Mike Huckabee
On his website tonight, Mike Huckabee told supporters he is not on his way to Dayton, Ohio, and that he will not be John McCain's Vice-Presidential nominee:
There are reports that I’m on my way to Dayton tonight. Not true. Wasn’t invited to be there and any reports that I’m going to be there are a big surprise to me. I have never been contacted by the McCain campaign at any point about the VP slot. I have never been asked for any information, background, etc., so as I have said repeatedly in interviews, I didn’t consider myself to be under any consideration. I think people thought I was being coy and just not talking, but I have built my political life on trying to shoot straight and tell it as it is and as I see it. I have been honest in telling you that I had no reason to believe I was ever seriously considered or “vetted” for the ticket. That’s why I have continued with HuckPAC because I have felt that we (me and you) shouldn’t give up, but rather gear up and help good pro-life, conservative people to office across the nation. Our efforts are just getting started. Like you, I will await news of who Senator McCain selects. I hope it will be a person with a solid record and solid convictions on the foundation issues that bring many of us to the process. I’m taking this unusual step to communicate so it will come from me and not from some of the ridiculous things being said on TV and websites tonight.
The Drudge Report is now running a poll asking who readers believe John McCain will choose as his Vice-Presidential running mate. Click on the image to go there and vote on the poll.
The poll is on the right side of the page.
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Rich Lowry is suggesting a second look at Mike Huckabee for Vice-President. He does make a compelling case:
There's no indication that Huckabee is being considered, so consider this idle speculation like the Hillary chatter prior to Obama's pick. But wouldn't Huckabee make a lot of sense given the things we've learned the last two weeks?
1) McCain might have a "wealth problem," and certainly Democrats are going to try to hit his wealth for all its worth in their play for working-class voters; Huckabee doesn't have a problem on this front, and has lots of working-class cred.
2) The pro-choice trial balloon hasn't been well received, and it's clear that a pro-choice nominee would create a major disruption; Huckabee is pro-life.
3) Obama picked Biden who is going to a vivid presence (for better or worse) on the stump and could be formidable in debate; Huckabee is a great campaigner and might be just the guy to puncture Biden in a debate.
4) (This is a less important point.) The McCain folks have made a huge deal about differences between Obama and Biden during the primaries; McCain and Huckabee didn't have much in the way of differences and went out of their way to praise each other.
The other upsides are the press likes Huckabee (for now), he's a different kind of Republican, and his selection would be such a shock, it might even be considered bold.
The downsides are—as I've noted many times before—he doesn't have much in the way of national security credentials and has a big seriousness gap, obviously not trifling matters. But if McCain can't do Lieberman, and isn't thrilled by Pawlenty or Romney, Huckabee might be worth a last-minute second look.
Politico.com is reporting that Sen. John McCain will appear with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee at a suburban St. Louis rally on August 31, the day before the GOP Convention begins, and two days AFTER he has announced the choice of his Vice-Presidential running mate. This is fueling increased speculation that Mitt Romney will be McCain's choice. If neither Romney or Huckabee is the choice, it would mean the rally will include a fourth person - the nominee McCain has chosen:
Making matters more confusing, Politico has learned that McCain will visit suburban St. Louis, Mo for a major rally with Romney and his still-bitter primary nemesis Mike Huckabee on Sunday, August 31st, the day before the start of the GOP convention.
Top Missouri Republicans yesterday received the invitation for a rally featuring McCain and his two top primary challengers. They'll be joined by country star John Rich at a minor league baseball stadium in O'Fallon, Mo, about 35 miles west of St. Louis.
Missouri was hard-fought territory on Super Tuesday, with each of the three Republicans faring well. So the event would seem to represent a pre-convention unity rally in a swing state where each has a strong following. But Huckabee and Romney can hardly stand one another, and Huckabee has warned against selecting his once and perhaps future rival twice this month.
It would take a considerable act of pride-swallowing for Huckabee to stand before thousands of fans and watch as McCain touts Romney as his running mate.
But then it would take the same amount of magnamity for Romney to join such a rally the day before the convention if McCain has tapped somebody else as his vp and it's that person who McCain is lauding in Missouri.
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Link: sevenload.com
Here is video of Gov. Mike Huckabee, who today in an interview on Fox News Channel said that John McCain could do better than Gov. Mitt Romney as a Vice-Presidential choice. Huckabee was clear that he does not oppose Romney because of his Mormon faith, however, but said that many "values voters" find his inconsistencies on positions over the years to be troubling.
Here is Mike Huckabee defending John McCain against the pathetic attacks by the Obama campaign that McCain is "confused" on Iraq. Huckabee says once McCain gets Obama on stage for a debate, he will show that he (McCain) is not the confused one.
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Here is a report on the Memorial Day Weekend "Barbeque" John McCain is holding with 10 couples at his Arizona ranch, including several VP Possibilities. The report says Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal, and Mitt Romney will attend. Mike Huckabee was invited but declined because of a trip to Alaska. It will be interesting to see what comes out about this gathering in the days ahead.
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Survey USA recently did a series of polls in key battleground states to determine who might be the strongest Vice-Presidential running mates for both John McCain and Barack Obama. The results might surprise you.
The polls found that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee would generally be the strongest pick for McCain, and by far John Edwards would be strongest for Obama. Take a look at these numbers. They certainly make you stop and think:
In Ohio
In California
In New Mexico read more »
Here is a discussion on MSNBC over the weekend about the chances of Gov. Mike Huckabee being picked by John McCain as his Vice-Presidential running mate.
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Here is video from Fox News of former Bush adviser Karen Hughes discussing what it may mean that Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mike Huckabee appeared on the campaign trail together yesterday in Arkansas.
