Four-Eight-Four [dot org]

The Republican Party is sending subtle and not-so-subtle messages to Mike Huckabee to pack his bags and go back to Arkansas (”Huckabee ignoring GOP’s hints to quit presidential race“). In the last week, McCain has picked up endorsements from both Romney and George H.W. Bush (huh?).

Huckabee, to his credit, is refusing to withdraw. You won’t find me defending or praising Huckabee too often, but in this case, the man is right. This is the primary, for cryin’ out loud. As I’ve stated before, I believe that every candidate should stay in the race during the primary for as long as is possible.

The votes that each candidate gets (so long as voters aren’t brain-dead morons who vote for the person they think will win instead of who they like) are a valuable barometer for the party as to where the party’s voters’ sympathies lie. For instance … I’m a Ron Paul supporter. Ron Paul seems to average about 5% of the vote from state to state. As a result, we know that the majority of rank-and-file Republicans don’t like Paul’s ideas, except for the drooling idiots who voted for somebody else even though they like Paul … but I doubt there are too many in that category.

Mitt Romney should take his cue from Huckabee and un-suspend his campaign. Too bad he’s already decided to endorse McCain.

Look, if having the votes split up leads to a brokered convention, so be it. Seriously, though, the chances of that happening now are slim, even if Romney was still in the race. What are you guys afraid of? Obama-Clinton ‘08? I’ve got news for you … even if McCain gets 99% of the votes at the convention, it’s still going to be ugly. So, Republicans, get a clue and encourage your candidates to stay in the primaries until the last ballot is cast.