Blind Shots
April 15th, 2008Here is an interesting development worth paying a little attention to.
Mike Huckabee on Tuesday announced he is establishing a political action committee to back Republicans who share his ideology. The former GOP presidential candidate launched a fundraising organization called “Huck PAC.” The first beneficiaries will be three key supporters of Huckabee’s White House bid. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain will also benefit from Huck PAC, the former Arkansas governor said. The biggest beneficiary of Huck PAC may be Huckabee himself. Analysts compared his start-up to a PAC that Ronald Reagan launched following his failed 1976 presidential campaign. Craig Shirley, a GOP strategist who has written about the former president, said Reagan’s PAC was adept at supporting conservative candidates while at the same time defining the future president’s credentials ahead of his 1980 run.
Maybe I am reading too deep into this, but I think this means that McCain has told him No, you will not be my Vice Presidential running mate and Huckabee is attempting to keep himself relevant somehow. I’ve said before that Huckabee would be a strong balance for McCain but that it might not happen because of his lack of electoral power and McCain’s antipathy toward religious conservatives, and maybe this bears it out, although it could just be an additional tool for a McCain-Huckabee weapon. I do doubt that. I think it’s likelier that McCain takes shots with college students than breaks bread with Huckabee.