Mike Huckabee's Nutty Floridian Adviser

Mike Huckabee's gonna go on air in exactly 50 minutes and make an important announcement re: his presidential candidacy. The smart money says he's not running, and until a few days ago, I hoped the smart money was wrong. No way should Huck be president, but he's a fun campaigner and master on the stump, and it'd be fascinating to watch him debate Michelle Bachmann.

But then this article appeared in Mother Jones about a batty middle-aged woman who is, or was, one of Huck's closest friends and advisers. The article didn't mention where the lady was from, but she was so weird, so paranoid, so obviously a wrong and mutant strain of homo politicus that I thought: Oh, shit. She must be a Floridian.

And of course, she is.

Meet Janet Porter (maiden name: Folger) -- founder of Faith2Action (the "nation's largest network of pro-family groups") -- who before that worked for SoFla's own Dr. D. James Kennedy and before that helped ban partial-birth abortions in Ohio. (This is the one likable thing she's ever done.) Porter is a woman who believes, or seems to believe, that Barack Obama is the result of a Soviet breeding program designed to destroy America from within. She thinks that Tommy Thompson might literally be the anti-Christ and that Christianity's about to be outlawed. She's an avowed theocrat. She also happens to think Mike Huckabee is swell, and Mike Huckabee happens to think Janet Porter's a prophet.

And who knows, maybe she is. If you want to see an example of Janet's prophecy, click here. Really, click there -- Janet's prophecy is the freakiest freaking video you'll see this month. And since it's 2 years old, it allows you to judge Porter's prophetical aptitude from a position of authority.

Yep. Mike Huckabee's a cool guy, but presidential candidates oughtn't pal around with dominionist paranoiacs any more than they should pal around with terrorists. I'm disappointed in Mike, and I hope his more ardent fans are even more disappointed when he takes the air tonight.