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Obfuscated by a fluid and nearly fickle constituency, political pundits have finally decided (for now) to suspend speculation on the outcome of the presidential primaries. You can almost hear their unison exhalation of frustration. . .

Explained by many an eruditely talking-head as a frenzied grasp by voters for “the guy,” Huckabee’s tsunami like rise is finally receding (happy day!) though perhaps not as fast as it came: with still 16 days left until the Iowa caucus, the Huckabee surge peaked fatally soon. Voters are seeing another Clinton (Bill) -syndrome and Americans aren’t stupid generally.

Headline: McCain gets Lieberman endorsement.

Headline: Recluse Giulianni flees media?

And that ends there.

Adding fodder to the fire, the dwindling Huckabee constituency is sure to leave another gaping hole of voter satisfaction (I know evangelicals are stubborn but it will happen)—the same hole Thompson dug earlier in the year and then got buried in. Of course the Thompson surge peaked out sooner than Huckabee but both will be to the same ultimate effect. Perhaps Thompson’s “secularism” (read: lack of religious demagoguery/politicking) left him wanting for the impetus Iowans have so anxiously given to Huckabee. Without a solid springboard, Thompson failed to fly. Granted, he’d still make a good VP.

In fact, a Romney-Thompson ticket might do something to pick the ball back up. As far as wild fluctuations are concerned, the only “top-tierer” maintaining solid ground (up or down) is Romney. With the delightful Jan Mickelson contretemps, the “Mormon” speech, and a few emotional surges of his own, he’s managing to portray himself as very human and very deep.

Huckabee’s a scratch ‘n’ sniff candidate.