From Baba Wawa’s “10 Most Fascinating People of 2008” special. I assume it’s his new contract and the lure of big ratings from righties that led ABC to put him on the list. Otherwise, the logic of saluting the power of conservative talk radio in a year when McCain won the nomination and Obama the election escapes me.

The clip raises a point I neglected in yesterday’s post about Huckabee vs. Palin: How does Huck expect to compete with her among the base when Rush, Hannity, Ingraham, et al. are head over heels for her? His relationship with Limbaugh in particular has been flatly antagonistic at times, with Rush phoning into Fox News after Huckabee won Iowa to declare him wanting as a Reagan Republican. Is Huck thinking they’re a non-factor, or is it that he expects to charm them sufficiently to make their preference for Palin tepid enough not to matter? As for Rush’s theory about why the media dislikes the ‘Cuda, how come they don’t seem to have a similar antipathy to a guy from Arkansas who used to eat squirrel? It can’t be the policy differences between the two; there simply aren’t that many. One possibility is that Huck was never part of a ticket that threatened The One. Another possibility: Barbara’s explanation is better.

Rush is right, though, about his comments on Hillary’s looks having come in the context of a broader critique of American culture, not as a sexist statement of his own views. Good thing Barbara didn’t know about the “testicle lockbox” or else she might have had a heck of an awkward follow-up. Exit question: When does Team Hillary finally get around to issuing a jokey statement laughing off every off-color goof he’s ever made about her?