I have a question to pose to Hunter’s supporters here.
As everyone knows, Hunter is not going to be the nominee. But he does have a delegate pledged to him, and he does have some modest support, perhaps 1-2%, in many states which have not voted yet. He may have the opportunity to pick up a delegate here and there as he did in Wyoming.
So Hunter is not without some influence in the nomination, however small.
So here’s the question:
Who do you think Hunter will endorse, either before the convention or when brokering a nominee?
Do you think he will throw his support to Fred Thompson, or Mike Huckabee, or someone else?
I think most Hunter supporters assume it would be Thompson, but I disagree. I think it will be Huckabee. Religion and abortion are central themes for Hunter. So is trade protectionism. Finally, Huckabee is _now_ calling for all kinds of drastic measures on the border (never mind his dismal record in Arkansas). To me, it looks like Huckabee is most like Hunter’s kind of candidate based on the issues most important to him.
And now the bonus question:
For the advanced students — No one candidate will be able to win the nomination. It will take two combining their delegates to win. Behind the scenes McCain and Huckabee are forming an alliance against a Thompson-Romney pairing. McCain will not take the VP slot, and Huckabee will defer to him. Huckabee will be giving McCain his delegates at the convention in exchange for the VP slot, as Romney will do for Thompson. Hunter will give his delegate(s) to Huckabee, which then will be transferred to McCain.
Are you comfortable knowing that ultimately, your vote for Hunter will be going to help nominate John McCain — a McCain-Huckabee ticket specifically — either through an actual transfer of delegates, or by simply taking votes from someone else like Thompson?
As to the second part of your questioning, it’s akin to the “Guiliani is the only who can beat Hillery, therefore to not vote for Rudy because of principle is a vote for Hillery”, crap. There are still plenty of independents who’ll choose the candidate best satisfying their criteria, not based on avoiding a combo dream-team any pundit happens to have concocted; the right-seat position might not even be picked from the running herd.
Why would you think Hunter supporters - should their candidate of choice alter course - not think Thompson their next logical pick?
Hunter should endorse no one. They are all the same old, same old with their own problems on major issues. And I don’t think Fred would mind one bit if McCain got the nomination. Why don’t you drop the panic as you seem to be trying to erase Fred’s own record of McCain worship.