NBC/WSJ poll: 67% don't want Palin, & 50% don't want Romney to ever be president

[Person Man]

Well, I hope the Republicans have fun. Who actually does have a shot at the Presidency from the right?

[Person Man]

Now that I see it, Romney has a net positive approval...and he is really qualified to be president. Then again, he may be competitive in the West...and if Obama does particularly poorly, Romney could keep Obama to the coast (i.e. win NV, CO and perhaps NM...it would still be pretty impressive for a Republican to swing any these states hard enough to win...not a miracle, though)...but Romney would have trouble holding the GOP firewall in the South. He will win the deep south, but will have to spend money there. He could have to abandon VA and NC later in the campaign and probably won't be able to GA or MO. Basically, we could be looking at a 1996 redux with Romney.

Huckabee, otoh, is more of an ethnic stereotype. He will probably have the same fundamentals that McCain did (despite being a paleo-con instead of a neo-con)...and perhaps he will stregthen the red firewall even more than McCain, but his fate would pretty much be sealed in purple states outside of the South.

[Person Man]

Huckabee is nowhere near being either a paleoconservative or a neoconservative. Not every conservative falls into one of these categories, in fact I'd say the vast majority don't. Many don't even consider neocons to be true conservatives.

Well, its all pretty relative, you know. Some people even consider Lieberman or Dodd to be neocons....but the point is right-on. Huckabee's election alignment will probably be a lot like McCain's...though it is likely that MO and NC would be switched for MT and AZ...a Huck-Bama matchup might look like a late 19th century map in reverse..