America’s heavyweight political commentators were flummoxed. Stephen Colbert, who carries more clout in Washington than any other pundit save Jon Stewart, wondered why Huckabee couldn’t have said: “The Republican field is a mess, so my heart says ‘yes’.”

Well, we now know why. Huckabee’s heart was telling him to make some money!

He has launched an educational project called TimeCycle Academy to give children “pride in America’s past”, by teaching them about the nation’s history without “bias and political correctness”. Some 75 cartoons are planned on such subjects as the founding of America, the second world war and unexpectedly, the Reagan revolution.

The first DVD is yours for just $9.95. There’s a money-back guarantee and four free gifts  (haven’t you always hankered after auto-focus binoculars?). Called 9/11 and the War on Terror, it covers the 2001 terrorist attacks and the ensuing war in Afghanistan. The short preview of the video is inoffensive enough other than the shockingly primitive computer graphics. It features Osama bin Laden punching the air – “death to the Americans” –and George Bush with his bullhorn at Ground Zero accompanied by a rousing western-style soundtrack.

The second world war DVD shows how every American pulled together to win – “Even the girls were in on it!” – while Churchill and the Soviet Union are notable by their absence. The Reagan cartoon begins with a shot of a graffiti-strewn city street and a man holding a knife and wearing – oh foul and most unnatural! – a T-shirt marked “Disco”. “Give me your money!” he growls.

That, for those left wondering, is a representation of the moral crisis Reagan inherited and turned around. “How one man transformed a nation,” the blurb says.

Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, has been criticised by 9/11 victims’ relatives for trying to profit from the tragedy. Rubbish, he might say. “You say I’m in it for the cash, I say: ‘balderdash!’”