Will Mike Huckabee Run?

There has been much speculation about whether or not Mike Huckabee will take another shot at the presidency . We only have to listen to Mike Huckabee's own words and a few indicators to determine that answer.  Mike Huckabee has repeatedly said that he will run if Obama is beatable.  So lets take a look at today's Gallup polling to see if in fact Obama is beatable.

Gallup shows that President Obama's approval numbers have continued to slip away. But if we look more closely at the data we can see that the domestic/economic area is where Obama is in the most trouble:

Foreign Affairs   + 3%

Handling of Egypt  + 15%

Afghanistan  + 1%

Energy Policy  + 1%

Taxes  - 12%

Healthcare  - 16%

Economy  - 23%

Federal Budget Deficit  -  41%

The economic issues were the reason the midterm elections resulted in tremendous gains for Republicans not only in congress, but in governorships across the country.  Those issues will still be key in 2012 if the economy has not turned around.  As an American first, I am not going to be wishing that the economy continues to stagnate just so that my preferred presidential candidate will choose to run. I am hoping that the economy turns around and those who have been long termed unemployed get the jobs that they need.

In order to change those approval ratings on domestic issues, Barack Obama needs to move towards the center as President Bill Clinton did after the mid-term losses in his presidency. But President Obama states that he has not moved to the center, nor does he have to.  In his interview with Bill O'Reilly before the Super Bowl:

O'REILLY: But the pundits now say you're moving to the center to raise your approval, is that true, are you moving to the center?

OBAMA: No.

O'REILLY: No? Because we were set up over there, and then they moved you a little to the center.

OBAMA: (Laughs) Here's what I think is true. Over the first two years of my presidency, we had a complete disaster. Right? We had a complete crisis. The financial markets were breaking down. We were slipping into a Great Depression. And we had to take a bunch of extraordinary steps in order to make sure that the economy was growing again, which it is now, growing. Making sure that the private sector was creating jobs again. It's now doing that.

And now our focus is not on refighting the battle of the last two years...

O'REILLY: So you're not moving to the center?

OBAMA: I haven't -- I didn't move to...

O'REILLY: You haven't moved anywhere? You're the same guy?

OBAMA: I'm the same guy.

President Obama needs to tack to the center and work with Republicans as President Clinton did during his term.  American voters will want to see that Obama cares more about his country than he does about his ideology.  

Since the start of the new year Mike Huckabee has been at or near the top of every poll.  Nationwide, Mike Huckabee has been trending upward in the polls.  This week CNN released polling data showing Mike Huckabee at the top with respondents also indicating that President Obama will lose the presidential election in 2012.  Sixty eight percent of those respondents indicated they want to nominate a candidate who can beat President Obama.  Mike Huckabee appears to be that very person.