hoping for.

This election is completely different from the last-- and it's a fun time to elect a president.