[Kurt Evans]

Congressman Duncan Hunter's endorsement of Governor Huckabee is helping to bring defense and border conservatives on board:

"I got to know Governor Huckabee well on the campaign trail," said Hunter... "Mike Huckabee is a man of outstanding character and integrity."

Huckabee - Hunter '08

[Kurt Evans]

New York Times primary results:
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/delegates/index.html

[kellynla]

On Fox News Sunday, 12/23/2007 BILL KRISTOL: “A deadlock Republican convention turns to the most qualified Republican of them all to be president on the fifth ballot, Dick Cheney. And he wins in a landslide by a landslide in November.”

[Maelstorm]

Huckabee is gone. McCain will blow him away in every state but Mississippi and I’m thankful for that. I can tolerate McCain but Huckabee there is just no way.

[John Valentine]

Disgusting and appalling are words that come to mind.

I had a very high degree of respect for Congressman Hunter until he pulled that stunt.

[Steve Schulin]

Keyes has been my top choice since the day he announced, and I wholeheartedly agree with you that the nomination is is too important a matter to give up without finishing the race. Thanks for posting this, and best wishes in the coming contests.

[devere]

It’s over!

I called it after Florida, but that was subject to a miracle on February 5th. Now even miracles won’t help.

[bshomoic]

It is over.

[OCC]

Don't count out Ron Paul just yet, he has a blimp!

[LdSentinal]

We’ll see if Huckabee wins Lousiana tomorrow.

[Walvoord]

You are right that mathematically it is still possible to stop McCain, but we all know that is highly unlikely now that Romney has dropped out. (Thank you Huckabee supporters for attacking Romney relentlessly.)

I was a Fred guy. My fall back guy was Romney. If Romney were still in the race, perhaps he and Huckabee could have gotten enough delegates to prevent McCain from locking up the nomination.

Texas is winner take all with 140 delegates, the last of the big states out there. If Romney were still in, it might have been possible to deny McCain those 140 delegates. Huckabee may take Mississippi. Louisiana is Saturday. Virginia is later as well as some others that McCain wouldn’t necessarily have had a lock on, but only if Romney had stayed in.

With Romney in - mathematically possible. Romney out - It’s over.

Perhaps Romney realized that even if he and Huckabee together could have prevented McCain from locking up the nomination, in the end Huckabee would have pulled a West Virginia on Romney and given McCain his delegates in a deal for a position in a McCain administration. With Romney out, Huckabee is grasping at straws now.

[Grunthor]

For Huckafraud to win, he’s going to have to stop kissing McAmnesty on the forehead and get down off of Grampa’s lap and actually campaign as if he has a purpose other than splitting the conservative vote.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Ron Paul has 42 delegates.

Once the word gets out that Huckster is just as liberal as McCain, he's going to lose support in the remaining states. Ron Paul is the true conservative remaining.

[Pan_Yan]

I appreciate the math exercise but I'm afraid the real problem is not the delegate count. Obviously Freepers do not represent the majority of people who cast ballots in the Republican primary.

Have you seen any big splash in the news the last few days that suddenly makes you think the vast majority of voters still to cast ballots will rebel against McCain's coronation as the GOP nomination?

I don't see how the Republican Party will move toward the right again until somehow the party leadership is replaced and the primary process is revamped to allow closed and conservative states have a say before Iowa, New Hampshire and California.

Unfortunately, the Party will continue to pour money into the re-election campaign of Rino's, and the Rino's will continue to select the party leadership. I don't think we will get another true conservative nominee until either another political giant like Reagan appears, or conservatives retake the party one state legislature and congressional district at a time.

[CitizenUSA]

Good post, Kurt.

“...consider that Senator McCain has acquired 70 percent of the bound delegates so far. If public opinion shifts against him, a reversal is clearly possible.”

It depends on how delegates are apportioned in the remaining primaries as well as what happens to uncommitted delegates. For example, Michigan’s Romney delegates are now considered uncommitted. Of the primaries that remain, how many are Winner Take All, and of those, how many can Huckabee reasonably be expected to win?

For example, I believe Texas is a Winner Take All so long as one candidate wins a majority (>50% of the popular vote). That’s a huge chunk of delegates, and with only two candidates left, one of them is very likely to receive more than 50%.

Here’s some good info on how delegates are currently allocated:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/R-Alloc.phtml

The only other part of your post I have difficulty with:

“In closing, anyone who says we have to immediately unite behind Senator McCain is lying.”

That’s not really so much a lie as an opinion.

Personally, I think momentum has a lot to do with this, and McCain clearly has it. Although I would like Huckabee to concede, I respect his decision to stay in. He promised to do so until a clear winner was selected, so he’s standing on his promise. Again, I respect that. I just don’t think he has a realistic chance, but he’s NOT harming the party by staying in.

I am amused about one aspect of the race so far. Remember a couple days ago when the pundits were saying Huckabee was a spoiler who was only in it to defeat Romney? Well, Romney’s gone and Huck’s still in. What does that say about the credibility of certain folks?

[redinIllinois]

“”And anyone who says in the present tense that Senator McCain “is the nominee”—Rush Limbaugh for example—is lying. Real conservatives aren’t quitters.””

How about:

Real conservatives aren’t liars?

[pollywog]

Excellent Post!!!
I’m behind your way of thinking 110%~~~~~~~
Polly

[djreece]

Thank you for this analysis.

[nckerr]

If Huckabee is not the nominee or at least the VP, I will (gulp) vote third party for Ron Paul just to send a message to the party.

[Pan_Yan]

Alright, I'm desperate. Convince me.

Give me one example from Governor Huckabee's past that shows he has any better an understanding of national sovereignty than Senator McCain. Show me one bill he signed or supported in office that was for enforcement of our immigration laws or one instance where he opposed amnesty for lawbreakers in our country.

"One of the great challenges facing us, is that we do not commit the same mistakes with our growing Hispanic population that we did with African-Americans 150 years ago ... I think, frankly, the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better than we did before."

Please go through his record line by line and explain to me how Governor Huckabee is even one tick to the right of Senator McCain. Convince me, and I'll help you convince others.

[Tramonto]

Its a long shot for Huckabee to outright win but he does have a chance to deny McCain the nomination.

Even the fourth choice is a worthy goal. Each candidate who runs brings a focus to their own areas of strength. For Huckabee, that is the social issues. If he can run a competitive campaign from here on out, it will force McCain to take socons seriously and pick one as his running mate.