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On Monday night鈥檚 鈥淒aily Show,鈥� Jon Stewart charged that guest Mike Huckabee is a hypocrite because the former Arkansas governor objects to Beyonc茅 as 鈥渃rude鈥� but happily appears onstage with vulgar shock rocker Ted Nugent.

鈥淵ou excuse that type of crudeness because you agree with [Mr. Nugent鈥檚] stand on firearms. You don鈥檛 approve of Beyonc茅 because she seems alien to you,鈥� Mr. Stewart said in a face-to-face challenge to the likely 2016 GOP presidential contender.

Mr. Huckabee鈥檚 problems with Beyonc茅 are well known. In his new book, he charges that Beyonc茅鈥檚 spouse, rapper Jay Z, is 鈥渁rguably crossing the line from husband to pimp鈥� in the way he promotes the singer鈥檚 career. Huckabee has called Beyonc茅鈥檚 sexually charged lyrics 鈥渕ental poison鈥� and criticized President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for allowing their daughters to listen to Beyonc茅's music.

On "The Daily Show,鈥� Huckabee elaborated on his belief that the singer is not a fit role model for young girls.

鈥淒o you know any parent who has a daughter that says, 鈥楬oney, if you make really good grades, someday when you are 12 or 13 we鈥檒l get you your own stripper pole. I mean come on, Jon, we don鈥檛 do that in our culture,鈥� said Huckabee.

Then Stewart dragged out his riposte. It was a clip of Huck himself playing electric bass on his old Fox News show with Nugent, playing the song 鈥淐at Scratch Fever.鈥� Nugent sang some lyrics we won鈥檛 repeat here because they put the 鈥渄ouble鈥� in 鈥渄ouble-entendre.鈥�

Huckabee鈥檚 response? He said that Nugent鈥檚 song had not been nominated for a Grammy in the year it was released. We guess the point there is that Beyonc茅 is way more popular and lionized, so her transgressions are worse? Also, Nugent鈥檚 song is 鈥渁n adult song geared for adults, but today we have a very different kind of depiction and things that are considered perfectly OK for kids, and that鈥檚 the difference,鈥� Huckabee said.

Kind of lame, right? That鈥檚 how liberals reacted. They鈥檝e characterized Stewart鈥檚 move here with all those action verbs that are so great in headlines about late-night bits 鈥� 鈥渟lammed鈥� and 鈥渄estroyed鈥� and so forth. And they could well be right, given that Nugent is a very dangerous guy for a politician to stand next to onstage.

Stewart did not even bring up the time the Secret Service visited Nugent to see if he was threatening Mr. Obama. Nor did Stewart mention Nugent鈥檚 attendance at Obama鈥檚 2013 State of the Union speech,聽when Nugent said he couldn鈥檛 give an honest reaction 鈥渂ecause I鈥檓 supposed to keep my pants on.鈥�

But who really won here? Remember, Huckabee is kind of trolling for a response with his Beyonc茅 comments, as the always-astute Bloomberg political reporter David Weigel pointed out last week.

鈥淵ou all do realize that Huckabee is TRYING to beat east coast elite types into making the Case for Beyonce. You鈥檙e not scoring on him ...," Mr. Weigel tweeted.

Huckabee鈥檚 vying to be the candidate of the Evangelicals and cultural conservatives in the 2016 Republican field. That鈥檚 a big vote in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, where Huckabee鈥檚 done well in the past. He hopes to slingshot to the status of front-runner by appealing to those who are aggrieved that the Jon Stewarts of the world appear to look down on them.

It鈥檚 鈥渂ubbas鈥� versus the 鈥渂ubbleland鈥� of Washington, New York, and Hollywood 鈥� a theme Huckabee and Stewart sparred over throughout their interview.

So by attacking Huckabee, Stewart is validating the former鈥檚 bona fides with his base. Not that Huckabee really needs that help, insofar as he鈥檚 pretty popular with these largely rural, religious voters.

鈥淣o one can speak to those insecurities and resentments in a more folksy and appealing way than Huckabee, which is why he鈥檒l be a serious player in the presidential race. Then when it鈥檚 over he can go back to Fox,鈥� writes left-leaning Paul Waldman Tuesday on his blog at The American Prospect.