HuffPost : "The void created by Huckabee's decision could prompt 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin or Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann to get in the race. Palin has yet to say if she will run, while Bachmann is inching toward a bid"

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Huckabee abandons the Presidential Race, this is a great favor to the most Conservative Republican Candidates, those that enjoy the support of Evangelical Christians and that preach a Hawkish Foreign Policy of "Great Patriotism" or Fear of "Terrorism"

Mike Huckabe says that he is a very powerful candidate inside the Republican Order, then if he does not run that means that Huck thinks that Obama is even more powerful and unbeatable.




Huffington Post
Mike Huckabee's Exit Further Widens GOP Presidential Field
By BRADLEY KLAPPER
May 15, 2011


Mike Huckabee's Exit Further Widens GOP Presidential Field


Some excerpts :

The lack of a clear GOP front-runner reflects Obama's perceived strength as a candidate less than a year-and-a-half before the election. Despite uneven economic growth and continued sluggishness in the employment market, Obama will have the advantage of being an incumbent president with a seemingly unmatchable capacity to generate cash for his campaign. And while events could change dramatically between now and the presidential vote, polls show Obama in a stronger position now than he was before the mission that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Republican candidates were quick to praise Huckabee after his announcement, making obvious plays for his backers.

"His voters are very independent and they're going to go where they believe that America needs to go both in conservative and spiritual values," Gingrich said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Gov. Huckabee's is going to remain a very important figure in the conservative movement and I suspect that he's going to have a role to play for years to come."

Pawlenty said he'd work hard to gain the support of millions of Americans who have backed Huckabee, while former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum praised the TV host for praying before deciding not to run. Santorum added that he wanted to talk with Huckabee about fighting for traditional values even as some Republicans "seek to form a 'truce' on social issues."

That was a slap at Daniels, who is considering a run and has suggested that Republicans downplay their focus on cultural issues like abortion while the nation's economy is so fragile.

Huckabee praised several potential GOP nominees who, he said, hold points of view similar to his own. A notable omission from the list: Romney.

"There has been a lot of talk about Mitt Romney and me. And we don't socialize together. We're not close, you know, in personal ways," Huckabee said on "Fox News Sunday." "But I want to make it very clear today, if Mitt Romney is the nominee for our party, I will support him because I believe that Mitt Romney would be a better president of the United States than Barack Obama on any day."

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