For years and years to come, when political historians and political junkies gather to remember the truly remarkable stories of triumph and tragedy, they will speak of the Huckabee campaign of 2008 in hushed tones of reverence. Seriously, pols will study and emulate the Huckabee achievement for decades. What makes this one so special?

Never has a candidate done more with so little.

Huckabee is a truly gifted comedian. He is funnier than Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, both of whom were genuinely quick-witted pols with exceptional timing. While he sometimes over-extends (he gets a bit over-confident when he is on a roll), night-in and night-out he is Jay-Leno funny.

His commercial with Chuck Norris may be the all-time best of its kind: YouTube here.

"Chuck Norris doesn't merely endorse a candidate; he tells America how it's going to be."

Huckabee draws from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of great lines:

"They said this was a two-man race; they were right, and I am one of them."

"Don't tell me about the math. I didn't major in math; I majored in miracles."

Although I placed Huckabee on the Bosque Boys watch list back during the summer when he was merely a funny formerly overweight governor from hillbilly country, I have, in fact, consistently underestimated him.

After I predicted he had crested during the weeks preceding the Iowa caucus, following his amazing victory, I promised to never again sell him short. But there I was on the local six o'clock news last Tuesday opining that West Virginia was an aberration, and Pastor Mike would not play a role in the national primary. He got the last laugh, and I was on at ten explaining myself.

Fortunately, I was unavailable to appear that Thursday night to explain how the departure of Mitt Romney marked the end of the 2008 Republican campaign.

During the week before Super Tuesday the conservative talkers had shrilly demanded that Huckabee cease and desist for the good of the party and the movement and the memory of Ronald Reagan. When he refused, they unanimously inferred a cabal, insisting the Huckabee candidacy was merely a stalking horse for John McCain.

Ironically, this week it is the McCain forces who are calling on Huckabee to do the right thing and pack it in before he further embarrasses the home team by defeating the presumptive nominee.

Do I think Huckabee is going to win? Not a chance--but, once again, what do I know? Nothing.

For the record, for all the talk from Camp McCain concerning "dirty tricks" and "distortions" (all while the senator gave as good as he received), the Republican establishment went to great lengths to destroy the reputation of a pretty decent fellow in Huck.

On a serious note: there are a lot of evangelicals out there who think Huckabee got a raw deal with the party. While I am not necessarily one of them, the least-reported big story of this campaign is the growing rift between anti-evangelical conservatives and the so-called Christian Right.

An observation: There is a lot of confusion, frustration, and a sense of betrayal out in the evangelical conclaves. This is problematic. Republicans generally lose when they do not energize religious conservatives.