Huckabee: McCain Could Have Been President
Huckabee with Whispers Editor Paul Bedard
One of the GOP's presidential primary runners-up, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, says that it was possible to beat Barack Obama despite the downturn in the economy, and he believes he would have been the nominee if the primaries hadn't been winner take all. Promoting his new book, Do the Right Thing, Huckabee says that he feels "somewhat vindicated and validated" that his focus on the economy during the primaries was the right one. And even though Sen. John McCain had difficulty with the economy issue, Huckabee says, "Oh, I think it was winnable. I do. It wasn't an impossible task."
However, he says, McCain erred by returning to Washington and endorsing the Wall Street bailout. "It could have been a turning point" in the race, he says, if McCain had railed against the plan. He also says that McCain failed to differentiate himself from Obama on key issues. On his own chances, Huckabee suggested that if the GOP had adopted the same vote-splitting system the Democrats employed, then he would have been the nominee. He says, however, that he understood the rules going into the race and he suggested a change in the primary system to one that divides primary and caucus votes by the percentages won by candidates.
He also wants to change the rules so that the primary season isn't front-loaded. "You cannot be in that many places at one time," he says. Unclear, however, is whether his candidate for chairman of the Republican Party—former campaign boss Chip Saltsman—would make those changes, says Huckabee.
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Tags: Mike Huckabee | John McCain
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Reader Comments
Romney is a loser
In case you didn't notice, Romney got 3rd place. That means he could not have won, and he didn't. He received is lovely 3rd place price. So keep crying.
DavidE7
Mitt Romney was the kiss of death for the Republicans. He was the symbol of those at the top who governed with total insensitivity to the mass of Americans that provide the votes that elect Presidents. By contrast, Huckabee would have turned the tide for McCain because he would have done so much better in the debates than Sarah Palin. Huckabee's new book Do The Right Thing tells it all and also what the Republican party must do to become viable again.
Fool's Gold
McCain was a false conservative who had way too much in common with Barack Obama, not Bush, to reliably win the election. He couldn't attack him on anything because they virtually agreed with one another, sure the old geezer masked a few of his previous positions like tax cuts (he would have let them expire in 2010) and amnesty, but other than Iraq he was just Democrat lite. He ran an outdated campaign that would have been obselete even against Bill Clinton in 1992, no more dinosaur candidates. The GOP has to nominate someone under the age of 55 in 2012 or they are finished, youth ALWAYS trumphs the "experience" argument.
Obama did not run a flawless campaign, you media kool aid drinking shills. He just had every pundit cover for him, but he could deliver a speech and knew how to move like a Hollywood drug addict stuck on script. Most Americans have absolutely no idea what this Democratic scum are about to do to this country, and it will be almost impossible to reverse course. We still are stuck with a good chunk of a failed idea called the New Deal, why do we want to add to the pain?
If Huckabee screws up the next election he should dragged into the street and shot. The Republican nomination system is significantly better than the junk with the Democrats, look how long it took them to make up their mind plus all the idiot superdelegates and whether Florida or Michigan counted - EY! Leave it to Huck-huck-huck-a-Bee to try and make things more complicated because he thinks he's god's annointed. You'll never be president Mike, go back to Hope and take that philandering corrupt disgraced corpse Clinton with you!
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