On an interview with CNBC this morning, Mike Huckabee was asked about the country’s changing demographics, the swing toward support for same-sex marriage, and some trends toward more progressive positions on social issues among younger voters. Does someone who “emphasized divisive social issues” really have a chance of getting elected?

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“You mean someone like Ronald Reagan who got elected twice?” Huck shot back. “You mean someone like George W. Bush, who got elected twice? Who also believed…in traditional marriage.” 

Of course, there’s the rub: Huckabee is counting on a blast from the past. It’s not clear that someone like him still has an avenue to a winning national coalition in 2016. 

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Huckabee went on: “I think people vote not so much horizontally — whether you’re left or right, liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican — I’m convinced that a lot of people vote vertically: are you going to take the country up or down?”

Nice line! But again, this just ain’t so in 2016, with an extremely polarized electorate highly divided along party lines. 

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Huckabee sprinkled in the usual nuggets of economic populism and noted that he got unusually high support among black voters in Arkansas. The chances of Huckabee surviving the GOP primary are near zero, but he’s significantly more talented as a squawking head than his rivals, and I predict he’ll put up a good fight.