If this article is accurate, then Mike Huckabee might want to take a day off and think about his campaign.

As in Iowa, where he won the Republican caucuses, the cash-strapped Huckabee is relying on pastors to help get out the vote. And he also has the support of some in the political establishment - Beasley is one - giving him organizing power he lacked in other early voting states. That could make a difference to pragmatic evangelical voters, who want a candidate who could actually win the nomination.

His background has given him some advantages. He spoke in early November at a "pastors' policy briefing" similar to those staged in Iowa and New Hampshire, where local pastors can meet with national Christian Huckabee supporters.

"He's had wonderful opportunities to talk to the 'grasstops,' these pastors who preach to hundreds of people, while not spending any money," said Oran Smith, executive director of the Palmetto Family Council, an anti-abortion group that has remained neutral on the presidential race. "Being a Baptist minister and a candidate for president, no one would want to turn him away."

White evangelicals account for 53 percent of the state's likely Republican voters, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Is this a winning strategy?

I don't mean can you win a primary with it, but rather can you win the presidential election solely on the backs of Evangelical voters?

I think the answer to that is rather obvious. Evangelicals are a major political force in the country, but only as part of a coalition, and Mike has done precious little to reach past his natural constituency.

That presents a problem, not just for Huckabee, but for the Republican party, the Evangelical community and for the country.

For years, Liberals have expressed concern about the separation of church and state, doubtless in a self-serving manner, but the claims get more credibility every time Evangelicals give the appearance of a naked power grab. Its fine to have a President who is an Evangelical, but its a problem when you want an Evangelical President.

There is a difference--a rather obvious one, between advocacy of policy and the will to power. One is an argument, the other is a war.

Huckabee has the will to power, and I don't think he cares how much harm he does on the road to realizing his ambitions. After Iowa, he had a chance to broaden his appeal, but its fairly clear at this point that he's failed and that he doesn't care. His strategy, his rhetoric, his debate performances--all clear, narrow and unambiguous appeals to his coreligionists to vote for him purely on the basis of their mutual confession.

The problem is that Huckabee is a Christian, but not a conservative. He is a walking, guitar-playing deal-breaker. To nominate him would create a Pyrrhic victory--a broken coalition of social, economic and foreign policy conservatives and a Democrat victory in November. Some may argue that he's better than Clinton and/or Obama, but voting for the lesser of two evils is hardly a recipe for a winning GOTV effort.

I find myself wishing for his political immolation at anyone's hands.