But in the end, the goodwill Reagan gained from his near win over Ford in 1976, his nightly radio show which came on around 6 p.m. just as I was driving from college to my night job, and the disaster of the Carter presidency was enough to make the RINO wing settle for forcing him to pick Bush for the #2 spot.
I beleive the #2 spot was what Huck wanted all the time given his slavish devotion to John McCain and his refusal to criticize him or even point out any key policy differences. That does not mean he is running for #2 this time because he sees himself as the legitimate runner up, even though he did not move up to #2 until well after Romney dropped out of the race and he was the sole McCain alternative.
Even then, his final numbers trail Romney badly in every category except actual delegates won, a lead he gained only because Romney was no longer a factor in the race.
Romney supporters obviously know this and see their guy as the legitimate runner-up and the man whose turn it is this time around. Add to this the feeling of the Romney people that their guy was the victim of blatant religious bigotry and you've got a nasty catfight brewing in a Huckabee-Romeny rematch which can only divide the party.
The same factors which reunited the party (and put the McCain ticket briefly ahead before the economic collapse and bank bailout) are still in play here.
Ultimate test, I think, is the reaction of the enemedia whenever Sarah Palin's name is mentioned-- she is like sunlight on a vampire. Mitt and Huck are both ho-hum.
Now that's a sentence, but Reagan won New Hampshire.
Bigtime.