How Will Huckabee Play in the Next Few Primary States?

Mike Huckabee rode the evangelical voter to victory in Iowa, but how will his populism play in other states, starting with New Hampshire next Tuesday? Apparently, the Huckabee campaign isn't even going to try NH, because that particular state isn't filled with his "kind" of voter. From yesterday's Washington Post:

Huckabee promised to compete in New Hampshire, but his weak standing there might force him to turn his attention to South Carolina's primary on Jan. 19, where a strong religious community could help him repeat his Iowa success. In dozens of interviews in New Hampshire this week, few voters indicated support for Huckabee.

His aides are wary of New Hampshire. "It's all no tax, no government there," said Bob Wickers, a top strategist. "It's not ideal." But they believe that the message of economic anxiety that he preaches will help in Michigan's primary on Jan. 15 and in states in the South, which have high poverty rates in addition to strong groups of social conservatives.

Again we see that the media, and apparently his own campaign, view Huckabee solely as a social conservative candidate. And the author of this article assumes that the Evangelical vote in South Carolina is the same as the Evangelical vote in Iowa. As I've shown before, Iowa Evangelicals are made up primarily from the Centrist and Modernist segments of the Evangelical movement. Those voters are much more willing to accept bigger government and more taxes than the Traditionalist Evangelicals and Mainstream Protestants that are Republicans in South Carolina. In short, South Carolina Republicans are more conservative in the traditional, all encompassing meaning than were the Republicans in Iowa.

And Mike Huckabee is above all else a populist, not a conservative. We will see during the next few weeks if that is a blessing for the candidate, or a curse.