The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

HUCKABEE WON’T RUN IN 2012

Posted on | May 14, 2011 | 29 Comments

BREAKING . . .

UPDATE: Whew! That was scary! Allahpundit had an open thread at Hot Air. If you watched it live on Fox, you know how Huck started talking about polls and his supporters and how he was praying and — for a minute there, I admit it — I was feelin’ the doom. And then he said, “no,” and I was like, “YES!”

Because you know who this helps the most, don’t ya?

UPDATE II: Linked by Fire Andrea Mitchell, who wonders about that weird post-announcement appearance on Fox by Donald Trump.

UPDATE III: Video via Tommy Christopher at Mediaite:

UPDATE IV: Via Drudge, the story at Fox News:

Mike Huckabee said Saturday there would be no sequel to his surprisingly strong 2008 White House bid, in which he won the Iowa Republican caucus and finished second in the primaries to Sen. John McCain.
“All the factors say go, but my heart says no,” Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.

UPDATE V: Washington Post:

Huckabee noted that while all of the “external” factors pointed toward him running, he only found an “inexplicable inner peace” when he decided not to enter the race.

Linked by Don Surber — thanks! — and I owe a hat-tip to RightKlik for his Twitter tip about the Nate Silver 538 chart showing that Herman Cain stands to benefit most from Huckabee’s 2012 no-go.

Let’s face it: Cain has gone from “second-tier” to “damn near front-runner” in the span of two weeks.

UPDATE VI: Linked by Marfdrat — thanks — and now a Memeorandum thread.

UPDATE VII: Erick Erickson at Red State looks at the “cui bono?” question:

Tim Pawlenty. He becomes the evangelical governor in the race.
Herman Cain. He remains the Huckabee of 2012.
Sarah Palin. She and Huckabee would largely be fighting for the same crowd.

Well, if Palin wants in for 2012, now would be the time to do it. I dislike the “Huckabee of 2012” label for Cain, whatever that is supposed to mean. And as for Tim Pawlenzzzzzzzz . . .

Sorry, nodded off there for second.

UPDATE VIII: “Now that he’s officially not a candidate, maybe I’ll start watching his show.”

UPDATE IX: Steve Foley at Citizens for Cain:

It couldn’t have been easy for former governor Mike Huckabee to reach the decision not to run for president of the United States of America in 2012, seeing your beloved county heading down the wrong path naturally forces men of character to act, and we here at Citizens 4 Cain salute the Governor for his courageous decision and wish him all the best in every future endeavor. . . . Although supporters will be a bit disappointed in Huck’s decision and may need some time to process – Citizens 4 Cain would like to cordially extend an invitation to any and all Mike Huckabee supporters to join our Grassroots Army for Herman Cain here at Citizens 4 Cain.

Katrina Trinko at National Review has official statements from Tim Pawlenty, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump.


Category: Election 2012, Fox News, Mike Huckabee

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