You mean, Huckabee, the huge fiscal lib, who made a zillion dubious pardons and who was tag teaming with McCain against Romney... That's how nearly all freepers at the time characterized the huckster. He was, if anything, less liked than McCain. He certainly wasn't considered a viable alternative.
Many don't want to admit it, but when Santorum endorsed, a few days before Mitt quit, polls of Freepers showed Mitt to be the top choice here. That certainly wasn't true while Duncan and Fred were still pretending to run, which in hindsight was really all they were doing. Mitt since saw that this time there would be a crowd on the right, but clear sailing on the left, so he made up with the establishment and turned off many of his one time supporters. Also, in hindsight, Mitt faked being conservative then better than he fakes whatever he's pretending to be now. At least then he could pretend consistently.
FACTS, REALITY. Try 'em you like 'em. Or maybe not.
I dont know much about huckabee, but I thought he was a preacher before he was governor, and was considered the christian candidate back then, which I would have thought made him Santorum's favorite.
this is really only my first presidential election, and i worked some in the 2010 midterms. So I don't really have any opinion on 2008 - just that it seemed to me - erroneously I see - that huckabee would have been the choice of christians catholics and evangelicals. But guess I was wrong. I am surprised, though, that romney was. And I wonder what was different back then..