Via e-mail:
Rich:
1. I assure you that, as a 30+ year GOP activist and former staffer to Phil Gramm and who has lived throughout the south, midwest, and east coast during my career, the nomination of Mike Huckabee would result in a Goldwater or worse defeat in 2008. The tripod of the GOP base – supply-siders, foreign policy hawks, and social conservatives – had better wake up quickly. Immediate worry: if McCain and Romney tear each other apart over the next 5 days, Huckabee could win New Hampshire, too. Worse, any vote for Thompson in NH is a vote for Huckabee, because these are votes that are siphoned either from Romney or McCain.
2. In terms of answering Huckabee’s charge that he is “the fellow you’d like to work with,” Romney should tout the fact that his enterprises have created thousands of jobs and Huckabee has never met any private sector payroll. Unless you own your own business, you can’t have a co-worker without a boss.