“I can’t know or predict the future, but I know for NOW my answer is clear and firm. I will not seek…”

I’ve been somewhat surprised that there has been little or no discussion of the possibility that Huckabee might decide to jump back into the GOP presidential process, even as late  as the end of this year.

His statements haven’t really been parsed. A quick read suggests nothing akin to Gen. Sherman’s famous comment.

First of all, the “pressure” to declare now is primarily coming from the MSM, who can’t wait to start revving up their re-elect Obama efforts, and begin to tear down anyone who’s running. Why put yourself in the crosshairs? Sit back, continue your Fox gig, maintain your high profile, make the big $$$, and see what shakes out.

Before he withdrew, Huckabee was either #1 or #2 in most polls. And he has a definite constituency in the GOP, which is now without a clear favorite: the evangelical social conservatives

At present, the GOP field is still undefined, and quite chaotic.  So why add to the mix? It’s possible that over the next few months, a clear favorite, or two, will emerge. Romney and Daniels, perhaps? Could Bachmann catch fire? Will Palin get in? I’ve no idea, and neither does Huckabee. Pawlenty?

So let them battle it out.  The endless campaigning, fund-raising, 24/7. And by late fall, if there’s no clear favorite, then the talk will turn to others. Cristie, perhaps? And of course, Huckabee..

He could probably enter the Iowa caucus the day before,  and still win it easily. And then on to South Carolina. And the party would coalesce around him, some, by choice, more,  in the absence of any other viable candidacy.

It’s probably an easier path to the nomination than if he had formally announced that he was in effect running.

And then there’s this final comment.

“For me to do it apart from an inner confidence that I was undertaking it with God’s blessing is simply uinthinkable.”

Who’s to say what message Huckabee will find in his heart later on this year, if he sees his party struggling to find a viable candidate, and watching his beloved country continue suffer under the Obama administration.

Again, the door hasn’t been closed..and politically, it’s not a bad strategy at all.