Leading evangelicals have displayed much angst of late over what to do if a pro-choice Rudy Giuliani captures the Republican nomination for president. Some have turned to Mitt Romney as an “as close as we can get” alternative (Bob Jones III), while others have equated any evangelical support of Romney as downright blasphemous (Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas).

Watching all this back and forth makes my head spin. Why, I wonder aloud, would conservative evangelicals throw their support behind a Mormon when one of our own could best represent us and what we value? Back in June my colleague at KWRD in Dallas, Scott Wilder, conducted one of the most prolific interviews with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee about his candidacy for president. You can listen to it here. By the time that interview was over I was 98% convinced that, even though Huckabee probably couldn’t get the Republican nomination, he had my vote in the primaries.

Now after a rousing speech by Huckabee (see the video here) at last weekend’s FRC Action’s Values Voter Summit, some of those same perplexed evangelicals have suddenly decided that in spite of the perception Huckabee can’t win, he is the candidate that not only comes CLOSE to the values of evangelicals, but indeed shares and articulates the values of evangelicals. Why, I ask, are they coming so late to the party? And why is it taking so long for James Dobson and Tony Perkins to get on board?

My friend Joe Carter over at the Evangelical Outpost has abandoned his support for Fred Thompson and has joined forces with Justin Taylor (Between Two Worlds) and Matthew Anderson (Mere Orthodoxy) in endorsing Huckabee for President. Look for more conservative bloggers to join the parade, but for the record, I was for Huckabee before Huckabee was cool.