Talked to my Dad in Greenville this morning. He said that if local talk radio is any measure of voter sentiment, Fred is “surging.” There is great hostility on the Greenville/Spartanburg airwaves to both McCain and Huckabee. A number of talk radio callers are unhappy with Huckabee’s fried squirrel shtick, many of them complaining that it “makes us look like country bumpkins.”

Huckabee also may have committed a gaffe in a recent appearance at Clemson University. My Dad said it’s been reported that during his remarks there, Huckabee brought up the topic of the Confederate flag flying over the State House, which caused so much heartburn during the 2000 Campaign. Huckabee said something to the effect that, “if people came into our state and told us what to do with the flag, we’d tell ’em where to stick that poll.” If that’s accurate, he just succeeded in bringing up an issue most South Carolinians simply want to leave behind. My Dad added that some talk radio callers wanted to know why a Baptist minister was making such a crude suggestion.