Mike Huckabee Confuses Me.
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If Mike wants to campaign till the last state then more power to him. It confuses me to why he is wasting his time doing so however. While he could be saving his supporters a lot of time, not to mention money, he is running around for no apparent reason. While it’s his right to do so I don’t see much of a point behind it. The only explanation is to keep people at least slightly interested for the sake of McCain’s campaign. Otherwise this whole thing would be warming over rather quickly and would not allow McCain to surge into the national election after he wins the nomination. It’s clear that Huck and McCain respect each other so it’s hard to tell what is going on at this point.
The results in Wisconsin were great for McCain but if you look at the stats it shows once again the underlying problem for John. According to the numbers John McCain won with 219,670 (54%) votes while Huckabee brought in 147,781 (39%). But the one number that should be looked at is the number of people that voted for people not even in the race, 13,498. While it’s nothing to scream about it is a testament to the fact that people are just unhappy with what they are being dealt. In any election you are going to have people who don’t like their party’s candidate but the sense in the room is that it’s not just a few people. I’m not sure what this will spell for McCain’s overall ability to win the national election but it is clear that McCain has a lot of work ahead of him if he wishes to turn the heads of those currently revolting against his campaign.
The simple fact that Huckabee is still in the race proves that things aren’t over until their over. While this is true I don’t know what kind of dream Huckabee is living in if he expects to come out on top. I’m sure he doesn’t believe that will happen so why is he out wasting his time? Politics are politics and that means he will take all the free publicity that he can get. It may be free for him but his supporters should be the ones asking all the tough questions. With Huckabee’s campaign in full swing still late in the game those tossing change at his feet should realize they are just burning cash. For Huckabee the admirable thing to do at this stage is to duck out. We all know this is a horse and pony show but we’re at the stage that we know who the nominee will be. After all, Romney realized his chances were thin so Mike you should follow the leader on this one.
Huckabee has had an impressive run for the White House and I’ll give him that. From the absolutely last person on anyone’s list to the limelight to the guy that just won’t quit, Huck showed everyone that anyone can run a successful campaign no matter how much of an underdog they are. Mike is the prime example of what the Evangelical vote can do when it is given something to fight for. Life, family and God are the top issues on any Evengelical’s list and Mike was able to pull those heartstrings and fight a very valiant battle. I can see that his political future has had a boost from this year’s elections and I imagine he will go on to fight for another office or perhaps to get a part in John McCain’s cabinet. With all that said I think it is high time he threw in the towel. For the sake of his time, his supporters cash and all of us scratching our heads in wonder; take a bow mike the show is over.
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February 20th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I don’t think it is all that confusing. Unless you are a big time donor or a business, you usually don’t get anything back for “burning cash” on campaign contributions regardless of how the candidate does. The reason private individuals support a candidate is because they believe in what that candidate stands for. The reason public figures support a candidate is usually to win favor in the future.
Mike Huckabee has put together a message that appeals to a big chunk of the country and is in a place to influence the national discourse and possibly even become president at a brokered GOP convention.
Another important point is that Huckabee has promised to keep campaigning until someone actually wins the nomination. He has to keep going or else break his promise and alienate his supporters. His supporters, as you point out, are still quite willing to finance his campaign. So there is no legitimate reason for him to quit except to un-confuse commentators who don’t understand why someone would keep their promises and stand up for principles they believe in regardless of the circumstances.
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February 20th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
While it’s great that he wants to stick to his word I have to believe it is more than that. You can simply believe he is doing it for his supporters but in the end it is all about pride and publicity. Mike has known for a long time that he had absolutely no chance but in the world of politics one takes that they can get.
It’s not an issue of not understanding why someone would keep their “promises” it’s a question of his motivation. This whole campaign has been identity politics and Huckabee has been championing it all along.
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February 20th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
So Mike Huckabee’s motivations to keep running could be:
1) Building personal political capital
2) Advancing the ideals of the issues he supports; the life and marriage amendments, comprehensive tax reform, border security, etc…
3) Advancing the “identity politics” of conservatives and evangelicals in the GOP.
4) Keeping the GOP primary race in the news, which may benefit McCain. (Huckabee has said that McCain would be much than the democrat alternatives).
5) Keeping his word to stay until the nomination is decided.
Plausible arguments can be constructed that all of these causes will be furthered if he stays in the race. The cost is just his time and his supporter’s money, as well as irritating those in the party who don’t support him and are tired of talking about primary politics. I am just saying that since he has already been incurring all of these costs for over a year, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to keep it up a couple more weeks.
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February 20th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
It’s obvious that he is only in the race to help McCain. Without Huckabee people would be less interested in the primaries than they already are. So while your reasons sound justifiable Huckabee has been nothing more than McCain’s lap dog the last leg of this race. Huck was there to derail Thompson and Romney for McCain and now he’s just keeping the show alive so McCain has to give him some sort of prize.
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February 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
By your logic Huckabee should not have run to begin with. You don’t make decisions as a leader based on the odds against you. Leaders seek to beat the odds and champion what they believe in. Huckabee was supposed to be the first or second to drop out of the race but he is now one of the last standing. If this was about ambistion he would be dropping out by now, but he is standing for change and that is why I continue to support him.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 am
Mike has done a fine job running his campaign. Everyone should know when to bow out but my point is that he is just in it for McCain. Not pride, not morals, not his supports, for McCain. This has been clear since WV when McCain and Huckabee had their little backroom deal.
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February 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 am
Yeah, I have to strongly disagree that Huckabee is continuing to run because of some altruistic need to represent Christians like ourselves. McCain and Huckabee are hardly different when it comes to real policy (most of the differences Huckabee would point out, like making certain Constitutional amendments, are pie in the sky ideas that won’t happen).
He’s in it either because he’s trying to impress upon McCain to make him VP, or to secure his spot as a front runner for the next election. To think otherwise is to be totally naive.
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