Huckabee Best Choice For V-P, But Republican Party Bosses Not That Smart

GOP Vice-President Slot Still Open, But Is Huckabee Getting Serious Consideration?

RFFM.org Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza

Yes, I know.  Supposedly there are no bosses in the Republican Party any longer.  But even though the smoke-filled back room may be a thing of the past, there is an elitist faction of the GOP who makes decisions for all who believe in the Republican brand.

Well, they try to make decisions.  But as an institution starts to crumble, power brokers have less and less command over what goes on.  Such was evidenced during the past presidential primary season.

I believe Party big shots wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee.  For a back-up, Fred Thompson was talked into making what turned out to be a half-hearted run for the presidential nomination.  And, in a ridiculous demonstration of Republican hubris, Rudy Giuliani was told he had a chance to head the ticket, too.

Party insiders and individuals--like Rush Limbaugh and Roger Ailes--thought they had all the bases covered with this group.  But along came John McCain and Mike Huckabee to spoil their plans.  Even Ron Paul threw a monkey wrench into the political mechanism by soaking up great gobs of available cash that individuals like Karl Rove thought would stay in the family, so to speak.

Things went awry when Romney flip-flopped his way right out of contention.  Thompson slept through almost every debate and, by the time he woke up, the rest of the field was heading into the home stretch.  Oh, I forgot Giuliani.  Well, so did everybody else and that great political surge, which was supposed to begin in Florida, never got much further than South Beach.

The last two people standing were McCain and Huckabee.  The so-called conservative radio talk show hosts cried and stomped their feet, like seven year old brats in the midst of very serious hissy fits.  Some, like Ann Coulter, even said they would take their ball and go home.  In Coulter's case, the ball was her support and home was Hillary Clinton.  It was all a very sad display and adults, like myself, suggested these self-proclaimed Republican conservatives take a nice long time-out.

But after McCain became the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, the speculation over who would be his vice-presidential running mate began.  Once more, the flip-flopping former Governor of Massachusetts' name started to come up.  However, organizations formed solely to stop Romney's v-p bid...that's amazing!  Then, we started to hear about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's hat being thrown into the ring.  But some claim Crist's hat may have too many frills on it, if you know what I mean.  So the Party elite is giving that possible v-p choice more careful scrutiny.

It truly would be an historic year, if the Democrats nominated a female presidential candidate and an African-American vice-presidential candidate.  Then the Republicans countered with a man who would be an octogenarian after two terms and a running mate who was leading a homosexual lifestyle.  Now that would be stirring things up, wouldn't it?

Here's a wild suggestion for an alternative to Romney or Crist.  How about Republicans choosing former Governor Mike Huckabee?  Yes, I know this is a ridiculous idea.  The only thing Huckabee has going for him is the fact he would be supported by the Party's conservative Catholic and Evangelical base.  This population only represents 30% of the electorate--that's Democrat and Republican.  Plus, choosing Huckabee would be foolish for the following reasons.  Huckabee is pro-life, he supports the idea that marriage should be solely between one man and one woman.  He supports Second Amendment rights and he would like to get rid of the IRS.  Huckabee would also build a fence along the U.S. / Mexico border and start sending immigrants who were here illegally back to their home countries.  This all sounds very radical.  There's no way such a man could benefit the Republican ticket, is there?

And there's one more thing.  The conservative base is what energizes the GOP.  These are the "irritating" people who stick fliers under windshield wipers in church parking lots.  These are the people who canvass neighborhoods and do the heavy lifting in the political world.  The social conservative component of the Republican Party would match the highly motivated Democrats who want the White House back very badly and will do practically anything to get there.

Wait a minute.  I'm running a slight fever and I have a sore throat.  I really haven't been feeling very well the last couple of days and it is having an effect on my thinking.  Even though Huckabee would bring all these positives to the Republican ticket, the so-called big shots would never let that happen.  I've been told social conservatives no longer represent the GOP's base.  Therefore, it will have to be a fiscal conservative to fill out the presidential slate--which will be a formula for disaster.

Perhaps in a few days, when I'm feeling better, the Huckabee idea will simply fade away.  I'll regain my senses and realize someone who more closely embraces the Party's national platform wouldn't cut the mustard in this year's election.  In the mean time, I'll watch the media, consider every name in the book for McCain's v-p running mate, including Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, before Huckabee's.  You see, the former Arkansas governor was once a Baptist minister and Huckabee's election as vice-president would put him a breath away from the Oval Office.  That's too much of a risk to take, isn't it?

On second thought, forget that I ever wrote this column.  I wouldn't want to be called a right-wing nut.  Anyone have an aspirin?

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