There's a lot of speculation out there about who will get the nod for VP. In his Fox News debut last night, Karl Rove threw cold water on the idea of a McCain-Huckabee ticket. Considering the source, that's a big red flag. Huckabee does very well in the south, but surely McCain can win those states in a general election against either Clinton or Obama. Still, Paul Mirengoff makes some sense when he writes:
Huckabee might provide the answer to an increasingly vexing problem -- the enthusiasm gap. President Bush staved off John Kerry's challenge through an incredible grass-roots operation. That operation was based on the phenomenal efforts of volunteers. Who will be McCain's volunteers? Surely, not the same party faithful upon whom Bush relied. Perhaps McCain can mobilize his core support group, war veterans. But there's no doubt that he could also use evangelicals. Only the inclusion of Huckabee on the ticket creates the possibility that they will actively help McCain. The prospect of that concrete assistance might outweigh the negative reaction of those conservatives who pay close attention (Huckabee is more than capable of disguising his centrist and liberal tendencies) and of moderates (in the end, they will vote for the presidential candidate, not the VP).
As I wrote yesterday, this would be the equivalent of shooting the moon in McCain's confrontation with conservatives, which strikes me as a not inconceivable strategy for the Maverick. But Republicans will have to acknowledge that McCain's health is not an inconsequential concern, and I don't think McCain's supporters, or McCain himself, would be terribly comfortable with the idea of Huckabee as commander in chief. So McCain can't make a purely political calculation in choosing his VP (assuming Huckabee would be a net positive politically, which, again, is an open question). McCain rightly boasts that he has consistently put the national interest ahead of his own political fortunes. If he does so with his VP pick, I don't see how Huckabee can make the ticket. Though there should be a very cushy cabinet level position waiting for him if McCain wins--Secretary of Condiments and other delectables?