Mike Huckabee,  Mitch Daniels,  Mitt Romney,  President 2012,  RomneyCare

Update: President 2012: Mike Huckabee Better in or Better Out of the Race?; Huck Won’t Run

+++++Update+++++

Mike Huckabee announced tonight on his Fox News Show that he will not be a candidate for President

Better in for the Republican Party.

And this from Democratic Pollster PPP.

Rumor has it Huckabee may announce that he is not running on his Fox News show tomorrow. That would be good news, at least for the time being, for the president. Huckabee gives him more trouble than the others in the South, in Appalachia, and up and down the Mississippi–including in states where the president remains strong (like North Carolina and Virginia) and states where he has declined since 2008 (like Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Missouri). The GOP almost certainly needs to return to Southern dominance and dip into either the West or Midwest–or both–to win the White House next year, and it remains to be seen whether another candidate can establish the rapport with these voters that Huckabee has. 

Romney is not a much weaker alternative in these states, and he does put Obama more on the defensive in the Northeast and Southwest, particularly Nevada and New Hampshire, than does Huckabee. But Huckabee would certainly be leaving both a good shot at the nomination and a decent shot at Obama on the table by keeping his hat out of the ring.

Mike Huckabee is a stronger candidate than Mitt Romney and will provide an alternative to Mitch Daniels, should he falter. Moreover, should Huck not run, Sarah Palin may decide to go. Her polling against President Obama has been appalling.

All in all having the affable, Baptist minister in the race is better for the GOP, than Donald Trump, Newt Ginrich or Tim Pawlenty.