Does the Media Heart Huckabee?

The big headline story out of the YouTube debate the other night was how that Hillary Clinton adviser got the chance to pipe up and ask about gays in the military.

But the second biggest story? Mike Huckabee’s continued aw-shucks success story, complete with every network playing his quote where he answered someone asking ‘What would Jesus do?’ with the line “Jesus was too smart to run for public office.”

Upon watching the debate a second time – oh, man, is this writer a party animal or what? – I observed a small shortcoming of that made-for-TV witty answer. Like most sound bites, it didn’t really answer the question asked. But that didn't end up in most of the media reports.

(To be fair, he initially discussed his difficulties in meting out the death penalty during his time as governor of Arkansas, but when pressed for an exact response, he uncorked that highlight quote.)

Yes, the Southern Baptist Minister’s performance drew raves from all around MediaLand, including from CBNNews.com’s David Brody – who will be participating in “Meet the Press” this Sunday. (While attempting to “tivo church.” Good luck with that, David.)

I took a look at Brody’s accounting of the debate and thought it raised a few questions. So I reached out to him and had a chat.

One of the things that got an eyebrow raise? The passage where he suggested “Put aside the issues for a moment.”

Put aside the issues? Aren’t we doing that too much so far in this election campaign? His response to me:

Right now the focus is on style over substance but that will change in a hurry. The reality is voters don't just decide on the issues. They also decide with their heart and how they "feel" about a candidate. Bill Clinton had this touch. Mike Huckabee may as well.

“Change in a hurry?” I hope Brody is right on that.

I then asked Brody what he thought of the media coverage given to Huckabee overall, having seen earlier this week that he was considered an “media darling” by a San Diego writer.

Brody’s assessment?

As for the media coverage of Huckabee, it will get harder hitting as time moves along but what's going on here is that Huckabee seems to have an uncanny knack for explaining away controversies in a coherant and reasonable way.

The key for the other campaigns will be to catch him in any inconsistencies. As journalists, it's our responsibility to dig deeper than the original answer, not just with Huckabee but all the candidates.

In the near future, the coverage of Huckabee will be an interesting exercise. How will reporters – most of whom cover politics, not faith – cover the theological underpinnings of a Huckabee candidacy? Most reporters can catch ‘inconsistencies’ in a politician’s record, but what are they to make of any religious inconsistencies?

Beyond the homespun charm and the extremely likeable persona, will the media turn this into 1960 all over again, when JFK had to distance himself from the Pope to gain additional credibility?

It’s clear by now that Huckabee would handle such questions smoothly; what is unclear is how the media will handle asking them.