Everyone knows Mike Huckabee doesn't believe in evolution:

after evolution came up in a debate earlier this year, Huckabee said in a conference call with reporters, "If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that's fine. I'll accept that. I just don't happen to think that I did." 

Watch him avoid the question during a CNN debate: 

But does that mean Huckabee can't get elected President? Of course not - millions of voters also don't believe in evolution, so Huckabee could easily become President despite his willful ignorance.

There's a famous story about a man who approached Adlai Stevenson during one of his losing campaigns against Dwight Eisenhower. The man declared, "Governor Stevenson, you have the vote of every thinking person!" To which Stevenson replied, "Thanks, but I need a majority."

Huckabee's hostility to evolution isn't just a personal view; as Governor, he supported it as government educational policy:

During Huckabee’s tenure as Governor, evolution education in Arkansas languished in an environment of general hostility and insufficiency. Two anti-evolution bills were introduced in the state’s House of Representatives; textbooks in the Beebe, Arkansas public high school carried disclaimer stickers denigrating evolution; the state’s science curriculum earned a grade of “D” overall and an abysmal “zero” for its treatment of evolution; a creationist “museum” enjoyed state-funded advertising; and evolution was systematically and broadly squeezed out of schools and other educational institutions across the state. Huckabee did nothing to deter any of this – in fact, some of his public statements might indicate his tacit support.

But apart from promoting ignorance, why should Americans care if Huckabee denies evolution?

Simple: because the lives of millions of Americans might depend on it.

One of the most serious potential health threats we face is the mutation of the H5N1 virus that is epidemic among birds ("avian flu") into a form that can be spread among humans.

That mutation hasn't happened yet that we know of, but a number of humans have caught and died from the virus, and scientists believe a human-to-human mutation is a serious possibility. Since no humans have acquired immunity to H5N1, the impact of such a mutation could rival the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which killed 50-100 million people worldwide.

If an H2H mutation appeared, it could take years to create, mass-produce, and distribute a vaccine. The key to saving millions of lives is understanding the threat, preparing for it, and responding immediately.

But if President Huckabee doesn't believe in evolution, how can he possibly understand that H5N1 could mutate and threaten the lives of tens of millions? And if he doesn't understand, how can he be prepared to deal with it if it happens while he's President?

This is not a hypothetical question. Ronald Reagan refused to deal with the emergence of AIDS during his Presidency because he was ideologically (and politically) hostile to homosexuality. He wouldn't even say the word "AIDS"

until the illness of movie star and national icon Rock Hudson became public news in July 1985. By that time, over 10,000 Americans had been diagnosed with AIDS, and over 6,000 had died. 

Similarly, South African President Thabo Mbeki let millions die because he refused to believe the HIV virus caused AIDS.

So here's a question journalists should ask Huckabee:

If you do not believe in evolution, do you believe the H5N1 virus could mutate and threaten a deadly global pandemic like the Spanish Flu of 1918?