Well, if you're Mike Huckabee, it's a slam dunk: You believe the loons. Actual reporter Murray Waas:

In 1996, as a newly elected governor who had received strong support from the Christian right, Huckabee was under intense pressure from conservative activists to pardon Dumond or commute his sentence. The activists claimed that Dumond's initial imprisonment and various other travails were due to the fact that Ashley Stevens, the high school cheerleader he had raped, was a distant cousin of Bill Clinton, and the daughter of a major Clinton campaign contributor.

The case for Dumond's innocence was championed in Arkansas by Jay Cole, a Baptist minister and radio host who was a close friend of the Huckabee family. It also became a cause for New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy, who repeatedly argued for Dumond's release, calling his conviction "a travesty of justice." On Sept. 21, 1999, Dunleavy wrote a column headlined "Clinton's Biggest Crime - Left Innocent Man In Jail For 14 Years":

"Dumond, now 52, was given conditional parole yesterday in Arkansas after having being sentenced to 50 years in jail for the rape of Clinton's cousin," Dunleavy wrote. "That rape never happened."

A subsequent Dunleavy column quoted Huckabee saying: "There is grave doubt to the circumstances of this reported crime."

After Dumond's release from prison in September 1999, he moved to Smithville, Missouri, where he raped and suffocated to death a 39-year-old woman named Carol Sue Shields. Dumond was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for that rape and murder.

But Dumond's arrest for those crimes in June 2001 came too late for 23-year-old Sara Andrasek of Platte County, Missouri. Dumond allegedly raped and murdered her just one day before his arrest for raping and murdering Shields. Prior to the attack, Andrasek and her husband had learned that she was pregnant with their first child.

And what does Huckabee have to say? Wait for it:

"[HUCKABEE] None of us could've predicted what [Dumond] could've done when he got out."

Well, none of "us" except the many raped women who wrote letters to Huckabee warning him that Dumond would rape again. Here's one of them:

Based on his previous actions, as well as the psychological analysis conducted following his arrest in Washington that stated "He has a need to prove his masculinity to women," I fear he will rape again if released. ... I know it says in the Bible that we should forgive our debtors, but what about the wolves in sheep's clothing"? Do you honestly think he has learned his lesson now? If so, why did he make that threatening statement to reporters last year about how things would be different when he was released and "the rabbit had the gun"?

And then, of course, there's the "None of us could've predicted..." line. Now, where have I heard that (Condi, on hijackers flying planes into buildings) one before? (Bush, on Katrina levees) Huckabee really is just another Republican, isn't he?

I'd say, at the very least, that Huckabee could use a little more seasoning at the state level before he attempts the national stage again.

NOTE Copies of the original letters are here.