The widely read Reliable Source gossip column in the Washington Post gives Mike Huckabee a strong review for his paid speech to a corporate meeting on diabetes. It notes that Novo Nordisk — a diabetes drug supplier that, controversially, does some stem cell research — was paying the tab. It has paid Huck before, plus bought a stack of his books. (Photo at the event from the National Changing Diabetes Program shows him with Access Hollywood interviewer. Can a talk show be far behind?)
Deep down, every politician must secretly love that moment when he can leave the grueling campaign trail and start collecting those sweet speaker’s fees. (Ask Bill Clinton!) It helps if the topic is one that the pol is truly energized by — and a diabetes diagnosis was the nudge for Huckabee’s legendary 110-pound weight loss a couple of years ago. Plus, the man’s a great storyteller. So his appearance at the Newseum, on behalf of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, was like an outtake from a really inspiring episode of “The Biggest Loser.”
Also on the Huck front, article quotes him as saying “math favors Hillary.”
He said that even if Sen. Obama gets a majority of the delegates, “the smart money is still on Hillary.”
“The only difference between majority and minority is spelling,” he said. “And I didn’t major in spelling.”
(No calls please. I am familiar with the author of this piece, Andy Borowitz.)