McCain Woes Keep Huckabee In Race
Sen. McCain may have inadvertently painted himself into a corner with his “campaign finance reform” tinkering. It appears that he is between the proverbial rock and a hard place when it comes to his attempt to opt out of the public campaign finance system and to rely on his own fund raising. I don’t claim to know how all this will eventually work itself out, but I continue to believe that McCain is very vulnerable in this campaign. If the FEC or the courts eventually rule that McCain has to stay in the publicly funded system and he is already at his spending limits, how does he mount a general election challenge to Barack Obama who is floating on an ocean of cash?
~~John Cronin~~
FREE REPUBLIC
Mike Huckabee said today he’s staying in the Republican presidential race because Sen. John McCain might have run afoul of the Federal Election Commission and be unable to campaign for much of the rest of this year…
“He wrote these laws,” the former Arkansas governor said, adding they were “one of the worst things to happen to American politics.”
“It may very well be that the law he pushed comes back to bite him.”
At issue is Mr. McCain’s request last summer to take part in the federal matching funds program for the primary election and his request earlier this month to withdraw from it.
If forced to remain in the public financing system, Mr. McCain would be tied to strict spending limits that he is already approaching. He would essentially have to shut his campaign down until after the nominating convention in September, which could make Mr. Huckabee a more attractive general election candidate.
Mr. Huckabee, who has not applied for public funds, would have no such restriction…
The Democratic National Committee has filed a challenge, and the FEC chairman has said he wants more information on whether Mr. McCain has already received anything of value from his participation in the program. That could include securing a bank loan on the promise of government funds or, the DNC says, it could also include securing a place on the ballots in some states without having to gather signatures.
The McCain campaign has asserted a constitutional right to withdraw from the system…
Complicating Mr. McCain’s path is the fact that the FEC can’t muster a quorum and can’t rule on his case. Mr. McCain says that’s not needed and that he can withdraw unilaterally, but former FEC commissioners say that is not a settled question.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Could Mitt jump back in at that point? Would he be able to reclaim his delegates? The thought of having Huckabee of all people represent our party in November really makes me uneasy.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
That is not what’s keeping Huckabee in the race. He continues on because that’s all he has going at the moment. And yes, Mitt could start campaigning again, he just doesn’t need to at this point. Should it come to that, however, he’ll do better than Huckabee at the convention. The likelihood of any of that coming to pass is almost nil.
February 29th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I seriously doubt the FEC would do anything regarding this due to their inability to make quorum. If this were to case McCain to drop out of the race there is no way Mike Huckabee would win I could see Romney getting selected out of a brokered convention because of the way he did exit gracefully when the time was right and showed he cared about the party winning more than making this some kind of ego campaign, which is what Huckabee is doing.
It’s obvious that Huckabee cannot win votes outside of his base of evangelical social conservatives, and many of those were votes taken away from Mitt.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
John, since Obama and McCain said they would take public funding, do you think that they will come to an agreement not to accept same?
February 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
The way this election year is going, McCain being tied to public funds would not surprise me. There is no wAY THE rnc WOULD EVEN ALLOW HUCK TO BE SUCESSFUL IN A BROKERED CONV. Mitt in the race come Sept, would be a sweet song to my ears though.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I would like to see Huck in the next Celebrity Apprentice. It would be great to see Huck and Omarosa go head to head. Maybe Huck could play his base for one of the tasks.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Bring back Mitt - please
February 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Huck reminds me of a dog panting at the family family dining table waiting for someone to throw him so scraps. He knows if he waits around long enough something good will happen.
March 1st, 2008 at 12:41 am
Let’s not be stupid; John McCain is the Republican Nominee! Stories like this are inane and pointless.
March 1st, 2008 at 11:04 am
You’re right Rusty but some of us still haven’t fully dealt with the remorse. Go Mitt! - P
March 1st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Rusty, at this point, it’s Romney or a Constitutional party for me. McCain, however you look at it, won’t run our government as conservatives. He will screw up the war on Terrorists, much worse than Bush. He will appointed “centerist” judges who basically believe the constitution is a living and breathing document. He has nothing to offer in term of domestic policy (nor any experience to back it up) — see, the top issues are economy, illegal immigration and healthcare cost; those he will screw up big time. And once we offend him, you can forget it that he will ever listen to us again — he has the history of not forgiving the people who worked against him, regardless of what he has been saying in this campaign. Remember how he slashed out against us when we protested his immigration reform bill? He was stopped only because there were others around him who have stepped back — he personally was not stopped. Now, image him in this position of power, he will do everything, INCLUDING WORKING WITH DEMOCRATS, to get what he want passed.
March 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
SGS, then vote Romney. I did, and I certainly wouldn’t discourage others from doing it. I just feel that stimulating the “what if” conversation is fruitless.
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 am
Guys, Romney isn’t coming back till 2012. Sit it out.