It looks like Mike Huckabee is engaged in a not-too-subtle effort to make sure his chief rival for leadership of a post-McCain GOP is not on the ticket this year:
For the second consecutive day, Mike Huckabee made public statements suggesting John McCain ought not pick Mitt Romney as his running mate.
“I think there are better choices for Sen. McCain that have the approval of value voters,” Huckabee said today on Fox News. Yesterday, he told CBS that many Republicans are “not necessarily comfortable” with Romney because of his changed positions.
At the same time, Huckabee’s Michigan supporters met with McCain social conservative liaison Marlys Popma last night in Saginaw. Though ostensibly held to discuss how Huckabee’s loyalists can help McCain, supporters of the former Arkansas governor also used the get-together to warn against tapping Romney, according to an attendee.
Elizabeth Sipfle, who called me without prompting, said picking Huckabee’s detested primary rival would amount to a poke in the eye of Huckabee’s supporters.
“We made it clear that we want Huckabee to be recognized,” said Sipfle, an Oakland County lawyer who chaired the Michigan effort of the volunteer “Huck’s Army.” “When you snub him, you snub GOP votes.”
In reality, though, this isn’t about “recognizing” Mike Huckabee so much as it’s about what happens after Election Day 2008:
As McCain nears his selection, it seems clear what is taking place. Whoever he selects will be well-positioned to run for the GOP nomination in either 2012 or 2016. Huckabee supporters recognize that, were he to be placed on the ticket, Romney would likely become the natural front-runner in one of those future cycles. By keeping him off the ticket this year, they ensure the next GOP field remains scrambled and Huckabee’s prospects improved.
Which almost makes me hope that McCain does pick Romney, if only to mess with The Huckster’s plans.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Anything that helps keep Huckabee off the ticket is good. The sooner he goes away the better.
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 am
[...] Notwithstanding their sometimes bitter rivalry during the race for the Republican nomination, it seems as though McCain and Romney have made their peace with each other as typified by Romney’s speech at CPAC earlier this year and his endorsement of McCain a week later. Since the Republican race ended, Romney has said more than once — see here and here — that he would be willing to serve as McCain’s running mate if asked. Moreover, while Romney may not be an attention-grabbing pick he would seem to be, under the circumstances McCain faces, a good one that meets the criteria that McCain needs for a running mate. Finally, though I don’t know that McCain is thinking along these lines, selecting Romney has the added advantage of blunting the 2012 and beyond ambititions of Mike Huckabee. [...]
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 am
[...] Notwithstanding their sometimes bitter rivalry during the race for the Republican nomination, it seems as though McCain and Romney have made their peace with each other as typified by Romney’s speech at CPAC earlier this year and his endorsement of McCain a week later. Since the Republican race ended, Romney has said more than once — see here and here — that he would be willing to serve as McCain’s running mate if asked. Moreover, while Romney may not be an attention-grabbing pick he would seem to be, under the circumstances McCain faces, a good one that meets the criteria that McCain needs for a running mate. Finally, though I don’t know that McCain is thinking along these lines, selecting Romney has the added advantage of blunting the 2012 and beyond ambititions of Mike Huckabee. [...]