RUSH: Some people think that McCain is going to have to choose Huckabee, because if you look at what McCain won last night — it’s interesting, the Washington Post on their website has maps. Both Republican and Democrat states won, delegate totals, both on Super Tuesday and total. What Huckabee did last night in the South has stunned everybody, because he spent about four bucks, and he just swept through the South.
The real story last night, though, is not that Huckabee won in the South. The story is that McCain didn’t win the South. It’s not that Huckabee did, because Huckabee is not going to be the nominee. McCain, for all intents and purposes, is the nominee. Now, it’s not over, and anything could happen, but for all intents and purposes, McCain is the nominee. The fact that he did not win the South is important, the reason is simple. He’s not strong in the South, and Republicans cannot win the White House, cannot win a presidential race without winning in the South, and McCain demonstrated he can’t do that last night unless he puts the Huckster on the ticket as the veep. I say Huckster in a nickname thing, we like Huckabee here, don’t misunderstand. The Huckster may be thinking he’s in line for veep, but if he is, he doesn’t know the real John McCain. (interruption) Well, we deal in reality here, Mr. Snerdley. Could happen.
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RUSH: Snerdley is still steaming over my reference to the possible vice presidential nomination by McCain of Huckabee. Look, others are saying it, I’m not. I don’t presume to know what’s going to happen here, other than this. I think if Huckabee thinks he’s going to be veep, he better be prepared, he’s going to be thrown overboard once McCain’s finished with him. I mean, that’s the history of things. But McCain’s going to need somebody to help him pick up these votes in the South that he didn’t get. I looked at some of the exit poll data. Do you know in the Republican primaries yesterday that a full 75% of the voters were Republican? Isn’t that amazing? What a swell turnout that was, 75% of the voters in the Republican primary were actual Republicans. We are making headway, are we not? My point is it’s not only Republicans crossing the aisle working with Democrats, getting praised for doing it, paying no price for it, paying no price for undermining their own party, they’re getting praised for it, and their own party is not upset and making them pay any kind of a price for it. And it’s even people who are not Republicans are getting away with this, as evidenced by the fact that 75% of our primary voters were Republican.
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RUSH: I want to go back to the previous hour when I opened the program today. The official program observer and call screener, Bo Snerdley, was beside himself. I had to shout at him to get in here and start answering the phones. He was just slouched over and just droopy all over the place this morning; and it got worse when I opened the program and suggested that I had been seeing that Huckabee might end up being the vice presidential choice of John McCain; simply by virtue of the fact McCain did not win the votes in the South that he needs to win. In fact, McCain did not get a majority of Republicans in three crucial states. I mean, he was not even close to getting a majority Republicans. He got all these votes in these blue states in the East and the West that the Republicans are not going to win in a presidential race. But Snerdley just revolted. He looked repulsed as hell at the concept that Huckabee would be vice president. It’s bad enough McCain getting the nomination, with Huckabee being on the ticket. Look, I understand why you did that. You’re right, I mean the same contempt that you heard on the phone from Suzanne… You know, we might want to make that call ready. No hurry on it, but roll that call off so we can play it as a reference. Suzanne from Hagerstown, Maryland just launched into why she’s not going to vote for McCain — and my e-mail went nuts afterwards.
People I know and people I don’t know, said, ‘She is speaking my language! That’s the way I feel,’ and so forth. I think the same contempt that you heard from her aimed at McCain is felt toward Huckabee. Maybe not quite as intense, but Huckabee is seen as facilitating the McCain candidacy. Suzanne made this point in her phone call, Snerdley. She said the vote for Huckabee in the South, was essentially the evangelicals throwing their vote away. But, they didn’t think that. I mean, they had substantive reasons, which we discussed. But Huckabee’s been practicing identity politics from the get-go. I was the first to tag it as such, and now everybody’s picked up on that. He wants us to look at evangelicals as blacks are looked at by the Democrats in terms of identity politics, and he’s pressed that. Now, as far as you evangelicals are concerned, you know that your guy Huckabee is not going to be the nominee. You know it isn’t going to happen, and it’s very unlikely he is going to end up on the ticket as vice presidential running mate with McCain. But I need to ask you evangelicals a question: Who has said he will not vote for a constitutional amendment on abortion? Who has said he would not vote for a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage?
Who has said that? (tapping fingers) He’s from Arizona. His name is Senator John McCain, and your vote for Huckabee is essentially a vote for John McCain — and you can deny it all you want, but that’s the case. So what’s happening here is that Huckabee is actually taking his own evangelicals for granted. If Huckabee were really carrying their policies, he would be urging people — well, he would be attacking McCain, not Romney; because McCain has made it plain as day that he’s not going to be take the federal steps to secure the culture that the evangelicals demand of the Republican Party. McCain’s made it plain. I don’t know that the evangelicals know this. I don’t know that they’re aware of it. But if Huckabee were genuinely interested in the causes of his constituents, he would be attacking McCain, not Romney. As I looked at things, other than Alabama, Romney and Huckabee have largely divided the evangelical vote — and in that case, Huckabee should be aligning with Romney, not McCain; if these issues are critical to him. But they’re not — and I can say that with relative certainty because if they were important to him, he would be attacking the guy that’s out there standing in the way of getting these things done, and that is McCain.