Why can't a patriotic gesture also be an opportunity? Mitt Romney is a brilliant man; on that issue there is an almost 100% consensus. He amassed millions of dollars by smelling opportunity where there was none. He has been able to take failing enterprises and turn them into success. Why should this be any different?

Romney lost his campaign for the presidency...the reasons why he was unsuccessful are many but, in business terms, he simply failed to sell the product. He could not shake that 'empty suit' identity that his opponents were so quick to hang on him. In politics, one learns quickly that if you don't define yourself, your opponent will define you.  I think that only the most cynical of individuals will attempt to argue that Romney was in this race out of any quest for personal gain. He does not come off as power-hungry or particularly egotistical. He says he entered the race out of a love for this nation and a desire to put his talents to use in serving. I have no reason to doubt his sincerity.

So let's take Romney the politician out of the equation for a moment and think like Romney the businessman. Any good businessman has to know when to fold his tent and call it a day...to stop throwing good money after bad and Romney is the quintessential businessman. However, like all good businessmen, Romney would be loathe to walk away from equity.

There is an elephant in the middle of our GOP living room that only a few have dared to mention in hushed tones. The inevitable choice for Vice President. Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani would seem to make the obvious choice for McCain to choose as his running mate. He owes a political debt to each for helping him be the front-runner for the nomination. Fred Thompson might look good to many as well. Any 3 of these men might be considered potential candidates. But I think the obvious choices will boil down to either Huckabee or Romney and here is why:

McCain desperately needs to win over conservatives and convince them that he's an upright guy. The best way to do that is to get himself a conservative co-runner.

Rudy Giuliani, although a McCain supporter is a poor choice because he is socially conservative and, as his performance demonstrated, a poor campaigner and, let's face it...a vice president needs to be a tireless campaigner. So that would pretty much eliminate Fred Thompson as a serious consideration. He's socially conservative but Caspar the Friendly Ghost was more visible that Thompson.

Huckabee seems to have it all. He's socially conservative, a tireless campaigner. He has a charming charisma and he and McCain seem to be in love with each other. In fact, it almost appears as if Huckabee has been running as McCain's vice presidential candidate ever since the Iowa caucus. In fact, he actually sent McCain a message after Iowa, "now it's your turn to beat him" ('him', of course, referring to Mitt Romney)

The only problem is that Huckabee is still in the race. It is becoming painfully obvious that he isn't in a position to actually win the nomination so what's he up to? Ocham's Razor seems to be an appropriate means of solving the riddle. The most obvious answer is usually the correct one. Huckabee expects to be McCain's running mate. He played his role as wingman and undoubtedly expects his eventual reward. One would have expected that Huckabee would have folded his tent about 5 minutes after Romney did. But he's still in the race!

Why? He can't possibly hope to win. And if he seriously did, anyone that delusional or egotistic is a dangerous consideration for president. The only logical answer is that Romney pulled the rug out from under Huckabee's hopes for getting the nod for vice-president. He took the wind right out of Huckabee's sails...not by withdrawing, but in the classy and selfless WAY in which Romney withdrew. Romney's reasons for suspending his campaign gave him much more political coin than staying in ever would. He is seen now as a man who truly puts principle over self. The pundits are positively gushing over the man.

Meanwhile, Huckabee is off in the wings looking strangely like Miss Haversham in her tattered wedding dress.

By asking Romney to be his running mate, McCain accomplishes several things:

1) He reaches out to the conservative base.
2) He demonstrates that he can work with people he really doesn't like
3) He adds to his ticket, an expert on the economy
4) He positions the person that ran 2nd to him to succeed him.

The longer Huckabee remains in the race, the petulant and childish he seems. Romney's statement that forestalling the inevitable takes time away for the republicans to mount a national campaign was spot on and that spot light is now shining on Huckabee to do the same thing and all we hear is the crickets chirping. The longer Huckabee remain in the race, the more it looks like he's in it for purely selfish reasons and self-promotion. Romney has positioned himself to be a more obvious choice for vice-president. The positive free press coverage alone makes it a more enticing choice.

Wouldn't that just lick the red off ofol' Huck's lollipop?