The Shrewd Mitt Romney

I'm not making a prediction, just making an obersvation with some critical analysis.

If you were paying attention to the Republican primary at all you know that John McCain and Mitt Romney didn't exactly get along. McCain flat out lied about Romney's record in their last competitive debate. So it may sound funny to suggest that Romney's departure, and more specifically the timing of it may have been one shrewd move to posture himself for the Vice Presidential portion of the GOP ticket. Let me explain.

The only candidate who hates Romney more than McCain is Huckabee. It was once conventional wisdom that Huckabee and McCain had struck a backroom deal to squeeze out Romney. But what now? Romney's out, why is Huckabee still in it? This is where the timing of Romeny's move was brilliant. McCain now needs nothing from Huckabee and Huckabee now has nothing tangible to give to McCain (sure the southern states would help in the general election, but that's a big "if"). Here's another big IF that could contribute to Romney's appearance of brilliance: If Huckabee does better in the delegate-gathering in the coming states than McCain, then Romney's delegates will be very attractive to McCain, and a deal could be in the works for Romney to join the ticket.

This would also be quite the brilliant move for McCain, as he needs something to excite Conservatives and get them to the polls on election day. I happen to think that when McCain chooses his VP running mate, it will be a choice that actually does excite Conservatives, but that remains to be seen. As it stands, if things fall into place in a certain way, Mitt Romney could be the big winner in the race for #2. Additionally, if Romney does become the VP choice to the would-be 80+ year-old President, he could effectively squeeze Huckabee out of national politics for the forseeable future.

Let me repeat: none of the above serves as a prediction. It's all just something fun to think about.

rg

2/7/2008