COLUMN: 03-05-2008

It's good to see Governor Mike Huckabee finally dropped out of the race for the Republican Party nomination for president after Senator John McCain claimed enough delegates to guarantee himself the nomination. Unlike some of the other candidates who dropped out earlier (especially Giuiliani, Romney, and Fred Thompson), Huckabee would be a good president and has a proven track record of honest politics based on the needs of his constituents while sticking to his core values. He has, unfortunately, lost a lot of credibility (and probably any chance of getting the vice-presidential nomination) by staying in the race long after it was mathematically impossible for him to win. It's really hard to understand why he did this - some possibilities include an ego driven by public attention (not shown by his previous record) or (also unlikely) being pushed by the corrupt insiders who are so upset by McCain's victory that they wanted to continue to challenge him in the hopes that something unusual would happen to cause him to lose the nomination. In any case, Huckabee dropping out finally gives an opportunity for McCain to showcase his truly conservative record to the public without being challenged by ridiculous assertions that his not towing the party line makes him a liberal. Perhaps this will turn into some enthusiasm from the majority of Americans who are conservatives and this enthusiasm may yet translate into another defeat for liberalism in this fall's election.