Rich Lowry goes there: Huckabee for VP?

Not the first time Lowry’s blown this little bubble, do note. And in both cases he’s punctuated his thought with words to the effect of, “Too bad he’s so awful on economics and national security and pretty much everything else.” Yeah, too bad.

But wouldn’t Huckabee make a lot of sense given the things we’ve learned the last two weeks? 1) McCain might have a “wealth problem,” and certainly Democrats are going to try to hit his wealth for all its worth in their play for working-class voters; Huckabee doesn’t have a problem on this front, and has lots of working-class cred. 2) The pro-choice trial balloon hasn’t been well received, and it’s clear that a pro-choice nominee would create a major disruption; Huckabee is pro-life. 3) Obama picked Biden who is going to a vivid presence (for better or worse) on the stump and could be formidable in debate; Huckabee is a great campaigner and might be just the guy to puncture Biden in a debate. 4) (This is a less important point.) The McCain folks have made a huge deal about differences between Obama and Biden during the primaries; McCain and Huckabee didn’t have much in the way of differences and went out of their way to praise each other.

The only one that’s persuasive is number three, and really, how important will the VP debate be? Huck’s blue-collar-ness won’t get McCain off the hook for his wealth, and needless to say, there are other pro-life candidates available who are blessedly unblemished by an anti-McCain record — the current frontrunner notably excepted. In fact, almost everything here applies as well to Pawlenty as it does to Huckabee. The big difference (as Lowry later acknowledges) is media savvy — worth $125 million in Huck’s case according to one estimate, remember — but Pawlenty can deliver a soundbite when needed. On the prospects of facing off against Barry O’s windbag of a VP: “They’re going to have to extend the length of the debate to two or three hours.” And of course, unlike Huck, Pawlenty could flip his home state.

Isn’t the real problem with Huckabee that a lot of conservatives simply loathe him? He and Mitt are similar in that regard, ironically, although of course there’s practically no overlap between one group of haters and the other. In fact, Jonathan Adler’s already threatening at the Corner to walk the plank if the Lowry plan is put in play. Exit question: Gosh, I wonder how the Hot Air faithful will greet this idea. Huckamania?

• Bobby Jindal: Paternalistic, big-government liberalism is the biggest loser here
• Chris Christie: “I’ll be here to welcome” Obama when he comes to tour the NJ coast again next week
• MSNBC consensus: Obama’s speech was historic, amazing, “one of the best of his presidency”

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