Hmmm: Trump announces post-Iowa rally in … Little Rock, Arkansas
posted at 6:41 pm on January 29, 2016 by Allahpundit

Maybe that’s true of Santorum, but what if Huckabee made an agreement with Trump recently to support him after Iowa if his own campaign ends up never taking off? We’ve all been interpreting Huck’s endless shots at Cruz as a product of bitterness, but maybe they’re more strategic than that. Until recently I assumed that Huckabee would endorse Rubio once he dropped out, partly as thanks for Rubio endorsing Huckabee in 2008 and partly because Rubio has traditionally been seen as the biggest threat to Cruz. Lately, though, respect for Trump’s chances at winning the nomination has risen; he leads Rubio in prediction markets, meaning that if you were all about stopping Cruz, Trump’s arguably your best bet at this point. Trump’s favor is probably also worth more to Huckabee than Rubio’s is, just as Huckabee’s favor is worth more to Trump than it is to Rubio. If Huck endorses Rubio, he gets some warm words and maybe a couple of rallies with the candidate if Rubio goes on to win the nomination. But Rubio doesn’t need Huck; he’s got plenty of socially conservative cred in his own right. Trump, glaringly, does not, and he may need some if he intends to turn out southern Christians in the same numbers that other Republican nominees have. And even if Trump flames out of the race, he’s likely to reward Huckabee with some valuable interviews if/when Huck gets back into media.

In fact, here’s a freaky deaky possibility for you: What if Huckabee thinks he has a chance at being Trump’s VP? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. Think about Trump’s liabilities in the general election: He has no experience as a public office-holder; his credentials among the Christian base are shaky; and Democrats are sure to try to neutralize his blue-collar appeal by painting him as a Manhattan fatcat. Huckabee was born and raised blue-collar in rural America and ran as the blue-collar populist candidate eight years ago, using Mitt Romney as his foil. He’s one of the most prominent Christian voices in American politics, for better or worse, even after losing favor among other Christian leaders to Cruz. And he was a governor longer than anyone else in the race this year except Rick Perry. He’s also famously deft in handling the media, a quality which Trump would prize. If Trump’s the nominee, why would he choose some garden-variety Republican pol when he could have another guy who often annoys the establishment and who was talking about reaching out to the working class in 2008 while most of the rest of the GOP was yammering on about entrepreneurs?

.... but politics is often more about personalities than policies and Huck and Trump may just genuinely like each other. And if Huck can influence Trump in a good way, I'm all for it!

If Trump gets the nom. he'd be wise to choose Gov. Suzanna Martinez as his V.P. (would obviously solve a number of big problems for him in the general election) and she appears to be a pretty good governor as well. G.H. should remain true to his core values if he endorses otherwise he's no better than the evangelical leaders who threw in for Cruz.

If Trump gets the nom. he'd be wise to choose Gov. Suzanna Martinez as his V.P. (would obviously solve a number of big problems for him in the general election) and she appears to be a pretty good governor as well. G.H. should remain true to his core values if he endorses otherwise he's no better than the evangelical leaders who threw in for Cruz.