Romney has dropped out of the race. Now that the options for Christian conservatives have dropped to only one, Romney and Huckabee can stop splitting that vote. Huckabee would have won every Super Tuesday state (except liberal-land states CT, IL, NJ, NY) if those that voted for Romney would have voted for Huckabee. This would have left Huckabee with 746 delegates to McCain’s 330. Moving forward, the latest national Gallup poll has McCain at 41 with Romney at 25 and Huckabee at 21. If only 75% of Romney voters support Huckabee, it would be a statistical dead heat. Further to Huckabee’s advantage is the fact that there are three primaries on Saturday, two of which he is strong in–Louisiana (a southern state) and Kansas (a bastion of evangelical values voters). These have a combined delegate count of 86. Also coming up are Southern States Texas (140), Mississippi (39), North Carolina (69), Kentucky (45), and New Mexico (32) for a total of 325. This isn’t counting any Romney votes. If Romney voters turn to Huckabee, he can be competitive in many other states.
True conservatives need to unite behind Huckabee. One columnist (a Congressman from GA), who helped run Reagan’s campaign in Georgia, skillfully shows that while many Republicans try to claim the mantle of Reagan, only Huckabee does so convincingly:
I went to work on the Reagan campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. I was one of the leaders of that campaign in Georgia, and my friend, Paul Coverdell, led the establishment’s efforts to nominate President Ford.
It was the typical establishment-versus-interloper campaign. Most of the friends I had made in the party were in the establishment. Most of them thought the nomination of Ronald Reagan was not only impractical, but would destroy our party.
Deja vu. The Congressman goes on to show in detail how Reagan and Huckabee are very much alike, not only in positions, but also in charisma and methodology.
On the other hand, McCain has betrayed conservatives time and again by voting against key measures. The liberal press absolutely loves McCain–even liberals have admitted this–and are trying to cast Romney’s dropping out of the race as a victory for McCain. On the contrary, this is a watershed moment for Huckabee. Even the Washington Post’s ultra-liberal editorial board has reluctantly commented on the “surprising resilience” that Huckabee has shown. This resilience was just handed a huge boost by Romney’s dropping out. (A large portion of Romney’s vote was the anti-McCain vote and the Christian conservative vote.) In the same breath, these ultra-liberals of the WaPo say that they believe McCain would save the Republican Party–not a comforting sentiment, considering the source. Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter have come out strongly against a McCain nomination. Ann Coulter went as far to say that if McCain gets the nomination, she will campaign for Hillary. Absurd overstatement, but telling nonetheless.
This is the time for all true conservatives, especially the cultural conservatives, to unite behind Mike Huckabee as the 2008 GOP Presidential nominee. He has been consistent, honest, and straightforward. He is a top 10 governor who has executive experience, unlike Senator McCain. He is strong on conservative issues, rather than pandering to the press as McCain has often done. (To be fair, one area in which McCain has not pandered to the press is his unwavering support of the Iraq war.) The reason I am involved in politics is for moral reasons. I want someone who will do what is right. Huckabee is the one whom I believe will do the best job in being a straight-shooter and a man of conscience. For more details on why conservatives should vote for Mike Huckabee, read my earlier endorsement.
Update: James Dobson just endorsed Mike Huckabee! This is the first time he has ever endorsed a Republican primary candidate. AP:
[Dobson] ruled out front-runner John McCain in a blistering commentary on Super Tuesday, and on Thursday the fight for the GOP nomination narrowed to a two-man race between McCain and Huckabee…
Dobson released a statement Tuesday that criticized McCain for his support of embryonic stem cell research, his opposition to a federal anti-gay marriage amendment and for his temper and use of foul language.
He said if McCain were the nominee, he would not cast a ballot for president for the first time in his life.
Hat tip to Dad for news of the Dobson endorsement.
7 Responses
February 7th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Yup!
I know that I differ with many conservative Mennonites on voting, but I believe my position to be sound and Bible-based and would be glad to explain my position (as I have done many times).
February 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Thanks for the info. If only Romney had dropped out a week ago.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
great writing. i want Huck ! i am one of those amish that votes and proud of it.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Conservatives are present in both parties, independents, etc. We must unite. Congressman Linder is absolutely correct about Mike Huckabee. He is the uniter. We conservatives need to start our own party because the GOP nor the Democratic party represents our values any more.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
i fully support john mccain for president
September 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am
From February 7 to September 10 — how some things have changed!
Politics is a juggling act, no?
As long as Romney and Huckabee and McCain and Hillary and Obama (and a bunch of others) can be juggled, let’s keep Huckabee airborne while trying to keep McCain down.
Now it must be time to keep McCain up, despite his betrayals (see original post above) and panderings (ditto).
Ah, politics.
Oh well.
For those who wish to vote…and wish to vote conscience over expediency…you could use the power of the write-in vote: Mark Roth for President!
September 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
@ Mark Roth:
I’ll take each thing I said about McCain in this post and address it.
This was true then and remains true now. McCain is not a conservative on some issues. Fortunately for me, they are less important issues and are not conscience issues. I disagree with him on them, but he’s doing what he thinks is right in bucking conservatism and the party. That in itself is admirable in the big picture, though it’s not nice when you disagree with him!
Well of course the liberal press liked McCain more than other Republicans. He’s more liberal than some other Republicans. But when McCain is up against the most liberal senator in the Senate, of course the media likes the more liberal person better. AP has admitted this and other media studies have as well.
This point remains valid and highlights the importance of Sarah Palin entering the race. I would still rather have a governor at the top and the bottom of the ticket, but the fact that the top and bottom of the Dem ticket are senators cancels this out.
There is a fine line between pandering to the people/press and doing what the people/press want. I made the mistake of oversimplifying here. (Though I’m certainly glad I put in the bit about him not pandering on the Iraq war, which is vindicating for his independence.)
You said,
No, I disagree. Politics is the art of compromise. Huckabee would have been a better President IMHO, but McCain (especially with Palin at his side) will make a far better president than Obama. You will never get the perfect president, but at each stage of the process, we strive to support the best candidate.
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