What it would mean if McCain picks Huckabee for VP

Tom Head has an interesting posting on Tom's Civil Liberties Blog about the way that a vice presidential choice defines a candidate's identity. Here's his thinking about what Huckabee as VP would mean:

The selection of Huckabee or Brownback would indicate that the McCain campaign takes the concerns of the Religious Right very seriously, and is willing to position itself as more socially conservative in an effort to bring out the base. Choosing a candidate who identifies as socially conservative to such an extent would unite his party, but it could also seriously harm his credentials as a centrist.

Tom Head is correct when he wrote “the selection of Huckabee or Brownbeck would indicate that the McCain campaign takes the concerns of the Religious Right very seriously,” but he is only getting half of the meaning.

Huckabee was the one Republican candidate who differed with the broken Republican economics of today. He was the candidate who endorsed the FairTax and who was willing to say positive things about Fair Trade, not just Free Trade. The choice of Huckabee would define McCain as a Maverick who is not tied to the failed Bush economics.

Howard