In the Need of Votes (A 2008 Election TL)

The damage avoided by not picking Sarah Palin as Veep will be offset by having a Sarah Palin-style figure running for President. His lack of moderate appeal is what lost him the primaries in OTL, it's going to be even worse trying to get genuine independents on his side.

Huckabee is hardly a Sarah Palin esque figure. He is inteligent, articulate, likeable, and has far more moderate appeal than you might think, from blue collar workers to . He's also far more moderate than Palin, yet more conservative than McCain. Had he run in 2012 in OTL, the nomination, and the election, would have been his.

Also, what cost him the primaries in OTL was the open primaries went overwhelmingly to McCain.
 
Huckabee is hardly a Sarah Palin esque figure. He is inteligent, articulate, likeable, and has far more moderate appeal than you might think, from blue collar workers to . He's also far more moderate than Palin, yet more conservative than McCain. Had he run in 2012 in OTL, the nomination, and the election, would have been his.

I agree and I think that's something a lot of people forget. Him losing in the GE in 2008 is extremely likely, but I think you're assuming he would do worse than McCain and that's not something I'm inclined to agree with. Pawlenty was the wrong VP Choice though, IMO.
 
I agree and I think that's something a lot of people forget. Him losing in the GE in 2008 is extremely likely, but I think you're assuming he would do worse than McCain and that's not something I'm inclined to agree with. Pawlenty was the wrong VP Choice though, IMO.

Thanks, who do you think would have been a better VP, I agree with you on the fact that people believe he was either as gaffe prone or worse than McCain. I understand that it is unlikely, but I do not believe that it is impossible espicially if he campaigns as an outsider compared to Obama or McCain being senators.
 
I look forward to this. Although I disagree with the premise. Any Republican candidate is likely to lose in 2008. As I said before, I think he would have lost worse than McCaiin.
 
(Massive Update)

Diffences than OTL Senate Races
Georgia - Jim Martin (D-Gain)
Kentucky - Bruce Lunsford (D-Gain)

Majority Leader - Harry Reid
Minority Leader - Jon Kyl

Huckabee Is Inaugurated President; Promises Bold Leadership in these troubled times; As well as cracking down on our enemies overseas, defending Israel and an economic plan based around tax cuts

President Huckabee Announces Opposition to Auto Bailout

Senator Obama Champions Auto-Bailout in Senate

House and Senate Pass Auto-Bailout

President Huckabee Vetoes Auto-Bailout as Stock Market enters Freefall

House and Senate Overide President Huckabees Veto

President Huckabee Introduces Economic Plan Based on Tax Cuts

Jobless Rate Continues to Rise Now at 9%

President Huckabee's Plan Stalls in Congress as Unemploymeny rises again to 9.5%

Huckabee Approval Down to 48%

Huckabee Calls for a "Surge" in Afghanistan as well as a new National Cybersecurity Bill

Libertarians and some Democrats organize against New National Security Bill lead by Congressman Ron Paul

Congressman Ron Paul Calls for Demonstrations against President Huckabee's Hawkish Policies and attacks on Personal Liberty

April 15th: Anti-Huckabee Activisits have "Tea Party" Rallies across the country against President Huckabees handling of the Debt Crisis, Foriegn Policy and Civil Liberties

Arlen Specter Announces Party Switch Bringing Democratic Senate Majority up to 60 Democrats and 2 indpendents Caucusing with Democrats

Unemployment Rises to 10.5% in May


Support for A Third Party at an All Time High as both Congress and the President seem ineffective at doing their Jobs

President Huckabee Signs Executive Order Cracking Down on "Legal Marijuana" leading to dozens of arrest across the country

Unemployment continues to Spike up to 12% in July as Economist dub the Economic Crisis the Second Great Depression

August 24th: F.B.I Arrests Thousands in Massive Internet Piracy Raids

August 25th: Ted Kennedy Passes Away from Cancer

Unemployment Rises Again; up to 12.5% as more foreclosuers send the housing market into another plunge

Joeseph Kennedy III Defeats Republican Scott Brown in Landslide

GOP Congressman Announces Party Switch to Libertarians Calls for a "Libertarian Revolution" in the Midterms




 
Huckabee is hardly a Sarah Palin esque figure. He is inteligent, articulate, likeable, and has far more moderate appeal than you might think, from blue collar workers to . He's also far more moderate than Palin, yet more conservative than McCain. Had he run in 2012 in OTL, the nomination, and the election, would have been his.

Also, what cost him the primaries in OTL was the open primaries went overwhelmingly to McCain.

With the exception of some iconoclastic positions on manufacturing -- which are neither left nor right, IMO -- on what issues do you consider Huckabee a 'moderate'? On every social issue, he's a doctrinaire far-right conservative, up to and including the fact that he's an evolution-denier. He's Sarah Palin without the lipstick; Michele Bachmann without the crazy eyes.

Now, I agree that Huckabee has some surface-level 'aw-shucks' folksy semi-charm -- although his mediocre ratings on Fox News (consistently finishing below Lockup reruns on MSNBC??) seem to indicate someone who wears thin awfully quickly. Huckabee '08 is ASB, and President Huckabee in any year is a long-shot; less likely than President Dukakis, for sure, but more likely than, say, President Chris Matthews.
 
With the exception of some iconoclastic positions on manufacturing -- which are neither left nor right, IMO -- on what issues do you consider Huckabee a 'moderate'? On every social issue, he's a doctrinaire far-right conservative, up to and including the fact that he's an evolution-denier. He's Sarah Palin without the lipstick; Michele Bachmann without the crazy eyes.

Now, I agree that Huckabee has some surface-level 'aw-shucks' folksy semi-charm -- although his mediocre ratings on Fox News (consistently finishing below Lockup reruns on MSNBC??) seem to indicate someone who wears thin awfully quickly. Huckabee '08 is ASB, and President Huckabee in any year is a long-shot; less likely than President Dukakis, for sure, but more likely than, say, President Chris Matthews.

I disagree that he was unelectable, I believe if he would have ran in 2012, he would have a much better shot than Romney with all of his problems, the problem is not ideology since Bachmann and Palin both come off as idiots while at least Huckabee isn't a gaffe machine and he has some executive experience and he was an outsider in '08, he slightly reminds me of Jimmy Carter in an odd sense.
 
I disagree that he was unelectable, I believe if he would have ran in 2012, he would have a much better shot than Romney with all of his problems, the problem is not ideology since Bachmann and Palin both come off as idiots while at least Huckabee isn't a gaffe machine and he has some executive experience and he was an outsider in '08, he slightly reminds me of Jimmy Carter in an odd sense.

Respectfully, I think it's a pretty strange view of politics to claim that ideology doesn't matter.

Barry Goldwater wasn't an idiot; neither was George McGovern. The problem was that both were way outside the mainstream of American politics, and therefore essentially unelectable. Right now there is zero evidence that a majority of the American public is willing to elect someone who is a doctrinaire fringe-right-wing conservative on every social issue down the line. That's why I say President Huckabee is near-ASB in any year and definitely ASB in a strong Democratic year like 2008.

Edit: If you want President Huckabee, it seems to me that the best way to get there is a) have a moderate Republican (Rudy Giuliani?) win the nomination and pick Huckabee as his running mate to shore up the right; b) have John Edwards win the Iowa Democratic primary (he got 30% IOTL and finished second); c) have Edwards' affair come out as an "October surprise" that propels Giuliani-Huckabee into the White House despite some pretty awful underlying dynamics; and d) have Giuliani assassinated.
 
Last edited:
I didn't mean it that ideology doesn't purely matter, but it is not everything that matters, Huckabee could have done a much better job at relating to the average joe than could either Obama, McCain or espically Romney. However, the Tea Party in my opinion is more radical than Huckabee and they won a multitude of seats across the country including states like PA and Wisconsin.

Anyways, I dont plan the Huckabee/ Pawlenty administration to last long.
 
(a Bit of Foreshadowing future events)

Libertarian Party Fundraising Drastically Spikes as interest from younger voters rises in the thought of a true third party

"Who would have thought the election of 2008 would have led to the rise of a third party as well as the first female president all within the first the female president in history"
- Excerpts from the Memoirs of Martin O'Malley

"The 2010 Midterms were the first test of the Libertarians Party to evolve into a true third party, but it all started when President Huckabee Crossed the line and attacked our personal liberties and began the return to American Imperialism and allied with the military industrial complex"
-Excerpts from the Memoirs of Ron Paul

"The Huckabee Adminstration would go down as one of the most failed administrations in modern history... making the Carter days look like a picnic, but no one expected what was to come in 2011 after the midterms"
-From the Rise of the Seventh Party System 2008-2020
 
New Polling Shows Support for Third Party at an all time high as Unemployment Rises to 14%

Gallup Tracking Polling to Include Libertarian Party in Generic Congressional Ballot

February 2010
Democrat - 43%
Republican - 32%
Libertarian - 18%

Gary Johnson Announces Governor Run as Libertarian
110329_gary_johnson_ap_605.jpg


Son of Congressman Ron Paul; Rand Paul Anounces Run for Senate in Kentucky as Libertarian
rand-paul.jpg


Bob Barr Announces Run for Georgia Senate

bob+barr.jpg


2010 Primaries (differing form OTL)
Kentucky - Trey Grayson
Arizona - Hayworth Defeats McCain*
Florida - Charlie Crist Defeats Marco Rubio


July 2010 - Unemployment Rises Again to 15.5% as President Huckabee Ratings Fall Again


October 17, 2010
10:00 Breaking News President Huckabee to Address the Nation
mike-huckabee.jpg



 
Top