Mike Huckabee

One of the few things the Republican and Democratic presidential contests have in common is the relentlessness with which candidates on both sides are wrapping themselves in orthodoxy. Heretics need not apply. It's true that primary contests are largely decided by the party faithful. And I'll concede that orthodoxy may be underrated, since we tend to trust people whose views are grounded in a set of principles. "I did try to found a heresy of my own," said G.K. Chesterton, who wrote the book on orthodoxy, "and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy.

Wednesday's visit to Centre College by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been canceled. According to a release Monday from the Republican Party of Kentucky, a scheduling conflict prevents the former Arkansas governor from speaking in Danville. "The Huckabee campaign continues to explore alternative dates for scheduling the event at Centre," the release states.

Dear Editor, I had the privilege of hearing Mike Huckabee speak at the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators in St. Louis, Mo., earlier this year. He appears to be every diabetes educator's dream - the guy who follows all the protocol health care advice, takes up exercise, loses weight, improves his diet, and essentially transforms himself into a new and better being. This is a fellow who blames no one but himself for the state of his physical health, and asks no one but himself to find a fix. I believe that he is, as a presidential candidate, personally vested in revolutionizing health care as we know it. And while I cannot endorse his conservative views on private matters, I encourage open-minded folks interested in health care reform to come out and hear what he has to say next Wednesday at Centre College.

Centre College hasn't learned yet if it will be the site of a presidential debate next year, but a whiff of presidential politics will blow into town next week when GOP hopeful Mike Huckabee visits. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor who is generally considered a second-tier Republican presidential candidate, will stop by Centre on Oct. 10 during a campaign swing through Kentucky. State Rep. Mike Harmon, R-Junction City, was instrumental in steering Huckabee to Danville during a meeting of the Republican Party of Kentucky.

WASHINGTON - Watch out, Fred Thompson: By the time you get into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney may have run away with your constituency. And while Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have decided not to compete in next Saturday's Republican straw poll in Iowa, they now have a powerful interest in preventing Romney from turning what they had hoped would be a nonevent into a meaningful victory. Look for maneuvering from Romney's top rivals to strengthen former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Sam Brownback so they can dilute Romney's share of the vote - and of the news.

WASHINGTON - It isn't always easy to notice, but this year's Republican presidential campaign has become the occasion for the collapse of conservative orthodoxy. In Tuesday's Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, every leading candidate declared independence from some piece of dogma or another - even as all of them clung for dear life to the word "conservative. " They sounded like religious doubters who compensate for their ebbing faith by shouting ever more fervently: "I believe!"

WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee, who just stepped down as Arkansas' governor, is the brightest star among Republican presidential dark horses. It's not just because he, like a certain other Arkansan, has ties to a town called Hope, nor because he lost 105 pounds and has written a popular diet book. And it's not only because he is mastering a conservative form of triangulation blending religious conservatism with policy pragmatism. Huckabee, if he chooses to run for president in 2008, has another asset: While front-runners John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have placed large bets on the success of President Bush's Iraq policy, Huckabee has maintained what you might call loyal distance.