Huckabee supporters in Michigan are sending a clear message: they don’t want Mitt Romney  as Veep:

McCain’s vice presidential selection is likely to be a major topic at both meetings. Matney said Huckabee supporters want the former Arkansas governor on the ticket; failing that, she said, many would oppose Romney. While the Michigan native and former Massachusetts governor got significant support from many conservatives during his primary campaign, others say they are suspicious of his relatively recent move to social conservative positions on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

Some Huckabee supporters will not back McCain if Romney is on the ticket, Matney said. “That’s not the sentiment of everybody,” she said. “(But) we would certainly rather have somebody other than Romney on the ticket. Who he chooses will speak volumes to us.”

This has led some to complain that this a case of religious bigotry:

Those Huck supporters are so transparent. If their real complaint was a potential VP’s lack of support for abortion or traditional marriage, they would not be picking on one man who supports those issues. They would be vocal about all potential pro-choice VPs including Tom Ridge and Joe Lieberman. And you don’t hear their voices loudly opposing those, do you?

So you could wonder what’s really bothering them. Because if it was abortion, they have way more choices to oppose than just one man. Its pretty clear that it Romney’s religion they oppose because no one religious group spends so much time focused on opposing one guy who agrees with them without religious zeal of some sort. This kind of hate is so apparent that the more they protest its not religious the more silly their arguments seem that its something else.

I think it’s fair to say that Huckabee supporters should oppose any pro-abortion Veep pick. However, in the first place, McCain has made it clear that the chances of anyone who declares a pro-abortion position has a narrow shot of landing on the ticket. In addition, I would suggest the commenter missed a far more obvious reason Romney has been singled out. We just got through a campaign where Romney and Huckabee were chief rivals. Both men have shown indications of being ready to go back at it as soon as the 2012 race is over. There’s no lovelost between these two camps. Romney’s political machine went after Huckabee and painted him as a liberal and Romney shills in the media continue to find ways to tear down the Governor. 

The question of whether this is religious bigotry or not comes back to a question of why Romney lost in the first place. Indeed, in November, 2007, Romney was set up to easily sweep the nomination. Win Iowa, win New Hampshire, win Michigan, win South Carolina, and with his momentum, defeat Giuliani in Florida. Instead the wheels came off.

Some have proferred the explanation that Romney’s Mormonism cost him the race. The allegation is that religiously bigoted Evangelical Christians denied Romney the nomination and pumped up Huckabee solely because of religion. However, if this is the case, McCain definitely ought not pick Romney. Why? Because he still needs the votes of Religious Conservatives to win. Take away enough Evangelical Votes from McCain in McCain loses Virginia and maybe even North Carolina.  Some Romney supporters such as Radio Host Mark Levin have realized this and are now claiming that American Christians aren’t religiously bigoted.

But then there’s that pesky question of why Romney lost, despite every advantage money could by and endorsement from many solid Religious Conservatives including Paul Weyrich, Jay Sekulow, and Bob Jones (note: If you’d expect to find a figure who was unabashadly anti-Mormon, Jones would be it). If Religious bigotry isn’t why, then we’re left with another explanation: He could not earn the trust of the American people. All the money in the world to market a product won’t do any good if people don’t believe in the product you’re selling. Romney came off as plastic and as the type of person who asked, “What do I need to say to this group to get their support?” His phoniness caused voters to look elsewhere. 

If this is the case, it makes no sense to put Romney on the ticket. The McCain campaign’s big meme is that we don’t know who this Obama or if he’s ready to lead. How does it make sense to add someone to the ticket who reinvented himself AFTER Obama was elected to the Senate? In addition, if voters found him plastic insincere in the primaries, why would they not find him so in the general?

I tend to believe the latter explanation of Mitt Romney’s failure to win the GOP nomination, but whichever is correct, choosing Romney makes little political sense.