Mike Huckabee Attacks Natalie Portman; Really a Dig at Someone Else?

Mike Huckabee drummed up some publicity for his presidential run Thursday by attacking Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman. The former Arkansas governor's celebrity target of choice might seem like an odd one, put perhaps he was really taking a low blow at someone else.

Politicians taking on celebrities to get media attention is nothing new. Former Vice President Dan Quayle attacked musician 2Pac Shakur when he was up for re-election in 1992, blaming the singer's album "2pacalypse Now" for influencing a man to kill a Texas Ranger. Fortunately, Mike Huckabee's attack on Natalie Portman isn't quite so serious.

During a radio interview, he complained that the actress is setting a bad example by having a baby out of wedlock, calling her out for glamorizing the idea of out-of-wedlock children and pointing out that most unwed mothers aren't living such glamorous lives, stating, "Most single moms are very poor, uneducated, can't get a job, and if it weren't for government assistance, their kids would be starving to death and never have health care."

During an interview with Us Magazine, his attempt to clarify his statement was little more than a plug for his book, as he went on to say, "These people should read my book and they would know what I said instead of what some left-wing partisans are attempting to put forth." So is Mike Huckabee's attack on Natalie Portman just a way to increase book sales?

This is very possible, but it's also possible that he was slyly taking a dig at one of his potential presidential opponents. After all, Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had a child out of wedlock as a teenager and is now a single mom making very good money giving speeches on abstinence. However, Huckabee most definitely would have been called out by some of Sarah Palin's fans he's hoping to win votes from if he had directly taken a shot at Bristol, so perhaps he came up with a clever, headline-grabbing way to do it by attacking a celebrity who is already currently making headlines.

Many celebrities make no qualms about expressing their feelings about politicians, but since Mike Huckabee's statement earned him a significant amount of buzz, perhaps more politicians will start turning the tables.