Huckabee hit with frontrunner-itis

Let's review. Last week, Republicans had their YouTube debate, one in which Huckabee was widely considered to have won (and yes, he nailed it).

In the opening sequence of the debate, as the Republicans on stage tried to one-up themselves on how evil they'd be to undocumented immigrants and their children, Huckabee stood apart as a sane voice. He defended giving scholarships to worthy children of undocumented parents. He said things like:

Not going to punish kids for what their parents did.

and

Mitt just wants to keep people uneducated so they can take care of his lawn.

And he scored. Scored big. He went from 12 points pre-debate, to 22 points today. All of the anti-immigrant hate-mongers went backwards. He seemed authentic. Appeared to have a heart. Didn't snarl on stage, scapegoating other people for votes.

But something weird happened. He became a front-runner, and it looks like people started whispering in his ear. Because now, he has released an immigration plan that is nothing short of regressive. And most ridiculous amongst its tenets?

Propose to provide all illegal immigrants a 120-day window to register with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and leave the country. Those who register and return to their home country will face no penalty if they later apply to immigrate or visit; those who do not return home will be, when caught, barred from future reentry for a period of 10 years.

Barred from future reentry? Isn't that the whole point of undocumented immigration, that they didn't ask for permission to enter?

Not to mention he gives them six four months to get out. They don't. Then what's he going to do about it?

Send Chuck Norris after them?

Huckabee is the new McCain -- someone who was gaining traction with voters because he wasn't pandering to the worst segments of his party. He was being himself. As with McCain, that brief moment in time has passed. He's no longer different than the rest of his colleagues on that stage.