McCain’s Huck’s West Virginia Win

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I guess since it’s still an hour before we get any official exits, MSNBC is trying to gin up a “controversy” over Huckabee’s West Virginia caucuses win, based on the Romney campaign’s statement that blames their loss on… John McCain. As posted below, the Romney people are spinning the decision of McCain voters to throw their votes to Huckabee as “back-room deal.” It was really more of a front-porch deal, and the real damage it does isn’t putting West Virginia in the Huck column, it’s that it gives lie to the assertion (repeated like a mantra by Romney staffers) that Huckabee voters are really Romney voters who haven’t realized the reality of their situation. At the very least, it makes public the alliance that Huckabee and McCain have, as well as proves that this relationship isn’t merely one between the two guys at the top of the ticket.

I’ve written before about how Huckabee’s supporters aren’t homogeneous, stereotypical evangelicals that actually probably have more in common with McCain’s people — on issues like the environment and torture and, to an extent, immigration (at least they both frame it as a human rights issue) — than they do with Romney. And, of course, they also just can’t stand the guy.