Is Mike Huckabee too nice for talk radio?

There is little doubt Huckabee is charismatic and likeable — and that he can make the conservative case in an eloquent and persuasive manner. And like Ronald Reagan, Huckabee can do so without coming across as a jerk. As Adler recalls, “Huckabee made his name in the Republican primaries with the now famous line, “I’m a conservative, but I’m not mad at anyone about it.’” Huckabee’s talent for persuasion really hit home to me when, after a segment on “The Daily Show,” even Jon Stewart sounded like he was rethinking his position on abortion.

My only criticism of Adler’s column is that I think he might have the wrong impression about the other conservative talk show hosts. I’m not sure how much time he has spent listening to conservative talk radio, but a lot of people assume it consists of three hours a day of vitriol. That’s just not the case. It’s easy to pull a 30 second clip from a 3 hour segment, but let’s not pretend it reflects the entire program.