Posted by Jed Lewison on Tue Jul 8, 2008 at 2:52 PM Pacific

The Mike Huckabee Solution?

This is sort a post-script to my previous entry about McCain's attack strategy.

My basic view is that McCain's problem has nothing to do with how he is or is not attacking Barack Obama.

Instead, I think his big problem is the fact that he is promising to continue just about every failed policy of the Bush Administration. I know that you grow numb hearing that after awhile, but it's true: whether it's because Bush has moved towards McCain, or McCain towards Bush, or a little of both, every single major policy initiative of Bush's second term are ones that McCain supports.

Ironically, even though Bush and McCain have closed ranks, the GOP's evangelical base has not warmed to McCain as they did towards Bush. This, I think, accounts for much of the the lack of enthusiasm for McCain's candidacy on the political right.

So the challenge now for McCain is somehow energizing that evangelical base and simultaneously demonstrating some measure of independence from Beltway Republican orthodoxy.

If I were McCain, the way that I'd demonstrate this is by picking Mike Huckabee as my vice presidential candidate. It would be a risky choice, because Huckabee has some truly crazy views that independent voters would thoroughly reject.

However, it would also reenergize his evangelical base and since DC Republicans clearly do not want McCain to pick Huckabee, it would demonstrate his independence.

The challenge for McCain would be reassuring folks in the middle that Huckabee's loonier views would not influence a McCain presidency. Normally with someone as wacky as Hucakbee, I'd say that would be impossible, but Huckabee is actually a terrifically charismatic figure, so I wouldn't be surprised if they could pull it off.

I'm not saying that McCain would win if he picked Huckabee -- I still think he'd lose -- but Huckabee just might give McCain his best shot at winning.

I don't know if there's a realistic chance or not of McCain picking Huckabee, but he's the only one that I worry about. My motto at this point: bring on Willard!