I think this is the first time we've seen Huckabee really outclassing Romney in a general election matchup anywhere.
What are you talking about? Just look here:
link
and here:
link
There have been plenty of general election polls (both national and statewide) in which Huckabee has done at least a point or two (and sometimes more) better than Romney. Heck, look at Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, where Huck is doing at least 5 points better than Romney, just like here.
I haven't really paid much mind to nationwide polls, for what it's worth.
Also, the statewide polls more or less support what I said. There are six states that have had polls come out this year before this showing Huckabee doing more than 1-2% better against Obama: California, Iowa, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, & West Virginia. North Carolina's the only one where this has made an actual difference, & the state had another poll this year where they were within 1% of each other.
Anyway, my comment was also in reaction to the recent primary polls out of Wisconsin & Maine, showing Romney polling a very poor fourth place. I don't see how he could get the nomination if he's polling fourth in a state where he beat McCain by 31%, though granted caucus polling tends to be rather crummy.