Huckabee Has Raised Awareness on FairTax

Is Mike Huckabee losing momentum? Following his win in Iowa, he slipped to second in New Hampshire, and, last night, finished third in Michigan’s primaries. I still think Huckabee just won’t be able to afford to stay in the race, but I’m getting far more interested in what happens when he leaves it.

Last night, Governor Bill Richardson spoke on the Lou Dobbs show about his withdrawal from the presidential race. He attributed his withdrawal to his lack of funding, but made it clear that he’d been in the race primarily to bring attention to certain issues that he felt were vital: energy, healthcare, civil liberties, etc.

If Huckabee withdraws from the race, or simply fails to win the nomination, it can still be said that he brought attention to his issues — to a far greater extent than Richardson. Before Huckabee started campaigning, how many Americans had any sort of familiarity with the FairTax?

Admittedly, not all of us are entirely clear on the FairTax yet — it’s a bill currently in Congress that essentially gets rid of the IRS and all income taxes and replaces them with a national sales tax, for those of us not ready to muddle through House Bill 25 — but to generate the same level of national awareness would take far more than the $2 million or so that Huckabee has spent on his campaign.

Other issues are getting plenty of attention because of Huckabee, as well. Questions on the position of faith and religion — from creationism in classrooms to God in the Constitution — have gotten unbelievable press in this election cycle. Not all of it has benefited Huckabee’s image (his comments on Mormonism come to mind), but there’s definitely an unusual awareness of the issue.