Palin cuts into Huckabee's turf

LITTLE ROCK A governor of a rural state wins over evangelicals with conservative stances on abortion and gay marriage and appeals to the Republican Party's base with a blue-collar, pro-gun message. The previously little-known governor wows delegates with a quip-filled speech and tries to ease fears about inexperience on the world stage.

Sound familiar?

Months ago, it seemed like the perfect script for Mike Huckabee's rise to national prominence in the Republican Party. Instead, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's taking a key part of Huckabee's appeal as a presidential candidate.

She's not only stealing the show. She's threatening his chances if he should try for another White House run in 2012 or 2016.

The former Arkansas governor emerged as one of Palin's most vocal defenders when he spoke shortly before she took the stage at the Republican National Convention earlier this month.

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But depending on how this election shapes up, they could end up political rivals for a future presidential bid with narratives that overlap and appeal to the same constituency.

"I think in a lot of ways, they're pretty similar figures," said Jay Barth, a political scientist at Hendrix College in Conway. "Their kind of personal style has some similarities to it. I think she really does cut into his turf significantly."

Palin's pick as John McCain's running mate energized evangelicals, especially those who had been worried that he would choose a running mate who would support abortion rights. She's also sided with the majority evangelical view in opposing gay marriage and expressing a desire to see creationism discussed alongside evolution in schools.

Those positions cut into Huckabee's base of support among evangelicals, who were attracted to the Southern Baptist minister for his conservative stances on social issues. And, with a quick wit, Huckabee was able to make up for the lack of name recognition with an ability to grab the limelight.

But Palin who's selling herself as a "hockey mom" who hunts moose is now dominating that limelight. If McCain loses in November, she could become the next in line for the party.

"Given the way things stand right now, I think she would be better positioned for the nomination in 2012," said Paul Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University. "If they do, she obviously is very well positioned to be a party leader."

Huckabee said during the Republican convention that his focus right now is on getting McCain elected, not on another election. And he used his 15 minutes on the convention stage to aggressively defend Palin rapping the media for what he said was unfair criticism of the Alaska governor.

Huckabee, however, is clearly relishing the higher profile he's gained since dropping out of the presidential race earlier this year. Since he abandoned his bid in March, the former Arkansas governor has started a new political action committee, joined Fox News as a political commentator and begun work on a book about his failed presidential bid.

That higher profile gives Huckabee an advantage if he and Palin end up finding themselves as rivals for the nomination four or eight years from now. Huckabee became a mainstay on late-night television, trading jokes with comics to drum up support for his presidential bid.

With a prime-time address at the convention and regular appearances at delegate breakfasts, Huckabee showed he isn't ready to relinquish the spotlight just yet. And despite a history of verbal gaffes and ethics miscues, Huckabee has held well under scrutiny that Palin is just now undergoing.

The next step for Huckabee will be finding a new public role to keep his name out there, and the answer may lie in the 2010 election. His name still comes up among Republicans in his home state as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate, a race he's said he's not interested in.

His opposition, should he run? Another popular woman in office who's been able to appeal to blue-collar voters Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

"Maybe that will be a warmup race for him if he's going to go up against Palin," said Michael McDonald, political science professor at George Mason University in Virginia. "He'd learn quite a bit from that."

DeMillo covers Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press.