(The one-time presidential contender makes no bones about it: he wants to be VP)
He didn’t exactly get down on one knee, but…Interviewed on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’, Mike Huckabee, the twice-elected governor of Arkansas, left no doubt that he would dearly like to be Republican John McCain’s running-mate. “There’s no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain,” Huckabee said. Can’t get much plainer than that.
It’s not an unattractive idea. To begin with, Huckabee, an ordained minister with a Master’s Degree in divinity, is an evangelical. That non-denominational sect of Christians happens to make up over 24% of the voting public. Another thing: as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, and taking the top spot when Bill Clinton left to be president, Huckabee was re-elected twice in subsequent elections. What that says to me is that here is a guy who knows how to get his message across. It’s been proved time and again that simply proclaiming one is a Christian is not nearly enough.
What’s more, for a time during the early going, Huckabee took Iowa and six other primaries, looking very much like a real contender. McCain could do a lot worse, although his campaign has been silent so far on Huckabee’s overture. Hardly a surprise. The decision as to whom to select as a running-mate is a serious, make-or-break consideration, at least potentially. I would expect that McCain will issue a non-committal statement to the effect that the nominee is flattered and will give due deliberation to this latest proposal.
If Huckabee has committed one gaffe, it came Friday night, while he was addressing a National Rifle Association convention in Kentucky. During his speech, there was a loud noise, and Huckabee quipped it was Democrat Barack Obama hitting the floor after someone pointed a gun at him. Oops! Not without a certain element of humor, but definitely inappropriate. Huckabee apologized immediately, saying, “It was a dumb, off-the-cuff remark…Anybody that knows me knows that I would never, ever try to inject something like that to create any dangerous moment for any candidate.” He added, “It wasn’t the first dumb thing I’ve ever said. …it won’t be the last dumb thing (I’ll) ever (say).”
As for Obama, at the moment he seems more ticked off at Tennessee’s Republican Party, telling them to “Lay off my wife.” Harking back to a remark Michelle Obama made a few months ago, in which she said, “For the first time in my life, I’m proud of my country.”, the Tennessee GOP aired a video online suggesting the comment was unpatriotic. Yeah, well, saying that she never before has been proud of her country easily could be construed that way…and was by many at the time. Obama, on Monday morning’s “Good Morning, America”, called the tactic “low class“. Well, Senator, I will say only this: prospective first ladies, while not prime targets in campaigns, certainly have been made issues of before. Get used to it. Tennessee: a bit more recency might be in order.
Getting back to my main thesis, Huckabee is not the first former presidential candidate to say he’d be proud to run with McCain. Not so long ago, Mitt Romney expressed similar sentiments, if not in such strong terms. John McCain has lots to think about.
My own view is that Huckabee would make a fine vice-presidential candidate. He’s an experienced politician, a nice guy, and theoretically could deliver a lot of votes. I’m not an advocate of voting on the basis of faith. The church someone attends tells nothing about how he or she would respond to crises. But again, Mike Huckabee is not some political neophyte. And again. John McCain could do a lot worse. Boy, this is an interesting campaign!
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on May 19, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under Conservative Political Commentary.
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Huckabee Makes a Political Marriage Proposal
(The one-time presidential contender makes no bones about it: he wants to be VP)
He didn’t exactly get down on one knee, but…Interviewed on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’, Mike Huckabee, the twice-elected governor of Arkansas, left no doubt that he would dearly like to be Republican John McCain’s running-mate. “There’s no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain,” Huckabee said. Can’t get much plainer than that.
It’s not an unattractive idea. To begin with, Huckabee, an ordained minister with a Master’s Degree in divinity, is an evangelical. That non-denominational sect of Christians happens to make up over 24% of the voting public. Another thing: as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, and taking the top spot when Bill Clinton left to be president, Huckabee was re-elected twice in subsequent elections. What that says to me is that here is a guy who knows how to get his message across. It’s been proved time and again that simply proclaiming one is a Christian is not nearly enough.
What’s more, for a time during the early going, Huckabee took Iowa and six other primaries, looking very much like a real contender. McCain could do a lot worse, although his campaign has been silent so far on Huckabee’s overture. Hardly a surprise. The decision as to whom to select as a running-mate is a serious, make-or-break consideration, at least potentially. I would expect that McCain will issue a non-committal statement to the effect that the nominee is flattered and will give due deliberation to this latest proposal.
If Huckabee has committed one gaffe, it came Friday night, while he was addressing a National Rifle Association convention in Kentucky. During his speech, there was a loud noise, and Huckabee quipped it was Democrat Barack Obama hitting the floor after someone pointed a gun at him. Oops! Not without a certain element of humor, but definitely inappropriate. Huckabee apologized immediately, saying, “It was a dumb, off-the-cuff remark…Anybody that knows me knows that I would never, ever try to inject something like that to create any dangerous moment for any candidate.” He added, “It wasn’t the first dumb thing I’ve ever said. …it won’t be the last dumb thing (I’ll) ever (say).”
As for Obama, at the moment he seems more ticked off at Tennessee’s Republican Party, telling them to “Lay off my wife.” Harking back to a remark Michelle Obama made a few months ago, in which she said, “For the first time in my life, I’m proud of my country.”, the Tennessee GOP aired a video online suggesting the comment was unpatriotic. Yeah, well, saying that she never before has been proud of her country easily could be construed that way…and was by many at the time. Obama, on Monday morning’s “Good Morning, America”, called the tactic “low class“. Well, Senator, I will say only this: prospective first ladies, while not prime targets in campaigns, certainly have been made issues of before. Get used to it. Tennessee: a bit more recency might be in order.
Getting back to my main thesis, Huckabee is not the first former presidential candidate to say he’d be proud to run with McCain. Not so long ago, Mitt Romney expressed similar sentiments, if not in such strong terms. John McCain has lots to think about.
My own view is that Huckabee would make a fine vice-presidential candidate. He’s an experienced politician, a nice guy, and theoretically could deliver a lot of votes. I’m not an advocate of voting on the basis of faith. The church someone attends tells nothing about how he or she would respond to crises. But again, Mike Huckabee is not some political neophyte. And again. John McCain could do a lot worse. Boy, this is an interesting campaign!
This entry was posted on May 19, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under Conservative Political Commentary. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.