I supported Mitt Romney in the primaries so perhaps Mike Huckabee will just ignore everything I say from this line forward. He should not. I have been a sympathetic opponent and live and work amongst his base. His voters are getting ready mentally for the general and hanging around runs the risk of being the fun guest that stays too long after the party . . . removing all memory of the fun in the light of his odious endurance.
Reason I: It is good to quit when there are still races you might have won.
Leave now and people will fantasize that you might have won Texas and Ohio. Stay and they will know you did not. If you win there, you will have to leave when your support is “maxed out” and the terror of what you might have done is made less by the modest reality of what you did.
Reason II: Mitt Romney looked classy leaving and that puts real pressures on you.
You don’t want to look less concerned about the party than Mitt Romney do you? It was fine to hang around to see what you could do when you had even a slim chance to win. You do not now so staying compares unfavorably with Romney.
Leave before your Texas firewall and it compares well.
Reason III: If McCain wins, then your future in the Party will depend on not cheesing him off.
What if Ford had defeated Carter? He came close. If he had, the Reagan strategy of forcing the convention to vote would have been a disaster. Think about it. You are putting all your eggs in a 2012 race when McCain might be running in 2012.
Reason IV: You have a platform to raise money now that you could use to start a think tank to educate a new generation in your values and ideas.
Your weakness as a candidate was the fear, some of it based on bigotry, that there is too little “there there.” Drop out. Write some thoughtful books . . . think Goldberg not Hannity.
You are always going to be a great communicator. Write a book on Burke and show them you are a great thinker.
You don’t have as much time to do this Nixon-in-Exile strategy as you think. Remember Nixon became a “wonk” and as a result became President. Be a jolly, ethical Nixon-as-wonk and you might be unbeatable.
Reason V: You are harming Evangelicals by only getting their votes and forcing them into a ghetto.
Many Southern Evangelicals, of course, will vote for McCain, but many if not most will vote for you.
The last thing we need is to be further cut off from the rest of the conservative community. You need to get out of that ghetto too if you ever want to be President. You should never deny us, but you have to reach beyond us.
You know that. Even winning a few more primaries with only religious right votes makes that job harder and continues to marginalize us.
Your friends believe in you and have the passion of people in love. Think of me as a friendly critic. . . the sort of voter you will need next time you run. I have only one bit of advice for you:
Get out now.