Huckabee: Let’s face it, Romney may be the most electable candidate

He’s not saying definitively that Romney is the most electable candidate, but add up the soundbites here. Perry hurt himself with his Social Security talk; Perry’s style may not be suited to winning undecideds in a national general election; Perry gives Democrats an endless “Bush II” storyline. Factor in the backstory of Perry famously endorsing Rudy Giuliani over the one southern evangelical governor in the race four years ago and it’s a safe bet that you won’t see any “Huckabee says Perry is most electable” headlines anytime soon.

I asked you this once before and most of you guys laughed at me, but now I’m asking again: Would Huck ever possibly endorse … Romney? We spent an entire comment thread earlier this afternoon arguing over which Republican’s endorsement will be most valuable next year, but don’t forget Huckabee in those calculations. If he endorsed Romney before Iowa or South Carolina, he could take a chunk out of Perry’s southern support — not enough to tilt the primaries in those states, perhaps, but enough to hand Romney a “Perry underperforms” narrative that’ll be useful to him heading into a months-long battle for the nomination. Precisely for that reason, Huck’s endorsement means a lot more to Romney than it does to Perry, who’ll do well in the south if Huckabee sits out the race entirely. The question is, what could Romney offer Huck in return for his endorsement besides the glory of playing kingmaker? I’m almost afraid to ask.

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