Is Anyone Else Confused By This?

Mike Huckabee currently leads Barack Obama in PPP's 2012 election polling. Of course, this type of polling is worth less than nothing in predicting what will happen in 2012. It's also a little unfair to compare the approval ratings of a guy with a tough job to a guy who gets to sit behind a desk and spout off all day. The fact that the Huckster leads Barry O isn't what I find interesting about this poll. What is really fascinating is WHY he leads. Apparently he is more popular with independent voters by a 44-38 margin.

But isn't the common wisdom that independents tend to be socially more liberal and fiscally conservative? That's why they swung away from the free-spending GWB and the Republican congress in 2006 and 2008, right? If that is really the case, one would think that a former Baptist minister who once called the Club for Growth the "Club for Greed" is hardly a great fit to win over these crucial swing voters. Perhaps Huck is so charming on his TV show (I don't know, I've never seen it) that he wins them over despite their views. Or perhaps the common wisdom on independent voters is less accurate than one might think.