As it stands now, the GOP field of candidates seems weak at best.
McCain the "maverick" tries to please all, but will please nobody with his pandering.
George Felix Allen just emphasized his racist history with his macaca remark.
Frist is a cat killer and has a Norman Bates-like demeanor. He also blew his medical credibility by trying to diagnose Terri Schiavo via videotape. Oh, and that messy stock sale won't help him either.
Brownback is an extreme-right looney more so than the others (he's the candidate I want as the Republican nominee for this reason.)
As for Giuliani, Pataki, Romney, and Gingrich? All of them are either too liberal on social issues (as in the case with the first three) or have marital baggage that could hurt them in the primaries AND general election (Giuliani and Gingrich.)
...This leaves one obscure Arkansas Governor for the GOP to chose: Mike Huckabee.
Huckabee is a southerner, but he's not another George W., nor is he even a George Felix. I watched him on C-Span speeking to people at a NH pig roast, and he seems fairly articulate (his particular type of Arkansas accent sounds similar to Wes Clark's.) His doesn't sound Hannity-esque, or even like Santorum or Brownback. He sounds like a fairly nice person if you don't know him very well.
He also has a fairly compelling life story in terms of weight-loss and obesity. After being diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes in 2003, he lost over 110 pounds as a result. His problem with weight-loss, while not a "have a beer with me!" way of appealing to average voters, is something that many voters can relate to and appreciate. He even wrote a book on weight-loss called "Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork " that came out last year.
Try dealing with someone who can market himself as a average joe, yet is actually articulate for a change. He could appeal not just to the Bubbas that (Bill, not Hillary) Clinton, Bush, and Allen can and could appeal to, but he could also appeal to a lot of people in "middle America" and in suburbia who have to deal with being an obsese baby-boomer.
To make things clear, however, Huckabee is a theocrat and supports covenant marriage, (a form of marriage where getting a divorce is difficult) creationism and intelligent design.
He's also involved with a fundamentalist group called Reclaiming America for Christ and attended their 2006 conference (along with Katherine Harris I might add.)
Huckabee is also tied to the Freepers and performed at their Inaugural Ball for Bush in both 2001 and 2005 (Huckabee is part of a band called "Capitol Offense" and plays bass guitar.)
Huckabee also has his own Willie Horton-esque controvsery involving a person named Wayne Dumond. Dumond was in jail for rape, and given parole allegedly after Huckabee petitioned for his release. Dumond went on to kill and sexual assault a Missouri woman. I should note that I only say "Willie Horton-esque" because this series of events sounds similar to what the right-wingers accused Dukakis of happening, only Huckabee seems to have personally gotten involved in this matter.
I would suggest doing further research on Huckabee. He is the guy that Markos feels is the GOP's strongest candidate (I can't remember which show he said that on, but it was while he did an interview for Crashing the Gate.)