Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, Huckabee is the economic populist that this field badly lacks.

There is clearly an effective attack to be made against Romney as someone who is out of touch with the average person. But no one in the current field can effectively make it.

Gingrich is of considerable means himself and is not even close to a populist. Santorum has potential but seems more focused on winning over social conservatives than turning himself into a populist. Texas Gov. Rick Perry should be the economic populist in the race but his inability to articulate any message at all has made that impossible.

Huckabee’s natural folksiness oozes populism as, it’s worth nothing, do his struggles with his own weight. Can you imagine what Huckabee would have done if Romney tried to make a $10,000 bet with him during a debate?