In my defense:
1. This was Huckabee's official Christmas card that he sent out -- probably to thousands of people -- when he was the governor of Arkansas. It's not like I sought out some unflattering, tacky candid of him.
2. I linked to this after first seeing it on the National Journal's Hotline site. I figure, if something's good enough for the National Journal, it's good enough for me. [Full disclosure: I used to work at National Journal. Despite my employ, I think their reputation remains unsullied.]
3. Is the problem because Huckabee is fat in the photo? Well, Mike Huckabee used to be fat. Period. He would be the first person to say that. In fact, Governing has recognized him as one of our Public Officials of the Year for losing weight and putting a policy emphasis on combating childhood obesity.
But there was one comment that gave me some pause. From commenter Virginia:
What's your Mom's address, Zach? I'd like to contact her for an old yearbook photo of you to post. Thanks.
Well, okay. I'll post an old photo of myself. Even though I'm not a public official, and even though this photo wasn't made to be publicly distributed (unlike Huckabee's), I'm feeling game.
So after the jump, a photo of a young Zach Patton. CLICK IF YOU DARE.
I don't have any high school yearbook photos on hand, but, oddly, I do have the photo of a portrait of me and my sister when I was about 11. I think it's sufficiently embarrassing to settle the score with Huckabee.
shocking-photo-2.jpg
