Is Governor Huckabee running for President?

I certainly thought so as I lambasted him for his recent covenant marriage stunt. And today I see that Brian Lamb -- who, despite his name, never lambastes anyone -- asked him straight out the other day whether he was running for President:

"Gov. Mike Huckabee, Republican of Arkansas, what will it take to get you to run for president in 2008?" Lamb asked.

"Oh! That's a big question," Huckabee responded. "Probably a vision from above." He said he has a lot of other responsibilities, including being governor of Arkansas ...

The governor followed with the standard but sincere line that he is "flattered" to be talked about as a potential candidate, but added that such speculation is "premature" and that he was still celebrating the re-election of his friend George W. Bush....

"I'm not going to try to push you to say, 'I'm running or not running,' but what I was getting at is that you're a Hope, Ark., native," [Lamb] said. To which the governor responded with a solid "Yes."

But [Lamb] still wasn't finished. "You're a Republican governor eight-and-a-half years in the office. A lot of people mention all kinds of folks during this period, and I just wonder if you're - I know you want to avoid saying yes or no on all this, but what kind of questions do you ask yourself in a period like this, when people start saying, 'Mike Huckabee should run for president?'" Lamb asked.

This time the governor must have realized that his polite interviewer wasn't going to let go of this bone, so Huckabee engaged him:

"I think the things that anyone has to ask. What do I bring to it? Do I bring ideas? Do I bring a world view, or something that maybe would be useful to the country? Is there some perspective that is, that's helpful? I think if it's just this, 'Gee, I'd like to do that,' that's not an adequate beginning for me. There has to be something. Maybe it's a focus on domestic policy, a focus on how we can improve our nation, but there's got to be something deep inside."

We need a serious President capable of handling foreign policy and national security, not some "values" charlatan.

When I see a guy like this moving forward, and, among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton moving to the center and burnishing her national security credentials, I feel like dusting off my Democratic Party registration.