Is Mike Huckabee Another Lincoln?

There appears to be a ton of talk again how Huckabee needs to withdraw. I have had the contrary position that Mike staying in the race is good for the party and yes even good for McCain if the gets the nod. It appears that this blogger appears to agree with me and has similar reasons. Let me add another reason.

I am very concerned about some extreme elements trying to go third party. We see that here at the sad and misguided site. The longer that Huckabee is in the race the longer this stuff loses steam. Especially because if Mike does not get the nomination he will bring the social conservatives over to McCain. Again see the above bloggers link I posted Mike Huckabee’s Campaign is Good for the Republican Party.

Now I do believe in miracle. Have no doubt though that Mike Huckabee believes in math. As a Governor that had to submit balanced budgets and didn't have access to the Money making machine of the Engraving department Mike knows all to well about Math.

However I do know the brokered convention theory and then Mike getting the nomination is a long shot to say the least. However in honor of Presidents' day I saw something that that perked my interest. That is a post from the Another Man's Meat and his post Mathematics and Miracles . He brings up some interesting history that is significant and interesting:

Governor Huckabee has also been accused of splitting Republican conservatives, thus enhancing the chances for a Democratic victory in the general election. Well, I don’t believe it, nor does history seem to validate that point of view

.I spent some time this morning re-reading chapter seven, titled “The Revolution of 1860,” of Jim McPherson’s The Battle Cry of Freedom. The chapter is all about the political upheaval taking place in America in 1860. It seems that one man, Abraham Lincoln, much like Mike Huckabee today, wasn’t nearly as interested in electoral mathematics back then as he was in miracles.

The Illinois rail-splitter, and friend of the common man, knew he faced a daunting task. He well understood that William Seward had come to Chicago as the presumptive nominee of the Party. But Lincoln, who once said, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing,” pressed the issue of the nomination to the convention floor. History has recorded the outcome of that convention. Lincoln won, the Union was preserved, and slavery was abolished.

Many scholars now believe that Lincoln, in addition to being our greatest political poet, was our greatest President. Thank God that we don’t have to concern ourselves today with a different history, one that might have been written had Lincoln given in to the mathematics he faced.Some quotes from McPherson follow for your edification and enlightenment.

I believe they demonstrate that, while some make assumptions, a few chart their courses to the stars, swim against the collective tide of the naysayers, and then go on to make history:

“Coming into the convention with a large lead based on strength in upper-North states, Seward hoped for a first-ballot nomination. But Republicans were sure to win those states no matter whom they nominated.”“This left Lincoln. By the time the convention’s opening gavel came down on May 16, Lincoln had emerged from a position as the darkest of horses to that of Seward’s main rival.”“Yet so obscure was Lincoln in certain circles before his nomination that some pundits had not included his name on their lists of seven or a dozen or even twenty-one potential candidates. Several newspapers spelled his first name Abram.”

“The first ballot revealed Seward’s weakness and Lincoln’s surprising strength. With 233 votes needed to nominate, Seward fell sixty short at 173 ½ while Lincoln polled 102.”“From then on, Lincoln the rail-splitter became the symbol of the frontier, farm, opportunity, hard work, rags to riches, and other components of the American dream embodied in the Republican self-image.”

“None of the forty thousand people in and around the wigwam ever forgot that moment. All except the diehard Seward delegates were convinced they had selected the strongest candidate.”

We now have the hindsight of history, so we know that Abraham Lincoln was the right candidate for the right time. Some day, when this generation is pushing up the daisies, the history of the 2008 campaign will be written. It may be about John McCain, Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton. And, improbable as it may seem now, it may be about a preacher from a small Arkansas town who was too stubborn to give in to the cackling voices around him calling for his surrender.

So who knows. Regardless I shall as See on my sidebar SUPPORT THE ELEPHANT no matter who it is. Especially in this election when it is so important to do so on my levels.