In a short few weeks former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has gone from a weight loss success story with an effed up kid to legit Republican front-runner. Great news, right? Well, kinda.

The good involves the likely spike in fundraising that will accompany Huck's invigorated campaign. The bad includes uncovered dirt that's spilled across the news over the past week and constituted the first real blemish to Huck's campaign. The ugly? It's coming. It always does.

So what's a God-fearing Southern Baptist like Huckabee to do when the media goes from listing his name with Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo to digging through his trash? For starters he can take some tips from PR guru Matthew Traub who spent years working on capitol hill and now handles celebrity crises at Dan Klores Communications.

Huckster, you're in the PR/ER!

The times have a-changed
Welcome to life as something more than an also-ran. Being considered viable—and especially a potential frontrunner—completely changes the dynamic of how the media covers a candidate. Governor Huckabee has enjoyed a below-the-radar status that has treated his candidacy—similar to that of Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul—as an oddity, a sideshow, a waiting game of how long he can stick it out before the money runs out. His background and policies didn't need to be thoroughly vetted because he wasn't seen as more than an occasional supporting actor who would siphon off some money, cobble together a small but loyal following, and hit the mark with a withering line or two in a random debate that was more about the "serious" candidate it was aimed at than Huckabee himself.

Embrace the irony
The irony is that when candidates like Huckabee have also-ran status, they complain bitterly and incessantly that the press is not giving them the attention they deserve. And while it's probably true that you can't win an election without this attention, I bet Huckabee is growing nostalgic for the good ol' days of relative obscurity now that the
spotlight has turned on him.

Get ready for the assault
So if Huckabee hasn't self-identified all of his trouble spots—paroled criminals, legislation and executive orders signed, felonious past donors, etc.—he had better do so now and build strong messaging and an army of third party surrogates to mitigate the issues when they become public, which they will. He needs a rapid response team in place, not just to take advantage of positive opportunities to score points in the race, but also to combat negative attention coming his way.

Take advantage of the attention
Now is the time for him to hammer home his key positive messages and accomplishments because people are paying attention. He and his campaign can be ready to combat attacks, but their overall focus should be with staying on message. The front-runner has more opportunity to set the tone of the debate and define the issues of the day than anyone else, so if he gets too bogged down in a defensive posture he will lose the one chance he has to define himself—and in doing so he will allow his opponents to define his candidacy for him.