Would a McCain or Huckabee nomination, or a McCain/Huckabee ticket spell doom for the GOP?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

True, Huckabee may garner some support from the social conservatives and the Christian fundamentalists, but Rush Limbaugh hates him for whatever reason, and the corporatists hate him because they find him outside the "big money" crowd and they don't like his Arkansas record. Yeah, he threw out the "fair" (read: national sales) tax idea to try to appease them, but most lawmakers have the sense enough to know that will never happen, and that should never happen.

McCain is seen by too many Republicans as simply a Washington insider and the hard right thinks he compromises too much. (Us on the left think he compromises too much too, but its that he compromises with the Bush administration too much.) The corporatists hate him for McCain-Feingold, which slows down the gravy train in big money contributions. The xenophobes hate him because they say he "favors amnesty", whatever the hell that means.

The fact is, the corporatists are being shut out of the GOP this year, and I for one cannot be any happier. The corporatists are the true scum of the scum in GOP who thrive off of class warfare and it's about damn time they get shut out in the cold for once (Unlike the social conservatives, they've actually gotten what they ask for from the GOP powers that be). Their last great hope was Romney, but he's a fading star, doomed by his ever shifting stances on just about anything and everything. (I don't really know if his Mormonism is truly a factor or not, but his flip-flops sure are).

Guiliani is sinking faster than the Titanic post-iceberg, and we can count our lucky stripes that he is, because he was truly the most dangerous and despicable of all the GOP candidates but had the greatest potential to sucker in susceptible independents and undecideds in the general.

Thompson initially had the greatest potential to be the great GOP unity candidate, given the huge Reagan fetish of those in the GOP. The problem was guy has shown himself to be so much of an empty suit and someone who is so disinterested in running for president that even the most gullible of the Repubs could understand that he really wasn't fit for the job.

I say barring an unexpected and unlikely resurgence by Romney, either a Huckabee or a McCain nomination is inevitable, with probably the best money put on Huckabee. Should the two slug it out for a long time, the chances grow greater of a Huckabee/McCain or McCain/Huckabee ticket, or else one risks alienating the other's supporters. But the bruised and battered survivors are going to emerge to a considerably lukewarm and unenthused Republican party, which means the GOP convention in Minneapolis this summer will be a hallmark for forced enthusiasm.

This all means that we can debate Clinton v. Obama v. Edwards all we like, but the chances are very great that we will be in an infinitely better position than the Repubs this November.

[TwilightGardener]

1. McCain will throw the Huck overboard, I bet. He just used him to take out Romney, but

he's not going to have that doofus on the ticket. I think McCain has more chance than Huck, and I'm not counting the Rudester out--he might take Florida, which will rearrange the race.

[veniceboy]

3. I think McCain will likely win-

Which is good. I think McCain is actually the worst candidate for the general election I think Huckabee's viability for the general election is vastly underestimated.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Normally, I would agree with you

But given the chilly reception from people like Limbaugh and the corporatist Club for Growth, I can forsee a lot of half-hearted and reluctant campaigning for the Huckster in the general.

[havocmom]

2. Depends. Are we all voting paper or machines with programs?

Who the candidates are matters. Who counts the votes matters more. We need to get that through our heads. How many general elections will go by before we get rid of the machines with modems at the very least?

[WilliamPitt]

5. That's my prediction for the GOP ticket.

McCain somehow has mainstream appeal among "independents," is well-supported by old-school conservatives, and should get at least a strong turnout from the party's fundy base (though they despise McCain) if he taps Huck for VP and sends him out to cajole the "faithful" into voting for the ticket.

The catch is whether or not Huck gets nationally clobbered over Wayne DuMond; a convicted rapist Huck helped get released from prison, DuMond later raped and murdered a woman in Mississippi once he'd been freed.

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/12/13/mother-of-DuMond-victim-if-not-for-huckabee-shed-be-here-for-christmas/

Who can say? This is their best ticket, imho.