Opinion: Is Mike Huckabee’s tune catching on?

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Bill Clinton noodled on the saxophone. But Mike Huckabee -- the latest ‘man from Hope’ (Ark.) running for president -- is a serious musician. He has long played bass guitar, and performances by his classic-rock band Capitol Offense often enliven his political appearances.

Tonight, he will combine campaigning in Iowa with a pilgrimage to a sacred place in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll: As part of a fundraiser for his White House bid, his group will strut its stuff at the Surf Ballroom in the town of Clear Lake.

That’s the place and venue where Buddy Holly, L.A.’s own Ritchie Valens and the Big Booper (J.P. Richardson) played their last concert on an early February night in 1959 before boarding a plane that crashed within minutes, killing them and others.

[UPDATE: The Times’ Louise Roug was at the concert; you can read her story here.]

Discussing the engagement this week, Huckabee was appropriately respectful to the ghosts of the past. He said that ‘as a music lover,’ he viewed the Surf Ballroom ‘as a cultural icon as well as an important historical landmark.’

The occasion epitomizes the appealing, down-home nature of the campaign he’s running -- as well as its unlikely prospects.

Admission is $10 per person or $25 per family. A friendly aide at his offices in Little Rock explained today that Huckabee wanted to make sure the event was accessible to as many folks as possible (and every musician loves an audience, after all).

So perhaps his campaign clears a few grand. Compare that with the estimated $1.5 million Hillary Clinton took in at her birthday extravaganza Thursday night in New York (as if she needed the dough).

Given the choice, we’d opt ...

to spend our time listening to Huckabee and his buddies. But if we were running a presidential campaign, we’d rather be Clinton’s treasurer.

That said, Huckabee’s improbable run continues to fascinate. He’s been the focus of a virtual avalanche of articles this week, following his boffo performance last week in Washington at the Values Voters Summit -- the much-publicized gathering of social conservatives.

Today, Slate’s John Dickerson noted the favorable reviews Huckabee was racking up from some commentators and asked the candidate to reflect upon it. ABC News named him its ‘Buzz Maker of the Week’ -- though it goes on to examine why Huckabee ‘is not a top-tier contender’ in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Be that as it may, Mike Glover, an expert on Iowa politics for the Associated Press, reports that Huckabee is establishing himself ‘as a serious candidate’ in the state.

Skeptics abound (including us). As the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza aptly pointed out this week, many political pros believe Huckabee ‘has squandered opportunity after opportunity that his skills as a candidate have created for him.’ And Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, in a piece today that assesses the GOP presidential race as offering, according to its headline, ‘A Fine Field of 4 1/2,’ rates Huckabee as the fractional candidiate.

Explaining his rationale, Krauthammer writes that ‘some of my colleagues are aggressively trying to promote [Huckabee] to the first tier. I refuse to go along. Huckabee is funny, well spoken and gave a preacher’s stemwinder that wowed the religious right gathering in Washington last Saturday. But whatever foreign policy he has is naive and unconvincing. In wartime, that is a disqualification for commander in chief.’

Krauthammer goes on to designate Huckabee as a potential Interior secretary. Ouch!

Others continue to tout him as a prospective running mate for the eventual GOP nominee, especially if that ends up being Rudy Giuliani. Huckabee would provide a regional (as well as a tempermental) balance to such a ticket.

Plus, if they won, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would finally have an in-house band.

-- Don Frederick