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Technorati“So this nonsense about how I should step aside and have a cakewalk all the way to the election, that’s crazy. Unless they were all to step aside and let me have a cakewalk, then that would be a fine thing,” Huckabee said, according to CBS
Yet in the midst of pressure to leave the race, a hard-to-get Christian right leader gave Huckabee a surprising endorsement last week. Influential pro-family leader Dr. James Dobson endorsed Huckabee following Romney’s announcement of his suspended campaign. Dobson, who has made it clear that he cannot and will not vote for McCain, explained that Huckabee is the only conservative left in the race.
Similarly, many conservatives have also expressed hesitation at supporting McCain, who is seen as a moderate or liberal by the GOP’s right wing.
Only one-fifth (19.7 percent) of conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend said they believe McCain was a true conservative, according to a poll of 1,000 random CPAC participants. Another 20.8 percent said they are still undecided about the Arizona senator.
CPAC is the nation’s largest annual gathering of conservatives.
“From these results, it is clear that Senator McCain has a challenge in gaining the conservative support he needs in order to win the general election,” said David Franke of ConservativeHQ.com, which conducted the poll.
“Even if you add in the people who will limit their activity to voting for him, and all of the undecided conservatives (not likely), he will have only 83.5 percent of the conservative vote,” Franke commented.
Historically, the Republican presidential candidate needs more than 80 percent of the conservative vote in order to win.
“The poll results show he can possibly reach that level of conservative support, but it will be dauntingly hard,” Franke noted.
Frontrunner McCain on Friday also acknowledged that Huckabee remains a threat to this presidential bid, calling him a “viable candidate” that continues to “show strength,” according to CNN.
“Obviously we are pleased with the events that have happened, but we still have a ways to go and we’ll continue campaigning,” McCain said.
During an interview Saturday, Huckabee defended his decision to continue his campaign by saying Americans don’t want to be told who their president will be.
“And, in the Republican Party, people want to make a choice. They don’t want somebody else making that decision for them,” he said to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“There’s something going on out there, it’s called an election,” Huckabee reminded.
The Republican and Democratic “Potomac Primaries” in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will take place Tuesday.
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