Electability - Mike Huckabee Edition

I am not particularly fond of the "electability" argument for particularly anyone. We are a 11 months away from the election and a lot can happen between now and then to change electability. But there are a couple of news items that look toward Huck and his general election possibilities.

The first comes from CNN (pdf) who did a survey (excluding Fred--but this is CNN) doing head-to-head surveys between Huck, Mitt, Rudy and McCain vs Hillary, Obama and Edwards. Huck performs worst against the Dems losing, on average, by 17 points. Mitt does second worst, losing by 15 points. Then Rudy losing by 8 and finally the closest was McCain, losing by 3 points. My guess is that the poll leans liberal, but nevertheless there it appears that Huck does perform worst against the Democrats.

The second item is a "flash" from Drudge Report (I won't link because it changes frequently). It alleges that the Dems are not attacking Huck because they would LOVE for him to be the nominee as they see him as the weakest candidate. Here is the text of that Flash Report:

Democrat party officials are avoiding any and all criticism of Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee, insiders reveal.

The Democratic National Committee has told staffers to hold all fire, until he secures the party's nomination.

The directive has come down from the highest levels within the party, according to a top source.

Within the DNC, Huckabee is known as the "glass jaw -- and they're just waiting to break it."

In the last three weeks since Huckabee's surge kicked in, the DNC hasn't released a single press release criticizing his rising candidacy.

The last DNC press release critical of Huckabee appeared back on March 2nd.

[DNC Press Release Attack Summary:

Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) – 37% (99 press releases)
Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) – 28% (74)
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) – 24% (64)
Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) – 8% (20)
Governor Mike Huckabee – 2% (4)]

In fact, as the story broke over the weekend that Huckabee said he wanted to isolate AIDS patients back in 1992, the DNC ignored the opportunity to slam the candidate from the left.

"He'll easily be their McGovern, an easy kill," mocked one senior Democrat operative Tuesday morning from Washington.

UPDATE: By the way, there is some rumors that the above information did not come from the Democrats, but rather from the Romney campaign. While this is possible, the press release count is probably correct, which still raises a question of why the Dems are not doing any hits on Huckabee, while they are on everyone else.

On the other hand, I don't understand yet why Huck's weaknesses have not sunk him yet.