Why Should Huckabee Get Out?

02-11-2008

It just really makes no sense at all for Mike Huckabee to get out of the GOP race.

He's winning in the South. Right there, that's reason enough. But there's more. First of all, when you win in Kansas over the weekend with 60 percent of the vote that says two things. It says that McCain has work to do with social conservatives and it shows that Huckabee is speaking to an important part of the GOP base.

Wait there's more.

Time is on Huckabee's side. The Democrats race is going on for awhile so there's no urgency for Huckabee to get in line behind McCain. Plus, Huckabee and McCain like each other. There's no bruising battle going on here. What's another month? A lot can happen in a month. McCain could stumble. It's unlikely but maybe he pulls a "Bill Buckner" from 1986. (If you don't understand, watch this video here.) Also, remember time is Huckabee's friend. He had time in Iowa. People there got to know him and he won. If he can some how pull off Virginia, he'll have time before Texas too.

More on Huckabee below:

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee hopes victories in Kansas and Louisiana are a sign of things to come in Tuesday's contests in Virginia and Maryland.

The former Arkansas governor on Saturday won all 36 delegates at stake in Kansas and narrowly held on to win Louisiana's primary. But he badly trails Arizona Sen. John McCain, the likely nominee, in the overall race for delegates. Some say he should even step aside as a way to help the GOP maintain resources for the general election.

Huckabee described such talk as "total nonsense."

"The Democrats haven't settled their nominee either, so for us to suddenly act like we have to all step aside and have a coronation instead of an election, that's the antithesis of everything Republicans are supposed to believe," he said on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "We believe competition breeds excellence and the lack of it breeds mediocrity."

Huckabee said even he was surprised by Saturday's results. Huckabee won Kansas' delegates, but fell short of 50 percent in Louisiana, the threshold needed to claim the 20 delegates that were available. Instead, they will be awarded at a state convention next weekend.

Huckabee said he was not ready to concede Washington state, Saturday's third contest. McCain won a narrow victory in the caucuses with 26 percent of the vote to Huckabee's 24 percent.

He has pledged to stay in the race until a candidate earns the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination. During one of the three Sunday talk shows he appeared on, it was noted that his prospects for getting to that magic number were virtually impossible.

"This country was built on the impossible. It's impossible that I'm still in the race. That's what most people would've said a few months ago," he said on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "In politics so many things can happen that can change the landscape overnight. A candidate can say something, do something, and everything can change."

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