A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Today's Opinion Journal Political Diary (subscription required) has the following to say about Mike Huckabee's Presidential campaign (this is written by John Fund):

Since he's running in the Republican primaries for president, don't expect Mike Huckabee to be advertising the strong endorsement he just got from Ted Strickland, Ohio's Democratic governor.

It seems Mr. Strickland, who typically racked up a 95% rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action during his 16 years in Congress, has discovered a kindred spirit in Mr. Huckabee. He told the Cincinnati Enquirer last Sunday that Mr. Huckabee is a "combination of conservative views in some ways, but very, almost liberal views in other ways." Mr. Strickland concluded: "Of all the ;Republican candidates, Mr. Huckabee would be my personal choice."

While Mr. Strickland didn't specifically mention education as an area where he shares agreement with Mr. Huckabee's "almost liberal views," it's notable that the former Arkansas governor was endorsed for the GOP nomination this month by the New Hampshire affiliate of the National Education Association. Mr. Huckabee has sent mixed signals on support for school choice, but the president of the NEA in New Hampshire cited opposition to school vouchers that Mr. Huckabee apparently expressed in his meeting with the union as a key reason for the endorsement.

As for Mr. Strickland, he has become one of the most vociferous opponents of school choice anywhere in the country. Earlier this year, he attempted to end Ohio's statewide school choice experiment with a line-item veto, called for a moratorium on new charter schools, and said he would like to ban for-profit companies from operating schools in Ohio. It's frequently said politics makes strange bedfellows, but in the case of Ohio's Democratic governor lavishing praise on Republican Mike Huckabee, it appears to be a case of two peas in a pod.

I really don't need to write anything, do I? The above speaks for itself.