McCain & Huckabee US Elections
Mike Huckabee's Chances of being Elected Vice President of the US
Mike Huckabee has lost out on the presidency, but could still be nominated to run as Vice President. What effect would this have on the chances of Republican success?
With seven primaries and caucuses still to be held, John McCain has already emerged as the clear winner of the US Republican presidential nomination race, holding 1325 out of a possible 2488 delegates. His only serious challenger, Mitt Romney, has withdrawn, and with a clear majority of the votes it would seem that the Republican Convention in September will be little more than a formality.
However, Mike Huckabee still clings desperately to the hope that he will succeed. It is safe to say that this would only occur in the event of McCain’s sudden and unexpected death, but there is still the possibility that Huckabee could enter the White House, albeit in a lesser position than the one that he had anticipated. In recent years, the search for a vice-presidential nominee has been centred on allegiance to the president and competence in his role. Traditionally, however, the nominee was someone who represented an aspect of the party other than that held by the presidential candidate. A return to old school values could see Huckabee running alongside McCain.
In the end, the presidential/vice presidential combination will be selected on the basis of which will win the most votes. Let’s take a look at where they both stand on the issues, and establish what kind of demographic such a partnership would appeal to.
McCain takes the traditional Republican stance on taxes, recommending an overall drop in taxation. Huckabee takes this one step further, proposing the abolishment of individual taxes in favour of the ‘FairTax’ program. Both are against a premature exit from Iraq, but once again Huckabee pushes further, stating that despite dramatically lowered taxes, the military and defense budgets should be increased, and recommending that when military force is necessary, it should be used without half measures. McCain and Huckabee are both in favour of a more secure border; McCain tempers this with the suggestion that relations with Mexico and Latin America should be improved. And whilst McCain has constantly wavered on the abortion issue, albeit with a definite lean against it, Huckabee is unequivocal in his beliefs that abortion should be banned completely. Likewise, he is completely against stem cell research, a project which McCain is in favour of.
As we can see, whilst McCain usually takes a fairly middle-of-the-road approach, Huckabee is a staunchly right-wing conservative. This will make him attractive to the more radical Republican demographic which McCain fails to appeal to. In particular, his devotion to his faith, his opposition to gay marriage and his pro-life stance will draw voters from the crucial evangelical demographic whom McCain may fail to satisfy.
However, in any presidential election, the aim is also to draw voters away from the opposing party, a task that any candidacy which includes Huckabee may find hard to fulfill. He is likely to alienate those voters who are on the line between the Republican and Democratic parties with his strong right-wing beliefs. In addition, he may prove too radical for those liberals within his own party.
Overall, a McCain-Huckabee ticket is likely to do more harm than good to the Republican bid for presidency. After the events of the past few years, America is ready for change, and the continuation of Bush ideals which Huckabee represents is unlikely to seem attractive to more than a minority of voters.
