Damn, if the republicans had chosen Huckabee they would really be raking it in... He's really a good speaker - way to go!
I said all along that Huckabee was the best choice for McCain b/c he would motivate the religious right more than any other prospective Veep. There is a fundamental mistrust of McCain among that ESSENTIAL (if he's going to win) constituency of the Republicans. It would be a Rove pick. Now, despite claims to the contrary, the religious right may choose to sit this one out in the very rural areas. Despite my disagreement with much of what he says, I actually LIKE Huckabee. That's a rare gift that he has.
Yes, Huckabee certainly has "presidential qualities", personal charisma and can talk to a crowd. McCain is a rather lacklustre figure with the crowds, while Palin is a lot better as she comes across with her message and more appeal. Giuliani and Fiorina are just pale speakers - too dry. Giuliani has some puns and points, although self-contradicting about "no on-job training", "change" vs "reformer" etc. Clinton and Obama also are good speakers, while Biden is just awful.
Giuliani on "islamic terrorism" - what a fucking stupid neoconservative bigot... A good thing he is not the republican candidate for US president, that would have been a bloody disaster for the world... With most importance given to Giuliani before Palin, it's pretty clear how the power-sharing is within the republican party and is going to continue.
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Palin was as expected good - in fact, extremely good I would say. The content on "military victory", "torture" and "terrorist rights" were sort of neoconservative - while the rest was pretty good and in between emotional. She obviously hit back at the media with a smile too... Cindy McCain seemed like she might have a little ambivalence there - maybe jealous of Palin's limelight and mixed with appreciation of the good job Palin does along with the risk she poses to McCain's win. ... she's obviously smart, but I wonder if she will fare well in one-on-one debates with Biden, since he has so much better background knowledge. If Biden can be specific, and lure her out into where she can only speak on principle - where Biden can overwhelm her on specifics - then he will completely demolish Sarah Palin, and she is the kind of person who will not stoop low but rather bite her tongue in such moments, in my opinion. That will be a difficult debate for her, so she might do much better work "out and about" in rural US.