The unexpected surge of populist Mike Huckabee has exposed a core Republican rift, separating the religious right from the financial conservatives, EJ Dionne writes in the New Republic. Hucksters tend to be socially conservative but they're tired of seeing protection of the wealthy prioritized above family values, and they're not antithetical to government to assistance the poor, he writes.
Mike’s faithful have disobeyed Christian leaders who typically keep Bible Belters in line, putting the fear of God into party leaders. Endorsing Mitt Romney, the National Review worried that Huckabee would alienate the Wall Street right and could pull apart the party's coalition. Dionne says it's already happened: On the "Today" show Wednesday, Huckabee said "the Wall Street-to-Washington axis, this corridor of power, is absolutely, frantically against me." (More Mike Huckabee stories.)