Mike Huckabee may be regionalized, but don't call him marginalized. His victories in five southern states yesterday blew a hole in the pundits' view of the race over the last week as a two-man showdown between Mitt Romney and John McCain.

Huckabee's wins in Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee show there's a pocket of the country where voters just aren't sure about the two guys with more name recognition and more money, but without the rock-solid pro-life positions they crave.

The problem for the other two candidates it that pocket of the country might also be called "Republican territory" — the place that provides the voter turnout phone calls, door-knockers and cheering backdrops that help Republicans win general elections.

It's also worth noting Huckabee's near-miss in Missouri, losing by 1 percent to McCain.

During the last week it was almost as if Huckabee was irrelevant to the race. That's certainly how the CNN/Politico/Los Angeles Times folks who hosted last week's debate in California treated him — something Huckabee joked about today on Fox News Channel.

"Heck, even on the debate, they put me over in the corner of the stage. I might as well have been off stage brought on for a brief wave," he said.

It's true that his presence in the race is preventing conservatives from unifying — Team Romney's argument — but those voters are not Romney's by birthright, they have to be earned. Huckabee has done just that. With five wins last night he deserves to be on the stage for more than a brief wave.

— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times