Could be another simple misstatement, that what he meant “near those eastern borders of Afghanistan” instead of “of those eastern borders near Afghanistan.” But … dude. Rest assured there’s some intern at DNC headquarters clipping the video as we speak and filing it away for the grand “Huck doesn’t know what he’s talking about” compilation attack ad to debut next summer.

Well, take heart. Word’s starting to trickle out through the media about his taking speaking fees from embryonic stem-cell research firms — as well as groups pushing to expand use of the morning-after pill. And Barnett’s crunched the numbers of yesterday’s LAT poll and thinks it shows (a) Huck’s lead isn’t as big as it seems (a conclusion corroborated by other polls) and (b) some of his support comes from people who aren’t planning to vote but just sort of like the cut of his jib. When he’s pitching stuff like this at them–

In addressing criticism of a Christmas-week TV ad for blending faith and politics, Huckabee strikes an incredulous tone: People who would not care if he used “Jesus Christ” as a curse were complaining that he used the name in connection with Christ’s birthday.

His comment draws strong applause.

–how could they not?

Update: Huckabacklash!