The real contender (if Republicans actually want one) turns out to be Huckabee.. The longest lasting contender to McCain....  Who, just incidentally, has spent the last 8 months writing a book about..... the future of the Republican party.....  (Can you say......."Perfect timing"?)  All:  "Perfect timing...."

TIME covers it, _you can get a brief synopsis here) but in Huckabee the Republicans have something every other candidate lacked...  A human being who listens to people, thinks through his argument, and responds with a real answer... maybe not the one you wanted to hear... but you know its real and you know that is what he will do....

Huckabee is a whole human being with excellent "people" skills.  He is a fundamentalist and he calls out the self anointed leaders of the religious right on grounds that will resonate with that base.  The question that remains is whether he can move to the center sufficiently to broaden his appeal without alienating his base.  He will be helped in this in that he is and will be perceived to be a genuine believer.  That will give the base a comfort level with him that will allow him to better position himself for a general election than McCain ever enjoyed.  He could be for real.  Sort of a Republican version of Jimmy Carter.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."