He's doing much better than expected, and you can see why. He really does represent the GOP that Bush and Rove have helped create: based on fundamentalist religion and dedicated to massive government spending on the needy as a sign of one's own virtue. He's also congenial in the same way Bush is. He's the obvious successor. And if the Christianists wants a candidate who represents their views and doesn't frighten the horses, they could do a lot worse.