Mike Huckabee - In It to Win It

I’m staying in the race because I still want to be president, and until somebody gets 1,191 delegates, we don’t have a nominee.

- Mike Huckabee, FOX News, February 6, 2008

Defying the predictions of pollsters, pundits, and prognosticators, and calls from conservative talking heads Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Mary Matalin and Ann Coulter to drop out of the race to avoid "stealing votes from Romney" (it is Romney who stole votes from Huckabee) and stop being "McCain's attack dog," Governor Mike Huckabee won Arkansas Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and West Virginia on Super Tuesday, keeping his presidential hopes very much alive.

I have said all along that if the GOP cannot replicate its winning strategies of 2000 and 2004 by taking the South whole, along with the southern Midwest states and the the interior West, then it doesn't stand a chance in this year's presidential race. Huckabee has now proven he can win the South. Take a look at the electoral map below from 2004:



Huckabee has now won Iowa, Arkansas Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and West Virginia; ALL Red States in 2004 worth 53 electoral votes.

John McCain has won 2004 Red States Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, worth 63 electoral votes. Mike Huckabee finished a close second in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Mitt Romney has won 2004 Red States Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, worth 31 electoral votes.

You can see why it is so important for Mike Huckabee to win this race. As the only real conservative left, he can win this thing. And the race is still far from decided. Come out to the Washington Republican caucuses this Saturday and make a difference. As John McCain has essentially passed on Washington, the Seattle Times predicts a duel between Mike Huckabee (although Mike has no paid staff in Washington, only grassroots volunteers) and Mitt Romney in the Evergreen State, which has 40 GOP delegates on the line this Saturday. However, since Louisiana and Kansas have twice as many delegates up for grabs, we probably won't get much candidate attention. Our presidential primary system needs fixing.