Can McCain Unite the Republicans?

McCain has been pounded by many republicans including Rush Limbaugh and other on-air personalities. But, now with McCain all but assured the Republican nomination can he now mend those relationships? If he doesn't the democrats is roll all the way to the presidency. With McCain pretty much losing all of the souther states to Mike Huckabee, he is definitely going to first off, pick a vice president that the republicans will embrace. He will have to continue to make speeches regarding his conservative intentions and come across as less moderate.

The funny thing about John McCain is that his lifetime republican rating (number used to determine how conservative someone is based on their voting patterns) is 86/100. That is really high in terms of conservative ratings. But last year, his rating was 56. So the question becomes, why have his views changed over the past few years? He will need to address that issue. John McCain talks about how he was a "foot solider" with during the Reagan administration and althought that very well may be, his voting has obviously changed in the past several years.

To get to the White House, McCain will have to select his Vice President wisely. His best bet would be to choose Mike Huckabee. Huckabee has been strong in the south and is seen as a true conservative. Plus, Huckabee would probably be happy to put himself in line to make the jump to President when his turn comes around. There has even been speculation that John McCain would only pursue one term as President which would make the vice job that much more appealing. Huckabee could hit all the areas that McCain could not. There almost bi-polar relationship would be just what the republican party needs to win.

John McCain continues to do well with people concerned about the war and independents. Obviously, to win the election, you need the conservatives and the independents. The combination of McCain and Huckabee would do that. In a recent TV interview, Huckabee stated that the vice presidency is a job that "no one wants but no one turns down." So, although he still continues to believe he can be President, he appears to not want to rule out the idea of becoming McCain's number 1 guy.

Many of the independents that are now voting for Obama or Clinton might be slighted by their candidate not getting the nod. This would allow McCain to come in and sweep some of those independent votes. McCain needs to continue to focus on bringing the republicans together, without all of them working in the same direction, they have no chance.