A steady stream of possible candidates for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination have come through South Carolina since the beginning of the year.

They have included U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and now Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee was in town Oct. 1 to address a GOP fund-raiser on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion.

Five days later, Huckabee returned in his capacity as chairman of the National Governor’s Association to tour a Charleston health fair with Gov. Mark Sanford — yet another potential presidential candidate.

Huckabee, a presidential long shot, dutifully answered reporters’ questions.

Yes, he is considering a run for the White House. No, he is not down here testing the political waters. And, yes, he is “flattered” and “honored” to be mentioned among the dozen or so who are said to be weighing a presidential bid.

South Carolina has become a critical battlefield in the GOP primary process. In recent years, the state — along with more traditional primary early birds of Iowa and New Hampshire — has helped define and even settle the battle for the Republican nomination.

A September survey of S.C. — conducted by GOP pollster Whit Ayres for the health insurance industry — showed Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona in a virtual dead heat among those who identified themselves as Republicans.

Giuliani led with 25 percent, followed by McCain with 22 percent. Huckabee didn’t register, and 40 percent were undecided.

In the same poll, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York was the overwhelming choice of S.C. Democrats at 44 percent. No one else came close.

Fifty-eight percent of those polled said they would vote in the GOP presidential primary; the rest said they would vote in the Democratic contest.

Huckabee, 49, is an intriguing person, just the kind of candidate who could catch fire here.

Having spent a significant part of his adult life as a pastor and denominational leader, he is a darling of Christian conservatives who make up a lion’s share of the S.C. GOP primary vote. He led the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, the largest denomination in the state.

He says those experiences gave him a deep sense of the problems faced by individuals and families.

But some Republicans might not like Huckabee because he’s not partisan enough.

For instance, he likes — squeamish GOP voters are warned to look away at this point — President Clinton.

“I’m not one of those Republicans who seethes with anger every time I see or hear him,” Huckabee says. “He’s a very gregarious person. I find it impossible not to like him on a personal level.”

The governor also is not one who thinks Republicans are always right and Democrats are always wrong.

“That is naive and even immature for anybody in politics to be so blind,” he says. “I couldn’t do my job as governor of Arkansas if I were a blind partisan.”

Here’s why: 86 percent of all elected officials in Arkansas are Democrats.

“It would be a ticket to nowhere for me if I were to say, ‘I’m not going to talk to those people because I don’t think anything they could come up with has any value,’ “ Huckabee says. “My experience is that I get a lot more traction from folks who aren’t like me than sitting around in a room full of folks who agree with everything I say.

“At that point, my ideas are not going to be tested or sharpened.”

Huckabee’s a long shot who bears watching.

Lee Bandy’s political column normally runs in Impact