Huckabee, saying that he has an “outspoken wife” and appointed more women in Arkansas than any other governor, told me: “If people read the actual words I said in context, everyone who wants to understand it will.”

Pressed today about his use of “libido,” Huckabee said by e-mail: “Women (like men) are sexual beings, but they are much more than that. To reduce either gender or any person to one aspect of their being is an unfair characterization. My point was to point out that Dems have put a laser like focus on government funded birth control and given it more attention than cancer drugs.”

As for the word, “never thought about every word parsed apart from the overall message, so not sure why that one word attracts such attention in the context of the statement. It adds color and as a communicator yourself, you probably try to write so as to create vivid pictures. Libido is a normal part of being human. Nothing scandalous about it. But without it, in either women or men, would there be a demand for birth control?”