Might Huckamania Run Wild Again?

Several conservatives sites have noted (with obvious disdain) the possibility of a resurrected Huck-for-VP push, although a few are seriously mulling it over.

(See Lowry in tentative support here. Allahpundit writes a more skeptical but balanced review here. Adler swears his opposition here.)

I think the majority here at C4M, if not the entire gang, line up with Lowry on this one and would consider the former Arkansas governor a fairly strong pick on the merits. My thought is, the widespread claims that Huckabee is a liberal are way off. His record leans populist, yes, but this was as governor. But conservatives, of all people, ought to appreciate the difference between the state and federal systems, and if Huck talks a good conservative game as he campaigns for president, then it’s easy enough to take him at his word for this very reason.

However, merits aside, I don’t think McCain could stem the outflow of folks like Adler, who have reflexively opposed Huckabee from the start. It’d be hard to convince these folks to ever like Huckabee, which is a shame ’cause I think the Huckster would be an incredibly effective communicator on the national stage (so long as he doesn’t pigeon-hole himself into the conservative Christian niche).

With the merits of Huck aside, I also think Allahpundit makes enough of a case to undermine Lowry’s points somewhat. But he may be downplaying # 3 (Huck’s charisma) too much, as well as underestimating the difference in name recognition between Huck and Pawlenty, whose “swing state” home of Minnesota is not at all likely to swing.

Allahpundit also notes the lack of overlap between Romney-haters and Huck-haters. This was quite clear in the lead-up to and aftermath from Iowa, as the two were pitted head-to-head for the heartland caucus while McCain was able to rise above and confront Romney at a later date.

Between Huck and Romney, the choice of genuineness and likability is clear (it’s Huck). And Mike has a much better conservative record than Mitt, which is an “inconvenient truth” often overlooked by the Romney cheerleaders (cough, K-Lo) at National Review.

Note: A pick of Romney or Huckabee would seem to knock the scab off of very recent primary wounds among the GOP faithful, as evidenced by the comments on Hot Air to an earlier article they posted.

I think at some point the Christian issue is going to have to lend itself to some resolution among conservatives, or else the Republican coalition will ultimately splinter over this.  I’d encourage both sides to tone down the rhetoric and reserve ammunition for the Left.

Tags: McCain, Mike Huckabee, Pawlenty, Romney, vetting, Vice President