Jefferson Thomas: Little Rock 9 Member Liked Mike

Jefferson Thomas, one of the nine black students to integrate a Little Rock high school in the historic battle over school segregation, died on Sunday at age 68. In the AP story on his death, Thomas is quoted expressing his affection for Huckabee:

Following the 2008 election, Thomas said in an interview that he supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Ohio primary and he also liked former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who made a bid for the Republican nomination.

"It would have been a hard decision for me to make if Huckabee was running against Obama," Thomas added.

Still, he said, he was overjoyed with Obama's victory.

Read the whole thing...

Following yesterday's article noting Huckabee's appeal to black voters, this is yet another (extraordinary) example of the appreciation he has cultivated through years of civic leadership — that a Democrat-leaning member of a group of black civil rights heroes would have been torn in a general election between Huckabee and Obama. Wow.