Greetings, Donklephant Readers! This is Jennn Fusion, reporting in from VicePresidents.com to bring you the latest in the oft-overlooked, very underestimated Veepstakes. As you can see, Justin’s a very busy guy, so I’m on the VP Beat to help him out. I bring to you my obsession — err expertise — that is the cumulation [...]

No joke. (CNN) – During a speech before the National Rifle Association convention Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — who has endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain — joked that an unexpected offstage noise was Democrat Barack Obama looking to avoid a gunman. “That was Barack Obama, he just [...]

Allahpundit has some good analysis on why John McCain may end up choosing Mike Huckabee as his running mate. I’ll sum it up rather than quote it. Huckabee is media savvy, playing well on news and faux news shows alike. Huckabee’s popularity among southern evangelicals could help blunt Barack Obama’s popularity among southern Blacks. Huckabee’s [...]

It’s Clinton/Obama – 54/46… Sure, it’s not double digits for Hill, but it’s damn close. Here’s the raw count… Hillary Clinton – 855,147 – 54% – 37 delegates Barack Obama – 718,294 – 46% – 31 delegates I’m checking with CNN and MSNBC for the latest results. Oh, and just for fun…here are the Republican [...]

A new poll shows a wide cross section of opinion…with Mike Huckabee topping the list? Is that the guy Republicans really want to be a heartbeat away from the top spot? From Gallup: Nomination also-rans Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney receive the most mentions when Republicans are asked whom they would most like to see [...]

In response to Obama’s speech yesterday, Mike Huckabee displays the type of understanding we will all need to get past the issue of race: As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say “That’s a terrible statement!”…I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think [...]

Just watch. These aren’t bad people, they’re just ridiculously ill-informed. But there are a lot of similar views out there and if the Democrats think November will be a cake walk, well, take this stuff lightly at your own peril. (h/t: C&L)

One word: conservatives…. Nearly seven in 10 voters in Virginia’s Republican primary called themselves conservatives. Mike Huckabee won half of their votes, including two-thirds of those who called themselves “very conservative.” Four in 10 Virginia Republican voters were born-again evangelical Christians, and they strongly supported Huckabee over John McCain. Huckabee won the votes of two-thirds [...]

If Huck can pull this out, McCain is going to have to retool his “cake walk” strategy. And this might be the reason why McCain is having trouble today… Several older folks cast their ballots for Mr. Obama, including retired couple Don and Peggy Fredericksen. “We voted for Obama and we’re Republican!” Mr. Fredericksen said. [...]

SurveyUSA has the numbers… Big movement in Virginia following Mike Huckabee’s strong showing over the weekend in Louisiana, Kansas and Washington state. On the eve of the Virginia Republican Primary, it’s John McCain 48%, Mike Huckabee 37%. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA tracking poll released 72 hours ago, McCain is down 9, Huckabee is up [...]

And they have just cause it sounds like… The Huckabee Presidential Campaign will be exploring all available legal options regarding the dubious final results for the state of Washington State Republican precinct caucuses, it was announced today. Campaign Chairman Ed Rollins issued the following statement: “The Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities [...]

McCain may think it’s going to be a cakewalk to the nomination, but as TPM points out… We already know about Kansas, which was a blowout for Huckabee. With 62% of precincts reporting Huckabee is up by 8 point over McCain in Louisiana. And Huckabee is ahead of McCain by 3 points in Washington state [...]

Now this is interesting because what it signals is that GOP voters aren’t automatically going to fall in line with Super Tuesday results. And so Huckabee is sticking in there, gaining delegates and maybe ensuring that he gets the VP spot. From TPM Election Central: In what will likely be taken as a sign of [...]

Again, this is really, really early. I wouldn’t necessarily trust this right now because it’s late and I think they want to call it early for these candidates so they can go to bed. If I were Romney, I wouldn’t concede this quite yet.

Huckabee is trailing by 6,000 votes, so I doubt he’ll be able to catch up. Great win for McCain if he can hold out.

On the Dem side, with 87% reporting, Hillary has 50% while Obama has 47%. You can bet the votes from the big cities are starting to come in, specifically St. Louis, which has a built in advantage for Obama since it’s so close to Illinois. Kansas City is expected to go for Hillary, but that [...]

Man, he’s really racking them up tonight. Pretty interesting. Evangelicals really do matter in the Republican party, and they’re making their voice heard loud and clear tonight. Drudge is also saying that he’s going to take Missouri. So far Huck has captured Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee.

Unless Romney pulls off some magic in California and states that close later, Huckabee is a big story tonight. He may have just turned it into a 2 candidate race, and he’s definitely spurned Romney’s accusations of being McCain whipping boy. Check out Drudge’s projections: AL: HUCKABEE AR: HUCKABEE CT: MCCAIN DE: MCCAIN GA: HUCKABEE [...]

ABC just projected… Barack takes… Illinois Hillary takes… Oklahoma McCain takes… New Jersey (winner take all) Connecticut (winner take all) Illinois (not winner take all) Romney takes… Massachusetts (winner take all) Huckabee takes… West Virginia (winner take all)

Remember, most of these are winner-take-all, so even if you get close it doesn’t mean anything. But these numbers are VERY early. From National Review… California: McCain 40, Romney 36, Huckabee 10. Missouri: Romney 34, McCain 32, Huckabee 25. Georgia: Huckabee 34, Romney 31, McCain 30. New York: McCain 46, Romney 35, Huckabee 10. New [...]