Sorry Sean,

Some conservatives are working hard to kill the idea of a McCain/Mitt ticket.

A petition is circulating on line to squash the Romney for #2 notion.

The site is sponsored by “Government is not God, A Political Action Committee of Social Conservatives.”

You can find their webpage and a full page ad at Govnotgod.org

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The March 4th primaries could put McCain over the top for the GOP nomination and Huckabee officially in second place for the 2008 GOP race.

These are HISTORIC achievements that to many seemed unimaginable last year. This VLOG and the FNC political unit however never once wrote off McCain last year when others did.

And while Huckabee went virtually unnoticed until last years Ames strawpoll, we identified him in January of 2007 as the darkhorse most likely to surprise.

Now McCain has 1014 delegates. He needs 177 to reach the needed 1191.

Huckabee has won 257 delegates. He needs 24 to best Mitt Romney who won 280.

McCain is expected to take VT and RI outright but neither Texas nor Ohio are winner take all – they are awarded proportionally by state senate and congressional district respectively. If Huckabee wins any combination of 8 Texas state senate or Ohio congressional districts he will win 24 delegates and thus go ahead of Romney. Undisputed 2nd place.

Huckabee will make no definitive statements Tuesday night about the future of his campaign. But look for news on Thursday when he returns to Little Rock. For weeks the Huckabee campaign has been doing an unofficial victory lap. The governor and his staff are delighted by his success and acknowledged status as a conservative leader who will now be well positioned to run again in the future.

Camp Huck is steering people away from veep speculation. The governor doesn’t expect an offer and insiders say if it came he should reject it. They think Huckabee’s future prospects are stronger making his own way rather than playing #2 to McCain.

McCain must first co-opt the RNC, and its a long complex process to take over the sprawling Bush admin national party apparatus. They are for now merely studying how past VP’s have been chosen and discussing how to come up with their own process.

Republicans all over the country are emailing and calling the campaign with their runningmate advice. While Huckabee would have us believe he is disinterested for now, that has never been the case for Mitt Romney.

Though Romney and McCain fought tooth and nail and grew legitimately angry with one another for exaggerated charges and counter charges throughout their year long battle, alot of republican grey beards think they make a good team on paper…..

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Click here to read embed producer, Mosheh Oinounou’s take on the anticipated endorsement.

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s departure from the race leaves conservative voters to Mike Huckabee- who reaped the benefits in Ks and La.  John McCain will increasingly win over conservatives as the party unifies, but Huckabee has several more surprises up his sleeve.  Do not underestimate the HUCK!

Romney ran a text book campaign.  Yes, there were plenty of mistakes and errors but they were largely minor.  For the most part they did it right.

He got out to Ia and NH early and often. He staked out conservative positions and his discipline in retail politicking was unrivaled on the trail – even by the 101 town hall mtgs held by McCain.   Romney could not however get over several humps.  He was socially moderate only three years ago and could not shed the flipflopper image.  His wealth was never a liability, it was always an asset.  But his rivals were occasionally able to use it to cast him as a spoiled rich guy.  More than anything voters were suspicious of Romney, too often they would actually bemoan how perfect Romney can seem.

 Voters would look at Romney’s rhetoric, his record, his resume and his family and see so much success, prosperity and optimism..they would find it difficult to relate and become suspicious.

Romney’s was one of the most professional campaigns I have ever covered.  His staff was excellent and will be in high demand for the general.  The governor and his family are all terrific.  The Romney’s are a wonderful bunch.  I will miss chasing them around ….

Thanks Governor, see you at the Convention and in Iowa and New Hampshire in  4 years……;)

Yes!! of of course he is thinking about it..it is not appropriate for him to discuss publicly but, he is a do-er and any smart bet is on him doing it again.

The second try seems to be working pretty well for McCain afterall….

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When McCain imploded in August of 07, the campaign knew the Petraeus report would be positive and come out after labor day – they regrouped, back timed, and bet everything on a New Hampshire win that would launch McCain through South Carolina and Florida to Super Tuesday…in a flash.

Throughout 07 McCain escaped serious scrutiny from conservatives for three reasons;

1) Romney was leading in Iowa and New Hampshire

2) Giuliani was leading the national polls

3) Fred Thompson held early promise.

Conservative McCain opponents never took him seriously.

McCain’s team of Rick Davis, Mark Salter, Charlie Black, Steve Schmidt, Mark McKinnon, Jill Hazelbaker, among others have focused the Senator as never before. The undisciplined rhetorical wounds McCain is known for self inflicting have been all but absent. McCain complimented Huckabee and Romney tonight. Throughout this campaign McCain has shown almost no hint of the vindictive temper often referred to by his critics.

Super Tuesday was easy – they didn’t have much time or money to make too many strategic or tactical decisions. They focused their momentum on the big winner take all states. Schmidt helped sew up (his old boss) Schwarzenegger’s endorsement for Cahl-eee-for-nya. They made a big show of reaching out to conservative critics, with McCain making many personal calls. They did robocalls and radio and TV ads. Endorsements by Rudy and dozens of newspapers across the country helped, as did the fact that the story has not yet resurfaced about McCain hiring Washington super lawyer Bob Bennett amid talk of an ethics allegation.

McCain must continue to persuade conservatives. His remarks in Arizona Tuesday night were aimed right at the right:

“I am a Republican because, like you, I want to relieve the American people of the heavy hand of a government that spends too much of your money on things you neither want nor need, while failing to do as well as we should the things none of us can do individually. I am a Republican because, like you, I believe government must defend our nation’s security wisely and effectively, because the cost of our defense is measured in losses so hard to bear and in the heartbreak of so many families.

“I am a Republican because, like you, I believe government must respect our values because they are the true source of our strength; and enforce the rule of law, which is the first defense of freedom. I am a Republican because I believe the judges we appoint to the federal bench must understand that enforcing our laws, not making them, is their only responsibility. I am a Republican because I believe, like you, that government should tax us no more than necessary, spend no more than necessary, and keep out of the way of the most industrious, ingenious, and optimistic people in the history of the world.

“I am a Republican because I believe, like you, that it is the strength, courage, wisdom and patriotism of free people — not the government — who have made this country the extraordinarily successful place it is. My friends, my purpose is to preserve and strengthen our freedom, the freedom I have defended all my adult life, and I will not let anyone or anything deter me.” -John McCain

Next stop CPAC in Washington. As we reported earlier this week; McCain has a golden opportunity to make pledges and mend fences. It will take a helluva speech. It could be a chilly reception.

It’s also a great opportunity for Romney to make his conservative case against McCain and for Huckabee to make his case with an audience that is likely to give him a very warm reception.

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” I want to congratulate Governor Huckabee and his supporters on their success today. Not for the first time, he has surprised the rest of us….I salute you…And I want to congratulate Governor Romney as well on his wins today. He and I have been going at it pretty hard over the last few weeks, and he is a tough competitor….This election, like any election, is a rough and tumble business…But I have respect for people who are willing to accept the extraordinary demands, all the ups and downs, of such a tough and long contest. And Governor Romney has mine”

So said John McCain as he spoke to his supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. He arrived there earlier in the day .

He won New York, Arizona, Oklahoma, Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, California and Missouri AND won delegates in numerous other states won by Romney and Huckabee.

Huckabee swept the southern states with little organization or money. He won his home state as well as Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, with the help of evangelical voters, after gaining a victory in the West Virginia state convention early in the day.

He made it clear he was forging ahead:

“A lot of people have been trying to say that this is a two-man race,” Huckabee said in Little Rock Tuesday night. “Well, you know what — it is, and we’re in it.”

Romney’s wins included Massachusetts, along with North Dakota and Utah, where he got strong support from his fellow Mormons. He also won the Montana caucuses, Colorado and Minnesota. He too said the race was still on.

“We’re going to go all the way to the convention. We’re going to win this thing.”

The precise delegate count won’t be completed for a few days.

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The tit for tat continues:

McCain called out Romney demanding an apology to Dole. Romney’s campaign said they tried to call Bob Dole unsuccessfully.

While this dust-up continues McCain finds himself in a tighter than expected battle for some of the Super Tuesday states while taking hits for not being conservative enough….Romney could get upset by Huckabee in some southern and midwest states. Huck is doing better than expected and it could be that the Peach state ends up in the win column for him. He also won 18 delegates in West Virginia. (see earlier post)……
This Super Tuesday delegate race could go late into night. Mccain’s hoped- for blow-out may be evaporating. In California and Missouri, Romney appears to have made up some ground.
McCain looks like a smaller winner than expected and Huckabee may be splitting a big part of self described conservatives with Romney.

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In West Va, a state that Romney was confident he had locked up, Huckabee bested Romney with a little help from his friend, McCain and his delegates…..The Romney campaign was quick to react issuing the following statement;

Romney has had organization, paid staff and volunteers in West Va for months……neither McCain nor Huckabee organized this 18 delegate state convention state..
Romney was confident of a win there and looked forward to announcing another gold early afternoon during the peak of voting on Super Tuesday.
In the first round of votes, Mitt led, followed by Huck and third, McCain. Because of the state convention rules of W.VA a second round of votes quickly followed and McCain’s delegates threw their support to Huck and he instantly won this “winner take all” state.
WV McCain delegate John Vuolo says that former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer approached him and other McCain supporters in person at the WV convention and told them he (Roemer) had spoken to McCain and the best thing to do at this point was to support Huckabee in the hope that Huck could beat Romney there.

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UPDATE:

The McCain campaign put out a response to Romney’s comments saying:

“Gov Romney’s attack on Bob Dole is disgraceful, and Governor Romney should apologize. Bob Dole is a war hero who has spent his life in service to this nation and nobody has worked harder to build the Republican Party. Bob Dole deserves the respect of every American and certainly every Republican.”

McCain was in the clear lead already in New York, but it never hurts to get one more endorsement and he got it this morning from the Former governor of New York, George Pataki.

McCain 55.2%, Romney 23.8%, Huckabee 7.6% Paul 4.%

Click here to see what the Governor had to say:

But as McCain was receiving the Gov’s endorsement, Mitt was on Fox and Friends comparing McCain’s bid for the White House to Bob Dole’s unsuccessful candidacy against Bill Clinton in 1996. The former Senator Dole yesterday sent a letter to Rush Limbaugh telling him to quit his attacks on McCain. He wrote:

“Whoever wins the Republican nomination will need your enthusiastic support. Two terms for the Clintons are enough.”

Mitt seized the opportunity to respond to the letter. He said this morning on “Fox & Friends” that there were similarities between Dole, the oldest candidate to run prior to John McCain.

“Well, it’s probably the last person I would have wanted write a letter for me,” Romney said. “I think there are a lot of folks who tend to think that maybe John McCain’s race is a bit like Bob Dole’s race. That it’s the guy who’s next in line, the inevitable choice.”

Click here to watch the full interview:

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A clear sign that McCain feels Romney breathing down his neck;
Brand new McCain spots on national cable hitting Romney as a phony for having voted for democrats and dissing the gipper.

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