One of the most astounding "conversions" of this political season, if indeed it really was a conversion, was that of ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the topic of illegal immigration. Since Saul became Paul on the Damascus Road, the world has rarely witnessed such a mind-blowing change of convictions.

Barely two years ago, it appeared that Gov. Huckabee, now running for president, never met an illegal alien that he didn't like, nor an American for immigration law enforcement that he did like. Consider what happened when two Arkansas state senators proposed legislation to cut state benefits from illegal aliens and require ID checks at polls to keep illegals from voting. In response to these rather modest proposals, former minister Huckabee, fired back in pious outrage. The legislation, said the governor, was "unchristian" . . . "un-American" . . . "inflammatory" . . . race baiting and demagoguery". . . . [It] inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there is a real problem. But there's not." Taking personal aim at one of the senators, a professing Christian, Huckabee proclaimed, "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice."

The governor, however, seemed to have no problems with racists and bigots who support illegal immigration. Consider his appearance as a keynote speaker at the 2005 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) convention in Little Rock. LULAC, founded by Joe Garza, began as an organization to encourage good citizenship among Hispanic citizens. Unfortunately, as witnessed by Garza's daughter Gloria Deverick, radicals took over the group. In her words, "they care about Hispanics and no one else." LULAC consistently fights any proposal to curtail illegal immigration. A former LULAC president, Joe Velez, stated, "They [the Border Patrol] are the enemy of my people and always will be."

At the convention, Huckabee welcomed the assembled advocates of "La Raza" [the Race], as such people sometimes call themselves, and said that America would have to "accommodate" immigrants. He made no distinction between legal and illegal. Huckabee pledged that his state would celebrate diversity "in culture, in language and in population." To the appreciation of the assembled Razis, he proclaimed, "Pretty soon, Southern white guys like me may be the minority."

And the pandering didn't stop there. Subsequently, he invited the Mexican government to set up a consulate in Little Rock where they could pass illegal alien-enabling matricula ID cards. The Mexicans got a special deal of paying only one dollar-a-year for office space. And when immigration agents raided plants in Arkansas, Huckabee vehemently complained. As recently as last summer, he described the opponents of the Senate bill to legalize at least 10 million illegal aliens as "driven by racism or nativism."

But suddenly everything changed when Huckabee began his run for the presidency. As dramatic as the TV transformation of the gentle Bill Bixby into the Incredible Hulk, the Arkansan became the Incredible Huck-a raging foe of illegal immigration. To prove it, he put up a campaign website calling for, or at least appearing to call for, a crackdown on illegals as hard as anything Tom Tancredo would want.

So what happened? Did he see a blinding vision on I-40, the Little Rock road? Probably not. Self seeking is a constant which easily explains the change. Huckabee appears to be one of those ambition-smitten Southerners of humble background who yearn to ingratiate themselves with people they esteem as their social and financial betters. Some call them "Jethrites," a reference to Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies TV show who once declared, "I ain't a hick like the rest of my kin. I'm sophisticated." As even one of Huckabee's friends, Pastor Rick Scarborough, observed, "Mike has always sought the validation of the elites."

As governor, his pro-illegal stance no doubt appealed to John Tyson, CEO of Tyson Foods, one of the biggest businesses in the state, and an alleged employer of illegal aliens. By interesting coincidence, Tyson was also a keynote speaker at the LULAC convention where Huckabee spoke.

The former governor now wants votes, and knows that affirming our sovereignty and borders is a good way to get them. On his website he proclaims, "I oppose the economic integration of North America that would create open borders among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. I will never yield one iota or one inch of our sovereignty." Concerns about these issues arose after the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) endorsed a paper calling for the integration of the three countries and — eventually — open integration among them. The membership of the CFR comprises elites of American society in government, business, media, and education. Its words carry weight. Its president, Richard Haass, has stated that nations must "rethink the notion of sovereignty" . . . states must be prepared to cede some sovereignty to world bodies . . . ."

So what does Huckabee really think? Perhaps a good indication is his new-found friendship with the CFR — which featured a puff piece about him on its website. And when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Huckabee where he was getting advice on foreign policy, he named three sources, one being none other than Richard Haass. He later described Haass as his "good friend" and the CFR as "a lot of good people."

As one ponders the "conversion" of the Incredible Huck, it's hard not to conclude that his beverage of preference is Jethro Juice.