Huckabee v Richardson

We could have a much worse match-up politically. Although the two men are opposed in almost every way, they have something that most of the other candidates in the crowded presidential race don't have: A genuine love of people and the race itself. David Broder writes why it probably won't happen:

In their dreams, political reporters can imagine what a race between those two would be like: two lively, loquacious politicians with strongly opposed viewpoints but a liking for people -- and a promise of a few lighter moments to relieve the tedium and the tensions of a long campaign.

Odds are it will never happen, even though Americans have tended to prefer governors over senators when it comes to picking a president. That's why no sitting senator has been elected president since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

But Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both of whom went straight from the statehouse to the White House, have taken much of the bloom off that particular rose. Huckabee, who hails from Clinton's home town of Hope, and Richardson both built their reputations in relatively small, out-of-the-way places. And as we learned with both Clinton and Bush, mastery of a state legislature does not transfer to mastery of Congress.

It is a shame that two men who may be eminently qualified have come along at just the wrong moment. Of the two, Richardson has a better chance to break into the top tier mostly on the grounds that, unlike the democratic frontrunner, he actually has the credentials and experience to be a good president. But it is a shame, a race between the two men would probably much more enjoyable than the race we will get.