Scratch Mike Huckabee’s name from the list of potential Republican presidential nominees seeking to challenge President Obama.

The former Arkansas governor and present-day Fox News Channel host said on his show on that cable outlet that he won’t compete for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

Huckabee said he ruled out a run despite many indications he could do well in the race for the nomination — widespread grassroots support and polls that showed that he had broader appeal to just social conservatives and also a good chance of winning primaries and caucuses.

“All the factors say go; but my heart says no,” Huckabee said. “And that’s the decision that I’ve made. And in it I’ve finally found some resolution.”

Huckabee, who did unexpectedly well in his 2008 presidential bid, winning the Iowa caucuses, said his wife and children expressed support for a him to make the race, in fact urged him too.

And he indicated many others had expressed not just support but the desire to work on his behalf.

But, speaking in terms that would readily connect with many of the evangelical Christians who had hoped he would be their standard bearer in the 2012 White House race, the former Baptist preacher said in was only in the quiet moments of reflection did his decision become plain.

“… I do know this. That under the best of circumstances, being president is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity. For me, to do it without the confidence that I was undertaking it without God’s full blessing is simply unthinkable.”

The decision allows Huckabee to continue making money at a brisk pace from his contract with Fox as well as the radio segment he produces for ABC Radio. Huckabee also travels the nation giving paid speeches.

He did say he will continue to travel to speak up for candidates and causes he believes in.

Staying clear of the race also spares Huckabee from attacks from both Republicans and Democrats alike on his record as Arksansas governor. For instance, as governor he commuted the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, a convict who later killed four Seattle police officers. Clemmons likely would have been Huckabee’s Willie Horton, only worse. Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.