Rubio, a conservative Republican, is popular among Cuban Americans in South Florida whose stands include opposition to abortion and gay marriage as well as a hard-line approach to the Castro brothers Fidel and Raul regime in Cuba.

Huckabee said Rubio helped him shift his attitude towards Cuba over the past year and that he is now convinced that the Cuban embargo should not be lifted until the country holds free elections, promotes civil rights and frees political prisoners.

“I commit we would veto any legislation that would lift the embargo,” Huckabee said today.

That represents a marked change from a 2002 letter then-Gov. Huckabee wrote to President George W. Bush asking him to lift the embargo to help Arkansas’ flailing rice industry and revive the state’s sagging economy.

The right endorsements (pun intended) are needed for Huck to do well in Florida.

I happen to like Huckabee from what little I see (he certainly is better than Giuliani or Romney, and I never liked McCain, and Thompson isn’t doing too well, and Paul would be attacked as a kook, though he isn’t). His sales tax idea is excellent (we should tax consumption rather than income or wealth).

But he has made a reversal (I don’t misuse “flip-flop” to describe either a reversal of position or statement, or a thong-type sandal).

The reversal is on the Cuban embargo.